Originally Published: Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
The Blues as a Teaching Unit
The teaching of the musical elements of the blues has been an important part of my curriculum. However, the improvisation associated with the blues and jazz has always been challenging for me since I studied European music for much of my life. My goal in pursuing this unit is to develop depth in the understanding of the blues’ improvisational practices, and take this knowledge and share it with my keyboard students in a meaningful way.
The word improvise is defined as “To invent, compose, or recite without preparation. To make or do something using whatever you have or without arranging it or planning it in advance… play music, speak, or act without set music or words, using imagination instead.” 1
This word could also be said to mean unforeseen, deriving from the Latin word provisus, “to foresee.” 1
In simpler words, one could say to improvise means to make it up as you go along. As it is an important factor in the blues philosophy of poetry and music, improvisation will be the focus in my unit about the blues.
Around the turn of the century, this unique African-American music and poetry art form was born. More than just music and poetry commonly defined as being only about feeling blue, low, or troubled, the philosophy of the blues is a universal one. The blues shows us that by confronting your situation, sharing your troubles with others, and being self-reliant in learning to deal with your problems, you have learned how to live; you have become a hero, so to speak. The improvisation of lyrics and music with style and flexibility in this art form addresses the pain of discrimination, oppression, and personal discontent.
Through readings in prose and poetry, I have learned to more fully appreciate the philosophy of the blues, which has given me greater perspective and depth of understanding of this art form. Cane, by Jean Toomer, is a literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance from the early part of this century, which is part drama, part poetry, and part fiction.2 In a contemporary criticism of this book, it was said “the difference between the possibility of black life and the reality of black life is the blues. Yet the blues idiom itself celebrates life; it celebrates the will to endure and the necessity of survival, to keep on keeping on.”3 In this book, the main character, Kabnis is tortured as he confronts his problems of being a northern teacher in the South; he is one of them, yet set apart from them. He gives intellectual expressions to the burdens of oppression and persecution through descriptions of his personal pain and dialogues with his friends. In Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks, the title’s namesake has to confront poverty, an unsatisfactory social life and the general feeling of being trapped.4 She overcomes this by being thankful for the little things, such as the dandelions in her yard, or freeing a mouse from a trap; she uses her imagination to cope with a distressing reality.
Goals and Objectives
My unit is for fourth-grade students in the Martin Luther King and Lincoln Bassett elementary schools in New Haven who are mostly materially disadvantaged African Americans. Becoming more knowledgeable about their African American heritage can help to develop further self-esteem and pride. As the students learn about and participate in the various African and African American experiences in poetry and music that make up the blues, they will become more apt to increase their knowledge of geography, historical events, the contributions of musical performers, the vocabulary associated with this art form, and most importantly, a relevant philosophy of life.
In addition, this unit addresses the Core Music Standards of 2014 (PK-8) developed by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. They include 1) Creating by conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work, 2) Performing/Presenting/Producing by realizing and sharing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation, 3) Responding by understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning, and 4) Connecting by relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Students have music classes for two half-hour sessions per week. Throughout September and October, my strategy is to have everyone first read aloud a brief background of a section of the unit, and then learn to sing either an African song or African American spiritual or work song with the accompaniment of at least one African type percussion instrument. The last part of each class will incorporate some type of assessment, whether oral, or visual or written homework. The musical elements explored will include singing, playing instruments using particular patterns, the “call and response” form, syncopation, ostinatos, polyrhythms, and vocal and instrumental improvisations.
From January through March, students will continue to read together a brief historical and musical background, and listen to and sing the blues. In the second class of the week, they will learn to accompany their singing by playing a sequence of chords in the blues form on small keyboards, as well as a pentatonic scale with two blues notes. The last part of each class will incorporate some type of assessment, whether oral, or visual or written homework. Students will write, sing and accompany their own blues verses as a culminating project. The musical elements explored will include singing, playing a pentatonic scale, blue notes and chords on a musical keyboard, vocal and instrumental improvising, and listening to and recognizing instruments, compositional form and various vocal and instrumental performers and styles related to the blues.
Eleven lessons comprise this unit:
African Roots – Activities 1 to 4
Spirituals – Activities 5 to 9
Work Songs – Activities 10 to 15
The Blues – Activities 16 to 19
The Classic Blues, W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith – Activities 20 to 24
The Country Blues and Blind Lemon Jefferson – Activities 25 to 27
Leadbelly – Activities 28 to 31
The Chicago and Urban blues with Muddy Waters and B.B. King – Activities 32 to 36
The Blues and Louis Armstrong – Activities 37 to 40
The Blues, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald – Activities 41 to 44
Playing and Creating a Blues – Activities 45 to 48
Songs used in the lessons can be found in notation on the internet by their title followed by image results.
Lesson One: African Roots
Students will learn the roots of the blues in African culture, and demonstrate or describe the form, instruments, vocal techniques, scale, rhythm, and improvisation.
Activity 1: Students will read about music in African society. 5
Music is a vital part of African life from the cradle to the grave and covers the widest possible range of expression, including spoken language and all manner of natural sounds. It means poetry, singing, dancing and playing on instruments, which is shared by and serves the whole community. Music marks the special events of life, as well as being a comprehensive preparation for life.
Vocal music is the center of such music. The utilization of the voice includes its different qualities obtained by such means as stopping the ears, pinching the nose, vibrating the tongue, and producing echoes. The objective is to translate everyday experiences into living sound. Anyone can sing, and everyone does; it is not a specialized affair. This is the essence of the collective aspect of African music. People perform it every day of their lives as a confirmation of the importance it has in their society.
A great variety of musical instruments are used, all handmade. Children even make their own instruments at an early age. Instruments, critical to African music, are primarily used to support the spoken or sung language. The xylophone and drum are especially important. Drums are always present in this music, or hand clapping and stamping as a substitute. They are even used to communicate messages from one place to another. The types of drums used differ in construction and techniques from region to region.
African music is structured to promote the participation of all people, such as in the “call and response” song. Improvisation (“to make it up as you go along”) is encouraged and individual contributions are welcomed. Thus from a young age, as children learn traditional songs, they also learn to improvise around these songs, both with their voices and instruments.
Activity 2
Students will read a definition of improvisation. Selected students will demonstrate improvisation on three African types of percussion instruments—the conga drum, agogo bells, and affouchet, in addition to a demonstration of the pentatonic scale on the xylophone.
Activity 3
Students will learn an African call and response song “Kye Kye Kule” by repeating each short phrase with movement after the teacher demonstrates it.6 It is a very popular motion game played by young children in Ghana. The words do not have a specific meaning, and the emphasis is on mastering the traditional movements. A student leader will then sing the call alone, followed by the student response.
Activity 4:
Students will read definitions of ostinatos—short repeated patterns and polyrhythms—contrasting rhythms heard at the same time. They will then create ostinatos and play them together to create polyrhythms on African type instruments for a musical accompaniment to the African song.
Materials needed: a) copies of the student group reading and question sheet, b) conga drum, agogo bells, affouchet, and xylophone.
Evaluation: At least eighty percent of the class will sing the African song “Kye Kye Kule” with the correct pitch, rhythm and movement. They will also be able to demonstrate or describe in an oral or written format the form, instruments, vocal techniques, scale, rhythm and improvisation used in African music.
Lesson Two: Spirituals
Activity 5:
Students will read about the history and musical practice of African-American spirituals. 7
Slaves were brought from West Africa to the United States from around 1600 to the 1800s, especially from Senegal, the Guinea coast, the Niger Delta, and the Congo. The first expressions of these enslaved peoples in music were limited to church songs and work songs. As African vocal performance practices included slides, slurs, notes slightly flatted or sharped, whistles, yodels, and changes in rhythm and types of sound, when they combined their musical style with the church hymns of white people, a whole new type of music was created—the spiritual.
There was always tension in the words of the spirituals, and despite the troubles they faced and the wish to leave them behind; the early African Americans expressed an affirmation of hope, a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The spirituals were an act of striving for humanity in the face of a society of fierce oppression and racial hatred. For example, in the spiritual, “This Little Light of Mine,” the hope of people was symbolized by a light that was going to shine or endure through the pain of the black experience in this society.8 Improvising the music as a solo singer or collectively with the group was a way that each person could express his or her joys and sorrows, and somehow get the courage and strength to make it through. The music united them as a community and gave them power; the music was functional in their life in the New World, as in their home in Africa.
The African American tradition of singing these spirituals was in a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment) style using the pentatonic, or five-tone scale, commonly used in Africa. As a part of congregational hymn singing, the “call and response” form that was used would include a proposition or “call” by a lead singer, with the congregation responding to the soloist in the same convincing tone, mood, and emotion. A strong beat was kept throughout the singing. Each singer would be encouraged to improvise to better express the lyrics, and improvisation was collective—a group of singers simultaneously asserted itself within a group. There was space for innovation, which caused healthy competition. Foot stomping and clapping with upbeat tempos were sometimes used in this religious music. The philosophy and style of this singing as a powerful and unique expression of early oppressed African Americans provided the roots for modern blues and jazz.
Activity 6:
Students will read a definition of syncopation—shifting the rhythmic accent to a normally weak beat of music, and sing a cappella the familiar spiritual “This Little Light of Mine,” with clapping on the second and fourth beats of the measure to demonstrate this element, important in African rhythm.8 They will share with each other what the words mean to them.
Activity 7:
Students will improvise the pentatonic scale on small xylophones.
Activity 8:
Students will learn to sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” as well as other spirituals. Students will sing each phrase after it is modeled by the teacher and then sing the whole spiritual.9 A selected student will sing the verses in an improvised style, followed by the group singing the response “Comin’ for to carry me home.”
Activity 9:
Students will create their own African American Music Book by having a page for the words of each spiritual with questions to answer, and a space to draw a picture to accompany such words, as shown in the sample lesson below. They will reflect on how African Americans expressed hope and joy in a difficult situation.
1. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Refrain (repeated part): “Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin’ for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin’ for to carry me home.
Verse 1: I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, Comin’ for to carry me home? A band of angels comin’ after me, Comin’ for to carry me home.
Refrain
Verse 2: If you get there before I do—Tell all my friends I’m a comin’ too.”
Refrain 9
1. What words are repeated many times? _________________
2. What did home mean to the early African slaves? _________________
3. Even though the words express suffering, the music itself is (a) angry (b) sad (c) pleasing.
4. What is a spiritual? _________________
5. Draw a picture to express these words.
2. Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John10
“I want to be ready, I want to be ready,
I want to be ready to walk in Jerusalem just like John.
Verse 1: John said the city was just four square,
Walk in Jerusalem just like John,
And he declared he’d meet me there,
Walk in Jerusalem just like John.
Verse 2: Oh, John, oh John, what do you say?
Walk in Jerusalem just like John.
That I’ll be there in the coming day,
in Jerusalem just like John.”
1. What words are repeated many times? _________________
2. How is this spiritual like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?” _________________
3. What does “walk in Jerusalem” mean? _________________
4. Draw a picture to express these words.
Materials needed: a) copies of the student group reading and question sheet, b) African American Music Books.
Video: This Little Light of Mine
Video: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Video: Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John
Evaluation: At least eighty percent of the class will be able to describe the history of, and sing with correct pitch, rhythm and style, one or more African-American spirituals, and define or demonstrate syncopation, improvisation and pentatonic scale. They will also complete the included written questions with optional drawings that express the song text.
Questionnaire for Lesson 2
1. Slaves were brought from __________ to the__________ from around ___ to ___.
2. The first musical expressions of these enslaved peoples were the__________ and__________ .
3. This new type of music, the __________, was created when African performance practices were combined with the church hymns of the white people.
4. Despite the troubles they faced and the wish to leave, the early African Americans expressed an affirmation of life in that there was always a__________ and a faith in the ultimate__________ of things.
5. The spirituals were a striving for humanity in a society of__________ and__________.
6. __________ the music as a solo singer or collectively with a group was a way by which each person could express his or her joys and sorrows, and get the courage and strength to make it through.
7. The music united them as a __________, and gave them __________. It was functional in their life, as in their home.
8. A cappella means to sing without __________ .
9. The call and__________ form was used with a call by a lead singer with the congregation giving a__________.
Lesson Three: Work Songs
Students will learn the roots of the blues in early African American work songs, and demonstrate or describe the form, instruments, vocal techniques, scale, rhythm, and improvisation.
Activity 10:
Students will learn about the history and practices of African American work songs through a group reading. 11
Songs were a natural part of group work in the African tradition. Early African American slaves in the South developed songs to help lighten the load, and keep up the pace. They cleared and ploughed the land, as well as harvested crops on plantations and prison farms. They also built roads and railroads and worked on the boats.
The work songs had a steady rhythm and short rhymed phrases and were sung in a “call and response” style between a leader and the work team. Often the leader would holler in a higher type voice, in order to be heard. Songs had to engage the imagination of the workers in order to get the work done and keep their spirits up. The leader had to be able to improvise on topical events; being a lead singer meant beingexcused from the regular labor. The early blues came out of this tradition, particularly in the Mississippi Delta region.
Three Times:
“Take this hammer—huh! (in a growl)
Carry it to the captain—huh! (3 times).
Two times:
Tell him I’m goin’—huh!
Tell him I’m goin’—huh!” (2 times)12
Activity 11:
Students will read about the background of the song “Pay Me My Money Down.”13 This call and response work song originated in the Georgia Sea Islands. In the ports of the southern United States it was not unusual for captains to insist that their ships be unloaded as soon as they arrived at the quayside, promising to pay the dock workers the next morning. But come the next morning the ship had gone, and the workers were left unpaid.
Activity 12:
Students will read about the background of the song “Pay Me My Money Down.”13 This call and response work song originated in the Georgia Sea Islands. In the ports of the southern United States it was not unusual for captains to insist that their ships be unloaded as soon as they arrived at the quayside, promising to pay the dock workers the next morning. But come the next morning the ship had gone, and the workers were left unpaid.
“I thought I heard the captain say – Pay me my money down
Tomorrow is our sailing day – Pay me my money down
Pay me, pay me – Pay me my money down
Pay me or go to jail – Pay me my money down”
Activity 13:
Students will sing each phrase of the song after the teacher models it, and then sing the whole song. A selected student will sing the verses in an improvised style, followed by the group singing the response “Pay Me My Money Down.” A strong, steady beat will be kept with clapping and stamping, and an improvised tambourine accompaniment. Students will learn how a difficult situation is made more bearable with words that are direct and often humorous.
Activity 14:
Students will sing the work song, “John Henry” in a “call and response” style.
John Henry was a famous folk hero, and there are many songs and stories about him. A six-foot African American who could out sing and out-drive any other man on the job, Henry worked on the Big Bend Tunnel in the West Virginia mountains for the C & O Railroad. When the newly invented automatic steam drill was brought to the Big Bend, a contest was staged between the man and the machine. John Henry was said to have swung 20-pound hammers for thirty-five minutes of the test, beating the machine.
Activity 15:
Students will sing the work song, “John Henry” in a “call and response” style.
“Oh John Henry – Oh John Henry
Told his captain – Told his captain
Well a man’s got to – Well a man’s got to
Act like a man – Act like a man
And before – And before
Steam drill beats me – Steam drill beats me
I will die – I will die
Hammer in my hand – Hammer in my hand” 15
Team one holds the tied notes as Team two repeats the phrase (shown above).
Materials needed: a) copies of the student group reading and question sheet, b) African American Music Books.
Evaluation: At least eighty percent of the students will be able to describe the history of, and sing with correct pitch, rhythm and style, one or more early African American work songs, and demonstrate syncopation and improvisation in the vocal parts and instrumental accompaniment.
Lesson Four: The Blues
Students will learn the meaning of the blues through its philosophy, history, and definition, and demonstrate or describe the word form and content and the musical elements of form, scale and chords.
Activity 16:
Students will read a definition, philosophy, and history of the blues. 16
Around the turn of the century, a unique African-American music and poetry was born—the blues. The early blues singer, with guitar accompaniment, confronted his life situation, shared his troubles with others, and learned to deal with the problems in his world through improvisation in this special form of song that commonly had a length of twelve bars (measures) using three basic chords, such as C, F and G.
The roots of this music lay in Africa, where music was at the core of daily life, and in the early African slave music of the spirituals and work songs. After the Civil War, as African Americans looked for employment, they wandered from one migrant labor job to another, facing discrimination and difficult lives. The blues came about as a response to this life; they affirmed the essential worth of African Americans and expressed through words and music their strength to survive.
The form of the text was “AAB,” with the first line of text (A) a statement that was then repeated (A), and followed by a comment (B), often humorous or with an ironic twist. The musical style, coming from African roots, included what is known as blue notes, high cries, hums, growls, moans, and shouts. The singer improvised with his voice or on his instrument in the “break,” the space between each line of text, which later evolved into jazz, America’s unique contribution to music in this century. The pentatonic or five-tone scale was used with blue notes, the flatted third and seventh notes of the common major scale, such as E and B flat of the C major scale.
Activity 17:
Students will read three blues verses, find the repetition, and explain the problem and how it is addressed.
“Good Morning, blues, Blues, how do you do?
Good Morning, blues, Blues, how do you do?
Good morning, how are you?” 17
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world, Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
Ain’t got nobody in all this world, Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
Is gwine to quit my frownin’, And put my troubles on the shelf.” 18
“The railroad bridge’s a sad song in the air.
The railroad bridge’s a sad song in the air
Every time the trains pass I want to go somewhere” 19
Activity 18:
Students will learn to sing two verses of “St. Louis Blues” by imitating each phrase as modeled by the teacher. 20
“I hate to see the evenin’ sun go down,
hate to see the evenin’ sun go down
Cause my baby, he done left this town.
Feelin’ tomorrow, like I feel today,
Feelin’ tomorrow, like I feel today,
I’ll take my bag, and make my getaway.”
Activity 19:
Write at least one blues verse, example:
Problem: “I hate to see the evenin’ sun go down,
Repeat: Hate to see the evenin’ sun go down;
Comment: Cause my baby, he done left this town.”
Problem: _____________________________
Repeat:________________________________