Clayton Byrd Goes Underground: Chapters 1–8

by Rita Williams-Garcia
Clayton Byrd dreams of playing the blues, just like his grandfather. When his grandfather dies, a distraught Clayton runs away from home in the hopes of joining a blues band.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–5, Chapters 16–29

Here are links to our lists for other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama
40 words 160 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. blues
    a type of folksong that originated among Black Americans
    Cool Papa had a way with his electric blues guitar, Wah-Wah Nita.
  2. chord
    a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously
    Everything from chords, their order, and who would do what.
  3. bass
    a musical instrument with the lowest range of its family
    Big Mike on bass walked the bottom bass line up and then down.
  4. percussion
    section of a band or orchestra that plays struck instruments
    Hector Santos kept the beat tight on percussion with two buckets, a brass hi-hat, and a snare drum.
  5. funk
    an earthy type of jazz combining it with blues and soul
    When rhythm and slow-burning funk cooked into the blues, Cool Papa Byrd spoke-sang, deep and high, raspy and smooth...
  6. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    When rhythm and slow-burning funk cooked into the blues, Cool Papa Byrd spoke-sang, deep and high, raspy and smooth...
  7. solo
    a musical composition for one voice or instrument
    All Clayton wanted was a twelve-bar solo—not even the twice-around-the-block solo that the other Bluesmen played.
  8. groove
    a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
    His head bopped a light, steady groove.
  9. pitch
    the high or low quality of a sound
    Clayton raised the silver harmonica to his lips, ready to draw in for that high pitch to start off his blues story.
  10. scold
    censure severely or angrily
    He’d hear his mother scold her father and he’d hear his grandfather take it.
  11. jazz
    genre of American music that developed in the 20th century
    Jazz that sounded like angry elephants blowing their trumpets at each other.
  12. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    Clayton balked, half joking, half whining.
  13. glint
    be shiny, as if wet
    Clayton sat up in his bed, blues harp in hand, while Cool Papa Byrd pulled out First Guitar, a wide-bodied acoustic guitar that didn’t need an amp and didn’t glint like Show Guitar or cry like Wah-Wah Nita.
  14. dale
    an open valley in a hilly area
    “Two sheep over the dale. ”
  15. embark
    set out on, as an enterprise or subject of study
    Besides, who better to read about embarking on travel and escaping trouble than Cool Papa, who had sailed the seas as a navy man, and traveled the road, both home and abroad, as a bluesman?
  16. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Ms. Byrd peeked inside Clayton’s room but didn’t cross the threshold.
  17. serene
    not agitated
    The serene picture almost moved her to enter the room to kiss her father good night.
  18. flashy
    tastelessly showy
    But instead, when her father’s time with the navy was over, he went on the road with two of his flashy electric guitars.
  19. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    Behind them sat Clayton’s grand-aunts and-uncles, many second cousins, and a slew of relatives.
  20. shudder
    tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
    From then on, Cool Papa Byrd taught Clayton to blow the harmonica out to make it shout, and to draw in his breath to make it shudder or chug like a train.
  21. throng
    a large gathering of people
    Behind the mourners from school days’ past sat the throng of people who had heard and loved his electric blues guitar licks.
  22. curt
    speaking in a terse, rude, or abrupt way
    She shook her head, short and curt.
  23. organ
    a wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes
    Then the organist began to fill the church with organ sounds.
  24. hymn
    a song of praise, especially a religious song
    So the organist played hymns.
  25. protege
    a person who receives support from an influential patron
    There was no mention of his grandson, Clayton Byrd, as his blues protege.
  26. circuit
    an itinerary of venues that a group of people travel to
    That was because the name on the folded paper was not Cool Papa Byrd, as he was known on the blues circuit, uptown and downtown.
  27. rustle
    make a dry crackling sound
    Murmurs of “Do you see this?” and “How could she?” rustled through the pews.
  28. eulogize
    praise formally and eloquently
    At last, when the eulogist finished eulogizing, the preacher finished preaching, and the organist finished playing heavenly hymns, the preacher asked if anyone would like to say a few words.
  29. slink
    move or walk stealthily
    The front slunk down over Omar’s eyes, which Omar thought was funny.
  30. rummage
    a jumble of things to be given away
    In fact, he’d helped his mother put her things in boxes for the church rummage sale.
  31. brim
    a circular projection sticking out from the crown of a hat
    Cool Papa Byrd had owned many a hat, but mainly wore the brown felt brim porkpie hat.
  32. pang
    a sudden sharp feeling
    If he felt sorry for snatching the porkpie hat from the tall lady earlier that morning, the few pangs of regret were now gone.
  33. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    Knowing how his mother felt about table manners, Clayton wiped his mouth with his sleeve rather than using the embroidered cloth napkin still folded at the left-hand side of his plate.
  34. disbelief
    doubt about the truth of something
    His mother exhaled, put her fork down, and stared at her son in utter disbelief.
  35. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    The lizard, who was never named, didn’t venture out often from his rock den among the Egyptian clover, but when he did, it took every ounce of Clayton’s strength to not watch the lizard dart between the clover.
  36. rendition
    a performance of a musical composition or a dramatic role
    The gleeful rendition had never bothered him before, but this morning it upset his ears.
  37. gleeful
    full of high-spirited delight
    “Sunshine” wasn’t a fast, loud, and gleeful song.
  38. snicker
    laugh quietly
    His classmates’ snickering trickled around him.
  39. crest
    the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
    He heard the call of the sea once he laid eyes on its gleaming crests.
  40. melodic
    containing or characterized by a pleasing tune or sound
    Clayton continued on, the words familiar and soothing, rolling melodically around inside his mind as he read.
Created on Tue Jan 23 15:36:53 EST 2018 (updated Thu Feb 28 15:27:52 EST 2019)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.