Examples of Blues Music for Kids

Looking for some examples of blues music for kids? Check out these 10 great songs that are perfect for getting little ones interested in this classic genre.

The History of the Blues

The blues is a style of music that originated in the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style is a combination of African musical traditions, European musical traditions, and the unique experience of the African-American people.

Where the blues come from

The term blues comes from “blue devils”, meaning melancholy and sadness. In the early 1900s, poor Black Americanscombined elements of West African musical traditions with work songs and spirituals to create the blues. The blues was originally played on acoustic guitars, harmonicas, and pianos. The first recorded blues song was “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith in 1920.

Over time, the blues evolved from being played mostly by solo musicians to being performed by bands. The electric guitar was invented in the 1920s, and soon after that, guitarists began plugging their instruments into amplifiers to make them louder. This made it possible for the blues to be heard over a larger area. In the 1930s and 1940s, many Black Americans migrated from the rural south to cities in the north, such as Chicago and Detroit. They took their music with them, and the popularity of the blues spread.

The different types of the blues

There are many different types of blues music. Here are some blues music examples for kids:

1. Delta blues: This type of blues originated in the Mississippi Delta, which is the area between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg, Mississippi. The most famous delta blues musician was Robert Johnson. He was a very skilled guitar player and his songs influenced many other musicians.

2. Chicago blues: This type of blues originated in Chicago, Illinois. The most famous Chicago blues musician was Muddy Waters. He was a very influential electric guitar player and he helped to make the Chicago blues sound popular.

3. Texas blues: This type of blues originated in Texas. The most famous Texas blues musician was Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a very talented electric guitar player and he helped to make theTexas blues sound popular.

4. Jazz Blues: This type of blues is a mix between jazz and traditional blues music. The most famous jazz blues musician was Bessie Smith. She was a very skilled singer and her songs influenced many other musicians.

The Instruments in Blues Music

The blues is a style of music that is usually played on the guitar, piano, harmonica, and drums. The style of music originated in the United States in the early 1900s. The blues is a type of music that is often sad or depressing.

The guitar

The electric guitar is the most iconic instrument in blues music. It’s the instrument that most people think of when they think of blues. The electric guitar is a very versatile instrument that can be used to play a wide variety of Blues styles.

While the electric guitar is the most iconic instrument in Blues music, it’s not the only instrument that is used. The piano, harmonica, and drums are also commonly used in Blues music.

The piano

The piano was first used in blues music in the late 1800s, and it quickly became one of the most important instruments in the genre. Early blues pianists were influenced by the ragtime music that was popular at the time, and they developed their own style of playing that was based on improvisation.

One of the most famous early blues pianists was W.C. Handy, who is often credited with creating the first ever blues song. Handy’s “The Memphis Blues” was published in 1912 and quickly became a hit, paving the way for other artists to develop their own style of blues music.

Pianists such as Meade Lux Lewis, Pinetop Smith, and Boogie Woogie Sleepy John Estes helped to popularize the instrument in the 1920s and 1930s with their fast-paced, improvised style of playing. This era also saw the rise of female blues pianists like Memphis Minnie and Memphis Slim, who helped to further break down gender barriers in the music industry.

Today, the piano is still an essential part of blues music, and there are many different styles that have developed over the years. Some of the most popular current styles include New Orleans jazz, Chicago blues, and Mississippi Delta blues.

The drums

Drums are an important part of blues music. The drums keep the beat and help to drive the music forward. The most common type of drum used in blues music is the snare drum. The snare drum is a small drum that has a series of metal wires (called snares) stretched across the bottom. When the drummer hits the snare drum, the snares vibrate and create a sharp, rattling sound.

Other drums that are sometimes used in blues music include the bass drum, tom-tom drums, and cymbals. Bass drums are large drums that are played with aFoot pedal. Tom-tom drums are smaller than bass drums and are usually played with sticks. Cymbals are metal plates that make a crashing sound when they are hit together.

The Artists Who Play the Blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in African American communities in the United States around the end of the 19th century. The term “blues” refers to the feeling of sadness, loneliness, or pain that is often expressed in the lyrics of blues songs. Some of the most famous blues artists include B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker.

B.B. King

B.B. King was born on September 16, 1925, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He began singing and playing the guitar in churches around Indianola, Mississippi. In 1947 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked as a disc jockey at WDIA and recorded his first single, “Miss Martha King,” under the name of “Blues Boy King.” The following year he cut his first record for RPM Records under the supervision of producer Sam Phillips. The record contained the songs “Miss Martha King” and “Three O’Clock Blues.” These were two of the biggest hits in the history of RPM Records and helped make B.B. King one of the most popular blues singers in America.

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who is often cited as the “father of modern Chicago blues”, and an important figure in the development of electric blues. His style of playing has been described as “rambling”, “lurching”, and “marine”. He was known for his powerful vocal delivery and his distinctive guitar playing.

Howlin’ Wolf

Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin’ Wolf, was a Chicago blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. With a booming voice and looming physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists. The musician is one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in its inaugural year) and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Howlin’ Wolf’s songs include “Smokestack Lightning” (1956), “Back Door Man” (1961), “Killing Floor” (1964), and “Spoonful” (1965). He influenced internationally renowned artists such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones once said: “the first time I heard Howlin’ Wolf, I said this is for me.”

The Different Styles of the Blues

There are many different sub-genres that can be classified as “blues” music. To make things simple for kids, we can divide the blues into three main categories: country blues, city blues, and electric blues. Within each category, there are different sub-styles that can be further explored.

Delta blues

The Delta blues is a style of blues music that originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that includes parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The Delta blues is characterized by a unique finger-picking guitar style, emotive vocals, and a focus on the struggles of everyday life. The first Delta blues musicians were mostly African American sharecroppers and laborers who worked in the cotton fields and plantations of the Mississippi Delta.

One of the most famous Delta blues musicians was Robert Johnson, who was born in Mississippi in 1911. Johnson was a skilled guitar player who developed his own style of playing. He is best known for his songs “Cross Road Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago.” Other famous Delta blues musicians include Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and B.B. King.

Chicago blues

Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in the 1940s in the city of Chicago by musicians who had migrated from the Delta region of the Mississippi River. It was based on a simpler, three-chord structure and was popularized by artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Willie Dixon. Chicago blues bands typically featured a guitar player and harmonica player fronting a small band that included a piano, bass, and drums.

Country blues

The first recorded use of the term “country blues” was in 1927, when historian and record producer Arnold Shaw described records by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leroy Carr, Blind Blake, and the Georgia Cotton Pickers as “the earliest Salvation Army country blues recordings”. Country blues was used to refer to these early recordings and seminal performers such as Bo Carter, bunk Johnson, Geechie Wiley, Hambone Willie Newbern, Johnny Temple, Kazan Harris, Lucille Bogan, Mississippi John Hurt, Neal Mathus (Neal Patent), Peetie Wheatstraw and Raysinyl Crowdder. Although country blues referred originally to rural performers from the South (United States), the term was later used by British writers such as Paul Oliver and Cyril Davies to describe records by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Tampa Red and others from the 1920s and 1930s.

shader describes Ma Rainey’s “Bee Hive Honey Blues” (1928) as “the first commercial recording which could reasonably be called country blues”. In North America prior to 1930 there were few commercially produced recordings of what later would be called country blues: most were social or religious songs composed by gospel singers or white musicians living in or near the rural South. Consequently little is known about the music of this period.