Free Banjo Project & Spoons Project Lessons

From Nothing to Something 

I can't wait for an opportunity to travel!  This museum looks so interesting!

The National Museum of African American Music is now open in Music City - Nashville, Tennessee.  The mission of the museum is to educate the world, preserve the legacy, and celebrate the central role African Americans play in creating the American soundtrack.

The museum includes galleries showcasing the evolution of African American music traditions, religious experience, the Great Migration and the blues, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and Urban Renewal.  The Museum Without Walls features in-person and online programs with artists and music industry insiders.

As a Quaver teacher for many years, I learned of the partnership between QuaverEd (also located in Nashville) and the NMAAM when the Spoons Project and the Banjo Project were added to my account. My students LOVED the Spoons Project and Lucius "Spoonman" Talley last spring!  I was thrilled to see that these lessons are freely available to all via the education page on the NMAAM website.  

The lesson series is titled From Nothing To Something (FN2S).  

The QuaverEd lessons can be found here: http://www.quavermusic.com/fn2s

How I Used the Spoons Project

My teaching schedule had me seeing the same class for an entire week, then rotating on to the next class on a 5-week rotation.  This project was the perfect fit for my 5 lesson schedule, and I was even able to complete most of the activities in only 4 days when we had a short week. Because of time, I was not able to complete every one of the activities.  There is a lot of material for us to choose from!  Here is what I did.

Lesson 1: Spoons Project Lesson 1-Overview

• Screen 2: I displayed and we read the project objectives. Click on that green arrow and check out the Listen to the Spoons link.  This is an audio example with discussion or writing prompts. We watched the performance example on that page. 
• Screen 3: Listen to animated Spoonman Talley talk about the Essential Question.  Allow the students to answer his question. 
• I went on to Screen 5 and we met Mr. Talley, then skipped to Screen 7 and watched How to Play Spoons video.  At this point, my students were so ready to get to playing!  
• I passed out the spoons and allowed them some time to experiment.  We did some echo patterns using some of Spoonman Talley's examples.  Then, I asked them to play a different pattern from me, to improvise.  
• Finally, we skipped over to Screen 12 and we played our spoons to several of the tracks.

Lesson 2: Spoons Project Lesson 2-How to Play Spoons

• Screen 2: Review the Essential Question
• Screen 3: Watch the How To Play Spoons Part 2 video (3 min)
• Screen 4:  Spoonman Talley describes how spoons, bones, and drums developed as instruments. Click on the Compare button to compare the three.
• Pass out the spoons and practice similar to lesson 1.  Try some different patterns or tapping on different body parts to get different sounds.  
• Screen 11: Improvise to some of the audio tracks as a group, then allow solo opportunities.

Stay Tuned!

The next part in this series where I share more lessons and the best places to get spoons! 

More on Teaching Spoons