The blue

1. The blue BY GANIYAT SERIKI 8ZI Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States around the end of the 19th century

2. Slaves at the beginning From the middle of the 15th century, Africa entered into a unique relationship with Europe that led to the devastation and depopulation of Africa, but contributed to the wealth and development of Europe. From then until the end of the 19th century, Europeans began to establish a trade for African captives. At first this trafficking only supplemented a trade in human beings that already existed within Europe, in which Europeans had enslaved each other. Some enslaved Africans had also reached Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world before the mid-15th century, as a result of a trade in human beings that had also long existed in Africa.

3. Many of these African captives crossed the Sahara and reached Europe and other destinations from North Africa, or were transported across the Indian Ocean. • The transatlantic slave trade began during the 15th century when Portugal, and subsequently other European kingdoms, were finally able to expand overseas and reach Africa. The Portuguese first began to kidnap people from the west coast of Africa and to take those they enslaved back to Europe. • It is estimated that by the early 16th century as much as 10% of Lisbon's population was of African descent. After the European discovery of the American continent, the demand for African labour gradually grew, as other sources of labour - both European and American - were found to be insufficient. • The Spanish took the first African captives to the Americas from Europe as early as 1503, and by 1518 the first captives were shipped directly from Africa to America. The majority of African captives were exported from the coast of West Africa, some 3,000 miles between what is now Senegal and Angola, and mostly from the modern Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon

4. Crossing the Atlantic from Africa was called the 'Middle Passage' of the 'triangular trade'. It often took two months, during which time the slave ship sailed alone. • A slave revolt on board was the greatest fear of the small crew of the ship. To keep control, they carried pistols and cutlasses. They often whipped the slaves with a 'cat o' nine tails' for the slightest wrong. The men were separated from the women and children by a high wooden wall. They were always kept shackled with iron leg chains. At night the male slaves were locked below deck. This is what OlaudahEquiano recalled as a slave on board ship In the morning they were dragged up and their shackles inspected. Any slaves who had died during the night were unchained and thrown overboard. Their bodies were quickly eaten by the sharks that followed every slave ship. In the middle passage the sick slaves were thrown across the boarder and the new born Slaves the middle passage

5. African slaves brought their musical traditions with them when they were transported to work in the North American colonies. Early types of African American music included spirituals (religious songs using vocal harmony) and work songs. • Work songs were sung rhythmically in time with the task being done. They used call and response in which phrases from a lead singer were followed by the others. African music combined with the folk music of the white European settlers to produce new styles of music. • The blues emerged towards the end of the 19th century. This early style of blues was known as country blues and was usually a solo singer accompanied on guitar or piano sometimes with added harmonica or drums. Well-known country blues musicians include Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson. Most blues songs: • have four beats in a bar • are built on the 12-bar blues form • use three four-bar phrases How does 12 bar blues link to slavery