Blues


 * Blues**

The term "the blues" refers to the "the blue devils", in essence, meaning and portraying melancholy and sadness. This music genre typically describes a depressed mood and is based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues forms exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently used. Blue notes are sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Blues emerged as a form of self-expression in African-American communities of the United States from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. The use of blue notes and the prominence of call-and-response patterns in the music and lyrics are indicative of African influences. The blues influenced later American and Western popular music, as the blues form became a basic pattern of jazz, rhythm and blues, bluegrass and rock and roll. In the 1960s and 1970s, blues evolved into a hybrid form called blues rock.

Popular Blues Songs:
 * Memphis Blues - W.C. Handy
 * Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith
 * Pine Top Boogie - Pine Top Smith
 * Dust My Broom - Elmore James
 * Boogie Chillun - John Lee Hooker

Literary Movement Music of the 20th Century (Home)