The modern musical world is not just limited to the compositions of the classical music tradition. We also have rock, jazz, and hip-hop. Almost anybody has a huge place in their life where mass genres of music, such as pop, occupy a place. These genres have origins in both classical and folk music. This is why all professional musicians need a broad understanding of style, history and technique to be able to work with any genre on their instruments.
Blues is a genre of music that originated in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became very popular and is still being loved by listeners. Blues is a mixed African American style, combining such styles as work song, spirituals with folk music from Western Europe like waltz.
In order to have a complete understanding of what the blues is, you need to work out where it comes from. It originated a long time ago when many African slaves worked on plantations and did some of the dirtiest work. There’s been a lot of things that have influenced blues music, one of them being slavery. Slaves used it to sing during their long hours of work as well as in their free time. Eventually, African music became lighter and more thoughtful and the blues style was born from it. There is no way to tell exactly when this occurred. The Mississippi Delta was a center for the development of the blues. Slaves were often condemned to never-ending hard labour, which also included the dirtiest jobs. That’s why they don’t always have high-quality work to offer. They may also become vagabonds or stop performing entirely. Some people got jobs as singers or musicians in eateries, but were paid little or forgot about wages and were even paid off with food.
The blues is a music genre that typically consists of 12 or so bars, divided into verses, with each verse containing the same chord progression. The tempo can vary but is typically fairly slow. Blues music is improvisational in nature. Just like jazz or rock, the basis of a song already exists, but the solo instruments take the parts between each other, presenting a dialog of sorts. Classical forms of compositions are usually 12 or 16 bars. The characteristic features of this genre are – the use of lower steps – 3, 5 and 7 in natural major. This is the blues scale..The stories are different, but the theme of unrequited love, hard work, and slavery is prominent in each.
There are more than 10 kinds of blues music, the brightest of which are urban and rhythm and blues.
Urban blues originated after the completion of the American Civil War in the 1870s. It was invented by African Americans who moved to cities. This genre remains at its peak of popularity in America so far. Musicians such as Joe Turner combined blues with rhythms to produce what is now known as rhythm and blues. It was originally a combination of jazz and gospel music, but its now a genre that is made up of soul, funk, and elements from other genres. Blues music is different than before because of the new tools. They start to use electric guitars, bass guitars, and microphones. These changes have led to the voice of a singer being amplified. Thanks to the revolution it caused, an ensemble of four performers were able to sound louder and more powerful than an 18-person band. One of the most famous rock blues players is Chuck Berry and another is BB King. They modernized the blues and added jazz rhythms, gradually taking it away from the original folk version. Blues rock was an English direction, according to some sources. Jimi Hendrix became its ancestor in the official version, according to other sources. This style was characterized by a very aggressive sound and an improvisational quality of music. For this reason, it is not as widely used today as it once was. Nevertheless, some performers who play this style can be seen still attempting in the business.
One of the hallmarks of the blues is improvisation. Using a “question – answer” structure, most are based in either minor pentatonic or natural major scales. The harmony of blues can be quite simple as it includes only three functions: tonic, subdominant and dominant – the first, fourth and fifth steps of the frets.
It might be hard to believe but black music started out as “white” music. In 1909 Hart Vand composed a song called Dallas Blues which became popular. Later on, two more compositions were published that had a similar style to the article previously mentioned. However, these were not blues music yet. A specific form of classical blues, with its defining features, came about in the 1920s. Previous compositions, based on unsuppressed self-expression, began to be called rural or archaic.
In the 1920s, America was gripped by the blues obsession. That’s why representatives of record companies traveled all over the country in search of both more obscure singers and more mainstream ones, proclaiming them “the personifications of blues” when they found them.
The concept of discomfort is obvious in music. This can be found in the form, melody, rhythm, harmony and sound character. These are all called aspects of music. La musique donne une livree aux debates de deux mondes, ceux du passe et du present.
To master the musical language of blues, a musician needs to know the features of means of expressions used in it.
It’s impossible to talk about the musical side of the blues without discussing its poetry. In a sense, these two go hand-in-hand – one cannot exist without the other because of how they contrast with each other. It’s all about contradictions – both in form and content.
This is one of the most popular genres in music today. Many listeners are drawn to it and adore its sound. Musicians find themselves spellbound by its melodies that can evoke strong emotions too. The raw, guttural sound of the blues is something that resonates deep down in your soul. Truly appreciators of the genre believe you need to listen to it in one breath and with all your heart.
