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Image©2005 Ann Brundige Screenshot of B. B. King page from Legends of the Blues
Page About B. B. King

The Legends of the Blues is an activity that discusses the evolution of the Blues and its original sources to the Blues music of today.

In the activity profiles and background information are provided along with original music from fourteen of the most influential Blues singers and musicians. They range from early singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, through Ledbelly, Joe Smith, Howling Wolf up to and through Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton.

PLEASE note that this activity will only function on PC based computers (Not Apple computers) due to the fact that the Windows Media Player is required to play many of the original songs.

[Work around for Mac: There is a free shareware app, Flip4Mac, that behaves like Windows Media Player on Mac. Try downloading and installing it, and see if the activity finds and uses it on Mac to play the songs. Alternately, you can export each song, open with Audacity, export from Audacity as .mp3 or .wav, and re-link the converted songs. –Annie]

The activity is written at middle school to high school level. We have used it with students to discuss and explore the evolution of music, and instruments. Addiitonally it has opened up discussions regarding the times and experiences of the singers.

regarding the times and experiences of the singers. Teachers have used it as a basis to compare and contrast other musical forms and to have students trace the roots of the Blues into today’s music.

The fourteen artists chosen for this activity are but a few of the many men and women who were instrumental in the evolution of the Blues. We hope that it will further spur your interest into learning more about music and the various influences on it over time.

Applications needed: IntelliTools Classroom Suite®, IntelliTools Classroom Suite Player®, or IntelliPics Studio 3®.
Curriculum area: History/Social Studies, Language Arts.
Level: Middle/High School.

Download activity here:   Legends of The Blues.zip (53.5 MB)

April 20th, 2013 at 9:03 pm

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