OPTIONS FOR SCHOOL GROUPS
Guided Highlights Tour
During an interactive tour of the exhibits, students learn about the history of country music. Integrating the museum's architectural details, music, films, visual art, and historic artifacts, the exhibits provide students with a multi-layered learning experience. During the tour, students have opportunities to listen to recordings and learn how different people, styles, and influences have affected the music. Students also learn about the growth and development of Nashville as a music industry center. All programs include a Guided Highlights Tour except Making Waves at Studio B.
Tour Length: 1 hour 30 minutes
Grades: K through 12
Maximum number of students: 80
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies, Visual Art
Words & Music
Words & Music is made possible by the Country Music Association Endowment for Words & Music. In this program, now in its thirty-first year, students write or co-write a song. The Words & Music Teacher's Guide assists teachers in guiding students through the lyric-writing process. Completed lessons are followed by a class visit to the museum, where a professional songwriter demonstrates the adding of melodies to students' original lyrics. The Words & Music lessons take approximately four to six class periods of one hour each to complete. Student lyrics must be submitted two weeks prior to the class visit to the museum.
Program Length: 2 hours 30 minutes
Grades: 3 through 12
Maximum number of students: 70
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies
Family Tradition Tour
During a guided tour of Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy, Co-Presented by SunTrust and Ford Motor Company, students examine photographs, video footage, stage costumes, interactive touch screens, and music listening stations to understand better the personal history of the Hank Williams family and their enduring impact on American music. A teacher's guide accompanies this program and includes pre- and post-visit lessons.
Program Length: 2 hours
Grades: 3 through 12
Maximum number of students: 70
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies
Making Waves at Studio B
(Available Monday and Wednesday mornings)
This program is conducted at Historic RCA Studio B, located on Music Row. Students learn about Studio B's historical significance, studio design, and the three basic phases of recording: tracking, mixing, and mastering. Students explore the various roles involved in these processes and learn about the science of sound as they participate in the mixing of a recording. A teacher's guide accompanies this program. Made possible by the Curb Family Foundation and through a partnership with Belmont University.
Program Length: 1 hour 30 minutes
Grades: 6 through 12
Maximum number of students: 30
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Science, Social Studies
Shapes, Sound Holes, and Strings
Students have an opportunity to learn about the banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin: their history, design, and the sounds they create. A teacher's guide accompanies this program and includes pre- and post-visit lessons. A traveling trunk containing the featured instruments can be checked out at the museum for classroom use. Classroom lessons are followed by a tour of the museum, focusing on instruments in the museum's collection and the distinctive artists who played them.
Program Length: 1 hour 30 minutes.
Grades: K through 6
Maximum number of students: 80
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Math, Music, Science, Social Studies, Visual Art
Deck the Hall Performance and Tour
(Available November 30, 2009 to December 18, 2009)
Celebrate the season by bringing a student band, orchestra, or chorus to perform at the museum during our holiday celebration. Performances should last thirty minutes or less and do not have to be holiday-themed. Single instrument accompaniment, recorded tracks, or a cappella performance is requested for choirs. Students are invited to tour the museum for free before or after their performance. Guided tours are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Program Length: 30 minute performance; 1 hour 30 minute tour
Grades: K through 12
Maximum number of students: 60 (Choir), 30 (Band)
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies, Visual Art
Contact the school programs coordinator to arrange a performance; (615) 416-2088.
Cool Costumes
In this program, students focus on stage costumes from the museum's collection. By looking at costume styles and their design details, students learn about different eras in American and country music history. Afterward, students listen to a country song, identify its main idea, discuss its imagery, and then create costume designs inspired by the song.
Program Length: 2 hours 15 minutes
Grades: K through 4
Maximum number of students: 60
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies, Visual Art
Is It a Fiddle or a Violin?
(Available the following Wednesdays, 2009-2010: 9/16, 9/30, 10/14, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 1/6. 1/20, 2/24, 3/3, 3/31. 4/28, 5/19; home-school groups: 3/17)
In Texas it's a fiddle. In Boston it's a violin. In Nashville it depends. This one-of-a-kind, toe-tapping partnership-which could only happen in Music City, USA-joins the resources of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum with those of the Nashville Symphony. From tours to musical performances-classical to country music-Is It a Fiddle or a Violin? will challenge you to think about music in new ways.
Program Length: 2 hours
Grades: K through 6
Maximum number of students: 80
Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Music, Social Studies, Visual Art
Words & Music is made possible by The Country Music Association Endowment for Words & Music. The Words & Music Teacher's Guide was funded by The ASCAP Irving Caesar Fund and Ford Motor Company Fund. Additional support for school programs is provided by the Memorial Foundation and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The education programs of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are funded in part by grants from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and from the Tennessee Arts Commission, through an agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts.
