Fresh Beats: Book & CD

Name: Fresh Beats: Book & CD
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-40581
Price: 29.99 USD
Availability: InStock

A Standards Based Hip-Hop Curriculum

By Robert Vagi

Grade: 6--12

Item: 00-40581

$29.99

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This groundbreaking program is a new resource for secondary general music classes, designed to help teachers involve more students in their programs. The book is fully reproducible and includes information and resources to acquaint teachers with hip-hop music and culture, as well as easy-to-use lessons that teach the National Standards for Music Education. The curriculum will engage students while enhancing their musical and critical thinking skills as they learn about the history of hip-hop and its role in society, listen to and critique popular music, write their own rap songs, and learn to compose and perform drumbeats using the accompanying CD. An essential resource for teachers wishing to provide their students with a contemporary, high-quality music education!

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2 Drum Set Lesson 1 - Rhythm 1 with counting --:--

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Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 132

ISBN10: 0-7390-9408-4

ISBN13: 978-0-7390-9408-2

UPC: 038081455075

SKU: 00-40581

More about this title

Why we love this

Vagi gives general music teachers permission to teach contemporary music without abandoning rigor. The curriculum grounds hip-hop study in the National Standards while keeping students genuinely engaged, rather than defaulting to either disconnected theory lessons or unfocused listening sessions. Because the book is reproducible and the CD provides ready-made audio, you can launch this unit immediately.

What to expect

Fresh Beats brings the energy and social relevance of hip-hop into the classroom without oversimplifying the genre. Students engage with real compositional choices, cultural history, and their own creative voices simultaneously, making music education feel like something that matters to their world.

Who it's for

Secondary general music teachers working with diverse student populations who want coursework that reflects students' actual listening lives. Any educator interested in teaching hip-hop history, cultural analysis, and songwriting alongside traditional music curriculum will find this comprehensive and classroom-ready.

How to get the most out of it

Have students listen to the accompaniment tracks multiple times before attempting to compose or perform. Familiarity breeds confidence and helps them internalize the rhythmic patterns.
When students write rap lyrics, collect and share work anonymously first. This removes self-consciousness and creates space for honest critique and revision.
Start beat composition exercises with call-and-response patterns rather than full compositions. Smaller units make the compositional process less overwhelming.
Pair listening activities with structured note-taking prompts. Students will retain more about hip-hop history and cultural context if they're actively documenting observations.

How to use it

Build this into a semester-long unit within your general music course or create a dedicated hip-hop elective. It pairs well with a traditional music history sequence, offering students contemporary context for understanding rhythm, lyricism, and cultural expression. The reproducible format makes it scalable whether you're teaching one class or five.