Difference between revisions of "Blues" - New World Encyclopedia
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The lyrics generally end on the last beat of the tenth bar or the first beat of the eleventh bar, and the final two bars are given to the instrumentalist as a break; the harmony of this two-bar break, the [[turnaround]], can be extremely complex, sometimes consisting of single notes that defy analysis in terms of chords. The final beat, however, is almost always strongly grounded in the dominant seventh (V7), to provide tension for the next verse. Musicians sometimes refer to twelve-bar blues as "B-flat" blues because it is the traditional pitch of the tenor sax, trumpet/cornet, clarinet and trombone. | The lyrics generally end on the last beat of the tenth bar or the first beat of the eleventh bar, and the final two bars are given to the instrumentalist as a break; the harmony of this two-bar break, the [[turnaround]], can be extremely complex, sometimes consisting of single notes that defy analysis in terms of chords. The final beat, however, is almost always strongly grounded in the dominant seventh (V7), to provide tension for the next verse. Musicians sometimes refer to twelve-bar blues as "B-flat" blues because it is the traditional pitch of the tenor sax, trumpet/cornet, clarinet and trombone. | ||
− | [[Image:058502r.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sheet music from " | + | [[Image:058502r.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sheet music from "St. Louis Blues" (1914)]] |
− | [[Melody|Melodically]], blues music is marked by the use of the [[flat]]ted [[minor third|third]], [[tritone|fifth]] and [[minor seventh|seventh]] (the so-called [[blue notes|''blue'' or ''bent notes'']]) of the associated [[major scale]].<ref>Ewen, pg. 143</ref> While the twelve-bar harmonic progression had been intermittently used for centuries, the revolutionary aspect of blues was the frequent use of the flatted third, flatted seventh, and even flatted fifth in the melody, together with ''crushing''—playing directly adjacent notes at the same time, i.e., diminished second—and ''sliding''—similar to using | + | [[Melody|Melodically]], blues music is marked by the use of the [[flat]]ted [[minor third|third]], [[tritone|fifth]] and [[minor seventh|seventh]] (the so-called [[blue notes|''blue'' or ''bent notes'']]) of the associated [[major scale]].<ref>Ewen, pg. 143</ref> While the twelve-bar harmonic progression had been intermittently used for centuries, the revolutionary aspect of blues was the frequent use of the flatted third, flatted seventh, and even flatted fifth in the melody, together with ''crushing''—playing directly adjacent notes at the same time, i.e., diminished second—and ''sliding''—similar to using grace notes.<ref> |
− | Grace notes were common in the | + | Grace notes were common in the Baroque and Classical periods, but they acted as ornamentation rather than as part of the harmonic structure. |
[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 21]]'' has a flatted fifth in the dominant. Howver, this was a technique for building tension for resolution into the major fifth, while a blues melody uses the flatted fifth as part of the scale.</ref> | [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 21]]'' has a flatted fifth in the dominant. Howver, this was a technique for building tension for resolution into the major fifth, while a blues melody uses the flatted fifth as part of the scale.</ref> | ||
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Garofalo claims that ''artists were sometimes listed in the wrong racial category in record company catalogues.''</ref> While blues emerged from the culture of African-Americans, blues musicians have since emerged world-wide. Studies have situated the origin of "black" spiritual music inside slaves' exposure to their masters' [[Hebrides|Hebridean]]-originated gospels. African-American economist and historian [[Thomas Sowell]] also notes that the southern, black, ex-slave population was acculturated to a considerable degree by and among their Scots-Irish "[[redneck]]" neighbours. However, the findings of Kubik and others also clearly attest to the essential Africanness of many essential aspects of blues expression. | Garofalo claims that ''artists were sometimes listed in the wrong racial category in record company catalogues.''</ref> While blues emerged from the culture of African-Americans, blues musicians have since emerged world-wide. Studies have situated the origin of "black" spiritual music inside slaves' exposure to their masters' [[Hebrides|Hebridean]]-originated gospels. African-American economist and historian [[Thomas Sowell]] also notes that the southern, black, ex-slave population was acculturated to a considerable degree by and among their Scots-Irish "[[redneck]]" neighbours. However, the findings of Kubik and others also clearly attest to the essential Africanness of many essential aspects of blues expression. | ||
− | The social and economic reasons for the appearance of the blues are not fully known.<ref>Philip V. Bohlman, "Immigrant, folk, and regional music in the twentieth century", in ''The Cambridge History of American Music'', ed. David Nicholls, 1999, | + | The social and economic reasons for the appearance of the blues are not fully known.<ref>Philip V. Bohlman, "Immigrant, folk, and regional music in the twentieth century", in ''The Cambridge History of American Music'', ed. David Nicholls, 1999, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-45429-8, pg. 285</ref> The first appearance of the blues is not well defined and is often dated between 1870 and 1900, a period that coincides with the [[Abolitionism|emancipation]] of the slaves and the transition from slavery to sharecropping and small-scale agricultural production in the southern US. |
− | Several scholars characterize the early 1900s development of blues music as a move from group performances to a more individualized style. They argue that the development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the slaves. According to | + | Several scholars characterize the early 1900s development of blues music as a move from group performances to a more individualized style. They argue that the development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the slaves. According to Lawrence Levine,<ref>Lawrence W. Levine, ''Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom'', Oxford University Press, 1977, ISBN 0-19-502374-9, pg. 223 </ref> "there was a direct relationship between the national ideological emphasis upon the individual, the popularity of [[Booker T. Washington]]'s teachings, and the rise of the blues." Levine states that "psychologically, socially, and economically, Negroes were being acculturated in a way that would have been impossible during slavery, and it is hardly surprising that their secular music reflected this as much as their religious music did." |
===Prewar blues=== | ===Prewar blues=== | ||
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===Early postwar blues=== | ===Early postwar blues=== | ||
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After [[World War II]] and in the 1950s, as African Americans moved to the Northern cities, new styles of [[electric blues]] music became popular in cities such as [[Chicago]], [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]] and [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. Electric blues used amplified electric guitars, electric bass, drums, and harmonica. Chicago became a center for electric blues in the early 1950s. | After [[World War II]] and in the 1950s, as African Americans moved to the Northern cities, new styles of [[electric blues]] music became popular in cities such as [[Chicago]], [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]] and [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. Electric blues used amplified electric guitars, electric bass, drums, and harmonica. Chicago became a center for electric blues in the early 1950s. | ||
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In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music. While popular musicians like [[Bo Diddley]] and [[Chuck Berry]] were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues. Diddley and Berry's approach to performance was one of the factors that influenced the [[Origins of rock and roll|transition from the blues to rock 'n' roll]]. [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Bill Haley]] were more influenced by the jump blues and boogie-woogie styles. They popularized rock and roll within the white segment of the population. Chicago blues also influenced [[Louisiana]]'s [[zydeco]] music, with [[Clifton Chenier]] using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and [[cajun]] arrangements of blues standards. | In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music. While popular musicians like [[Bo Diddley]] and [[Chuck Berry]] were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues. Diddley and Berry's approach to performance was one of the factors that influenced the [[Origins of rock and roll|transition from the blues to rock 'n' roll]]. [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Bill Haley]] were more influenced by the jump blues and boogie-woogie styles. They popularized rock and roll within the white segment of the population. Chicago blues also influenced [[Louisiana]]'s [[zydeco]] music, with [[Clifton Chenier]] using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and [[cajun]] arrangements of blues standards. | ||
− | Other blues artists, such as [[T-Bone Walker]] and [[John Lee Hooker]], had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]]-born T-Bone Walker is often associated with the [[West Coast blues|California blues]] style, which is smoother than Chicago blues and is a transition between the Chicago blues, the jump blues and [[Swing (genre)|swing]] with some [[jazz guitar|jazz-guitar]] influence. John Lee Hooker's blues is more "personal", based on Hooker's deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie woogie, his "groovy" style is sometimes called "guitar boogie". His first hit "Boogie Chillen" reached #1 on the R&B charts in 1949.<ref>Lars Bjorn, ''Before Motown'', 2001, | + | Other blues artists, such as [[T-Bone Walker]] and [[John Lee Hooker]], had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]]-born T-Bone Walker is often associated with the [[West Coast blues|California blues]] style, which is smoother than Chicago blues and is a transition between the Chicago blues, the jump blues and [[Swing (genre)|swing]] with some [[jazz guitar|jazz-guitar]] influence. John Lee Hooker's blues is more "personal", based on Hooker's deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie woogie, his "groovy" style is sometimes called "guitar boogie". His first hit "Boogie Chillen" reached #1 on the R&B charts in 1949.<ref>Lars Bjorn, ''Before Motown'', 2001, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 0-472-06765-6, pg. 175</ref>. |
By the late 1950s, the [[swamp blues]] genre developed near [[Baton Rouge]], with performers such as [[Slim Harpo]], [[Sam Myers]] and [[Jerry McCain]] . Swamp blues has a slower pace and a simpler use of the harmonica than the Chicago blues style performers such as Little Walter or Muddy Waters. Songs from this genre include "Scratch my Back", "She's Tough" and "King Bee". | By the late 1950s, the [[swamp blues]] genre developed near [[Baton Rouge]], with performers such as [[Slim Harpo]], [[Sam Myers]] and [[Jerry McCain]] . Swamp blues has a slower pace and a simpler use of the harmonica than the Chicago blues style performers such as Little Walter or Muddy Waters. Songs from this genre include "Scratch my Back", "She's Tough" and "King Bee". | ||
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By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by [[African American music]] such as [[rock and roll]] and [[soul music|soul]] were part of mainstream popular music. White performers had brought African-American music to new audiences, both within the US and abroad. In the UK, bands emulated US blues legends, and UK blues-rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s. | By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by [[African American music]] such as [[rock and roll]] and [[soul music|soul]] were part of mainstream popular music. White performers had brought African-American music to new audiences, both within the US and abroad. In the UK, bands emulated US blues legends, and UK blues-rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s. | ||
− | + | John Lee Hooker blended his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, creating a musical style that can be heard on the 1971 album ''Endless Boogie''. [[B.B. King]]'s virtuoso guitar technique earned him the eponymous title "king of the blues". In contrast to the Chicago style, King's band used strong brass support from a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, instead of using slide guitar or harp. [[Tennessee]]-born [[Bobby Bland|Bobby "Blue" Bland]], like B.B. King, also straddled the blues and R&B genres. | |
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The music of the [[American Civil Rights Movement|Civil Rights]] and [[Free Speech Movement|Free Speech]] movements in the US prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African American music. Music festivals such as the [[Newport Folk Festival]] brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, [[Mississippi John Hurt]], [[Skip James]], and [[Reverend Gary Davis]]. Many compilations of classic prewar blues were republished by the [[Yazoo Records]] company. J.B. Lenoir from the Chicago blues movement in the 1950s recorded several LPs using acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by Willie Dixon on the acoustic bass or drums. His songs commented on political issues such as [[racism]] or [[Vietnam War]] issues, which was unusual for this period. His ''Alabama blues'' recording had a song that stated: | The music of the [[American Civil Rights Movement|Civil Rights]] and [[Free Speech Movement|Free Speech]] movements in the US prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African American music. Music festivals such as the [[Newport Folk Festival]] brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, [[Mississippi John Hurt]], [[Skip James]], and [[Reverend Gary Davis]]. Many compilations of classic prewar blues were republished by the [[Yazoo Records]] company. J.B. Lenoir from the Chicago blues movement in the 1950s recorded several LPs using acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by Willie Dixon on the acoustic bass or drums. His songs commented on political issues such as [[racism]] or [[Vietnam War]] issues, which was unusual for this period. His ''Alabama blues'' recording had a song that stated: | ||
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Of course all the great male Jazz singers from, Louis Armstrong, King Pleasure, Eddie Jefferson, John Hendricks, Jimmy Rushing, Al Jarreau, etc. had their roots firmly in Blues soil. | Of course all the great male Jazz singers from, Louis Armstrong, King Pleasure, Eddie Jefferson, John Hendricks, Jimmy Rushing, Al Jarreau, etc. had their roots firmly in Blues soil. | ||
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White audience's interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based [[Paul Butterfield Blues Band]] and the [[British blues]] movement. The style of [[British blues]] developed in the UK, when bands such as [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Yardbirds]], and [[Cream (band)|Cream]] performed classic blues songs from the [[Delta blues|Delta]] or [[Chicago blues]] traditions. | White audience's interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based [[Paul Butterfield Blues Band]] and the [[British blues]] movement. The style of [[British blues]] developed in the UK, when bands such as [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Yardbirds]], and [[Cream (band)|Cream]] performed classic blues songs from the [[Delta blues|Delta]] or [[Chicago blues]] traditions. | ||
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The British blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American [[blues-rock]] fusion performers, including [[Canned Heat]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[Johnny Winter]], [[The J. Geils Band]], [[Ry Cooder]]. Many of [[Led Zeppelin]]'s earlier hits were renditions of traditional blues songs. One blues-rock performer, [[Jimi Hendrix]], was a rarity in his field at the time: a black man who played [[psychedelic music|psychedelic]] blues-rock. Hendrix was a virtuoso guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of [[distortion]] and [[feedback]] in his music.<ref>Garofalo, pgs. 224-225</ref> Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of [[rock (music)|rock music]]. | The British blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American [[blues-rock]] fusion performers, including [[Canned Heat]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[Johnny Winter]], [[The J. Geils Band]], [[Ry Cooder]]. Many of [[Led Zeppelin]]'s earlier hits were renditions of traditional blues songs. One blues-rock performer, [[Jimi Hendrix]], was a rarity in his field at the time: a black man who played [[psychedelic music|psychedelic]] blues-rock. Hendrix was a virtuoso guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of [[distortion]] and [[feedback]] in his music.<ref>Garofalo, pgs. 224-225</ref> Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of [[rock (music)|rock music]]. | ||
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In the late 1960s, the West Side style blues emerged in Chicago with [[Magic Sam]], [[Magic Slim]] and [[Otis Rush]]. West Side style has strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass electric guitar, and drums. [[Albert King]], [[Buddy Guy]], and [[Luther Allison]] had a West Side style that was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar. | In the late 1960s, the West Side style blues emerged in Chicago with [[Magic Sam]], [[Magic Slim]] and [[Otis Rush]]. West Side style has strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass electric guitar, and drums. [[Albert King]], [[Buddy Guy]], and [[Luther Allison]] had a West Side style that was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar. | ||
===Blues from the 1980s to the present=== | ===Blues from the 1980s to the present=== | ||
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Since the [[1980]]s, blues has continued in both traditional and new forms through the music of [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]]; recording everything from field hollers,to blues on his Ole Miss National steel guitar, piano and penny whistle. He also covers Carribean and Hawaiin music to Big Band Swing and Modern Blues. [[Ry Cooder]] with his southern steel slide guitar blues to Tex-Mex and recordings with Mali musician, Ali Farka Toure and the Cuban, Buena Vista Club. | Since the [[1980]]s, blues has continued in both traditional and new forms through the music of [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]]; recording everything from field hollers,to blues on his Ole Miss National steel guitar, piano and penny whistle. He also covers Carribean and Hawaiin music to Big Band Swing and Modern Blues. [[Ry Cooder]] with his southern steel slide guitar blues to Tex-Mex and recordings with Mali musician, Ali Farka Toure and the Cuban, Buena Vista Club. | ||
[[Robert Cray]], [[Albert Collins]], [[Keb' Mo']], [[Jessie Mae Hemphill]], and [[Kim Wilson]]. The [[Texas blues|Texas rock-blues style]] emerged which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], [[The Fabulous Thunderbirds]] and [[ZZ Top]]. The 1980s also saw a revival of John Lee Hooker's popularity. He collaborated with [[Carlos Santana]], [[Miles Davis]], Robert Cray and [[Bonnie Raitt]]. [[Eric Clapton]], known for his performances with the Blues Breakers and Cream, made a comeback in the 1990s with his ''[[MTV Unplugged]]'' album, in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar and subsequent albums with BB King and JJ Cale in the new Millenium. Not to forget Mark Knoffler (ex Dire Straits) recording with Chet Atkins and others and Peter Green (from the '60s Blues band, Fleetwood Mac) having recovered from a long illness. | [[Robert Cray]], [[Albert Collins]], [[Keb' Mo']], [[Jessie Mae Hemphill]], and [[Kim Wilson]]. The [[Texas blues|Texas rock-blues style]] emerged which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], [[The Fabulous Thunderbirds]] and [[ZZ Top]]. The 1980s also saw a revival of John Lee Hooker's popularity. He collaborated with [[Carlos Santana]], [[Miles Davis]], Robert Cray and [[Bonnie Raitt]]. [[Eric Clapton]], known for his performances with the Blues Breakers and Cream, made a comeback in the 1990s with his ''[[MTV Unplugged]]'' album, in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar and subsequent albums with BB King and JJ Cale in the new Millenium. Not to forget Mark Knoffler (ex Dire Straits) recording with Chet Atkins and others and Peter Green (from the '60s Blues band, Fleetwood Mac) having recovered from a long illness. | ||
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==Social impact== | ==Social impact== | ||
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Like [[jazz]], [[rock and roll]] and [[hip hop music]], blues has been accused of being the "devil's music" and of inciting violence and other poor behavior.<ref>SFGate</ref> In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s.<ref>Garofalo, pg. 27</ref> In the early twentieth century, [[W. C. Handy|W.C. Handy]] was the first to make the blues more respectable to non-black Americans. | Like [[jazz]], [[rock and roll]] and [[hip hop music]], blues has been accused of being the "devil's music" and of inciting violence and other poor behavior.<ref>SFGate</ref> In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s.<ref>Garofalo, pg. 27</ref> In the early twentieth century, [[W. C. Handy|W.C. Handy]] was the first to make the blues more respectable to non-black Americans. | ||
Now blues is a major component of the [[African American culture|African American]] and [[American culture|American cultural heritage]] in general. This status is not only mirrored in | Now blues is a major component of the [[African American culture|African American]] and [[American culture|American cultural heritage]] in general. This status is not only mirrored in | ||
− | scholar studies in the field | + | scholar studies in the field but also in main stream movies such as ''Sounder'' (1972), ''the Blues Brothers'' (1980 and 1998), and ''Crossroads'' (1986). The ''Blues Brothers'' movies, which mix up almost all kinds of music related to blues such as R&B or [[Zydeco]], have had a major impact on the image of blues music. |
− | They promoted the standard traditional blues "Sweet Home Chicago", whose version by Robert Johnson is probably the best known, to the unofficial status of Chicago's city anthem. More recently, in 2003, [[Martin Scorsese]] made significant efforts to promote the blues to a larger audience. He asked several famous directors such as [[Clint Eastwood]] and [[Wim Wenders]] to participate in a series of films called ''The Blues''. | + | They promoted the standard traditional blues "Sweet Home Chicago", whose version by Robert Johnson is probably the best known, to the unofficial status of Chicago's city anthem. More recently, in 2003, [[Martin Scorsese]] made significant efforts to promote the blues to a larger audience. He asked several famous directors such as [[Clint Eastwood]] and [[Wim Wenders]] to participate in a series of films called ''The Blues''. He also participated in the rendition of compilations of major blues artists in a series of high quality CDs. |
==Filmography== | ==Filmography== | ||
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* {{cite book | * {{cite book | ||
| first = Robert | last = Palmer | | first = Robert | last = Palmer | ||
− | + | | title = Deep Blues | |
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| publisher = Viking | | publisher = Viking | ||
| year = 1981 | | year = 1981 | ||
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<ssdfefs/;pe]ds> | <ssdfefs/;pe]ds> | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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*[http://www.blueslinks.nl The mother off all blueslink colections] | *[http://www.blueslinks.nl The mother off all blueslink colections] | ||
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*[http://www.blues.org/ Blues Foundation] | *[http://www.blues.org/ Blues Foundation] | ||
*[http://www.apassion4jazz.net/blues2.html Blues Progression] | *[http://www.apassion4jazz.net/blues2.html Blues Progression] | ||
− | *[http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/audio.cfm Music from Florida Folklife Collection], available free for public use from the State Archives of | + | *[http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/audio.cfm Music from Florida Folklife Collection], available free for public use from the State Archives of Florida |
*[http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/blueslanguage.htm#top/ A list of terms used in Blues lyrics] | *[http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/blueslanguage.htm#top/ A list of terms used in Blues lyrics] | ||
− | *[http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/music_in_poetry/index.html The Music in Poetry] — | + | *[http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/music_in_poetry/index.html The Music in Poetry] — Smithsonian Institution lesson plan on the blues, for teachers |
*[http://www.bluesandviews.com/ New Zealand Blues and Views] - Includes music from New Zealand Blues bands and artists, NZ Blues scene and concert reviews | *[http://www.bluesandviews.com/ New Zealand Blues and Views] - Includes music from New Zealand Blues bands and artists, NZ Blues scene and concert reviews | ||
*[http://www.mississippideltablues.org Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola] | *[http://www.mississippideltablues.org Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola] | ||
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*[http://www.seventhhourblues.com/ Seventh Hour Blues] electronic magazine and podcast | *[http://www.seventhhourblues.com/ Seventh Hour Blues] electronic magazine and podcast | ||
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[[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]] | [[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]] | ||
[[category:Music]] | [[category:Music]] | ||
{{credit1|Blues|74666523}} | {{credit1|Blues|74666523}} |
Revision as of 21:58, 26 November 2006
The Blues, a haunting, stylistic type of vocal and instrumental music, is based on the use of 'blue' notes or the intentional aberration or 'bending' of a scalar tone on a repetitive pattern, which is usually a twelve-bar structure. This gives the blues its characteristic melody and harmony.
It evolved in the United States in the communities of former African slaves from spirituals, praise songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants. The use of blue notes and the prominence of call-and-response patterns in the music and lyrics are indicative of the blues' West African pedigree. The blues influenced later American and Western popular music, as it became part of the genres of ragtime, jazz, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, hip-hop, country music, and pop songs.
The phrase the blues is a reference to having a fit of the blue devils, meaning 'down' spirits, depression and sadness. An early reference to "the blues" can be found in George Colman's farce Blue devils, a farce in one act (1798)[1]. Later during the 19th century, the phrase was used as a euphemism for delirium tremens and the police. Though usage of the phrase in African American music may be older, it has been attested to since 1912 in Memphis, Tennessee with W. C. Handy's "Memphis Blues".[2][3] In lyrics the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood.[4]
Characteristics
Origins
There are few characteristics common to all blues, because the genre takes its shape from the idiosyncrasies of individual performances.[5] However, there are some characteristics that were present long before the creation of the modern blues.
An early form of blues-like music was a call-and-response shouts, which were a "functional expression... style without accompaniment or harmony and unbounded by the formality of any particular musical structure."[6] A form of this pre-blues was heard in slave field shouts and hollers, expanded into "simple solo songs laden with emotional content".[7] The blues, as it is now known, can be seen as a musical style based on both European harmonic structure and the West African call-and-response tradition, transformed into an interplay of voice and guitar.[8]
Many blues elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. Sylviane Diouf has pointed to several specific traits—such as the use of melisma and a wavy, nasal intonation—that suggest a connection between the music of West and Central Africa and blues[9]. Ethnomusicologist Gerhard Kubik may have been the first to contend that certain elements of the blues have roots in the Islamic music of West and Central Africa.
Stringed instruments (which were favored by slaves from Muslim regions of Africa…), were generally allowed because slave owners considered them akin to European instruments like the violin. So slaves who managed to cobble together a banjo or other instruments, could play more widely in public. This solo-oriented slave music featured elements of an Arabic-Islamic song style that had been imprinted by centuries of Islam's presence in West Africa, says Gerhard Kubik, an ethnomusicology professor at the University of Mainz in Germany who has written the most comprehensive book on Africa's connection to blues music (Africa and the Blues).[1]
Kubik also pointed out that the Mississippi technique of playing the guitar using a knife blade, recorded by W.C. Handy in his autobiography, corresponds to similar musical techniques in West and Central Africa cultures. The Diddley bow, a homemade one-stringed instrument thought to be common throughout the American South in the early twentieth centry, is an African-derived instrument that likely helped in the transferal of African performance techniques into the early blues instrumental vocabulary.
Blues music later adopted elements from the "Ethiopian airs", minstrel shows and Negro spirituals, including instrumental and harmonic accompaniment.[10] The style also was closely related to ragtime, which developed at about the same time, though the blues better preserved "the original melodic patterns of African music".[11]
Blues songs from this period, such as Leadbelly's or Henry Thomas's recordings, show many different structures. The twelve, eight, or sixteen-bar structure based on tonic, subdominant and dominant chords became the most common forms.[12] What is now recognizable as the standard 12-bar blues form is documented from oral history and sheet music appearing in African American communities throughout the region along the lower Mississippi River, in Memphis, Tennessee's Beale Street, and by white bands in New Orleans.
Lyrics
|