Blues
Music History
By Werner Wichmann
Blues
Music History
Tip!
Be able to modulate: You will be
able to, with a few quick moves
of the fingers, move your music
into a new key with a succession
of notes so pleasing to the ear
it will bring a smile to your
listeners
faces.
Blues
is probably the purest American
music ever produced
- and
along with its jazz counterpart -
is the only true American music
form.
Its roots
lie in the work songs of West
African slaves in the South. When
they toiled hard in the fields of
South plantation owners, these
slaves built a ‘call and
response' method of singing, thus
lending rhythm to the drudgery of
their lives.
These came
to be called ‘field hollers'
and became the basis of all blues
music to follow. After the Civil
War ended, the blacks could
either work as field labor or
become traveling minstrels.
So quite a
few ended up being the latter -
performing at all-nighters,
fish-frys and juke joints,
relying on their stamina and
mental repertoire of many blues
songs.
Powerful
Blues Music Is Officially
Born
While the
lyrics of blues songs seem
soulful and sad, the music itself
is quite powerful and emotive -
filled with rhythm and
celebrating the life of black
Americans.
What makes
this kind of music appealing is
its reflection of their daily
lives, talking about sex,
drinking, poverty, love lost,
hard labor - anything they
experienced.
Among the
first documented blues is W C
Handy's “Memphis
Blues” in 1909.
The music
grew in popularity and when the
78-RPM phonograph came in the
late 1920's Paramount, Aristocrat
and other record labels recorded
some of the famous country blues
artists.
Around
1941-1943, field recordings of
blues men were made in their
surroundings by famous blues
folklorist Alan Lomax. This is
significant because that's how
the white folks got introduced to
the blues.
Budding
artists got exposure to some
national record
labels.
Tip!
Real music management agencies
will never, ever ask you for
money up front. Managers make
commission on their clients'
earnings, and experienced
managers understand that an
unknown artist doesn't have much
money.
Blues
Travels North
The blacks
migrated North during the Great
Depression along the route of the
Illinois Central Railroad toward
Chicago, bringing with them blues
music.
With huge
crowds gathering to enjoy this,
performers like Muddy Waters and
Howlin' Wolf switched to electric
guitars and also included drum
sets to their bands. This became
even more powerful than the
original blues.
There was a
lull until the late 1950's when
The Kingston Trio recorded
the chart topper, Tom
Dooley, and gave birth to the
folk revival in 1958. The Newport
Folk Festival then brought back
folk and blues music to the white
American people till
1966.
What
followed later was a merging of
blues with rock - forming the
rock blues bands of the 1960s and
1970s. Some artists faithful to
the form were
- The
Rolling Stones
- John
Mayall
- Led
Zeppelin.
Tip!
Buy a quality instrument. I
learned to play on a cheap guitar
and believe me, it's not easy
learning on an instrument that
does not stay in tune or is
difficult to
chord.
Types
of Blues Music
There are
four types of blues music. The
Deltas blues is said to be the
original - being played by the
black men from the Mississippi
delta region, using the piano or
harmonica.
The style
was a call and response lyrical
framing. Then we have the Chicago
Blues, which used electric
amplification of voice using
mics, drum sets and electric
guitars.
The Texas
Blues are similar to the Chicago
blues. In the early 1960s
originated the Blues-rock, which
was directly influenced by the
Delta and Chicago blues.
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About
Harmonica
Music
-
Kids
love to listen to music,
and if they want to
learn how to play a
harmonica, you’re
in
luck.
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About the Author
Werner
Wichmann - http://www.electricguitarz.com
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by Bob Pardue, the owner of
Music
Playground.
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this article about the history of
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