Music, Society, and Culture with PBS LearningMedia

Help your students to expand their cultural repertoire with these featured resources centered on music, society, and culture. Register for full access to the free service.

Stephen Kent: Music
Grades 6-13+ | Video | Musical Creation & Performance
Meet a composer and musician who has been playing the didgeridoo – a traditional aboriginal instrument – for more than 25 years.  In that time, Stephen Kent has created a unique, contemporary style of execution influenced more by his travels than by a desire to continue within the Australian aboriginal musical tradition. 

The Ukulele and Hawaiian Culture
Grades 6-12 | Video Collection | Music and Society
Learn about the evolution of the ukulele in Hawaiian history with Hawaiian native and skilled ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro. In this video Shimabukuro shares his experience in rapidly gaining popularity after a video of him performing in Central Park was posted on YouTube and immediately went viral.

Native American Culture: Cherokee
Grades 6-12 | Video | Exploring World Cultures
Learn from Cherokee singer Paula Nelson as she uses music to teach a greeting and farewell in Cherokee.  In the second part of the segment, Nelson performs a song called “It’s Going to Rain.” Her performance was taped at the 2006 Festival of Native Peoples in Cherokee, N.C.

Ancestors Talk Through Drums
Grades 6-12 | Video | Exploring World Cultures
Camilo Molina Gaetan is learning to play many styles of Afro-Caribbean music like the Rumba from Cuba and the Bomba from Puerto Rico. He has been playing drums since he was four years old. Watch this fourth grader learn to play various styles of Afro-Caribbean drum music.

Gullah Music
Grades 4-12 | Video | Music and Society
Learn about the Gullah/Geechee culture that is kept alive through an annual festival on the island of Sapelo. This video describes the community of Sapelo Island located off the coast of Georgia. In order to preserve and educate people outside Sapelo, they bring people to the island to teach them about Gullah/Geechee life and culture.

We Are the Music
Grades 3-4 | Video Collection | Exploring World Cultures
Use this video gallery to explore the contributions of the ethnic and cultural groups that settled in New Mexico and the American Southwest. These diverse communities include the Native Americans, Spanish, Mexicans, Crypto-Jewish, Celtic, German, Greek, Japanese, Tibetan, Sikh and the Central Americans. All performers and narrators in these segments are of school-age.

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