Dignity and respect. Self-esteem, “worthy” of being treated well, honoured for contributing fully. How can we convey those things? How can we teach them? Is there an opportunity here for a picture that’s worth a thousand words?

I’ll attempt to walk the class through a visual encounter with dignity, the role of the Blues before and after emancipation, the Robert Johnson “Crossroads” legend … and write some Blues. Musically, we’ll reinforce our counting, continue driving home the 12-bar form, figure out I-IV-V in additional keys. We’ll master some new chords—and write some Blues around the 2+1 structure of a traditional Blues lyric.

I’ll ask what they already know about dignity, and whether the people in photos have it … how do they know?

The last image I’ll show is Robert Johnson. What’s he wearing, how’s he sitting, what’s he got to be so proud of? What if the suit, hat, guitar and a few more clothes—enough to fill one suitcase—are all he owns, and he carries it by bus and hitchhiking from town to town along dirt roads?

We’ll stand and do some “dignity awareness studies.” We’ve already beat our chests with the swing video; this will be introduced in similar fashion. These can be posturing and funny at the start (it’s likely somewhat related to rock star posing) but I need to bring back seriousness and wrap it up … ultimately the point is to try to feel increased confidence and self worth associated with feeling dignity and recognizing that of others.

But wait, there’s one more association to make. I’ll promise to tell them the Legend of the Crossroads after a movie clip. We’ll watch the first 3:20 of Does it Swing? An Introduction to Swing Jazz for Young People (Part 1), to where it talks about slavery and the blues. (I’ll stop it before Basin Street Blues which will watch if there’s time at the end, and learn next visit.) We’ll reflect on that briefly and then take out the ukuleles to learn some Robert Johnson tunes.

Robert Johnson and the Crossroads Blues

The learners will…

• Hear Cross Road Blues [or this one] and the Robert Johnson legend. [Here’s a movie trailer.]
  • Show Lyrics
  • I went down to the crossroad
    Fell down on my knees
    I went down to the crossroad
    Fell down on my knees
    Asked the lord above “Have mercy now
    save poor Bob if you please”    

    Yeeooo, standin at the crossroad
    Tried to flag a ride
    Ooo ooo eee
    I tried to flag a ride
    Didn’t nobody seem to know me babe
    Everybody pass me by

    Standin at the crossroad babe
    Risin sun goin down
    Standin at the crossroad babe
    Eee eee eee, risin sun goin down
    I believe to my soul now,
    Poor Bob is sinkin down

    You can run, you can run
    Tell my friend Willie Brown
    You can run, you can run
    Tell my friend Willie Brown
    (Th)at I got the crossroad blues this mornin’ Lord
    Babe, I’m sinkin down

    And I went to the crossroad momma
    I looked east and west
    I went to the crossroad baby
    I looked east and west
    Lord, I didn’t have no sweet woman
    Ooh-well babe, in my distress
    —

  • Who’s Willie Brown?
    [Trigger alert: Willie was lynched by a white mob in the Omaha Race Riots of 1919.]
• Learn the chords F Bb & C and joining Blues lick (these are the chords for Sweet Home Chicago and Ramblin’ On My Mind) and Eb (for Crossroad Blues and Come On in My Kitchen).
  1. Come On in My Kitchen (Compare with Stones’ You Got To Move)
  2. Sweet Home Chicago
  3. Ramblin’ On My Mind
• Identify the 2 + 1 pattern of Blues lyric.
• Perform call and response style imitation and improvisation

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Tux Guitar files/chord diagrams, lesson sundries. Bb Blues for ukulele

• How to set up TuxGuitar as TuxUkulele
  Show 360p Video  or  Show 720p Video
• Full chart [TuxGuitar] [PDF]
• Just standard notation [PDF]
• Just tab [PDF]

For more links and resources please see this concept map