"The non-profit Blues Kids Foundation holds annual Fernando Jones Blues summer camps,
where students as young as eight or nine years old hone their chops."
Rolling Stone Magazine (Click for article)
"[Fernando] you are one in a million trying to get to the bottom of the barrel of the Blues.”
Buddy Guy (Click to see photo of the two)
"Unlike Jazz camps, camps that focus on the Blues are a rarity.
[Fernando] Jones’ Blues Camps have become an annual rite of Summer."
"Few Chicago Blues musicians have done more to nurture
the next generation of talent than guitarist Fernando Jones."
Chicago Tribune (Click for article)
Blues Camp Brochure (Click to download)
• • •
The Blues Kids Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. We were established to preserve, perform and promote the Blues among America's youth, parents and educators under the tutelage of highly qualified instructors. Our focus is on education, literacy, social emotional learning and music as a second language.
Blues Camp International is supported by and brought to you in part by: Columbia College Chicago, Mary Barnes Donnelley Family Foundation, Lefort-Martin Fund, Tom Liebman, DCASE, Venue OverDrive, Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, PERT Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Microbusiness Recovery Grant Program, Chicago Federation of Musicians (Local 10-208), Rotary Club of Chicago, Facebook / Network for Good, Navy Pier Chicago, D’Addario Foundation, The Chicago (IL) Metro Chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, M.U.S.T Foundation, Bobbie’s Screen Printing, Bikes & Music, and The Lassandrello Family.
Blues Kids Foundation Friends include but are not limited to:
WGN TV, NBC5 Chicago, One Brick Foundation, Thinking Computers, Downbeat Magazine, the Society Incorporated, The Chicago Chapter for the Arts, Reggie’s Rock Club, Edward G. Irvin Foundation, Music Box Foundation, Delta Arts Center (NC), A Sound Education, Lois and Line Cornell.
Blues Camp Education Partners include but are not limited to:
Columbia College Chicago, B.B. King Museum and Interpretive Center (MS), Winston-Salem State University (NC), Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, KOP Mentoring Network (FL), Tokyo School of Music and Dance (Japan), Chicago Public Schools (Hendricks, Esmond, Powell Paideia Academy, Pershing and Owen Schools), and ETA Creative Arts Foundation.
If you'd like to make us your charity of choice click the secure "Donate" button.
Fernando Jones' Blues Camp on WGN
Blues Camp on Around Chicago at Esmond 2:23
Blues Camp w/Ana Belaval at Esmond (1:13)
Blues Camp Florida
Fernando Jones & My Band! Feat. Felton Crews and Quincy Cochran.
Fernando Jones & My Band!
Fernando Jones' Silent Movie Promo
Fernando Jones & My Band!
Lesson Plans + Basic Charts
Charts for educational purposes at Blues Camp. Not for transfer or sale.
Lesson Plans (Click to download PDF)
Chicago (Has Got Everything You Need) Lesson Plan
Song Charts (Click to download PDF)
Chicago (Has Got Everything You Need) Score
She's Got Everything But a Man (Lesson Plan and Lyrics)
Freddie & Bettie Butterfly (Lesson Plan and Lyrics)
Freddie and Bettie Butterfly (Guitar Tabs)
Freddie and Bettie Butterfly Silent Video Story
Mr. Hobo (Lesson Plan and Lyrics)
Other songs for the horn Ensemble 2020
Uptown Funk - Alto Sax, Trumpet, Trombone
At Last - Cello and Violin
Free Online Lessons by Fernando Jones
BluesLoops Bass & Guitar Video
BluesLoops Piano Lines (For Practice)
BluesLoops Drums For (Practice)
Assessment Measures
Click here for the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge Standards that we use.
Assessment Measures
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Pre-Course Evaluation
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Oral and Written Quizzes
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Homework Assignments
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Class Participation
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Rehearsal Performance Prep
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Concert Performances Evaluation
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Final Presentation Project
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Exit Course Evaluation
Goals
• Keep Blues youthful and exciting, while preserving and building the on the past.
• Provide Blues Kids with the basic skills (musically, socially, emotionally and linguistically) necessary to play proficiently and effectively in a music community.
• Introduce this indigenous American art form to new audiences.
• Use critical thinking skills, while collaborating with others.
• Apply practical skills learned in class in culminating activities on stage.
• Promote digital learning and embrace technology.
• Contributions to the future of the Blues musically, socially and culturally
• Present the next generation of musicians as scholars and proficient players.
• Introduce students to the art of live professional performance.
Objectives
• Introduce the history of American music through the lens of the Blues.
• Keep the Blues youthful and exciting, while preserving the past.
• Represent the next generation of Blues artist as scholars and proficient players + vocalists.
• Learn the importance of the Blues from a sociological and historical perspective focusing on the future.
• Use critical thinking skills and collaborate with others.
• Apply practical skills learned in class in a culminating activity on stage.