all over the world people listen to American music. It began with the songs of black American slaves. Black slaves in the South sang work songs and religious songs with a shape of 'call and response'. This is like a conversation in music - one person sings, and then another. answers. When the slaves got their freedom after the Civil War they began to tell their now stories in music called the 'blues', particularly in the area around the Mississippi River. It had the same shape,where the singer sings and the guitar answers. The word 'blue' can mean sad, and the songs tell a sad story of hard work and danger.