Taking Notes at Musical History Lesson

Scores of Los Angeles fifth-graders more attuned to the rhythms of rap and hip-hop were singing the blues in Hollywood the other morning. And clapping them. And stomping them.

All this while sitting in a schoolhouse that uses a stage for its classroom, streaked with the flashes of strobe lights and vibrating with the wail of guitars.

It’s the Blues Schoolhouse at the legendary House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, offering lessons that these youngsters were likely to remember for a long time.

To describe a morning at the Blues Schoolhouse as a field trip doesn’t begin to do it justice. The nearly 80 students from 116th Street Elementary School who traveled by bus from South-Central Los Angeles found themselves embarking on a musical odyssey that covered centuries of African American history. They learned how the work songs and spirituals of slaves spawned the early blues, which in turn gave rise to forms as diverse as country, rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, funk and rap.

By the time their two-hour lesson at the music club was over, they had become aware of the undeniable links between enslaved Africans’ work songs and Jimi Hendrix, between “Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy and “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, and between jug bands and James Brown.

Started in 1993, the rollicking Blues Schoolhouse program is intended to bolster the teaching of history and the arts. It began at the House of Blues in Cambridge, Mass., and has since expanded to the clubs in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Orlando, Fla.

The interactive sessions are also aimed at demonstrating the power of individual expression and fostering an awareness of African American contributions to U.S. culture.

Geared to students in grades 5 through 12, the Blues Schoolhouse attracts participants from across Los Angeles County. Most attend public schools, although a smattering of independent and parochial schools sign up as well. The audiences reflect the region’s diversity.

“This program is just as important for students from Pacific Palisades as for students from Compton,” said Justine Smith, program director for the International House of Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization that covers all but $75,000 of the program’s annual $205,000 cost. (Smith raises the balance through grants.)

So far, the program, which runs three mornings a week, has attracted more than 180,000 teachers and students nationwide.

Although music is the main event, students also get a crash course in folk art. The Los Angeles club’s dark walls and ceilings and well-worn wooden floors are studded with rough-hewn art and furniture by an array of artists.

Tyche Goldenberg, a guide, ushered one rowdy group of youngsters into a room where bands hang out before they go onstage.

“The public is never allowed up here,” she told the awe-struck pupils, who took turns sitting in a throne-like chair decorated with bottle caps and padlocks.

A bas-relief carving by Leroy Almon Sr. caught their attention. It depicted the harsh treatment that African Americans endured through the centuries, from being sold on the auction block to being whipped and sometimes lynched.

Down on the main floor, they perched on chairs and stools and applauded as the curtain rose on a rousing blues theme played by two guitarists and a drummer, an ensemble called--what else?--the Blues Schoolhouse Band.

They were soon joined by Maia, a singer dressed head to toe in traditional African garb; Martin Yarbrough, an acoustic guitarist who taught the children how to use their bodies as percussion instruments; and Kool-Aid, a budding rap artist. (Kool-Aid’s given name is Ricardo Chavez; he is 28 and a nephew of Cesar Chavez, the late farm labor leader.)

Kool-Aid proceeded to rap a history of the slave trade, explaining how it launched a musical tradition.

“With no choice, their brothers and sisters started using their voice,” he intoned.

By getting groups of children to clap in successive patterns, Maia taught them about the “polyrhythms” that are a trait of African music. Then, on her cue, the children followed her in a call-and-response song from Africa.

There was nary a glazed-over eye in the house. As the session drew to a close, children and teachers alike jumped to their feet and began to boogie to the beat.

Given its success at engaging children, the program has won fans among educators and administrators. Robin Lithgow, theater advisor at the Los Angeles Unified School District, praised the Blues Schoolhouse for offering an outing that teaches as it entertains.

With the current emphasis on reading and math instruction, she said, many principals and teachers are reluctant to devote time to the arts, even though “all the evidence is out there that the arts will increase test scores.” Teacher training would make the program even more valuable, Lithgow added.

David T. Legacki, principal of Webster Middle School, said the program makes learning fun and “students can relate to it 100%.”

That was certainly the case for student Dejanee Williams, 10, who offered a succinct review that showed she got the message. “It was great!” she said. “That lady was singing about freedom.”

Registration for next year’s program will begin in February. For information about the Blues Schoolhouse program, call (323) 848-5111.