American
Blues Music
Perhaps second only to jazz, American blues is one of the most
influential music styles to develop in the United States. Now
played and heard around the world at concerts, in clubs, on
recordings, and on the radio, the blues has left its mark on
countless musicians and fans through the years. In the United
States, the blues influence has trickled into nearly every musical
style. Even more, the blues has developed distinct styles in
different regions around the country, from Texas to California,
Mississippi to Illinois.
Early Blues
Though a precise origin of the blues has never been determined,
most scholars agree that the blues as we know it today probably
developed in the late 1800s in the Mississippi delta region.
African American music forms like field hollers, spirituals,
and work songs all likely contributed to early blues music,
while the songs, ballads, and tunes of European Americans played
a role as well.
The first blues musicians were singers who generally accompanied
themselves on guitar or banjo. This so-called "country blues"
was popular throughout the American South around the turn of
the 20th century and into the 1920s. Guitarists like Blind Lemon
Jefferson, Heddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Lizzie "Memphis Minnie"
Douglas, Charlie Patton, and Robert Johnson defined this gritty,
earthy sound with lyrics that spoke of heartbreak, wandering,
and loss.
City Blues
In the 1920s, following the migration of many African Americans
to the northern cities, numerous blues musicians settled in
Chicago. In this urban environment, a new form of blues was
born, often called "city" or "Chicago" blues. Instruments were
added to the ensemble, such as a bass, drums, harmonica, and
sometimes saxophone. In the 1940s and 1950s, the electric guitar
took over, and solo improvisation became an integral part of
blues performances. Artists like Sonny Boy Williamson (harmonica),
Muddy Waters (singer/guitarist/songwriter), Howlin' Wolf (singer/guitarist),
and B.B. King (singer/guitarist) from Memphis all represented
this new style.
Classic Blues
Another important style of the blues that is often overlooked
is called "classic" or "vaudeville" blues. Classic blues developed
in the 1920s with the advent of recordings and centered mainly
on female singers, who were accompanied by jazz-type ensembles
that could include a guitar, banjo, piano, bass, trumpet, and
drums. As with many pop songs today, classic blues songs were
mostly composed for the singers by other musicians, including
Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams. Classic blues singers
like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, and Mamie Smith sold
hundreds of thousands of records during the 1920s.
Boogie-Woogie and Jazz Blues
Boogie-woogie, another influential blues style, was performed
largely on the piano and developed in the early part of the
20th century. Pianists like Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, Roosevelt
Sykes, and Meade Lux Lewis were some of the well-known musicians
who performed in this style. With its "stride piano" octave
left-hand playing against right-hand syncopated melodies, boogie-woogie
had a large influence on early jazz as well. Jazz blues, in
which jazz musicians perform blues tunes in a jazz style with
an emphasis on improvisation, continues to be a very important
part of jazz.
The Music Behind the Blues
Despite many exceptions, blues music can be broadly described
by four major characteristics: AAB form, twelve-measure metric
pattern (often called "12-bar blues"), a standard harmonic structure,
and the use of "blue" notes (defined below). In the AAB form,
a four-measure phrase is sung, immediately repeated (often with
some variation), and then answered by a different phrase. For
example:
Boll Weevil, where you been so long?
Boll Weevil, where you been so long?
You stole my cotton, now you want my corn.
Within this twelve-measure pattern, the basic chord progression
is generally I-IV-I-V-I or I-IV-I-V-IV-I. As in many African
American styles, vocal inflections and ornaments are an important
part of the blues. Shouts, grunts, and vocal melismas can be
heard even in the earliest blues recordings and help give the
blues its signature sound. "Blue" notes are also integral to
the blues. Scholars agree that the influence of the African
music heritage on American art persists to this day in aspects
such as blue notes. Blue notes are slight, microtonal inflections
on pitches. When played on guitar or sung, these notes often
fall in between chromatic notes of the Western scale. In notation,
they are often represented by flattened third, fifth, and seventh
scale degrees.
Amazingly, though blues music formed over 100 years ago, little
has changed in its traditional performance practice, or in its
popularity. It continues to endure with an endless supply of
new performers and countless fans who appreciate its consistent
appeal.
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