The Blues

By Mark Cornish
Introduction
When you hear blues music, you often feel a sense of misery and misfortune. You start to feel Blue.
There is often a moving story behind each blues song that is personal to the artist, this comes from
when African-American slaves used to sing songs as they were working in the cotton fields and
vegetable plantations. The workers would sing about the problems and struggles in rhythm with the
task being done, there would be a lead singer that would call out a line of lyric which would be
replied with the same line being sung by the rest of the workers. This creates the effect of call and
response which has been carried through the entire life of blues music and has found its way into
modern songs being written, sun and preformed today.
Music Style/Features and
Characteristics
The lyrics that are sung in blues music are full of emotion. They tell stories of love, loneliness and longing for a better life.
They have a three lines of lyrics in each verse where the first two lines. This means they have a structure of A, A, B.
Blues singers often improvise the lyrics, the repetition of the first two lines give the singer time two think about the third
line of lyric.
For example;
I went to the crossroad and fell down to my knees
I went to the crossroad and fell down to my knees
Asked the lord above have mercy, now save poor Bob, If you please - Crossroad Blues (Robert Johnson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7oSMkNfi0M

There are many instruments that are used to play the blues, most commonly these instruments are:

Acoustic/Bass Guitar
Harmonica
Piano
Trombone/Trumpet/Saxophone
Vocals.
Vocals are to be said the most important instrument in the blues.
 Blues Timeline
1619 - slaves arrive in America, first slaves in colony of virgina Jan 1, 1808 - End of slave Importation.
1830 - Minstrel shows gain popularity.
Apr 12, 1861 - Civil war begin
Jan 1, 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln frees the slaves.
Apr 18, 1865 - Civil war ends; reconstruction begins
1867 - Slave Songs Published
Jan 1877 - Radical reconstruction ends
1890 - Rise of Jim crow
1899 - "Maple leaf rag" Published, Scott Joplin publishes maple leaf rag. ragtime will become a key influence on the piedmont style of blues.
1902 - Black music first recorded, Victor records issues the first known recording of black music. Camp meeting shouts"
1903 - Blues man Discovered, WC Handy sees a bluesman playing guitar with a knife at a train station in Mississippi
1912 - Blues songs first recorded, the first blues songs including WC Handys "Memphis Blues" are published as sheet music.
Apr 6, 1917 - The great migration. US enters WW1 Feb
1920 - Mamie Smith, "Crazy Blues" becomes the first blues hit.
1923 - Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey
Jun 14, 1923 - Folk blues debuts
1924 - First Folk Blues Records, Papa Charlie Jackson and Daddy Stovepipe
1925 - New Recording Technology, ELECTRICAL RECORDING TECHNOLOGY ISINTRUDUCED
'' - Blind Lemon Jefferson, first recorded 1929 - Charley Patton, Early Delta Bluesman First rec
Oct 24, 1929 - Great Depression. Wall street crash. Nov 1936 - Robert Johnson, Begins Short recording career.
1939 - Electric Guitar, Eddie Durham records the first music featuring the electric guitar
1941 - Muddy Waters
Dec 7, 1941 - US enters WW2, jap bombing attack on pearl harbor marks emery
1947 - TBONE Walker goes electric, plays electric on the recording of his standard "Call it Stormy Monday"
'' - Muddy Waters and Chicago Blues. Muddy Waters makes his first Chicago recordings.
1949 - "rhythm and blues" is born
1952 - BB KING, first major rhythm and blues hit with a version of "Three O'clock Blues"
1954 - Elvis Presley, makes his recording debut on sun records with a cover of author (big boy) Crudup's "that's all right"
1959 - The country blue, Samuel Charters publishes The Country blues, fueling the blues element of the folk music revival.
1961 - Robert Johnson Revival, John Hammond pushes to have a selection of Robert Johnsons recordings reissued on by Columbia
Jun 1964 - British Invasion, The first US tour by the rolling stones marks the invasion of brattish blues rock bands.
'' - Freedom Summer, the civil rights campaign to register black voters.
Jul 1964 - Delta Bluesman Preform, Rediscovered delta bluesmen Son House and Skip James preform.
1969 - White fan base, Muddy waters and BB king preform, predominantly white audience .
1990 - Robert Johnson released, Colombia's release of the complete Robert Johnson recordings on cd goes gold, selling 400,000 album in six months .
2003 - year of the blues, congress declares 2003 the year of the blues, commemorating the 100th anniversary of WC HANDYS encounter with an unknown
early at a train station in Mississippi.
Blues Imagery and fashion
When you think of blues, you often picture an old man sat in his rocking chair,
playing his guitar and singing about his regrets and miseries. You may also
picture the African-American slaves working in the fields and singing about
freedom in time with their work. You may also picture live blues in an American
bar/caf with a band performing to a small audience.

Mood Board From Website

Popularity
Blues went on to influence popular music and culture throughout the 20 th Century. You can find elements of blues music in jazz, pop, rock and roll, rock and many
other genres. For example even in the 21 st century many songs use the 12 bar blues structure. Here are some examples from the last 20 years:

Duffy Mercy (2008)

Tutti Frutti Little Richard

Eric Clapton Blues Before Sunrise

James Morrison - I Feel Good

In the 1950s, blues influenced mainstream music in America. Musicians such as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry were influenced by Chicago blues which was less sad
than earlier blues. In the late 1950s a new blues style developed called West side sound. Artists such as Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush used bass guitar,
drums and amplified lead guitar to create more rhythmic music. Expressive guitar solos were also used.

By the beginning of the 60s, genres influenced by blues, such as rock and roll and soul, were part of mainstream popular music. White performers brought blues to
new audiences. Both within the US and abroad. However, the wave that brought blues artists such as Muddy Waters to the foreground had stopped. Blues artists
like Big Bill Broonzy and Willie Dixon looked for new audiences in Europe. Dick Waterman played a major role in promoting blues music abroad. In the UK, bands
emulated US blues legends, and UK blues rock based bands had a influential role through the 1960s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, blues such asLiving BluesandBlues Revuewere launched, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became
more common, andmorenightclubs for blues emerged.

In the 1990s, the largely ignoredhill country bluesgained minor popularity in both blues andalternative rockmusic circles with northern Mississippi artistsR. L.
BurnsideandJunior Kimbrough.Blues performers played a range of musical genres, for example, from the variety of nominees of the yearlyBlues Music Awards,
previously named W. C. Handy Awardsor of theGrammy Awards for Best ContemporaryandTraditional Blues Album. Notable blues rock musicians of this period
includeJoe Bonamassa,Gary Clark Jr,Shemekia Copeland,Eric Gales,Beth Hart,Warren Haynes,Jason Ricci,Susan Tedeschi,Derek Trucks,Ben
HarperandOrianthi.Alternative rockartists still combine strong elements of blues in their music, especiallyZZ Ward,Cage the Elephant,Jack White, and theBlack
Keys.
Delta Blues
History and Area.
Delta blues is the earliest
style of blues from the
Mississippi Delta. It was first
recorded in the 1920s.
Instruments.
The instruments used in delta blues
are;
Vocals, guitar, slide guitar
Three Delta Blues Artists.
Bukka White (1906 - 1977)
Charley Patton (1891 - 1931)
Hound Dog Taylor (1915 - 1975)

Characteristics. A Song In The Style.

Acoustic guitar with a raw I Bes Troubled Muddy Waters
sound. The guitar is played https://www.youtube.com/watch?
with a fingerstyle with few v=k7vjrHWdFd0
solos using the minor
pentatonic scales. The key
is often in E or A, using the
7th chords. The guitar is
tuned to open tuning for
slide playing.
Piedmont Blues
History and Area.
A country blues style
developed during the 20s
and 30s in Georgia, North
and South Carolina and
Virginia. It is influenced by
Ragtime and country string
bands. It was played by
both black and white
people. It is played with a
finger picking style
emulating Ragtime piano.
Characteristics.
Piedmont Blues includes the
12 bar blues and finger
picking. It is more melodic
then Delta Blues.
Instruments.
Piedmont Blues is made up of;
Acoustic guitar, vocals and Slide guitar
A Song In The Style.
Narrow Face Blues - John Byrd & Washboard
Walter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJmrotiLtX8
Three Piedmont Blues
Artists.
Blind Blake
Barbeque Bob
Reverend Gary Davis
Chicago Blues
History and Area.
Chicago Blues is a
development of Delta Blues.
In the 1920s and 1940s, the
black population migrated
northwards to the large
cities, like Chicago, to get
profitable jobs opportunities
and so a better life. Nearly
three million black people
moved from the south
between 1940 and 1960.
They took their style of
music with them and
adapted it to the city life.
The Blues became
electrified and was
preformed in a band with
drums, bass and piano.
Characteristics. Three Chicago Blues Artists.
Chicago Blues is played with BB King (1925)
electric guitar, often played Muddy Waters (1915 - 1983)
with a pick style. Chicago Buddy Guy (1936)
blues is Jazz influenced.
When you listen to Chicago
blues you can hear minor
pentatonic scales combined
A Song In The Style.
"The Red Rooster - Howlin' Wolf
with major pentatonic fluid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNtmrGURTl
phrasing. The key of
Chicago Blues is often C, G
or B/Bb. The 9th or 11th
chords are used with small
pitch bends on the guitar
Instruments.
with lots of vibrato.
The instruments found in Chicago
Blues are;
Vocals, Harmonica, Electric Guitar,
bass, drums and keyboard.
Texas Blues
History and Area.
Texas Blues was the style of
music African American
workers sung while working
in the fields, in Texas. With
the great depression people
started to move to the big
cities like Houston. Texas
Blues includes both the
early acoustic pre-war blues
as well as the post war
urban electric blues, and
the new era of bands like
ZZ Top or The Fabulous The key of Texas Blues
Thunderbirds with Stevie
Ray Vaughan.
The rhythm Texas Shuffle
is different to the Chicago
rhythm, has some Spanish
Flamenco and Jazz/Swing
influences. The guitar is the
Characteristics.
Texas blues is played with
either acoustic or electric
guitar and is often played
with a pick. Texas blues is
Jazz and flamenco
influenced. You can hear
minor blues scales
combined with major
pentatonic scales. Texas
Blues is a slow minor blues
with small pitch bends with
intense vibrato.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?
music is often in C, G or Bb.
Instruments.
When listening to Texas Blues you can
hear;
Vocals, acoustic or electric guitar, bass,
drums, sometimes horns or keyboard.
Three Texas Blues Artists.
Albert Collins (1932 - 1993)
Freddie King (1934 - 1976)
T-Bone Walker (1910 - 1975)
A Song In The Style.
My Baby Lowell Fulson
v=684v7DCjDxI
West Coast Blues
History and Area. Characteristics. Instruments.
West Coast Blues was This sub-genre of blues In West Coast Blues, the instruments
mainly developed by holds the electric guitar used are;
with Jazz and Jump Vocals, Piano, Electric guitar, Drums,
Texas Blues. This style influences. Like many other saxophone, and a rarity of keyboard.
of blues does not have styles of blues, minor blues
an acoustic pre-war scales are combined with
phase. Without the major pentatonic scales,
typical country roots, with the key often in C, G or
Bb.
West Coast Blues, is Three West Coast Blues A Song In The Style
more Jazz orientated, Artists. Highway 99 JJ Malone
https://m.youtube.com/watch?
this makes the sound Charles Brown (1922 - 1999)
v=VAQT5mZiFTc
of the music smoother Amos Milbur (1925 - 1980)
Johny guitar Watson ( 1935 -
and often piano based
1996)
with influences from
the Jump Blues style.
Jump Blues
History and Area. Instruments.
Jump blues was born during When you listen to Jump Blues you can
the 1940s with a huge Jazz hear vocals, brass instruments, drums,
and Swing influence. The piano and guitar.
danceable, up-tempo music
was played by big bands
and became the precursor
of Rock n Roll as well as
Rhythm and Blues.

Characteristics. Three Jump Blues Artists. A Song In The Style

Jump Blues has shouting
vocals and is played in a big
band style. It contains
saxophone solos and only
uses the guitar for rhythm.
Louis Jordan (1908 - 1975) Choo Choose ChBoogie Louis Jordan
Floyd Dixon (1929 - 2006) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TftHrHOmSWc
Joe Turner (1911 - 1985)