Teacher Study Guides
Over the course of my work involving blues in the schools, I have created a succession of supporting materials for my teaching concerts and residency work.
The guides provide strong background and historical material for those interested in furthering their understanding and deepening their teaching of African-American and American music and history.
The links below will open PDF documents for each of these study guides.
–Scott Ainslie
- From Diddley Bow to Bo Diddly: Making Cigar Box Guitars
- Before Rock ‘n’ Roll
- Threads of American Music Study Guide examines the various cultural ‘threads’ that are woven together to create American music.
- Across The Color Line Study Guide opens by examining trauma and cultural survival and outlines the various African retentions that continue to function as organizing principles in American music today.
- The Roots Of Coolness Study Guide examines the aesthetics and spiritual underpinnings of the Yoruba notion of Itutu, or ‘coolness.’
- Robert Johnson Study Guide provides a comprehensive framing of the work and life of this seminal Delta Blues legend.
- BluesRoots Study Guide contains an introduction to Blues styles and traditions and five days of classroom activities. (Note: this is a web resource, not a pdf.)