The Blues
By
Jay Shah
Sean Singh
History of Blues
• The blues most likely began as solo singing.
These solo songs may have come from "field
hollers" that slaves yelled while they toiled in the
fields. They also may have come from story
songs, called ballads, and other songs that were
sung at lively dances. Blues singers made slight
changes to original melodies and rhythm in
order to add emotional expression, including
sounds of moaning or crying. The emotions
expressed were often sad and mournful.
Construction Of The Blues
• Most blues researchers claim that the very early blues
were patterned after English ballads and often had eight,
ten, or sixteen bars. (Tanner 36) The blues now consists
of a definite progression of harmonies usually consisting
of eight, twelve or sixteen measures, though the twelve
bar blues are, by far, the most common. The 12 bar
blues harmonic progression (the one-four-five) is most
often agreed to be the following: four bars of tonic, two of
subdominant, two of tonic, two of dominant, and two of
tonic. Or, alternatively, I,I,I,I,IV,IV,I,I,V,V,I,I. Each roman
numeral indicates a chord built on a specific tone in the
major scale.
Construction of the Blues (contd.)
• Due to the influence of rock and roll, the tenth
chord has been changed to IV. This alteration is
now considered standard. (Tanner 37) In
practice, various intermediate chords, and even
some substitute chord patterns, have been used
in blues progressions, at least since the
nineteen-twenties. (Machlis 578) Some purists
feel that any variations or embellishments of the
basic blues pattern changes its quality or validity
as a blues song. For instance, if the basic blues
chord progression is not used, then the music
being played is not the blues.
Construction of the blues (contd.)
• Therefore, these purists maintain that
many melodies with the word "blues" in
the title, and which are often spoken of as
being the blues, are not the blues because
their melodies lack this particular basic
blues harmonic construction. (Tanner 37) I
believe this viewpoint to be a bit wide of
the mark, because it places a greater
emphasis on blues harmony than melody.
What is the Blues about
• Vocal blues are intensely personal; they often contain
sexual references and deal with the pain of betrayal,
desertion, and unrequited love. The lyrics consist of
several 3-line stanzas, each in the same poetic and
musical form. The first line is sung and then repeated to
roughly the same melodic phrase; the third line has a
different melodic phrase.
Ex.
A : I’m going to leave baby, aint going to say good bye
A’ : I’m going to leave baby, aint going to say good bye
B : But I’ll write you and tell you the reason why
Instruments used in the blues
• Instruments such as the guitar, banjo, and
harmonica were added to accompany solo
blues singing. Eventually the piano, bass,
drums, brass, and woodwind instruments
were also added. Today, musicians follow a
specific form or pattern of phrases when
they sing or play the blues. One of America’s
most famous blues singers was Bessie Smith
(1894–1937).
General Events That Effected the Blues
• The Great Depression had a great effect on the formation of the blues.
The Great Depression caused many people to be poor and unhealthy.
When people sung the blues they sung about there problems. The Great
Depression caused many unemployed and poor people to sing their
problems away.
• Also slavery and segregation of colored people caused problems which
eventually caused people to sing the blues. Actually, the earliest form of
the blues was inhabited by African American slaves singing while they
worked. Segregation also caused segregated people to sing how life was
not fair and how they aren’t being treated equally.
Blues becomes a trend
• The Blues was starting to come alive when people would hear
performers play and sing they would feel pain for themselves.
Now almost all clubs had at least 1 blues singer performer. With
this along came new types of instruments added to the blues like
the trumpet, saxophone, and piano. All blues singers started to
wear black suits and pants with black sun glasses.
Muddy Waters
• McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters was a
major driving force behind the 1950's Chicago
amplified Blues style. Morganfield's influence on
the early Chicago Blues scene was nothing short
of earthshaking. Born on a sharecropper farm in
Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on April 4, 1915,
Waters moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, after
his mothers death, teaching himself guitar and
harmonica in the early 1930's.
Blues Artists
• Alligator Records
• Luther Allison
• Arbor Avenue Station
• Billy Boy Arnold
• Steve Arvey
• Ernest Baker
• Chico Banks
• L.V. Banks
• Carey Bell
• Lurrie Bell
• Big Time Sarah
• Elvin Bishop
• Black Lone Ranger
• Blind Lemon Chicken
• Blind Pig Records
• BLUES R&B
• Blues Savant
• Bob Margolin
• Billy Branch