The history Blues guitar music is deeply intertwined in story of the Afro Americans, the only immigrants who came to America unwillingly. Blues music is a tapestry of Afro American lives, from the days of slavery to modern times. This genre of music has a large following and is thriving today.
Blues has a cyclical form of music, which repeats the progression of chords and has interaction between the singer and others. This theme was common to African and African American music styles. Blues has the twelve-bar blues chord progression at its heart. Other variations such as 8, 9 and 16 bar chords also exist, but the twelve-bar chord is the most popular. Distinctive blue notes, for giving expression and feeling to the music was played flat or gradually bent, from the minor third to the major third, in relation to the pitch of the major scale. This lent soul and depth to the music.
The history of Blues music evolved from the country side in the early 1900's, with the African American population. The very word Blues originates from the term 'Blue Devils', meaning sadness or reflecting the human spirit at the lowest ebb. The music was a reflection of their joys, sadness, problems of everyday life, giving thanks to the Lord etc. Its motivating force was the heartache, deprivation and depression of everyday life, finding expression in haunting Blues music. The early instruments used were the Banjo and Diddley Bow, the instruments of the deep South and gradually evolved to the blues guitar style. Some of the early Blues musicians of note were Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and Son House etc. As African Americans migrated in larger numbers to cities, Blues music started having an urban character though its rural roots were not abandoned.
In the 50's, Blues played a significant influence on popular music. Many of the well know Blues numbers such as "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" were penned in this era. Some of the well known music labels promoting the Blues genre during this time include Vee-Jay Records, J.O.B. Records and Sun Records. The fifties saw different variations of Blues music such as West Side, electric blues etc. Electric blues got a leg up in England, due to the much acclaimed tour of Muddy Waters.
During the 60's and 70's, music inspired by Blues had become a part of mainstream popular music, however the popular tide had ebbed and blues artistes started performing in Europe with success. The 1971 album, the magical "Endless Boogie" by B.B. King earned him the nick name "King of the Blues". With blues jam session performers such as Taj Mahal earned a Grammy nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture and the BAFTA a nomination.
After being on the wane for many years, Blues music has had a revival in America in the 80's, especially in the Deep South. A new sub genre known as "Soul Blues" or "Southern Soul" has become popular. Bobby Rush, Bettye LaVette, Marvin Sease are some of the well known performers. Experimentation in Blues music continues and the music has kept evolving. In 2003, Martin Scorsese, the famous film director, made a concerted effort to popularize Blues music to a wider audience.
Blues music, born from the depths of desperation and deprivation, with the Blues guitar in the forefront, has come to stay and has a large fan following all over the world.
With a passion for guitar that has spanned two decades "Paulie Foley" shares his love for all things guitar through his website mastering guitar a site full of fantastic articles and great reviews of guitar tuition software reviews.
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