Looking for teaching resources to celebrate black musical role models?

This month, we’re thrilled to share a brand new mini-collection, Black Musical Histories, which offers just a taste of the impact black musicians and artists have had across so many forms of instrumental music. We also have a bespoke set of reimagined teaching resources dedicated to the topic, which you can also explore alongside our existing Celebrating Musical Role Models collection.

To escape the confines of genre, which often pigeonhole artists into political and social binaries, in this collection we chose to focus on these artists’ varied use of instruments, re-imagining our understanding of sound and history in a new context.

So join us on a journey through sound from across the globe, from Europe to Central Africa to North America and West Africa, through minutes recorded in contrasting environments and representing different themes. We’ve included music of resistance; an Iranian composition for reggae and a Malian song meaning ‘patience’ (soubour / Sabr in Arabic) made in exile. In addition to classical music, jazz and children’s songs, there are also recordings of buskers from London and New York.

To access the collection and resources, simply log in or sign up for a free account, and then start listening!