February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly and The Day the Music Died

Buddy Holly was one of the most popular American rock and roll musicians of the 1950s. Born in Texas in 1936, he wrote and sang many hit songs, including "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day." Holly revolutionized rock and roll by writing and composing his own songs—a rarity at the time.

Sadly, Buddy Holly's life was cut short at age 22. On February 3, 1959, he died in a plane crash in Iowa. The crash also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and this tragic event became known as "The Day the Music Died." The phrase comes from the song "American Pie" by Don McLean. In the song, McLean sings about how music and life changed after the crash. 

Buddy Holly is regarded as an influential figure in the history of music who still inspires people today. 

While Holly's music left a lasting mark on rock and roll, it was his bold choice in eyewear that turned him into a style icon. Holly was never seen without his thick-framed, black horn-rimmed glasses. His bold, chunky frames were unconventional at that time and became a key part of his image. Nowadays they are commonly known as "Buddy Holly glasses."

Learning a language through music

Music is a powerful language learning tool in so many ways. You can learn about culture in an entertaining way. It improves your communication skills. You can incorporate music into life almost anywhere. Besides, it’s so fun.


1) Do you play a musical instrument? If so, playing a musical instrument has great benefits for language learners. According to a 2014 study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, children who took music lessons for two years not only became better at playing an instrument, they became better at processing language. A double bonus!

2) Music is motivating, and you can learn more comfortably and faster. I love singing along with my favorite artists but, first, I need to know the words (the lyrics) to the song. Then I can understand the song. Listening really helps with pronouncing words correctly too. I listen to my favorite songs over and over.

3) Sometimes it’s difficult to memorize new words. The tone, rhythm, and modulation help us with the memorization process. I also make it a point to write down every word I don’t know to study and improve. It’s important for fluency to learn and understand new words.

4) There are so many everyday opportunities to be exposed to the language if you listen to music in that language: while exercising, going to and from work, shopping, singing in the shower, dancing, going to concerts, cooking, doing household chores, and more. Keep your ears open. Stay in contact with the language by regularly listening to music and you will increase your fluency faster.

Improve your English at home

There are several ways to strengthen your English skills at home. Some people don’t like classes and prefer independent study. Others lack time or a language community to support them. Whatever your situation, try the following different methods for good results: 

1. Most important: Enjoy what you are doing! If you don’t like it, you won’t practice…and you must practice every day. 
2. Establish your goal and focus on it (ex: improve listening comprehension, reduce accent, know all the irregular verbs in the past tense, increase vocabulary, etc.)
3. Practice reading out loud. This is a great way to understand English sentence construction, learn word placement, and verb conjugation. Hearing yourself saying English words out loud is also helpful for improving conversation and writing skills. First try reading simple English texts to increase your fluency and confidence, and move on to more advanced material. 
4. Speak online and practice with native speakers on a free language exchange website. It's free and you can strengthen your skills while making new friends. 
5. Writing is a valuable way to reinforce spelling, sentence construction, verb conjugation, prepositions, vocabulary, and so much more. Keep a journal, write English sentences in an exercise book, translate a passage (without any help) and see how you do. Good English speakers aren’t necessarily good writers, so work on this skill and you will benefit in many ways. 
6. Watch a film that’s easy to understand in English to improve listening comprehension. 
7. Listen to music lyrics. If you’re a music lover, you can do this anywhere. You’ll be surprised at how much you will understand when words are put to music. 

Practice every day, do what you like, and make measurable goals to improve your English at home. 

American culture: bluegrass music

Bluegrass is a kind of folk music that's related to country music, and it shares the same roots as the traditional music of the Appalachian region of the U.S. This type of music was influenced by Irish and Scottish ballads, and later by the music of African-Americans through the incorporation of blues and jazz elements. The songs often reflect life on the farm or in the hills.

The feature that distinguishes bluegrass from mainstream country music is its “high lonesome sound,” a vocal style that often gives even happy songs a suggestion of bleakness (sadness).

Bluegrass music’s distinctive sound is characterized by other traits as well:

1. Its focus on vocals. High-pitched and close-harmony vocals dominate, with a notable "high lonesome" lead voice as the focal point.

2. Another important feature of this style is the use of acoustic instruments over electric ones, which often include the mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, and bass guitar. In fact, slaves from Africa brought the design idea for the banjo--an instrument now integral to the bluegrass sound.

3. Finger picking of rapid notes and improvisation by the musicians is another recognizeable element of bluegrass where each musician takes a turn in playing the melody, much like in jazz music.

Enough reading, how about listening? For an example of excellent bluegrass, click here and enjoy the music by the Dillards, an American bluegrass band, singing the song “Dooley”. (Dooley is a mountain man who made illegal alcohol.)

Simple past (and more) in “Norwegian Wood” by The Beatles

Do you ever have a song with a memorable melody or lyrics that repeats in your mind? I didn’t know until recently that this is called an “earworm” or “brainworm”, not a very attractive name for sure but I like having music on my mind, don’t you?

One of the best ways to pick up (learn informally) and reinforce a language is through songs and I have a classic one for you: “Norwegian Wood” by The Beatles. It’s beneficial for English learners because the lyrics are all in the simple past and it also includes reported speech (also called indirect speech) which is used to communicate what someone else said, but without using the exact words (I told her, she told me, Marco said that, etc.).

Here are the lyrics, written by Lennon and McCartney, about a relationship with a woman that didn’t proceed the way the man hoped it would. Note that “bird” is informal British English meaning “a young woman”.


Norwegian Wood (click to hear the song on Youtube)

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me

She showed me her room

Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn't a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
Drinking her wine

We talked until two and then she said
"It's time for bed"

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh

I told her I didn't

And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone

This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?


Music helps make learning a language fun.