The Origin of Blues Music

The origin of blues music is shrouded in mystery, but there are a few things we know for sure. Join us as we explore the history of this genre and its impact on the world today.

What is the blues?

The blues is a style of music that originated in the African-American communities in the American South around the end of the 19th century. It is a form of music that is characterized by its use of blue notes, which are notes that are sung or played at a lower pitch than the major scale. The blues has been a major influence on the development of many other genres of music, including rock and roll, jazz, and country.

The history of the blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities in the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from the folk music and spirituals of the black community in the American South. The blues has been a major influence on American and Western music, as well as on other genres such as jazz and rock.

The first blues recordings

The first recordings generally considered “blues” were made in the 1920s by southern musicians such as Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Bessie Smith. These recordings were mostly of spirituals or gospel songs with a few interpolations of blues lyrics. They were originally marketed to African Americans, but white audiences soon began to buy them as well. The earliest blues music was heavily influenced by the African American work chants and field hollers of slaves working in the cotton fields. These work songs were accompanied by a banjo or guitar, and sometimes a harmonica. The blues eventually developed from these roots into a distinctively African American form of music.

The spread of the blues

The early 1910s saw the publication of two important books on black music: W. C. Handy’s “Blues: An Anthology” and J. A. Bruce Thomas’ “ Negro Music in America.” These works fueled an interest in the blues among white audiences, and in the 1920s a number of white musicians began to perform and record their own versions of the music.

The most important of these was the jazz guitarist Eddie Lang, who helped to develop the guitar style that would become characteristic of the genre. Other significant performers included the pianist Jimmy Yancey, the clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, and the bandleader Paul Whiteman.

The popularity of these artists, combined with that of black performers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, helped to spread the blues throughout the United States and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. The music also influenced other genres, such as rhythm and blues and rock and roll, which would emerge in later years.

The influence of the blues

The blues has been a huge influence on almost all genres of music since its earliest beginnings in the deep south of America. Its simple, soulful melodies and heartfelt lyrics have connected with people around the world, transcending cultural boundaries.

The blues is often seen as a sad and melancholy form of music, but it can also be uplifting and joyful. The best blues songs are able to capture both sides of the human experience, offering a cathartic release for the listener.

The origins of the blues are closely linked with the history of African Americans in the United States. The earliest blues songs were created by musicians who were influenced by the music they heard around them, including work songs, spirituals, and folk songs from Europe and Africa.

As the blues developed, it began to be influenced by other genres of music, including Ragtime, New Orleans Jazz, and country. The blues eventually gave birth to a number of other genres, including rock ‘n’ roll, soul, R&B, and hip hop.

Today, the blues is enjoyed by people all over the world and continues to be a major influence on popular music. While the genre has evolved over the years, its essential character remains unchanged: the expression of human emotion in its purest form.

The elements of the blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The style is characterized by blue notes, call-and-response patterns, and an overall mournful tone. The blues has been a major influence on subsequent genres of music, including jazz, rock and roll, and country.

The blues scale

The blues scale is a musical scale identified with the blues. It is commonly used in blues, rock and jazz. The blues scale consists of the following notes: root, flat third, fourth, flat fifth, fifth and flat seventh.

The blues chord progression

The chord progression most commonly associated with the blues is a I-IV-V progression. The I, IV, and V chords are all major chords while the blues scale contains a flat third, or blue note. When played in succession, these chords create a distinctive sounding 12 bar blues chord progression that has been used by countless blues and rock artists over the decades.

The blues shuffle

The blues shuffle is a commonly used blues rhythm guitar style. It is extensively used in country blues, Chicago blues, and rockabilly. It is the basis for boogie woogie and rock and roll. When played on the piano it is known as a 12 bar blues or simply a “blues”. It can be played on any chord progression whose harmonica root notes correspond to the 1st, 4th, and 5th scale degrees of a major scale.

The shuffle rhythm can be thought of as a triplet feel (à la ragtime) with the 2nd and 3rd beats of each measure accented. In terms of feel, it is midway between duple meter (such as 4/4) and triple meter (such as 3/4 or 6/8). Each measure is divided into four equal subdivisions, or pulses. In notation, this is often accomplished by writing shuffles with swing eighth notes (i.e., using an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes).

The following depicts a 12 bar blues shuffle in E using swing eighths. The numbers in parentheses indicate which chords to play on each beat:

1 e & B 7 (E 7)
A 7 9 (A 7)
2 e & B 7 (E 7)
A 7 9 (A 7)
3 e & B 7 (E 7)
A 7 9 (A 7)
4 e & B 7 Walker’s Shuffle Invitation To The Blues
(E7) A 79

The artists who created the blues

The blues is a style of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first artists to create the blues were people like W.C. Handy, who wrote the song “The Memphis Blues,” and Mamie Smith, who recorded the song “Crazy Blues.”

W.C. Handy

William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a African-American composer and musician, widely known as the “Father of the Blues”. He was one of the first popularizers of the blues style and is credited with giving it its contemporary form.

Handy was born in Florence, Alabama, the son of Elizabeth Brewer and Charles Barnard Handy. His father was strict and at times brutal. He taught his children how to work hard. His grandfather, Spencer Allen Home, a former slave and Civil War Veteran from Maryland, had moved his family to Florence in 1869.

When Charles was 11 he was hired out to a white family to work on their farm for $4 a month plus room and board. He later recalled that he “would have gladly paid them $4 a month just for the opportunity to stay away from my father.”

In 1889, when Charles was 16, he left home for good and hitchhiked his way north to Memphis, Tennessee. There he found work as a musician onBeale Street. He also found work on Plantation Row along Shelby Street east of Beale playing music for both white and black audiences

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) was an American blues singer, songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend.

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who is often cited as the “father of modern Chicago blues”, and an important figure on the post-war blues scene. His style of playing was unique and very influential. He popularized the use of electric guitars and amplifiers, which made the sound of the blues louder and more intense. He also developed a new style of singing that was very different from the traditional way of singing the blues.

The legacy of the blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American community in the southeastern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term “blues” refers to the sad or melancholy feeling that is often associated with the music. The blues has had a major influence on other genres of music, including jazz, rock and roll, and country.

The blues today

The blues today is a living, evolving art form that has been shaped by the contributions of generations of musicians. While the early pioneers of the blues laid the foundation for the music, it was the artists of the 1940s and 50s who created the sound and style that would come to be known as electric blues. Artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and Willie Dixon took the music in new directions, incorporating elements of gospel, R&B, and jazz into their songs. They also brought the blues to a whole new audience by taking it out of the juke joints and country bars and into nightclubs and concert halls.

The electric blues sound would go on to have a profound influence on rock & roll, and artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles all owe a debt to the blues. In the hands of British musicians like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards, the blues would help fuel the fire of a new musical genre: rock & roll.