Banner Moment #9: August 18, 1969—Hendrix Plays the Anthem at Woodstock

Banner Moments History Series (forward / back)Banner Moments History Series (forward / back)

Seven Surprising Star-Spangled Facts

Key had a father who fought in George Washington’s Continental Army, but an uncle who was a British loyalist. Key was deeply religious and had considered a career as a minister instead of a lawyer. Key and his wife Mary (aka. Polly) had 11 kids. Key inherited a family plantation as well as slaves. He…

Banner Moment #2—Oct. 3, 1787—First Documented Performance of the Melody

Banner Moments History Series (forward / back) While “The Anacreontic Song” was written in 1775 or ’76, The London Times (which believe it or not reported and reviewed Anacreontic Society meetings) did not start publishing until ten years later, so the first mention of a performance of the melody that Francis Scott Key would use…

Everyday is The Star-Spangled Banner Day!

 Everyday is “The Star-Spangled Banner” Day! Every teacher can use “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a teaching tool to teach music in elementary school classes.Goals and Objectives Read, write and perform melodic notation, using the terminology of music. Sing a varied repertoire of music from 18th through 20th century. Compose and improvise music and lyrics. Identify…

Module II: Informational Writing through Patriotic Song

A.   “Star Spangled Banner” Model Writing Lesson Details: What important information do the Lyrics of “The Star Spangled Banner” and related art works tell us about the life and times of Francis Scott Key and others who lived about 1812? Here, since we are writing for information, we will go into more depth concerning the…

Spangled Mythconception #4: Key's Banner is Based on a Bawdy Old English Drinking Song

MYTH #4: Key’s Banner is based on the melody of a bawdy old English drinking song CORRECTION: “The Anacreontic Song” was the constitutional anthem of an elite, London-based, amateur music society… but it gets complicated. Francis Scott Key would have most likely encountered the melody of “The Anacreontic Song” initially through its most popular American…

An Inspiring Anthem from Resounding Joy

SSMF Executive Director Susan Key recently had the opportunity to speak with Rebecca Vaudreuil, a student in Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and national military liaison to the music therapy organization Resounding Joy, about a very special rendition of the Banner… http://youtu.be/e3UEagpfeUM?t=1m29s On August 10, 2013, Rebecca and United States Marine Corps Sgt, Retired, Benjamin Tourtelot,…

SSB — Happy 199 & Counting! (David Hildebrand Guest Post)

199 years ago yesterday Key was still aboard his American flag of truce vessel, waiting for Skinner to finish his work exchanging prisoners. Not until 199 years ago today (Sept. 16, 2013), in the evening would he arrive back on shore and it was the next morning when the “Defence of Fort M’Henry” broadsides were…

"Banner Moments" Teacher Institute Receives $200K from NEH

Francis Scott Key could not have imagined that his lyric would inspire a month-long NEH summer institute to mark his song’s 200th anniversary, bringing scholars and performers together with thirty K-12 teachers to create inspiring and insightful classroom materials to fuel a nationwide learning celebration. In June and July 2014 “Banner Moments: The National Anthem…