How Music Connects Us During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Music Uniting A Community

Americans continue to follow social distancing rules because of COVID-19, but they are still searching for ways to connect with each other. For the members of the Red and Black Brass Band in St. Louis, that means bringing music to the streets of their hometown. Read the summary, watch the video, and answer the discussion questions. To read the transcript of the video above, click here. 

Discussion Questions

1. Have your students identify the 5Ws and an H (Who is the story about, what are the people in the story doing to connect with each other, when and where is this happening, why are these solutions needed, and how are they carrying them out). Then have students share with the class or through a Learning Management System (LMS).
2. Focus questions: Why does music make us feel connected to each other? How might this be the case particularly during coronavirus?
3. Media literacy: What further information would you like to know about the Red and Black Brass Band?
4. Dig deeper: Why does music give us chills, motivate us to work out and make us feel connected to one another? Neuroscientist and opera singer Indre Viskontas explains the power of music and its effects on our brains in her book, “How Music Can Make You Better.”

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Extra.