Blues

Perhaps, chilling, frustrated-free ambiance will be your first impression on hearing the music of blues. For me, hearing blues music make me back to the 20th century. I can imagine I am sitting in the small bar located in Philadelphia, Mississippi and while chilling with a cold beer, I listen to blues music played by the local musicians. That will be a great night! However, the lyrics of the blues music usually concerning love, sadness, and love betrayal and also creates a melancholy nuance. Combined this lyrics with a slow, fascinating music lifted up your post-work burdens during the day, and with the little kick of the alcohol will create the melancholic, stressed-free ambiance. Then, where is this excellent music come from?

Back in the 20th century, this genre is invented by the African-Americans, and it comes from the Southeast USA, to be specific after the American Civil War ended. This genre is initially played by the African American man originated from the Southern United States. It can be seen that the Blues itself have the elements of other music, such as ragtime, church music, and American folksongs. Besides, the blues have a solid relationship with Jazz music, as both of them come from the same ancestor, the African music in the past. The unique aspects of blues music itself are the blue notes, which means the note that the pitch is altered from the western music standard. Usually, in blues, the semitones or quartertones are employed by the musicians, and hence, creating a unique sound. Also, the significant part of blues music is that it uses a specific scale named blues scale, and it also has a particular chord progression that make blues different than the other music. Usually, blues music consists of 12 measures in one song.

There is no exact date for the first appearance of the blues due to the discrimination towards African Americans in US society in all aspects of life. This is why many early blues music and musicians are poorly recorded. However, one of the earliest blues recording entitled The Memphis Blues by W.C. Handy in 1912 and Dallas Blues composed by Hard Wand in the same year. After the emergence, gradually, blues become well known throughout the United States, and even to the world. Of course, many artists and musicians contribute to the fame of the blues genre nowadays. One of the earliest influential legends is Robert Johnson. Even some of the people argue that he is one of the best blues artists of all time. Try to listen to I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom and Sweet Home Chicago to witness this noteworthy early artist. However, my personal best blues musician falls to B.B King. The name really depicts who he is, the King of the Blues! Try to listen to Thrill is Gone and Three O’clock Blues to hear the great guitar melody and improvisation of B.B King and Never Make a Move Too Soon to feel the richness of blues music. Last but not least, listen to Muddy Waters as he is one of the prominent musicians of blues in the post-war era. Listen to his deep masculine voice in his Manish Boy and I Can’t Be Satisfied. Also, witness his spectacular guitar improvisation in Feel Like Goin’ Home.