PROGRAM GUIDE
This information is intended to prepare teachers and students for a Young Audiences performance.
GRETA PEDERSEN
Songs of Our American Story
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
In this highly interactive presentation filled with singing, call and response, body percussion and more, Greta
Pedersen plays dulcimer and guitar and introduces audiences to the stories behind the songs of the colonies, coal
mines and spirituals that help make up part of our American history. She uses student and teacher volunteers to
accompany her on a song following a quick “on-the-spot” lesson on the washboard and spoons. Her repertoire is
customized for grades K-2 and 3-5.
From her repertoire, the program may include such songs as:
Sixteen Tons by Merle Travis which reflects the hard life of a coal miner.
Bought Me a Cat, a traditional barnyard song from the Appalachian Mountains, similar to another familiar
folk song, Old MacDonald.
Follow the Drinking Gourd, a traditional spiritual that was secretly an oral road map which gave slaves
instructions how to find their way north to the Underground Railroad and eventually to freedom.
This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, who wrote this song as he reflected on his travels across the
United States. Students learn appropriate ASL signs (American Sign Language) for the chorus.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Greta Pedersen is the recipient of multiple awards including the Young Audiences 2008 Sunburst Award. As a
songwriter, performer and educator, Greta has performed nationally in concerts and schools, radio and television.
Her music has been licensed to numerous projects including Scholastic, Inc. and various video soundtracks and her
"Music Is Magic" video has been broadcast on the Learning Channel. She was one of eleven artist educators
selected to create lesson plans for Oregon Public Broadcasting’s (OPB) innovative online Art Beat @ School.
Greta studied music in Vienna, Austria before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Stanford
University. She plays guitar, piano, lap dulcimer and autoharp. Greta has been a mentor coach for Young
Audiences Coaching Cadre Program since 2004 and has been on the artist roster since 2000.
ABOUT THE ART FORM
Folk music is literally music of the people. In times past, music was integrated into the very fabric of daily life. As
people migrated to the United States, they brought their own music and adapted it to their new life. Thus, sea
chanties and cowboy songs trace their roots to Europe, spirituals reflect rhythmic and vocal inflections from
Africa, and English contradances evolved into pioneer square dances and parlor games. Music serves as a unifying
force within a community or social movement; our musical heritage is filled with songs for work and relaxation,
©2008-2009
Young Audiences 1220 SW Morrison, Suite 900 Portland, OR 97205-2228
Phone (503) 225-5900 (360) 693-1829 FAX (503) 225-0953 [email protected]
war and peace, and calls for social change. One evocative debate within the current folk community is how to
define folk music in present day. Traditional folk music is in the “public domain”, belonging to everyone, and often
with no known author. Well-loved folk songs of the 20th century, such as “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody
Guthrie, challenge that traditional definition. Though not as prominent a force today, folk music still connects us
with our past, continues to evolve and change to reflect our present, and thereby inform future generations.
VOCABULARY
American Sign Language (ASL): A complex visual-spatial language that is used by the Deaf community in the
United States and English-speaking parts of Canada.
Chorus: In a song, a section in which its melody and words are repeated, often stating the main idea of the song.
Company Store (as referred to in “Sixteen Tons”): A store owned and operated by the mining company.
Miners were forced to purchase supplies there, at inflated prices. Purchases were often charged against
forthcoming wages or paid using scrip (see below).
Constellation: a collection of stars which appears to create an image, similar to a dot-to-dot picture. Many
constellations are connected to legend and myth.
North Star (Polaris): A bright star at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle, it is situated 1° off celestial north. It
appears in the same area of the sky year round, making it a good navigational tool.
Dulcimer: A three-or four-stringed, narrow instrument, often in an hour-glass or tear-drop shape; also called
mountain, lap or Appalachian dulcimer. It is different from the hammered dulcimer.
Folk Song: A song originating from an area or country, often passed down through oral tradition.
Guitar: Most often a six-stringed, fretted instrument, with a flat back, rounded body, and long neck; played by
picking or strumming.
Harriet Tubman: Born a slave, she escaped to the North and became a major leader in the Underground
Railroad, leading over 300 people to freedom.
Hobo: A person who wanders, without a permanent home or place of work.
Melody: A sequence of notes, creating a distinctive phrase or musical idea.
Oral Tradition: The passing of information from generation to generation by word of mouth (through song or
story), as opposed to printed word.
Percussion Instruments: Instruments that sound by striking, scraping or shaking.
Scrip: Currency issued by the coal companies in lieu of United States currency. Only the company store (see above)
recognized scrip as legitimate currency.
Tall tale: An exaggerated tale, with questionable validity.
Underground Railroad: A network of people and secret hide-outs which helped slaves escape north to Canada
and freedom. “Underground” as used here is a synonym for “secret.”
Verse: In a song, a section which furthers the main idea or story line. Its melody will repeat each time with new
words.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Guthrie, Woody. This Land is Your Land. Little Brown, 1998. (book/CD)
Illustration and lyrics to this well loved folk song by Wood Guthrie, as well as facts about his life.
Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. New York: Dragonfly Books, 1993. Clara’s quilt
secretly helped slaves to find the Underground Railroad and the path to freedom.
Winter, Jeanette. Follow the Drinking Gourd. New York: Dragonfly Books, 1992. Story and explanation of the
lyrics to the spiritual of the same name, which was an oral roadmap guiding slaves north to freedom.
Greta’s website: www.greta.net
©2008-2009
Young Audiences 1220 SW Morrison, Suite 900 Portland, OR 97205-2228
Phone (503) 225-5900 (360) 693-1829 FAX (503) 225-0953 [email protected]