Blues generally have relatively simple harmonic and lyric structures. A
twelve bar blues contains three lines of four measures (with four beats per
measure). Because the first line of each verse is repeated, we only need to
create two rhyming lines for each verse. For example:
I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away.
I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away.
I'm goin' down to Carolina, the Bull City's where I'm gonna stay.
From "The Bull City Blues", (©1996, Scott Ainslie) Used by permission.
In music, as in poetry, we identify the form of a verse by assigning a new
letter of the alphabet to each different line in the form. The first line
of this verse is thereby assigned (A):
| (A) | I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| I'm goin' down to Carolina, the Bull City's where I'm gonna stay. |
The second line is not a new line, but a repetition of the first line, so
it is letter (A), too:
| (A) | I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| (A) | I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| I'm goin' down to Carolina, the Bull City's where I'm gonna stay. |
The last line is assigned the (B), because it is a new line in the form:
| (A) | I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| (A) | I believe I'll travel---I believe I'll get away. |
| (B) | I'm goin' down to Carolina, the Bull City's where I'm gonna stay. |
This is known as an [A-A-B] Form, where the first line is sung twice and
rhymes with the following line. Part of the beauty of this form is that it
is simple enough to allow for improvising lyrics in the midst of a
song---and gives you time during the repeat to think of the rhyming line!
Your Blues can be written en masse, in small groups, or by individual
students. Going after the first one en masse tends to get the ball rolling
and acclimates everyone to the messiness of the brainstorming/creative
process.
Before beginning a class Blues, it helps to solicit what it means to have
'the Blues'. Ask your students: "When we say someone has 'the Blues', what do we mean? What feelings are
we describing when we say someone feels 'Blue'?"
Make a list of appropriate responses on the board. My list includes:
| Lonely | Mad | Sad | Exhausted |
| Depressed | Jealous | Envious | Grumpy |
| Bored | Confined | Upset | Like You've Been Treated Unfairly |
Your classes list may be longer, or shorter, but should include some of these.
Once your have your list, you'll need to agree on a topic for the song:
it's your Blues, and should be about things that give you the Blues. Ask
your students:
"The last time you felt one of these ways---angry, sad, depressed, lonely,
bored, or like you were treated unfairly---what was the cause? What gives
you the Blues?"
[NOTE: I have had everything from the cafeteria food to teen (and preteen)
suicide come up on these lists. Handled in an open, straight-forward
manner, this can be a very cathartic exercise for a class to pursue
together and may bring out things about your students' home situations that
will help you better tailor your efforts to their needs. The loss of
someone---whether through divorce, the death of siblings, parents,
grandparents or pets---often comes up; as does the loss of a job that
supports the family; having to move away from friends; and in some contexts
pressure to act against your will (in the context of drugs, money or sexual
situations). One fifth grade class in Columbus, Georgia once wrote an
absolutely killer tune about when parents fight. We sang it at an assembly
for the PTA, and you can believe we had a lot of nervous parents out there
when we introduced that Blues! "I came home last night---and they were at
it again...."]
Settle on a topic for your song as democratically as possible. I often
have several votes. When you ask children to vote, especially fourth grade
and above, it is always productive to give them a few seconds to confer
quietly with their neighbors prior to each vote. I generally let them vote
initially for their 3 favorite topics, eliminate the low vote getters and
work our way down through votes for their 2 favorite topics, to the final
run-off for their 1 favorite.
Do not be concerned if polarizing or highly emotional topics get suggested
in the general list by the hothead in your class, these topics are often
edited out of the options by the class in the voting process (peer
consultation plays a critical role in these decisions). If a troubling
topic does happen to win, then you'd best be prepared to try to focus the
class' efforts in a constructive way on the fly.
If the students suggest things that a specific person does that drive them
crazy, keep the lines non-personal by substituting a role (teacher, friend,
bully, etc.) for the person's name---again explaining that the arts are
about communicating constructively, not about hurting other people's
feelings.
For balance, you can follow that verse with a suggestion that you write a
verse from the opposite perspective, such as,"What do you know that
students do that drives the teachers crazy?" All students have an answer
to this question, they've made a study of it since the beginning of their
school careers and will eagerly volunteer their expertise here. In this
way you can help manage the class' work and feel good about sharing the
outcome outside the context of your particular class process.