music | ReadOasis

The Biggest Band (Step 3)

Arts B3-Intermediate++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3A Protected Step 3 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 3 It was a hot August night in New York City, 1965. Two thousand policemen in charge of security watched anxiously as 55,000 fans filled Shea Stadium. But this was not for a baseball game; it was for the first ever stadium concert in the history of... Read more

The Guitar Hero

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 2 Humans have played instruments like guitars for 5,000 years. The English word "guitar" originally may come from the Indian word, "sitar." Today guitars play a main part in jazz, blues, country, rock, and pop music. They are also used for solo classical music. In popular culture,... Read more

The Biggest Band (Step 4)

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 4 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 4 It was a hot August night in New York City, 1965. Two thousand policemen supervising security watched anxiously as 55,000 fans filled Shea Stadium. But this was not for a baseball game; it was for the first ever stadium concert in the history of rock and... Read more

The First Lady of Song

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3B Protected Step 3 Stories 5

ReadOasis Step 3 After her mother died, Ella had a lot of trouble. Her grades dropped at school. She couldn't find a good place to live. She became an orphan, a child whose parents are dead and gone. Eventually, she was sent to the New York Training School for... Read more

W.C. Handy: Father of the Blues (Step 2)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories 0

By Maria SonoraReadOasis Step 2 "Then I saw the beauty of primitive music." W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues W.C. Handy grew up in the southern part of the United States, in a small town in Alabama. His father was a church leader, and Handy was raised in the... Read more

The Queen of Glamour Rock

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 4 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 4 "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very royal, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations." Freddie Mercury Queen formed in... Read more

Music as Medicine

B2-Intermediate+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Invention Step 3A Listen!Music Step 3A Protected Sciences Step 3 Stories Top Picks 2

ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) You are watching TV. On the screen, you see the two strong hands of a man. In his left hand, he holds a book of matches. In his right hand, he holds a single match. With his right hand, he strikes the match on... Read more

Metal Music and Metallica

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 4 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 4(Part 1) I am an alcoholic and an addict and I didn't want to see my children do the same thing. Ozzy Osbourne, heavy metal singer Heavy metal is a style of rock music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has roots in the... Read more

Mary Had a Little Lamb

A2-Beginner+Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Thomas Edison with Phonograph Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a famous children's song. It was written by Sarah Hale and first published on May 24, 1830. The song is based on real events. There was a girl named Mary Sawyer. She had a pet lamb,... Read more

BTS Like the Beatles

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 Stories

ReadOasis Step 3 Photo by Korea.net (Creative Commons) It was the first stadium concert ever. When the Beatles made their entrance, the crowd exploded with noise. Smiling and laughing, the band ran to the stage in the middle of a baseball diamond. The crowd of 56,000 screamed, yelled, and... Read more

Ukulele Revolution

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories

ReadOasis Step 2 Tiny Tim walked onto the stage. His long black hair swung down to his shoulders. He made a shy face, and he rolled his eyes. Then he started to play the ukulele and sing. His voice was very high. The song was cute, but also strange.... Read more

Lady Sings the Blues (Part 1)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Movies Step 2B Music Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Top Picks 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees These sad words open the song “Strange Fruit.” The song was written by Abel Meeropol, and it was... Read more

Isaac Watts: Father of Hymns (Step 3)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3A Protected Step 3 Stories 1

ReadOasis Step 3 By Maria Sonora A hymn is a song of praise to God. In many cultures, people sing hymns at church services and on special celebrations like Christmas. Many prominent musicians today, such as Beyonce Knowles, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and Carrie Underwood mastered singing and performing... Read more

Genius for Melody

Arts B3-Intermediate++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 4 Stories Top Picks 0

ReadOasis Step 4 (Part 1) On June 2, 2010, President Barack Obama stood on a small stage in the White House. In the audience sat a mix of elite leaders and famous musicians. The President was about to give America’s highest award for popular music to Paul McCartney of the... Read more

$80,000 for One Song

A2-Beginner+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories Tech 0

ReadOasis Step 2 The room is dark. You are alone. You are drinking a coke and downloading some songs from the Internet. Then you hear a crash. Your heart stops as you hear a man shout. "This is the police!" You catch your breath and say, "What?" Then another... Read more

The Motown Sound (Step 3)

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3B Protected Step 3 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 3 The Motown Museum (Wikipedia) Soul music combines rhythm and blues and gospel. Like the blues, soul arose out of the black experience in America, and soul musicians took these styles out of the black church and into the world and the streets. They confidently and proudly... Read more

A Musical Money-Making Machine

B2-Intermediate+Biz BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3A Protected Step 3 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 3 Carrie Underwood by Eva Rinaldi (Creative Commons) Carrie was a country girl from Checotah, Oklahoma. She lived on a farm, and in the mornings, she would help her father feed the cows. Carrie loved to sing. She started singing at church when she was 3 years... Read more

Master of Words: Bob Dylan (Part 1)

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Story

ReadOasis Step 2 It was January 1961. In the cold north of Minnesota, a young man of 19 years packed his bags. He was going to New York City. By car, the trip would take over 18 hours. And he was travelling by his thumb. In other words, he... Read more

Paul Desmond and Take Five

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 3B Protected Step 3 Stories 2

ReadOasis Step 3By Maria Sonora “I would also like to thank my father, who discouraged me from playing the violin.” These are the words of Paul Desmond. He is one of the most popular musicians to come out of the West Coast cool jazz scene. Surely, he liked violin... Read more

A Force for Good in Music

Arts B3-Intermediate++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3A Protected Step 3 Stories 0

ReadOasis Step 3(Part 1) U2 in Concert It was a cool winter night in January 2002 in New York. The city that never sleeps was wide-awake and full of movement. Even in the cold, you could feel the energy of arts, entertainment, culture, and money. That week, top business,... Read more