History of Blues (Blues Guitar Chords and Accompaniment)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BLUES

The blues is an Afro-American folk music that developed around the late 19th century. An important art form on its own, the blues has also played a significant role in the development of other American musical styles such as jazz, rock, and country. The main characteristics of the blues include the use of blue notes (a slight pitch-bending of the 3rd, 5th, and 7th notes of the major scale); three-line stanzas, each line having four measures; and the song form thus being twelve measures long. Derived directly from the African tradition is a pattern called call and response, in which vocal lines are answered or echoed by an instrument. The lyrics of blues songs have typically dealt with personal feelings and experiences ranging from the hardships of everyday life and the pain of poverty, to sex and the loss of love.

In the beginning, the musical roots of the blues could be heard in many places in rural Southern states, including Georgia and Texas. It was in Mississippi, however—particularly in the northwest region known as the Delta—where field hollers, spirituals and work songs were combined and gradually developed into a distinct style of blues music. Stylistically, the early blues—sometimes called country or Delta blues—consisted of a vocal solo accompanied by an acoustic guitar and occasionally a harmonica. A small piece of metal or a glass tube was sometimes slid along the guitar fingerboard to create an effect known as the bottleneck slide. The notable blues musicians of this era include Charlie Patton, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, and Robert Johnson.

The first publication of the blues compositions "Memphis Blues" (1912) and "St. Louis Blues" (1914) by W.C. Handy helped to spread the blues’ popularity. The 1920s witnessed the first blues recordings by Afro-American women such as Mamie Smith ("Crazy Blues"), Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith ("Empress of the Blues"), who were primarily stage singers accompanied by jazz bands... (continue)

(from Blues Guitar Chords and Accompaniment)