Using Music to Learn About History

Backed by a four-piece band and wearing a black hat and dark glasses, Michael Sterns took the microphone and belted out a soulful rendition of “Bratty Cat Blues.”

“I got a bratty cat who bugs me every day/Yes I got a bratty cat who bugs me every day/Because my cat claws and bites me, well he just on’t go away.”

“Give him a hand y’all, you’re in blues country now!” Sylvia St. James shouted as Michael stepped shyly from the microphone.

Michael and about 75 of his fourth- and fifth-grade classmates at Nevada Avenue Elementary School in Canoga Park were at the House of Blues.

Three times a week for the last two years, St. James has been leading a group of singers, dancers, actors and musicians in a cultural history program that traces the roots of the blues.

From Harriet Tubman to T-Bone Walker to Jimi Hendrix, the program follows the path of African American history and explains how many modern musical styles are derived from blues music, which emerged as a blend of the slave experience and native African traditions.

The award-winning program is funded by the International House of Blues Foundation. It is free, but so popular that teachers who want to bring their classes face a yearlong wait.

For teachers and students at Nevada, who studied African American history and music and even penned their own blues for the occasion, it was well worth the wait.

“I’ve been teaching 37 years and this is the best field trip I’ve ever attended,” said Cliff Shaw, a teacher at Nevada.

Barry Watnick, another teacher, joined the show at one point, picking up a guitar to play a few tunes with the band.

“You can talk about it all you want in class, but this is so much more powerful,” he said.

Student Lakhrir Singh agreed.

“I thought I would lose my voice I was screaming so much,” the 10-year-old said. “I liked it when they talked about Africa and showed us how slavery happened. I never knew that--it was so sad.”