Music teacher and Arlington native Anne Smith struggled to find a way to relate the academic study of classical and Harlem Renaissance musicians to her students at Jefferson-Houston School in Alexandria.
A few years ago, she found the answer. She began teaching them about more current artists from the 20th century with whom they could more easily connect to by using various interactive activities like crossword puzzles.
Soon after, Smith decided to share this information with music lovers and students across the country with the release of her book “Good News” in July 2015.
In her book, Smith examines how musical giants such as Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Ray Charles were not only influenced by Gospel music but also how these musicians helped to shape the genre of Gospel music.
In addition to mini-biographies of each artist, Smith uses activities such as fill-in-blank, crossword puzzles, true/false, pyramid and spelling and writing activities to teach the reader about these artists and the role Gospel music has played in their musical development.
“It is American music. It is a musical genre that has started in America and we have always ignored it in our culture but it is celebrated around the world,” she said.
During the nine months of research and writing, Smith’s greatest challenge was finding information on many of the earlier pioneers of Gospel music. Since many of these individuals are getting older and dying, their legacies are being lost because there are not a lot of written resources about them.
Smith relied heavily on the material gained from each artist's hometown's historical society and chamber of commerce.
In addition, she also utilized a few older academic books as well as information from the Gospel Music Association of American and the Thomas Dorsey Convention of Choirs.
Being a graduate of Howard University’s music department also helped her research because she was able to meet many of these individuals during their previous visits to Howard’s campus.
As a music lover herself, Smith was already knowledgeable about many of the artists profiled in the book; however, she did learn some about the lesser-known figures in the Gospel music genre such as performer Sally Martin who also owned a Gospel music publishing company.
“Gospel is the backbone. It has really permeated every genre. From the Motown sound to Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, it has really changed the way we experience music. Whitney Houston wouldn’t be who she was if not for her choir director mother pushing her,” she said.
Although she does not have any upcoming book events in the area, she has received an enthusiastic response from her students who have used some of the activities from the book.
Recently, one of her 5th grade students came in and told her that he was watching an interview with a sports hero and the athlete mentioned Yolanda Adams. After learning this, he excitedly told his parents that Yolanda Adams was one of the artists he learned about in his music class.
“As much as I love classical composers, most of our students don’t listen to that. But this music that they do listen to and that they are connected with we were ignoring. Having the kids get excited about the different ways they can interact with the material has been the best response,” she said.
In an era of standardized testing, Smith hopes that “Good News” will show educators how the arts can be a vital part of the core curriculum through engaging students in history, critical thinking and reading through the forum of music.
“I hope it inspires other people, especially my students, to look at music outside the box and understand how it connects to the world,” she said.
Inspired by a suggestion from one of her students, she plans to write another book about Latin artists.
“Good News” is available on Amazon.com and also through Tate Publishing at www.tatepublishing.com.
More information about future book events can be found through the “Good News” Facebook page.
Smith is a native and resident of Arlington. She remembers learning to drive on the parking lot of the Pentagon as a teenager. In her spare time, she also enjoys reading, scrapbooking, watching movies and enjoying music. One of her favorite musical artists is Michael Jackson.
She has a degree in musical therapy with a double minor in voice and piano from Howard University, and a master’s in teaching from Regent University and an education development specialist degree from Liberty University. She teaches general music to pre-K to 5th grade and choral music to 6th-8th grade at Jefferson-Houston School in Alexandria.