Scott Eriksen: Cool Reggae Music by Karen Latchana Kenney

Scott Eriksen

Cool Reggae Music by Karen Latchana Kenney

Cool Reggae Music gives students the opportunity to learn about a type of music that they usually might not. The book does a good job in giving the reader enough basic understanding of music outside reggae to help the reader know what makes reggae so special and unique. The book gives a timeline of reggae history from the colonial era through the modern day, explains how a reggae group is put together (instrumentation, what the roles of each instrument are) and identifies any typical musical characteristics of reggae music. After the information part, there are activities where a student can construct basic reggae instruments, like bongos, claves and a scraper, as well as a roadmap for composing a reggae song/dance combination to let students use the information in a creative way. I’d be able to use this in the classroom to educate students about a genre that is probably less familiar than other genres like rock, classical or pop music - the explanations offer a good foundation for other lessons to build off of in the classroom.