Transcript The Blues - Rogers State University

Derived from African-American
Folk Songs
Early English Definitions
 “Affected with fear, discomfort, anxiety,” as
in “To look blue” occurs as early as 1550 in
English (OED).
 Blue Devil – “the blue devils” = depression
of spirits (1787).
Blues Defined
 A state of depression or melancholy. Often used with
the.
 A style of music that evolved from southern AfricanAmerican secular songs and is usually distinguished by
a strong 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths, a 12bar structure, and lyrics in a three-line stanza in which
the second line repeats the first.
 “The blues is an expression of anger against shame
and humiliation” (B.B. King).
Listening
 Lyrical expression – themes of interpersonal
relationships most prominent, to include issues
regarding romance, employment, or other societal
conflict
 Interaction between singer and musical instruments
 “Complementing the blues” is the way in which an
instrumentalist responds to the singer’s lyrics.
 Texture of instrumental combo
 Solo musician – most often guitar, piano, harmonica,
vocals
 Group – bass, drums, guitars, harmonica, horns, vocals
Basic Blues Styles
 Rural blues (a.k.a. folk blues, country blues, Delta
blues, Piedmont blues)
 Classic blues (usually a strong woman vocalist, such as
Bessie Smith, with a Dixieland-style jazz group)
 Urban blues – sometimes known as Chicago blues due
to many rural blues musicians migrating to Chicago in
the 1930s and 1940s. Features electric instruments.
 Uptown blues – Sometimes known as West Coast
Blues due to the evolution of an electric combo with a
horn section that emerged in Oakland and L.A.
Folk Blues
Country Blues
•Itinerant singers who
traveled from work
camp to work camp,
providing entertainment
on weekends, on streets,
and house parties.
•Themes include
interpersonal
relationships, societal
transgressions, and work
environments.
Classic Blues
•Usually a strong-
voiced woman, such
as Bessie Smith
(right), backed by a
Dixieland-style jazz
band.
•Played in traveling
tent shows in black
areas with large
black populations
which became the
basis for “chitlin’
circuit”.
Urban Blues
•Rural blues
musicians began
moving north to
cities, looking for
work, and following
those who were
looking for work.
•Urban blues
featured electric
combos to combat
urban noise.
•Muddy Waters
(right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIT0m
KJ7D0
Uptown
Blues
•As blues musicians
moved west and became
influenced by the horn
sounds of big band and
jump blues, artists such
as Oklahoman Lowell
Fulson (right) started to
include horns in his
music.
http://www.isound.com/lowell_fulson
•This style is called both
uptown and West coast
blues, and has been made
most famous by B.B.
King.