THE BLUES...learn about it, write it, PLAY IT & SING IT!

* Read and DISCUSS  topics brought up in the “Lesson Description” as a short introduction to the "blues" song form.  
THEN:

• Discuss/explain the problems black Americans encountered during the reconstruction period:  JIM CROW laws, voter suppression, sharecropping, the danger of black travel and interaction with white citizens still angry about the Civil War’s outcome.
• Listen to THE CROSSROADS, as sung by Robert Johnson at the turn of the century. Read lyrics again after you’ve listened once. 
• Listen to/ watch PINKALICIOUS  resource... “Singing the Blues”. [ Yes, this is for grades K & 1, but it is a very simple explanation & will probably even give them a chuckle.]  QUESTION:  Do you think a 5 year -old who has never seen a harmonica would be able to learn to play it that quickly?)  ;)
• Demonstrate:  Show the students a harmonica, & even if you’re not a harmonica player, just show them how blowing IN makes one sound, sucking air OUT on that same “reed” [airhole] makes a different sound.  [Even though the harmonica can be played in a simple way, to make “blues notes” on it means blowing on a note in a different way….it “bends” the sound a bit.
• Show the video of Elvis singing the very up-tempo HOUND DOG BLUES.  Notice how someone could take an old blues song and speed it up to sound like the “new” rock n’ roll, which was the “new sound” of the late 1950s.
• Show  WHITE HOUSE ALL STARS video [Start at 5 minutes in, & just watch a few minutes, it’s very long].  What were the lyrics talking about?
• Let’s write a short blues song as a class:    We’ll look at this example, and then break into small groups[2-3] to write your own.
• BLUES LYRICS FORMULA SAMPLE: [ see resources to put this on SMARTBOARD]…accompany with keyboard, ukulele or guitar
• As a learning example, look at this sample blues song:  "too much math homework."  [sample below]
• Sing it for the students with accompaniment.

                               D7                                                                        D7
Line 1:] “ Teacher works me too hard, multiplying make my face turn red”…[ words sound more “slang”-ish to change MULTIPLICATION TABLES to some other crazy way to say it]...[continue D7 until the word "teacher" below]
 
         ..................G7………………………………………………………………D7..................
Line 2:]  “Well, Teacher works me too hard, multiplying  make my face turn red," [ can add in a talking tone “& I’m sweatin’ pretty bad too, y’all…]
 
D7………………A7………………………………………G7………….........................D7............                
Line 3:] "If my teacher don’t stop this math thing, my brain is gonna “fly out” my head!"

NOW, MAKE UP THE NEXT VERSE AS A CLASS:   Students volunteer ideas for the next verse.    Change Lines 1 & 2, using something DIFFERENT about math, but leave the 3rd line the same.
[sample idea for verse ]         2:] Well 2x2 is 4, Now that’s simple, and just fine
                                                  And 4x4 is 16, But 9 x 9 is WAY outta line
                                               If my teacher don’t stop this math thing, she’s really gonna blow my mind!]

STUDENTS "GROUP UP" IN 2's or 3's TO WRITE LYRICS TO THEIR BLUES SONG  [More than that is up to the teacher?  Usually "less is more"]  Students get clipboards/  pencils, and groups settle around the room, working quietly.  THEY MAY NOT WRITE ABOUT MATH HOMEWORK since the example was about that; doesn't have to be about schoolwork...might be chores at home, not making a team that they wanted to be on, wanting to live in a different neighborhood/city, etc......MUST ALWAYS BE APPROPRIATE IN SUBJECT and VOCABULARY!!
 
 

• Now, open up the attachment with the C major and D major blues scales attached, and the relating chords
• Decide the key in which you feel more comfortable playing accompaniment, & which instrument.
• Sing the notes of that blues with the students.  Use simple syllables like la ….or make it fun and sing a line of a nursery rhyme to some blues notes.
• Don’t worry about GRAMMAR when writing the blues.   The point is to sing about the frustrating situation that’s happening, and this is done by using “the downhome language” of the people. This is very different from writing an ESSAY or a SPEECH, in which you would use the rules of proper English grammar.
• Work with your class to write your original BLUES.
• You may want to print out the 12 Bar Blues resource, and let each student write on their own copy, to get the feel of it!   Also, you could print extras so they could write another on their own.

 
 
There are many blues formulas for lyrics & chords, but this “12 Bar Blues” is a very common type. The chordal arrangement a player uses may vary widely with the placement of the 3 basic chords, however.   Sometimes Blues singers will even change the 3rd line.    It just depends on who was writing it, & what they wanted to “say” to their listeners!