Scott Ainslie

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Copyright © 2002
Cattail Music, Inc.

Last modified: April 09, 2004

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Disc Jockey for a Day

If you play Disc Jockey one day and offer the students examples that illustrate these African retentions (African Drumming by Ola Tunji, The Neville Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone, Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston, Hip Hop, Jazz, etc.); the following day the students can be the DJs and bring in music of their own that also illustrates the retentions.
The only rule I use for music is that there be no profanity in the part of the cut that we play. Profanity is about hurting other people's feelings, and that is not what we are about at school. Profanity is also a real cop out---if you develop your vocabulary, you can communicate whatever needs to be said without recourse to obscenity.
When they bring music in to be played, students should be able to point out to the class which African retentions they hear in the music they are going to play. Typically, after recapping the retentions with the students help, and writing them up on the board, I ask students to come to the front of the room, bring me the CD or cassette (cued to the track), and introduce the music they have brought by telling us:

1. The name of the artist or group.
2. The title of the track.
3. Which African retentions the class will hear in the track

Offered the opportunity to rule the CD player for a cut---along with the responsibility of identifying African retentions in music they like---students generally jump at the chance. In a fun and open atmosphere---that can include dancing with the lights turned down, if everyone behaves --- students synthesize and integrate what they have learned and consistently demonstrate their understanding of the musical elements at work. Having worked with thousands students over time, I can think of only 3 or 4 who came in and really missed the retentions entirely. And in a supportive, brainstorming classroom, even apparent failures become opportunities for achievement and for fine-tuning the class' understanding of the subject.