Studying The Blues: 12-Bar Blues

Students studied the 12-bar blues progression, analyzing recorded examples of 12-bar blues songs and the structure of the lyrics. Connecting to language arts, students identified phrases in the verses, repetition, and rhyming. Working in collaborative groups or independently, students wrote their own thematically-appropriate 12-bar blues lyrics and practiced singing them over a 12-bar blues instrumental track. The video below shows seventh and eighth grade students developing, rehearsing, and presenting their original 12-bar blues songs.