Black History Month Music lesson plans

General music classroom ideas include “What Can One Little Person Do?”, celebrating the lives of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the song “Martin Luther King” shared by Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Music plays a large role in black history. Here are some resources music educators can share with their students. The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) offers a variety of lesson plans, and here are few from other sources.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is excited to offer a series of Jazz Fundamentals videos. Join drummer Bryan Carter and his band as they explore, explain, and perform some of the basic concepts of Jazz in a fun and swinging set!

February is Black History Month. Explore the many contributions of African-Americans with several cross-curricular lessons, printables, quizzes, and activities below! Utilize these resources for grades K-12.

Jazz is the low moan of a saxophone, the growl of a trumpet, or staccato notes on a snare drum. Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) describes the art form as “a mingling of the musical expressions of all the people who came to the United States, by choice or by force; people from Africa, Europe, Latin America, as well as people who were already living in the U.S. Jazz was created by mixing together music from field chants and spirituals, to African rhythms and folk songs.”