Sing a rock ’n’ roll song and learn about blues music, scat singing and hand jive!

It all comes from the Blues!

  • Rock’n’ roll songs were inspired by blues music.

  • Blues appeared in the South of the USA around 1860s.

  • Its roots come from African musical traditions, African-American work songs and spirituals.

  • Blues songs use a call and response pattern, the blues scales, blue notes and a specific chord progression known as the twelve-bar blues.

Watch this video by Sound Field to learn more about blues music and how it influences other genres of modern music.

Scat singing

Scat singing was used by blues and jazz performers. Scat is when you use nonsense syllables or words which don’t mean anything to make new melodies and rhythms. You might make sounds like doo ba da be doo or try to imitate an instrument like a trumpet with your voice.

To help you really understand what scat singing is, have a listen to one of the most famous jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald.

Hand jive

The ‘hand jive’ was invented because they were so many people at rock’n roll concerts that people couldn’t move. People couldn’t dance with their feet so they started dancing with their hands.

In the United States, the hand jive was popularized by Johnny Otis in the 1950s. Watch this video and notice the dance moves!

Now see if you can follow Jenny and Elizabeth as they teach you some hand jive moves!

Rock 'n' roll around

It’s now time to get singing! Follow Jenny as she teaches you ‘Rock ‘n’ roll – a round?’ by Rosemary Redding.

This song is taken from a collection published by Sing for Pleasure.

We would love to see how you rock ’n’ roll around! If you want, you can share videos or photos with us on social media using #ONLittleSchool.

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