Learn about instruments and compositional techniques. Also, explore various musical styles and meet musicians featured on Knowitall.
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Dick Goodwin discusses Dizzy Gillespie’s style of playing, and covers one of Dizzy’s most famous songs: “Con Alma.”
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Dizzy Gillespie was not only a great entertainer, but was also known for being an influential music teacher. He earned his status as a famous musician not through instant gratification, but through...
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The group discusses Dizzy Gillespie’s legacy, and what he meant to them, as a teacher, musician, and human being. Here, the song “Birks Works” is played by Charlton Singleton.
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Dick Goodwin returns to talk with the group about Dizzy Gillespie’s personality, and how Dizzy was able to influence an entire generation’s interest in this style of music, with his motivation, and...
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INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the link above to access the Google Docs document. You can go under File and select " Make a Copy" to add to your own Google Drive or " Print." In Be a Music Critic, listen to...
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pitch – the highness or lowness of a tone rhythm –a pattern of long and short sounds and silences in music improvisation – composing music as it is being performed tempo – the speed or pace of a piece...
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A short profile of many popular musicians who got their start in Spartanburg, S.C., including Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones, Paul Riddle, the Marshall Tucker Band, Pink Anderson (from whom Pink...
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The double bass is the one member of the modern violin family whose roots are in the viola da gamba, or viol family. The next time you see a double bass, notice that its back is flat, like a viol’s...
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When a percussionist says, “I’m playing bells in this piece,” he means he’s playing the glockenspiel. Glocke is the German word for bell, and Glockenspiel literally means “bell-play.” The modern...
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The Trumpet is the highest pitched and most brilliant member of the brass family. Miles Hoffman discusses the history of the trumpet.