Students at Duluth’s Congdon Elementary celebrated the first day of Black History Month Tuesday with a hands-on music lesson. Music Teacher Todd Garland uses music to teach his students about history.

“Throughout the year I always bring in different artists for the kids to listen to and tell them about how that person influenced music,” he said.

This month’s lessons will focus on Black musicians that pushed the boundaries of modern music. “Music would not be what it is today without that African American influence coming into it,” he said.

Garland talks about musicians and then plays some of their music for the kids. Today’s highlighted artists were Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Ray Charles.

“We were bringing in those two to people today to talk about and try to bring it forward to see how we could hear their sounds today still,” said Garland. After learning about the artists, kids have an opportunity to play along and explore the rhythm and musical patterns of the songs.

Isaiah Mason, a fifth-grader at Congdon, says the hands-on lessons help him hear influences in the music he listens to.

“I listen to jazz a lot and one of the pieces that we listened to, I can hear that in the pieces that I listen to,” Mason said.

He said he thinks it’s important to learn about all different kinds of musicians. “I think it’s pretty important to learn not just some, but lots of different types of composers, and different cultures of music,” he said. Garland believes that bringing the kids into the music making process helps them understand that music is a collaborative process.

“We really want to give them their own instruments get them playing get them to understand that it’s really a community effort to make this music,” he said.

This month, he hopes teaching the musical contributions of the Black community will help them understand their significance. “You have to know the past to know where you are, how you got here,” said Garland.

Harvard University has a list of Black History Month resources for educators on its website. https://www.harvard.edu/in-focus/black-history-month/

To watch the video version of this report and see related stories, follow this link to the KBJR-TV website. https://www.kbjr6.com/2022/02/01/teaching-with-tunes-local-school-kicks-off-black-history-month-with...