National Curriculum Standards

English:
Students will learn how to compose Blues lyrics and how the Blues operates as poetry. Field hollers, spirtuals and work songs will be presented along with their reflection of the early Southern African American culture.

Social Studies and Geography:
Hearing the lyrics and stories of the Blues, students will learn about the struggles of the working class African Americans in the early 20th century, including the harsh working conditions of the Southern plantation economy and the Great Migration to the Northern Industrial Cities.
Blues was a music that derived from different regions of the south - Mississippi, Texas, the Virginias and Carolinas. As Toby talks about his travels to these areas, your students will learn how the diversity of those regions and cultures impacted the styles of the Blues.

Music:
Students will gain a broader awareness of the origins of the Blues scale and the harmonic structure of various blues progressions. Toby will also demonstrate the variety of instruments used in the blues, such as the guitar, harmonica and the African Diddly Bow. Also, the beat and percussive nature of the blues will be shown as well.