This presentation teaches 25 words and phrases about American country music to a college level ESL class.

1. American Country Music Vocabulary

2. Before we begin: If you learn what’s in this presentation, you will . . . Teacher Bao

3. do better on exams (e.g., CET, TOEFL, IELTS, BEC)

4. have something to talk about with foreign friends

5. Let’s get started!

6. “Country music is the people's music . . .

7. It just speaks about real life …

8. and about truth . . .

9. and it tells things how they really are.” Faith Hill, Country Singer

10. GeneralVocabulary

11. Composer Person who writes the music for songs

12. Lyrics- the words of a song Lyricist- the writer of words for a song

13. Ballad - a slow, sad song that tells a story, often romantic, historic, or tragic

14. Genre- a type or category, in this case, of music

15. Crossover A song that starts in one musical genre and becomes popular in another genre

16. Twang: when singing, sounds made through the nose; a characteristic of early country music Click here to listen to the sound of TWANG george_strait-twang.mp3 Hint: in the new page, click on the “play” button in the upper left hand corner

17. Yodel- a form of singing where the voice changes quickly between the normal voice and a very high sound (falsetto) Click here to listen to someone yodel

18. Cover- a recording of a song that was first recorded by somebody else

19. The Grand Ole Opry (1) a place; a theater in the American South (Tennessee) that produces live country music shows (2) a weekly country music radio program

21. Roots of Country Music

22. Sources of Country Music Church Singers Trains Steamboats Singing Cowboys Banjo Players Square Dancing Folk Singers Fiddlers Fiddlers

23. Instruments of Country Music

24. Guitar Bass Banjo Fiddle Mandolin Steel guitar

25. Banjo

26. Fiddle

27. Mandolin

28. Guitar

29. Steel Guitar

30. Bass

31. Types of Country Music

32. Country Music Genres Hillbilly Rock - A - billy Singing Cowboy Honky Tonk Blue grass Neo- Country Nashville Sound

33. Hillbilly 土包子 Country music from Texas and Oklahoma; rough, loud and often including yodeling

34. Singing Cowboy

35. Honky-tonk A type of country music first played in noisy [热闹的] bars; often included a piano

36. 猫王 Rockabilly a blend of black music and country music; part of the roots of rock and roll

37. Bluegrass A type of country music played at a rapid speed on banjosand guitars

38. The Nashville Sound Country music that includes elements of popular music; broadcast on radio & TV out of Nashville, Tennessee

39. Neotraditional Country Modern country music that takes its inspiration from traditional country artists

40. Country Music’s Place in Time

41. Timeline

42. 1941 Hillbilly 1922

43. 1935 1955 Singing Cowboys

44. Tonk 1955 Honky 1941

45. Rockabilly 1960 1954

46. 1940 Present … Bluegrass

47. 1958 Nashville Sound Present …

48. Neotraditional Present … 1980

49. Appendix Country music IS the people's music!

50. Word List In this presentation all vocabulary words appear in yellow

51. Timeline Hillbilly 1922 - 1941 Singing Cowboys 1935 - 1955 Bluegrass 1940 - Present Honky-tonk 1941 - 1955 Rockabilly 1954 - 1960 Nashville Sound 1958 - Present Neotraditional 1985 - Present

52. References Anderson, S. E. [compiled by] (2003). The quotable musician: from Bach to Tupac. New York, NY: Allworth Press Tribe, I. M. (2006). Country: a regional exploration. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press