When most people hear "the blues", the first image that probably pops into their mind is a middle aged African American man plucking away at his acoustic guitar on a porch somewhere in Louisiana. While many of the genre's forefathers may have fit that mold, it is a restrictive and inaccurate view of a diverse and rich form of music that is the root for almost all modern music. Those that maintain this stereotypical view of the blues and assume it is "grandpa music" are missing out on a lot.

Since the electrification of the guitar shot it to the forefront of three and four piece bands, music entered an evolutionary time warp not unlike that the quantum leaps in science and technology occurring at the same time.

Some of the pioneers during the 50's were B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Chuck Berry was among the first to take the blues and kick it up a notch, speeding up the tempo and creating many rock riffs and techniques that are standard vocabulary today.

By the 60's and 70's, the blues had traveled across the pond to Britain. Bands like Cream, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin all traced their roots back to the blues forefathers. Even Angus Young of AC/DC, considered metal by many(the band always maintains that they are a rock band, not metal) has a very bluesy style of playing.

By the 80's, "Blues-Rock" had become indistinguishable from "Hard Rock". It wasn't until artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan came along and took blues back to it's roots.

Some modern bands that have bluesy overtones include the Black Keys and the White Stripes.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

What are the Blues? Pt. 1

So I'm going to take some time aside to write about blues and what makes it a distinct musical genre.

To begin with, it is a fusion of Western and African musical influences. A lot of classic blues have a "swing" or "shuffle" feel picked up from its Gospel roots. Many rhythms for blues songs came from something as simple as the rhythm of a horse trot on the road.

Many blues songs feature what is called a "call and respond". Musicians like B.B. King would burst forth with a soulful vocal melody for a couple beats and "respond" with a lick on his guitar. Others like Stevie Ray Vaughan might do a purely instrumental "call and respond" where he would "call out" by playing the rhythm chords, then he would spit out a guitar lick.

Blues are commonly thought to always be "sad". A lot of classic blues songs are about women and other frustrations facing the working man. Even the more uptempo songs have a darker undertone to them, making them musically and tonally complex. However some songs can be pretty upbeat and jazzy. Indeed funk has its roots in the blues as well as rock and roll.
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