Libby Larsen used three inspirations from her life to write Hambone. First, she was inspired by early rock ‘n roll rhythms, particularly those written by Bo Diddley, from her high school days when she had her own rock band. The second inspiration is the African-American tradition of hamboning – clapping and slapping to create fun, new rhythms, and finally the melodies of the traditional cakewalk, reminiscent of Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk.” The curriculum explores all three of these inspirations with various musical and visual examples, and explains African American oral traditions, linking this piece to places all over the world, from Ghana and the Ivory Coast to Paris, France. A free downloadable interdisciplinary curriculum for teaching Hambone is available at www.BandQuest.org.
BandQuest®, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email bandquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog.
