By Michelle Rensburg

The moody blues

In the 18th and 19th century common African citizens were captured and taken as salves to the USA. They were taken by ship over the pacific ocean and spread over north America. The slave trade was a cruel and vile thing to start but it was reality. Race also played an influence during these two centuries. By the time most enslaved children reached the age of seven or eight they were also assigned tasks including taking care of owner’s young children, fanning flies from the owner’s table, running errands, taking lunch to owners’ children at school, and eventually, working in the tobacco, cotton, corn, or rice fields along with adults. It was a hard time for the black Africans. They often came as families but they were separated when they were sold to their owners. They were bought for a couple hundred dollars each and were made to do whatever was asked of them. Some white Americans felt that this wasn’t the best thing to do; so some buyers would buy siblings if their parents were already sold in order to keep them together. Some were handcuffed and some were collar chained.

Life wasn’t easy for the black people but they found a solution and they kept they faith high in order to survive. They needed to stick together at this time of trails and tribulation.

The slaves

The effect of slavery to the black people living in America was very vile they were forced to move out of they’re home land and much more. This was a very sad trade but it made us stringer. Here are some negative effects it had on my ancestors :taken away from there families because they usually didn’t take the children unless they were of a certain age. They were also made to work in terrible conditions with hardly any food or water. The masters of the African-American slaves were allowed to abuse, use and treat their slaves in anyway wanted. This meant that they were even allowed to rape their slaves.

So this genre of music was very important to them and became very famous.

At some point ordinary people started creating songs for their own consumption, or "folk" songs. These songs were not about heroes or God, but about the joys and sorrows of rural life. The music for the aristocracy became more and more sophisticated, both because it could buy the best instruments on the market and because it could hire the best singers and instrumentalists in the kingdom. It came to be called "classical" music. On the contrary, folk music relied heavily on rhythm, both for dancing and for singing.

‘When I first got the blues’

The origins of blues is not unlike the origins of life. For many years it was recorded only by memory, and relayed only live, and in person. The Blues were born in the North Mississippi Delta following the Civil War. Influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called jump-ups evolved into a music for a singer who would engage in call-and-response with his guitar. He would sing a line, and the guitar would answer. This was a very interesting way for the slaves to communicate. A long time ago, Blues music was not true slave music, but was a spinoff of the "Work Songs" sang as a form of communication between common areas, among the slaves. This form of communication aided in keeping the others informed of work, illnesses, deaths and other things that affected the lives of all. It is said that the main focus of the words was to communicate methods and general info on escapes, or more over how, when, and where the escape was to take place. The slaves created this elaborate series of words through song as not to alarm the owners or divulge their intentions. It was kind of a second language in which they could "put it out there" in plain English, but only they could understand the meaning. Since then the blues developed a lot and has been a very popular genre of music.

The start of the blues

The most common musical form of blues is the 12-bar blues. The term "12-bar" refers to the number of measures, or musical bars, used to express the theme of a typical blues song. Nearly all blues music is played to a 4/4 time signature, which means that there are four beats in every measure or bar and each quarter note is equal to one beat. A 12-bar blues is divided into three four-bar segments. A standard blues progression, or sequence of notes, typically features three chords based on the first (written as I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) notes of an eight-note scale. The I chord dominates the first four bars; the IV chord typically appears in the second four bars (although in the example below, Elmore James introduces it in the first four bars); and the V chord is played in the third four bars. The lyrics of a 12-bar blues song often follow what's known as an AAB pattern. "A" refers to the first and second four-bar verse, and "B" is the third four-bar verse. In a 12-bar blues, the first and second lines are repeated, and the third line is a response to them—often with a twist.

Here are a few blues artists:

Big Bill BroonzyBorn: June 26, 1893, Scott, MississippiDied: August 15, 1958, Chicago, IllinoisAlso known as: William Lee Conley Broonzy

Willie BrownBorn: August 6, 1900, Clarksdale, MississippiDied: December 30, 1952, Tunica, Mississippi

Ray CharlesBorn: September 23, 1930, Albany, GeorgiaDied: June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California

These people were very famous for their music and their contribution to the blues history

The blues nowadays

Thank you for reading and watching my slide I hope that you have learnt a thing

or two about the history of the blues.

By Michelle Rensburg