Crossroads Blues Society

Blues in the Schools Activity Book

January 2019

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Table of Contents A Short History of the Blues 2-7 This is a short history that we put together on the Blues. It can serve as background

formation for the teacher to better understand where the Blues came from. The info-mation presented traces the history of the Blues from Slavery and Plantation Life to the Modern Day, Other materials are available online for more in depth lesson planning.

Instruments Often Used By Modern Blues Bands 8 A list of commonly used instrumentation by today’s blues bands. Based on this list. teachers and students can do more research more on instruments, their sounds and usage.

Coloring Pages of Blues Artists 9-16 A set of pages younger student might enjoy for artistic coloring projects. Teachers can

look up and present information on the artists and their music and use these activity pages to reinforce studies.

Blues Word Search 17 A word search more likely suite for Middle School and older students featuring 24 words from the Short History of the Blues and other materials in this Activity Book.

Fill in the Blues Words 18 An activity more likely suited for Middle School and older students featuring 8 fill in the words featuring words from the Short History of the Blues and other materials in this A Activity Book.

Blues Matching 19 Match the Artist to their Real Name and Match the Artist to the Instrument they

Play(ed), Older Elementary and Middle School ages.

References and Resources 20-21 Where teachers can get other materials to use.

Crossroads Blues Society Contact Information 22 How teachers can contact us.

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A Short History of the Blues

Blues Music was the first form of music that was created in America. Crossroads Blues Society is a non-profit organization in northern Illinois that works to keep the tradition and history of the blues alive by raising money to present Blues in the Schools (BITS) music programs to area schools. This activity book was created to supplement our pro-grams and to give schools a resource to use, either in conjunction with BITS programs or as a stand alone resource.

The Blues come to us from Africa, riding in the holds of slave ships. The rhythms of African music were part of the people who came here against their will to predominantly work in plantations in America’s south. The slaves also had a rich oral history tradition that they brought with them, often using music and rhythm to recite their stories.

As the slaves toiled picking cotton and working their tasks from sunrise to sunset, they often sang to make the day pass. They would sing together, sometimes with a leader first singing a line and then the work-ers would repeat the line. This is called call and response. The rhythm of the music would sometimes be set to the their work. For example, if a group of men were swinging picks to break up soil, the rhythm would syn-chronize with their swing of the pick and then the pick being lifted back for the next swing.

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Sometimes the slaves were allowed to rest to at-tend some sort of religious service. Those ser-vices introduced them to European music in the form of hymns. As they sang at work or after working their traditional rhythms began blending with church music and it all became the Blues.

Instruments were rare. Percussive sounds could be done vocally or using striking hollow wooden ob-jects. A wire or set of wires could be nailed to a wall or a board and used similarly to a guitar; these were called Diddley Bows. Later, cigar box-es and other hollow objects were attached to the board to resonate and amplify the sounds.

When the slaves were emancipated in 1865, they were able to move more freely and often con-gregated on evenings off the plantations. Juke Joints arose as places for the former slaves to congregate, play and listen to mu-sic, dance, and relax after their continued hard work in the fields. Pianos, banjos, gui-tars and other instruments were used to play their music. The Juke Joints existed well

into the 20th century. The Blues even were taken to the churches, where Gospel mu-sic emerged from the Blues. Over time and especially as the Industrial Revolu-tion automated field work, many African Americans left the farms and moved into the cities of the South. Their music went with them. They

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were exposed to more types of instruments and other mu-sic. Ragtime and then jazz emerged, with more complex chords and rhythms that evolved out of the Blues.

Marching bands influenced music in New Orleans and got blended with the Blues and Jazz and Cajun influences. The Blues also became part of Vaudeville and travelling shows, spreading it’s influences to both black and white au-diences.

Celtic and other European folk music had in-fluenced working white people and the folk music of the south began to blend with the Blues, giving rise to Bluegrass and Country music. The banjo that came from Africa be-came a staple in many forms of music, both with white and black musicians.

As the need for work grew with the rise of factories up north, the African Americans moved to work in those factories. They brought their music with them. Music began to be recorded, sold on records and played and shared in the homes with family and friends. Radio emerged and it became a ma-jor means to transmit music far and wide, influencing audiences sometimes hundreds of miles away. People of different cultures began to listen to and enjoy the music of other cultures with even more regularity. Acoustic instruments like guitars and banjos got electrified to make louder sounds so as to be able to be heard amongst the other instruments. Instruments became more and more affordable and became a staple of the Blues and Jazz musicians who continued to adapt their sound.

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The Blues became Rhythm and Blues (R&B) as African American musical audiences looked for new sounds. The Blues themselves began to diminish, but Rock and Roll emerged as white audiences down south and overseas in

England and other places heard the sound of the Blues and R&B which kept the Blues alive. Elvis Presley and other mu-sicians in Memphis created their Rock and Roll sound that swept the airwaves. Blues musicians who were out of work in America toured Europe to new audiences and the blues became part of Rock and Roll overseas.

Bands like the Beatles and the Roll-ing Stones played Blues and Rock and Roll; they brought the Blues back to America in their music.

The Folk music scene of the 1950’s and 1960’s, led by people like Bob Dylan, “discovered” many of the old great acoustic blues artists and their music and reintroduced their songs into popular culture. Later, Eric Clapton, the Allman Broth-ers, Stevie Ray Vaughn and the Blues Brothers were a few of the popular acts that continued to play the blues for a wide variety of audiences.

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The R&B music that came from the Blues gave birth to Soul music. Car-ibbean music, where African music tra-ditions had blended with Spanish and other European music, mixed with the Blues and gave us Hip Hop. West Af-rican Griot oral tradition and the pac-ing of Hip Hop styles gave us Rap.

The Blues coalesced and formed over a century ago, becoming it’s own form of music in the Mississippi Del-ta, the Piedmont and in East Texas. That is where the plantations and major faming areas were and that is where the slaves lived. Today, the Blues lives all over the world.

The influences of the Blues on all our modern music is deep. That is important to know and recognize. Hopefully this booklet and the BITS programs Crossroads Blues Society brings to local schools helps to keep this knowledge and tradition alive. Artists like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, and Son House gave us the Blues. Women like Ida Cox, Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith popularized the Blues. More people like Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James and John Lee Hooker gave us modern and then electrified Blues . Musicians like BB King, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Lonnie Brooks, and so many others kept the Blues alive for us and the thousands of musicians who continue to follow in their foot-steps.

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Instruments Often Used By Modern

Blues Bands

Stringed Instruments Electric Guitars Acoustic Guitars

Bass Guitars Upright Basses

Dobros (Resonator Guitars) Banjos

Mandolins Violins

Percussion

Drums Cymbals

Tambourines

Wind and Brass Harmonicas Saxophones

Trumpets

Keyboards Pianos Organs

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Robert Johnson 1911-1938

Great Guitarist, Songwriter, and Delta Bluesman

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Bessie Smith 1898-1937

Famous Blues Singer

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Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) 1915-1993

Great Chicago Bluesman

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John Lee Hooker 1917-2001

Great Delta Bluesman

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T-Bone Walker (Aaron Thibeaux Walker) 1910-1975

Great Guitarist, Songwriter, and Bluesman

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Chuck Berry 1926-2017

Great Guitarist, Songwriter, and Rock and Roll Influence

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BB King (Riley B. King) 1925-2015

King of the Blues: Great Guitarist, Songwriter, and Bluesman

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Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970

Great Guitarist, Songwriter, and Blues Rocker

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Blues Word Search

Africa

BB King

Bessie Smith

BITS

Blues

Call

Juke Joint

Koko Taylor

Mississippi Delta

Muddy Waters

Music

Piedmont

Plantation

Response

Robert Johnson

Schools

Slaves

T Bone Walker

Chuck Berry

Cotton

Crossroads Blues

East Texas

Griot

John Lee Hooker

R T M K R T M H K M E S P S B C R X

C B M O O R I X G I S H L V N I S B

R E S P O N S E Y P C K A D M G T H

O N L D J N S W Z P H G N I K B B S

S N A N M P I E D M O N T K L D O T

S Y V N T V S V Z P O C A L E M N N

R W E D A O S B L O L M T A D M E O

O R S R S N I U L I S M I Z C U W S

A O G E W M P R I U C E O C W D A N

D L F E S O P T G Y E A N F F D L H

S Y V P U C I S U M R S I G H Y K O

B A Z G R P D R P J A T U H J W E J

L T Q J U K E J O I N T Y N I A R T

U O T A I N L Q L H E E T I E T P R

E K R J O Y T L Q R F X R F W E L T

S O R T H H A F R I C A E W Z R K E

R K T Y L C H T I M S E I S S E B

R O A Y C H U C K B E R R Y L D X O

C W J O H J O H N L E E H O O K E R

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Fill in the Blues Words Using Words from Names and Phrases

In This Workbook _ _ _ _ and Response

Crossroads _ _ _ _ _ Society

_ _ _ _ _ Berry

Blues in the _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Diddley _ _ _

Juke _ _ _ _ _

Acoustic and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Guitars

Bessie _ _ _ _ _

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Blues Matching Match the Blues Artist to their Real Name: A. McKinley Morganfield 1. Howlin’ Wolf B. Chester Burnett 2. B. B. King C. Riley B. King 3. Muddy Waters Match the Artist to the Instrument they Play(ed) (multiple answers) A. Muddy Waters 1. Harmonica B. Pinetop Perkins 2. Guitar C. Chuck Berry 3. Piano D. Little Walter E. Robert Johnson F. Sonny Boy Edwards

Answers A3, B1, C2 A2, B3, C2, D1. E2, F1

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References and Resources Artists recommended and often used by Crossroads Blues Society to conduct BITS programs:

Michael “Hawkeye” Herman (Ashland, Oregon) http://www.hawkeyeherman.com/blues_in_the_schools.htm

Fruteland Jackson (Chicago, Illinois) http://www.fruteland.com/programs.html

Dave Fields (New York, New York) http://www.davefields.com/

Dan Phelps (Roscoe, Illinois) http://www.danphelpsblues.net/

Mark Dvorak (Chicago, Illinois) http://www.markdvorak.com/book-mark/a-tribute-to-lead-belly.html

Billy Flynn (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) http://www.billyflynn.com/

Joe Filisko and Eric Noden (Chicago, Illinois) http://www.rootsduo.com/workshops/

Glen Davis (Elkhorn, Wisconsin) with Westside Andy Linderman https://www.facebook.com/Glenn-Davis-138146626222280/

Reverend Raven (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) with Westside Andy Linderman http://reverendraven.com/

Spencer Bohren (New Orleans, Louisiana) http://www.spencerbohren.com/press-kit/spencer-bohren-educator/

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Paul Rishel and Annie Raines (Boston, Massachusetts) http://www.paulandannie.com/mojorodeo/lessons

Barrelhouse Chuck (Chicago, Illinois) http://www.barrelhousechuck.com/index.html

Gerry Hundt (Chicago, Illinois) http://gerryhundt.bandcamp.com/

Bobby Messano (Nashville, Tennessee) http://www.bobbymessano.com/

Hamilton Loomis (Galveston, Texas) http://www.hamiltonloomis.com/

Wheatbread Johnson (John Peterson) (Rockton, IL) https://www.facebook.com/wheatbread.johnson

BLUES FOUNDATION Listing of more artists who travel and conduct BITS http://blues.org/blues-in-the-schools/resources/

THE BLUES™ NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH CAMPAIGN From Martin Scorcese’s PBS series THE BLUES™; materials include: • Downloadable lesson plans • Blues discography and bibliography • Video clips from The Blues film series • Audio clips of significant blues recordings • The Blues Teacher's Guide CD, comprised of seminal blues songs directly re-

lated to the lesson plans (available only to teachers who receive the printed Teacher's Guide)

• A printed Teacher's Guide (see note on website) http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom.html

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Crossroads Blues Society Post Office Box 840 Byron, IL 61010

On-Line: www.crossroadsbluessociety.com

Email: sub_insignia@yahoo.com