Blues
Blues is a musical form and genre that originated in African-American communities in the «Deep South» of the United States around the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. The style (alongside ragtime, early jazz, hip-hop) is one of the biggest contributions by African Americans in the global musical culture. The term was firstly used by George Colman in one-act farce Blue Devils (1798). In lyrics the phrase «Blue Devils »is often used to describe a depressed mood.
Birth: 1895 Bloom: 1952
Blues was formed from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.
The style influenced popular contemporary music especially of the genres like pop, jazz, rock and roll, and soul.
The basic 12-bar lyric framework of a blues composition is reflected by a standard harmonic progression of 12 bars in a 4/4 time signature. The blues chords associated to a twelve-bar blues are typically a set of three different chords played over a 12-bar scheme.
In melody, blues is distinguished by the use of the flattened third, fifth and seventh of the associated major scale. These specialized notes are called the blue or bent notes. Also, blues is typified by the usage of «call-and-response» scheme in music and lyrics. Blues is the improvisational form of music, characterized by its main support theme that`s enriched by solo instruments. The lyrics often relate troubles experienced within African American society.
Also read: R&B
Umbrellate style: Rock
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