THIS IS A PIECE OF MUSIC THAT HAS A LENGTH OF 12 BARS.

Arpeggio chords This can also be known as broken chords because each note is played one after the other defining the word ‘chord’. The 3 primary chords are C,F & G. These chords also have notes. Chord C’s notes are: Cega. F’s are: Facd. G’s are: Gbde C C CC CC C C FF F G Cega Facd Gbde

Melody line G G G REST & COUNT 1,2 C3 D D# D C3 THESE 3 NOTES ARE PLAYED IN QUICK SUCESSION REST & COUNT 1-8 The melody line consists of these notes:

Scale The 12 bar blue scales notes can be used for ‘improvisation’. This is played within the time slot of the ‘1-8 count’. Improvisation means you are making up the music as you go along. C3 D#FF#G A#C4

The history of blues music… During the 18 th and 19 th centuries, thousands of Africans went to America because they were taken as slaves. Life was made a misery for the Africans because they were split up from their families, sold to work on farms and most died during the journey to America.. Slaves were set free in 1865 meaning they has freedom. Freedom was worse than slavery for many of the black Americans because they were held down by appalling poverty and deprived of any kind of privilege. Jaw bones became percussion instruments by the teeth being scraped with keys or metal objects. Some of these were called off beat rhythms, this is a rhythm that is not in sync with the beat Music had a very important impact on the Africans as they would express unhappiness, heal the sick and sing lullabies for the babies through music. Drums was the most popular instrument as they were able to make it themselves. They played this with their palms, fingertips or with sticks

Well known artists Robert Johnson was a passionate singer and brilliant guitarist whose recordings have inspired many. Johnson's shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi and by age seventeen was playing the guitar at parties, emulating local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded by Alan Lomax there for the Library of Congress in 194. In 1943, he headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician, eventually recording, in 1946, for first Columbia and then Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on other jazz vocalists.