- blues is usually in 4/4 time.
- there is syncopation to emphasise the weak beats.
- swing rhythms are heard- quavers are uneven and give a triplet feel to the beat.
- early blues music was very slow but got faster as the style developed.
- walking bass lends a steady rhythm to the music.
What are the characteristics of the blues?
Blues songs are
lyrical rather than narrative
; blues singers are expressing feelings rather than telling stories. The emotion expressed is generally one of sadness or melancholy, often due to problems of love but also oppression and hard times.
What are the 3 characteristics of blues music?
The main features of blues include:
specific chord progressions, a walking bass, call and response, dissonant harmonies, syncopation, melisma and flattened ‘blue’ notes
. Blues is known for being microtonal, using pitches between the semitones defined by a piano keyboard.
What were the three main types of blues to emerge?
Blues subgenres include country blues,
such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues
, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners.
What is one fact about the blues?
The blues is
a form of music that started in the United States during the start of the 20th century
. It was started by former African slaves from spirituals, praise songs, and chants. The first blues songs were called Delta blues. … They took the blues with them and developed it into new styles.
How do you know if a song is blues?
- it was common to include bent notes – usually the flattened third, fifth or seventh note of the scale.
- the performer often improvises over a chord progression.
- melismas are heard in many blues vocal melodies.
How does blues make you feel?
“The blues style represents . . . a saying of things that are very painful, deep and poignant, with a feeling of ease. In the very best blues the pain changes, because of the music, into something light.” … At its best, the blues is a
oneness of pain and pleasure, defeat and exaltation, sadness and joy
.
What is the purpose of the blues?
Blues music thus originated as a non-verbal language, as a
necessity to express feelings of pain and grief
, and in this way as a tool of (passive) resistance. It became an instrument of cultural affirmation among African- Americans, and more importantly, specifically made for African-Americans (Salaam 1995).
What are the 3 chords used in the blues?
A common type of three-chord song is the simple twelve-bar blues used in blues and rock and roll. Typically, the three chords used are the chords on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant (scale degrees I, IV and V): in the key of C, these would be the
C, F and G chords
.
What emotion does the blues portray?
Blue calls to mind feelings of
calmness or serenity
. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly. Blue is often seen as a sign of stability and reliability.
Who is the most famous blues singer?
- Robert Johnson.
- Ray Charles. …
- Howlin ‘Wolf. …
- Eric Clapton. …
- John Lee Hooker. The Best of John Lee Hooker (full album) …
- Etta James. Etta James – All The Best Of (By Classic Mood Experience) …
- Buddy Guy. Stone Crazy – Buddy Guy. …
- Albert King. Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan – Born Under A Bad Sign (HD) …
Who is known as the father of the blues?
Musician and
composer William Christopher “W.C.” Handy
was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. Widely known as the “Father of the Blues,” Handy is recognized as one of the leaders in popularizing blues music.
Is jazz and blues the same?
Musical Origin of Blues and Jazz
Blues is derived from
Bluegrass
, Jazz, R&B, and Rock. Jazz comes from Calypso, Funk, Soul, and Swing. It’s important to know that Blues was around before Jazz; thus, Blues can be considered an element of Jazz music. Jazz is from New Orleans, while Blues is from Mississippi.
What blues means?
1 :
low spirits : melancholy suffering a case of the blues
. 2 : a song often of lamentation characterized by usually 12-bar phrases, 3-line stanzas in which the words of the second line usually repeat those of the first, and continual occurrence of blue notes in melody and harmony.
When did blues become popular?
Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson made the blues style very popular in
the 1920s
. By the 1940s and 50s, the style had developed further and included a range of other instruments. This style was called rhythm and blues, r’n’b, and was usually played on electric guitar and bass.
Why is it called blues music?
The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to “the blues,” it came to
mean a state of agitation or depression
.
