Blues: Its Birth and Growth

by Howard Elmer

This book traces the blues back to the song traditions of Africa and shows how it was influenced by the African American experience. It also shows how blues comes out in many musical styles.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082391853X
• ISBN13: 9780823918539
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.5" x 9.6"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

The Birth of the Blues

Even though the blues began in American, the groundwork was laid in Africa where music was an integral part of African life. The slave trade was the primary factor in the rise of the blues.The author talks about how important music was to the slaves. Music helped them in their work, and was the way the slaves communicated with each other. It also kept their traditions alive. The author then devotes a few paragraphs to oral tradition before moving on to the structure of the blues. There are also photographs of early blues artists and later white artists like Janis Joplin, who is mentioned in the section entitled "American Noise".In 64 pages the author covers just enough for the elementary intermediate student doing a report. Serious students of music will have a desire to find out more. The author includes a bibliography just for this purpose. It was a good introduction and left me wanting to find out more!Elementary librarians will appreciate the table of contents, glossary and the index.I am an elementary librarian and ordered this for the school library. I can't wait to show the music teacher this book!!