A Cure for the School-Day Blues

Blues music is synonymous with African-American history. Many might say that the blues is African-American history. The roots of blues music can be found in the slave spirituals and work songs that field hands sang a cappella to pass the time. It wasn’t until after emancipation that clapping and foot stomps were replaced by the guitar and harmonica. 

After Jim Crow laws were passed in the late 19^th century, many African Americans fled the South to avoid being lynched. When WWI broke out, an estimated 400,000 blacks  moved to northern cities to take advantage of the labor shortage created by the war. Waves of African Americans moved to Chicago, Kansas City, and Detroit, taking their music with them. Prohibition fueled the growth of secret clubs, and thus a need for musicians to entertain the clientele.

It's All in the Lyrics

The lyrics are what set the blues apart from other forms of music. They recall personal loss and emotional despair as African Americans struggled to achieve success. As newly-emancipated people moved to cities like New Orleans and Memphis for work, the words began to reflect more urban-oriented topics such as work, school, and social inequality.

Most blues lyrics consist of three or four-line stanzas:

1. The first line sets up the problem.
2. A second line restates or embellishes the problem, often using the same melody as the first line.
3. The third, and sometimes fourth, line provides commentary on the problem or offers a humorous take on it.  

This is an example taken from PBS:

Mom woke me up this mornin': "It's time to go to school!"
Yeah, she woke me up this mornin'! How could she be so cruel?
She says I'd better study. Well, I'd rather take a snooze.
I've got the early-morning-still-asleep blues!

Read the lyrics from several songs and compare them for topics. Using the example above, try to have each child in your class write a blues song of his or her own.

Home of the Legends

It’s true that the South was home to most of the original blues legends we still talk about today. Mississippi and Tennessee boast the most, including W.C. Handy, Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, and B.B. King. Unfortunately, biographies about these musicians that are written for children are hard to find. Biography.com and HistoryChannel.com feature video clips and interviews about a few artists.However, the blues has seeped into music ever since. Its influence can be heard in classic rock such as Rolling Stones, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. Many artists, like Robert Cray and Eric Clapton, continue playing traditional blues today, while others such as Derek Trucks push the boundaries of blues. 

The evolution of the blues is easy to hear, even for an untrained ear. Have students listen to early songs like "Rosie" or
"Good Morning Blues." In 1945, Muddy Waters played electric guitar for the first time simply to be heard above the raucous crowd. It is easy to hear the change it provided in "Three O'Clock Blues".

EDSITEment from the National Endowment for the Humanities, features lesson ideas and recordings of early blues songs that will provide a deeper understanding for the genre. Below are even more ways to bring the blues to life in your classroom.

Say It Loud! Understand the role music has played throughout African American history, from the days of slavery to the present.

Lady Sings the Blues Using The Color Purple, study the cultural and social mores reflected in the lyrics of Blues and jazz.

Music and Emotions Explore the range of emotions that can be expressed in music. Then, write stories about the music and perform them using puppets.

Musical Poetry After learning six poetic devices, study music lyrics for examples of them.