Composer Study: Louis Armstrong
Contributor: Christie Groff, River City Homeschool Adventures, Jacksonville, FL
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Biographical Information:
Edward Kennedy Ellington
Nickname: Duke
Born: 1899, Washington, D.C.
Died: 1974, New York City, New York
Musical Period: Modern - Orchestral Jazz, Swing, Big Band
Biographical Information:
Louis Armstrong
Nicknames: Satchmo, Pops
Born: 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana
Died: 1971, Queens, New York
Musical Period: Modern - American Jazz, Swing, Dixieland, Pop
Living Books
If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgill (Form 1)
Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Age (Cornerstones of Freedom: Second) by Dan Elish (Forms 2-4)
Satchmo’s Blues by Alan Schroeder - another option, but is embellished
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Duke Ellington by Mike Venezia (Forms 2-4)
Duke Ellington, The Piano Prince and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Form 1)
Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite by Anna Harwell Celenza - a special selection, if time allows (This book and cd show how Ellington modified Tchaikovsky’s famous Nutcracker.)
Websites
Louis Armstrong House Museum
Biography.com - Louis Armstrong
Biography.com - Duke Ellington
DukeEllington.com
PBS.org - Jazz
YouTube Playlist - This has many clips of Armstrong and Ellington performing live. As always, preview all links. Make sure to listen to the Spoken Intro version of What a Wonderful World.
Documentaries & Films - always preview
Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns (2001) - This title may be available on Amazon Prime or Netflix.
Louis Armstrong - Satchmo At His Best - Legends in Concert - YouTube
On the Road with Duke Ellington - YouTube
Additional Resources
Notebooking Sheet for Armstrong and Ellington
My Pinterest Page for Ellington and Armstrong
Composer Study Resources
If you would like more information on how to lead Composer Study in your home school or educational community, please read this Composer Study Workshop.
Co-op Study Description
We will study Armstrong and Ellington for 6 weeks out of one 12 week term. The odd weeks were dedicated to Artist Study. This is a good way to cover both subject areas and still encourage children to retain the information on the composer and continue listening to his works throughout the term. Ideally, you could make a CD for the children, or they could listen to the Spotify List that was created to accompany this study.
In the first week, we will introduce Armstrong and Ellington, providing their pictures, birth and death dates, country of birth and other countries in which they worked (both Armstrong and Ellington toured the world extensively with their respective bands). Look at these countries on a globe. If you or the children have a timeline or Book of Centuries, you can add the composer(s). If you have a timeline of music, Armstrong and Ellington fit in the Modern period.
We will then read a small portion of one man’s biography and have the children narrate it. For our young children, we will use If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgill and Duke Ellington, The Piano Prince and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney, these picture books will allow the children to connect well with the composers. We may also use these books for older children, but add in Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Age (Cornerstones of Freedom: Second) by Dan Elish, which provides a bit more depth. We will then play the selected piece for the day and ask children to narrate the piece. If this is the first term of composer study, I suggest that their narrations could include the following elements:
Sample Listening Selections
Click Here for a Spotify list of the music below. Bonus selections are included in the Spotify list.
Edward Kennedy Ellington
Nickname: Duke
Born: 1899, Washington, D.C.
Died: 1974, New York City, New York
Musical Period: Modern - Orchestral Jazz, Swing, Big Band
Biographical Information:
Louis Armstrong
Nicknames: Satchmo, Pops
Born: 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana
Died: 1971, Queens, New York
Musical Period: Modern - American Jazz, Swing, Dixieland, Pop
Living Books
If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgill (Form 1)
Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Age (Cornerstones of Freedom: Second) by Dan Elish (Forms 2-4)
Satchmo’s Blues by Alan Schroeder - another option, but is embellished
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Duke Ellington by Mike Venezia (Forms 2-4)
Duke Ellington, The Piano Prince and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Form 1)
Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite by Anna Harwell Celenza - a special selection, if time allows (This book and cd show how Ellington modified Tchaikovsky’s famous Nutcracker.)
Websites
Louis Armstrong House Museum
Biography.com - Louis Armstrong
Biography.com - Duke Ellington
DukeEllington.com
PBS.org - Jazz
YouTube Playlist - This has many clips of Armstrong and Ellington performing live. As always, preview all links. Make sure to listen to the Spoken Intro version of What a Wonderful World.
Documentaries & Films - always preview
Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns (2001) - This title may be available on Amazon Prime or Netflix.
Louis Armstrong - Satchmo At His Best - Legends in Concert - YouTube
On the Road with Duke Ellington - YouTube
Additional Resources
Notebooking Sheet for Armstrong and Ellington
My Pinterest Page for Ellington and Armstrong
Composer Study Resources
If you would like more information on how to lead Composer Study in your home school or educational community, please read this Composer Study Workshop.
Co-op Study Description
We will study Armstrong and Ellington for 6 weeks out of one 12 week term. The odd weeks were dedicated to Artist Study. This is a good way to cover both subject areas and still encourage children to retain the information on the composer and continue listening to his works throughout the term. Ideally, you could make a CD for the children, or they could listen to the Spotify List that was created to accompany this study.
In the first week, we will introduce Armstrong and Ellington, providing their pictures, birth and death dates, country of birth and other countries in which they worked (both Armstrong and Ellington toured the world extensively with their respective bands). Look at these countries on a globe. If you or the children have a timeline or Book of Centuries, you can add the composer(s). If you have a timeline of music, Armstrong and Ellington fit in the Modern period.
We will then read a small portion of one man’s biography and have the children narrate it. For our young children, we will use If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgill and Duke Ellington, The Piano Prince and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney, these picture books will allow the children to connect well with the composers. We may also use these books for older children, but add in Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Age (Cornerstones of Freedom: Second) by Dan Elish, which provides a bit more depth. We will then play the selected piece for the day and ask children to narrate the piece. If this is the first term of composer study, I suggest that their narrations could include the following elements:
- Any instruments they hear (remember the voice is an instrument)
- How the music makes them feel
- The author’s mood when he/she composed it
- Is the music telling us a story? If so, what story does the child imagine the music is telling?
- How does it compare to the other pieces of this composer?
- If you’ve studied this period of history, does the music “fit” with this period of history?
- Is it fast or slow, loud or soft, or both?
Sample Listening Selections
Click Here for a Spotify list of the music below. Bonus selections are included in the Spotify list.
- West End Blues
- Hotter Than That
- It’s a Wonderful World
- It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
- Ko-Ko
- Black, Brown, and Beige
- Take the “A” Train
