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Congress has declared 2003 to be the year of the blues. It celebrates a day in 1903 when composer, W.C Handy, while waiting in a train station in the South, recorded in his journal seeing a “tall, lean black man playing the weirdest music I ever heard.” Thus began the first documented account of the blues as a genre. With roots in slavery, poverty and the spiritual music that sustained black culture, the blues grew out of the fertile ground of the Mississippi Delta, as African Americans redefined their culture and struggled to assert their newfound political liberties and economic opportunities through both their sense of community and the freedom to move. |
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passion expressed in this music came Jazz, Gospel, Rock & Roll
as well as pop, R & B, hip hop and rap. It is probably safe to say
that all popular American music today has its roots in the blues,
one way or another. Blues in the Schools gives students an opportunity
to understand some of the history behind the music and to participate
in its creative process. Using song, discussion and multimedia presentations,
full or multi-period assemblies will instruct students about the
men and women who created this unique music. They will see how the
music evolved and grew into other genres and profoundly influenced
American culture. Classroom presentations will be interactive and
give students a chance to create some of their own blues. |
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Robin O'Herin s a
Berkshires-based, acoustic blues and gospel musician. Her instruments
include bottleneck and fingerstyle guitar and mountain dulcimer,
and she plays both original and traditional american music. Robin
specializes in historically rich, often interactive concerts
for schools, libraries and small listening rooms. Her concerts
are warm, affirming experiences she shares with the audience. “I feel your music is very special because not only is it sweet to listen too, but I also feel that you are a historian preserving and passing along some very rich music from the past which brings out the spiritual roots of the blues and some popular music as well.” Fan at a recent concert. |
Assemblies and classroom workshops include: Blues as American Art: A Celebration of Freedom Great Masters of Blues: Their Lives and Music Appreciating the Blues: A Listener’s Guide The Harlem Renaissance: Literature and Music Composing Your Own Blues: Music and Lyrics Life in the Back-Beat The Influence of Early Blues from 1930–2003 Integrated Arts in Education Today’s classrooms often include block scheduling which
put pressure on teachers to hold their students interest for
longer periods of time. Working with faculty and staff, Robin
can create a curriculum that spans English, history, art appreciation
and music. Some of the frameworks and standards addressed include
Standard 6, Purposes and Meanings in the Arts; Standard 7, Roles
of Artists in Communities; Standard 8, Concepts of Style, stylistic
influence and stylistic change; Standard 9, Inventions, Technologies
and the Arts; Standard 10, Interdisciplinary Connections; and
Standard 11, Singing. For more info: matchbookx.org To download a PDF brochure, click here.
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