OMX BannerOnMusic Explorations is the first step in your students’ journey to explore and hopefully start to untangle the mysterious power that music has on billions of people world-wide every day.

Beginning with a broad introduction to basic music concepts and organizing elements, OnMusic Explorations helps your students dig deeper into the musical components so they can become more perceptive listeners. With this foundation in place, the text shifts focus onto exploring the panorama of music genres from America, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Latin America.

Getting Started

This section does not have any lessons.

Section 1: Basic Musical Concepts

Introduction

Class 1: Can Music Have a Specific Purpose?

Can Music Have A Specific Purpose?

Class 2: The Performer’s Role

The Performer’s Role

Class 3: Types of Listeners

Types of Listeners 1: The Casual Listener
Types of Listeners 2: The Referential Listener
Types of Listeners 3: The Critical and Perceptive Listeners

Class 4: The Structure of Music

The Structure of Music

Class 5: Duration, Pitch, and Volume

Duration, Pitch, and Volume 1
Duration, Pitch, and Volume 2
Duration, Pitch, and Volume 3
Duration, Pitch, and Volume 4

Class 6: Instrumental and Vocal Timbre

Instrumental Timbre
Vocal Timbre 1
Vocal Timbre 2

Class 7: Orchestral Timbre

Orchestral Timbre 1: The Symphony Orchestra
Orchestral Timbre 2: The Orchestral Conductor

Class 8: Rhythm, Tempo, and Meter

Rhythm 1
Rhythm 2
Tempo 1
Tempo 2
Meter 1
Meter 2

Class 9: Melody

Melody 1
Melody 2
Melody 3
Melody 4
Melody 5
Melody 6

Class 10: Harmony

Harmony 1
Harmony 2

Class 11: Form

Form 1
Form 2
Form 3

Section 2: Contemporary Genres

Introduction

Class 12: What Is Jazz?

Essential Features
Improvisation
Swing Feeling
Bluesy Flavor

Class 13: The Blues

The Blues
Essential Features: Pitch Bending and Harmony
Chords
Blues Chord Progressions
12-Bar Form and Tonality
Listening Skills
Summary

Class 14: Pivotal Figures Before Modern Jazz

Jelly Roll Morton
Louis Armstrong
Benny Goodman
Art Tatum
Duke Ellington
Mary Lou Williams
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald

Class 15: Bebop and the Advent of Modern Jazz

Modern Jazz
Bebop
Charlie Parker
Parker’s Style
Bebop, Ballads, and Blues
Dizzy Gillespie
Gillespie, Parker, and 52nd Street
Afro-Cuban Jazz

Class 16: Early Exponents of Cool Jazz

Cool Jazz
Miles Davis and The Birth of Cool
Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker
Lennie Tristano & Lee Konitz
1950 Metronome Magazine “All-Stars” Bands

Class 17: Miles Davis, Modal Jazz, and Bill Evans

Miles Davis
Miles Davis Sextet, 1959
Modal Jazz
Davis’ “So What”
Davis’ “Flamenco Sketches”
Bill Evans
Bill Evans Trio

Class 18: Ragtime, Popular Song, and Jazz Roots of Rock

Introduction
Broadway and Ragtime
Dixieland
Swing and Big Band
Conclusion

Class 19: Rural Blues and Urban Blues

Introduction
Musical and Poetic Form of the 12-Bar Blues
Rural Blues
Urban Blues
Boogie Woogie
Commercial or Arranged Blues
Conclusion

Class 20: Other African American Roots

Spirituals
Gospel Music
Vocal Harmony Groups
Early Rhythm and Blues
The Audience for Rhythm and Blues
Conclusion

Class 21: Swing and Big Bands

Introduction
Music Consumption in the Swing Era
Society Syncopators
Big Bands
White Swing Bandleaders
Kansas City Swing
Conclusion

Class 22: Rhythm and Blues Becomes Rock and Roll

Introduction
New Technologies and Means of Consumption
Alan Freed
Ray Charles and the Gospel Side of Rock and Roll
Rhythm and Blues Crosses Over
Cover Versions
Conclusion

Class 23: Elvis Presley

Introduction
Sam Phillips and Sun Records
The Hillbilly Cat
Colonel Tom Parker and Presley at RCA-Victor
Presley’s Cover Versions
Presley After the 1950s
Conclusion

Class 24: Rockabilly

Introduction
Rockabilly
Jerry Lee Lewis
Johnny Cash
Other Rockabilly Stars
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The Day the Music Died
Conclusion

Class 25: Bluegrass

Introduction
The Roots of Bluegrass
Bill Monroe and the Birth of Bluegrass
Bill Monroe and the Birth of Bluegrass (Continued)
Bluegrass Takes Off
Bluegrass and the Folk Music Revival
Conclusion

Class 26: Soul

Introduction
The African American Presence in Pop
Motown 1
Motown 2
Motown 3
Atlantic and Stax
Conclusion

Class 27: The British Invasion: The Beatles

Introduction
Rock and Roll in the United Kingdom
Becoming The Beatles
Becoming The Beatles (Continued)
Beatlemania
The Music of the Beatles
From Songs to Recordings
Conclusion

Class 28: The British Invasion: The Rolling Stones

Introduction
The British Blues Revival
Making the Rolling Stones
Jagger and Richards as Songwriters
Breaking into the United States
The Music of the Rolling Stones
Conclusion

Class 29: Folk and Folk Rock

Introduction
Folk Music Before the 1960s
Authentic vs. Commercial
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (Continued)
The Rise of Folk Rock
Dylan’s Influence During the 1960s
Conclusion

Class 30: Country Rock and Southern Rock

Introduction
Country Rock
Country Rock (Continued)
Southern Rock 1
Southern Rock 2
Southern Rock 3
Conclusion

Class 31: Hard Rock

Introduction
Hard Rock: Predecessors
Hard Rock: Early Examples
Led Zeppelin 1
Led Zeppelin 2
Led Zeppelin 3
Led Zeppelin’s Influence
Conclusion

Class 32: Hip-Hop

Introduction
The Roots of Hip-Hop
Early Commercial Hip-Hop
Hip-Hop Goes Mainstream
Hip-Hop Goes Mainstream (Continued)
Hip-Hop Takes Over
Conclusion

Section 3: Music of the World

Introduction

Class 33: Exploring the Landscape of African Music

Introduction
Colonial Africa
Music in Community Life I: Music in the Sande Initiation
Music in Community Life II: Music and Dance

Class 34: African Instruments, Drum Language, and Popular Music

African Instruments I: Regional Differences
African Instruments II: Musical Instruments as Symbols
African Drum Language 1
African Drum Language 2
Modern Popular Music in Africa & Conclusion

Class 35: Music of Japan

Introduction and History
Aesthetics
Westernization and Religion
Musical Elements

Class 36: Instruments & Japanese Folk and Pop Music

Instruments: Koto and Shamisen
Instruments: Shakuhachi and Taiko
Japanese Folk & Pop Music

Class 37: The Many Voices of Latin American Music

Introduction
History and Culture of Indigenous Peruvian Music
Music in Pre-Columbian Peru
Indigenous Music of Latin America: Peru (Continued)
Sounds of Africa: African Slaves in Brazil
Europeans and Africans in Latin America

Class 38: Music of Colombia

Colombian Music: Introduction
Colombian Music (Continued)
An In-Depth Look into the Vocal Music from the Colombian Pacific
Folk Chant: Alabaos
Gualies
The Voice of the People I
The Voice of the People II
Elements from African and European Music

Class 39: In the Concert Hall

Indigenous, African, and Vernacular Traditions
Indigenous, African, and Vernacular Traditions (Continued)
Latin American Composers on the World Stage
Latin American Composers on the World Stage (Continued); Conclusion