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Lesson

Standardizing the Blues

Listen What I Gotta Say: Women in the Blues (6th–8th) / Standardizing the Blues

While “blues style” developed over time and had a variety of influences, many of the elements and stylistic characteristics we recognize today can be traced back to W.C. Handy's 1912 composition, "Memphis Blues". After the commercial success of the first public recording of blues music, "Crazy Blues" in 1920, the genre itself began to be viewed as marketable. These influential compositions provided a semi-standardized structure for not only blues music, but many other types of American popular music that came later. In this lesson, students will listen to historic recordings of these tunes, made by Katherine Handy Lewis (daughter of W. C. Handy), Mamie Smith, and Lizzie Miles. Through attentive and engaged listening experiences, they will become familiar with several common structural characteristics of blues music, such as 12-bar phrasing and chord progressions, blue notes, and blues scales.

Lesson Paths & Learning Objectives

  1. The World Meets the Blues

    • Explain why W. C. Handy is sometimes called the "Father of the Blues".
    • Identify the first commercial recording of the blues and who recorded it.
    • Explain why the blues began to be viewed as marketable during the 1920s.
    • 20+ minutes

  2. 12-Bar Blues Phrasing and the Blues Scale

    • Identify, identify, and explain 12-bar phrasing.
    • Identify and describe blue notes.
    • Identify and demonstrate notes in the blues scale.
    • 30+ minutes

  3. Interpreting the Blues

    • Identify similarities and differences between two versions of "Memphis Blues".
    • Identify and demonstrate elements of blues music that have become somewhat standardized over time.
    • 20+ minutes

More +
Less -

Bibliography

Text

Alabama Music Hall of Fame. n.d. "W.C. Handy, Nov. 16, 1873-March 28, 1958: 1987 Inductee." . Tuscumbia, AL: Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Accessed March 08, 2025.

Jansen, David A. 1957. The Perry Bradford Story: Pioneer of the Blues, liner notes. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, FW02863.

Lyden, Jacki, host. November 11, 2006. "Mamie Smith and the Birth of the Blues Market." All Things Considered: 5:21, podcast. Washington, DC: National Public Radio.

Smith, Charles Edward. 1964 [1958]. W.C. Handy Blues: As Sung by His Daughter Katharine Handy Lewis in Traditional Style, liner notes. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, FW03540.

Audio, video, and image credits appear in order of slideshow sequence

Audio

Johnson, James P. "Memphis Blues." W. C. Handy, composer. On The Original James P. Johnson. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, FW02850_205, 1973, streaming audio.

Lewis, Katharine Handy. "Memphis Blues." W. C. Handy, composer. On W. C. Handy Blues: As Sung by His Daughter Katharine Handy Lewis in Traditional Style. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, FW03540_102, 1958, streaming audio.

Smith, Mamie and Perry Bradford's Jazz Hounds. "Crazy Blues." Perry Bradford, composer. On A History of Jazz: The New York Scene, recorded 1920. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, FW00RF3_103, 1961, streaming audio. Originally released as OKeh Records 4169 on 10" shellac in 1920.

Miles, Lizzie. "Memphis Blues." W. C. Handy, composer. On Moans and Blues, recorded 1909. Stamford, CT: Cook Records, COOK01182_101, 1956, streaming audio.

Video

Smithsonian Channel. The Legendary Spot Where Elvis Recorded His First Song. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Channel, 2016. Video. Streamed via YouTube.

Images

Bearden, Romare. Empress of the Blues, 1974, acrylic and pencil on paper. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum. Museum purchase in part through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment.

Holston, Joseph. Rhythmic Blues, 2000, etching. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of the artist.

Polk, Prentice H. "Portrait of W. C. Handy," 1942, photograph - gelatin silver print. Washington, DC: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © Tuskegee University Archives.

Pace & Handy Music Co. "Beale Street Blues," 1919, sheet music cover. W. C. Handy, composer and featuring Teddy TappanWikimedia Commons. Uploaded to Wikimedia in 2008 by Infrogmation.

Gahr, David. "Katharine Handy Lewis," photograph. In W. C. Handy Blues: As Sung by His Daughter Katharine Handy Lewis in Traditional Style, Ronald Clyne, cover design. New York City, NY: Folkways Records, 1958, cover image.

Unknown artists. "Crazy Blues Single and Artists' Portraits," digital image. In Crazy Blues—Mamie Smith (1920), essay by Ed Komura. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, 2005, p. 1.

Unknown photographer. "Mamie Smith," ca. 1920, photograph. Wikimedia Commons, 2021. Uploaded to Wikimedia in 2007 by Emerson7, last edited 2021 by OsvátA.

OKeh Phonograph Corporation. "Crazy Blues," 78 rpm label. New York City, NY: OKeh Phonograph Corporation, 1920. Image sourced from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

Unknown photographer. "Perry Bradford," ca. 1926, photograph. In The Perry Bradford Story. New York City, NY: Crispus-Attucks Records, 1957, back cover. Image sourced from Discogs.

OKeh Phonograph Corporation. "OKeh Race Records Form No. 2566," print booklet. New York City, NY: OKeh Phonograph Corporation, ca. 1926-1930. Image sourced from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

Davies, Diana Jo. "B. B. King at the Newport Folk Festival," 1967, photograph. Washington, DC: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution.

Unknown photographer. "Lizzie Miles," photograph. In Moans and Blues. Stamford, CT: Cook Records, 1956, back cover.

Unknown photographer. "Lizzie Miles," photograph. In Torchy Lullabies. Stamford, CT: Cook Records, 1956, cover image.