Welcome to:

1. Welcome to: By Tabitha Odutayo 8X1

2. History…… Thousand of Africans went to America in the 18th and 19th century because they were taken as slaves to produce goods for the slave masters. They were sold off in auctions and made to work in farms in South America. These auctions were quite scary. The slave were examined head to toe like animals and they were also treated like them. The ‘middle passage’ was a rote to America in which slaves were taken from their home land and put onto ships. There were about 200 of them each on a sailing ship. The trip to America was a long way and it wasn’t possible for all slaves to survive the trip. They were all chained up together and as the boat moved to one side they would all crash into one another. Slaves were in boats of 200 people each.

3. Life for slaves and how blues music was involved…… Life was horrible for Africans. They were sold, they had their families split up, and there was a great chance that they might have died on the long journey to America. There was just one thing that could take their mind off all the bad things in their life: Music. Music played an important part in Africans life because it was a way off life for them. The songs that they sang expressed how they were feeling. Sometimes songs were even for planning escape. Songs such as ‘Wade In The Water’. This was sang to show where to go when they wanted to escape. It was a kind of code to tell them where to go.

4. Instrumentsplayed…… The most popular type of instrument used were drums. When the Africans would play the drums, they would either use the palms of their hands, fingertips, or with sticks. Jawbones were turned into a percussion instrument by becoming scrappers which was when the teeth were scrapped with keys or metal objects. There were many other instruments used such as: Shakers Tambourines Fiddles In addition, there were many other ways in which Africans could create a beat. An ‘off beat rhythm’ was when slaves wore anklets and when they stamped in time with the music they would jingle.

5. Life after…… Freedom wasn’t easy for black Americans and Africans as they were denied basic human rights. However, the slaves were finally set free in 1865. Later on, blues music developed in may ways. The 12 bar blues is a length of music which is played with twelve bars and it also fits with the typical Blues lyrics. Famous blues musicians like Eric Clapton has helped spread blues music by a mixture of traditional songs and his own astonishing numbers such as ‘Layla’. The Blues is a combination of jazz, rock-and-roll, rhythm and blues.

6. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING MY PRESENTATION !!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPj3GAYYZ0