Blues music history shapes nearly every modern style we hear today. For example, jazz, R&B, rock, country, hip-hop, and metal show its influence. This month our MTMS lab theme is the blues.
Originally, African American field workers in the South created the blues. During long days, they labored in cotton fields. Then at night, they gathered to sing, play, and share.
They mixed gospel traditions, field hollers, and call-and-response patterns into something new.
As a result, communities built connection, strength, and cultural identity.
Soon, musicians filled Mississippi juke joints with rhythm, dancing, and storytelling. There, singers voiced hardship, love, injustice, and hope. Meanwhile, guitars growled. Harmonicas cried.
Musically, players bent notes and slid between pitches for deep expression. In addition, rhythms pushed and pulled against steady beats. Because of this, many genres still rely on blues scales and classic progressions.
Later, families carried the music north during the Great Migration to urban centers. Consequently, cities reshaped the sound. Electric instruments grew louder, and artists forged new styles.
Performers across decades studied these ideas and built careers from them. You can hear that lineage in The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Likewise, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix carried it forward. Today, Bonnie Raitt, Gary Clark Jr., and Joe Bonamassa continue that legacy.
Ultimately, the blues tells shared stories. It offers hope. It provides release. Most importantly, it helps people survive and connect.
At Michelle Tuesday Music School, students explore these traditions in lessons and in the Music Lab. They hear history come alive through listening, discussion, and creativity. Then they carry those ideas back to their own instruments.
In this way, the blues continues to inspire our community every single day.