The Blues Mater Maria Catholic College Term 2

This book examines the expressive role of the blues. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, millions of African Negroes were taken to North America to work as slaves in the cotton fields of the southern states. Forced to work very hard and often cruelly treated, they eased their troubles by singing work songs that were strongly rhythmic and employed the ostinatos and call-and-response patterns of African music.