Sister Rosetta Tharpe Lesson
BLUES MUSIC
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a gospel, blues, and rock and roll musician. She was playing rock and roll guitar before anyone else did... so why didn't she get the credit for starting rock and roll? Three reasons: she was a queer black woman. At the time, the world was more kind toward straight white men, and so Elvis Presley usually gets the credit for starting rock and roll music. But we know the truth!
Rosetta sang songs in her church with her mom when she was only 6 years old. Audiences loved their performances, and they would travel to other cities to sing. As she grew up, Rosetta learned to play the guitar, and when electric guitars were invented, she played like nobody else! She gave her church songs (or gospel songs) some electricity by adding her guitar riffs and dancing. Some people thought that church songs should stay in church, but others recognized her talent for adding flair to the songs.
However, in America, black people were not treated very well. They were enslaved, and even after they got their freedom, a lot of white people were still mean to them. They weren't allowed to attend the same schools, they couldn't use the same bathrooms, and they couldn't have jobs. The black community stuck together and created jobs for themselves as performers, usually singing the blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz music. Even though they were the ones who were working and performing at a restaurant, they were not allowed to walk in through the front door, they were not allowed to sit at tables with white people, and they could not eat inside the restaurant. Rosetta and her band had to go inside through the back door, they had to eat their food on their bus, and they slept on the bus because they were not allowed to sleep in hotels. This is not fair at all!
In this lesson, you'll find:
Story
Materials List
Prep Steps
Step-by-Step Instructions
Resources
Social Connections
Art Concepts
Suggestions to Accommodate Alternative Learners
Reflection Questions
Printable Worksheet
Student Work
Materials Needed:
Colored pencils, markers, or crayons including skin colors
Printed coloring sheet
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Coloring sheet provided by artsphere.org