What is the meaning of blues music?
1 : low spirits : melancholy suffering a case of the blues. 2 : a song often of lamentation characterized by usually 12-bar phrases, 3-line stanzas in which the words of the second line usually repeat those of the first, and continual occurrence of blue notes in melody and harmony.
What are characteristics of blues music?
The main features of blues include: specific chord progressions, a walking bass, call and response, dissonant harmonies, syncopation, melisma and flattened ‘blue’ notes. Blues is known for being microtonal, using pitches between the semitones defined by a piano keyboard.
What is an example of blues music?
“Rocket Boogie” by Pete Johnson. During the big band craze, blues in the form of boogie-woogie blues began to show up. The “Rocket Boogie” is an excellent example of solo piano utilizing the stressed rhythms of blues while utilizing the bent notes and twelve-bar phrasing trademark of blues.
Why is blues music so important?
The social significance of Blues music resides in the revolutionary element of African Americans creating their own aesthetics. Blues music represented the opposing voice that refused to be silenced by oppression and segregation. The Blues expressed this with unprecedented clarity, honesty and simplicity.
How is blues music structure?
Nearly all blues music is played to a 4/4 time signature, which means that there are four beats in every measure or bar and each quarter note is equal to one beat. A 12-bar blues is divided into three four-bar segments.
What tempo is blues music?
Tempo Information The Blues is generally danced to music in a 4/4 meter between 40 and 100 beats per minute (10 and 25 measures per minute). Click here to see a list of Blues songs between 10 and 25 measures per minute.
What instruments are used in blues music?
The most popular instruments used in blues are:
- brass instruments – often heard playing with mutes.
- saxophone.
- acoustic and electric guitar.
- Dixieland drum kit.
- double bass – a walking bass line is a common harmonic device in which the bass will play notes of the chord and notes leading to the next chord.
Who created blues music?
African-Americans
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s by African-Americans from roots in African-American work songs and spirituals.
What influenced blues music?
It was influenced by work songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, and the folk and popular music of the white population. Blues derived from and was largely played by Southern Black men, most of whom came from the milieu of agricultural workers.
Is blues music always sad?
SO, generically, blues means sad. Musically, Blues is a scale and chord progression that expresses the emotions of being depressed very well, but it CAN have happy lyrics.
What key are blues songs in?
Blues songs are usually in E, A, G, C or D, with E, A and G the most common. Other keys are used but these are the most common, particularly with guitar players.
How do you write a blues melody?
Blues songs are often texted, and the lyrics consist of a lyric line which gets repeated, then followed by a contrasting line (aab). Melodies often follow this structure.
What is blues music and where did it come from?
Where did blues music originally come from? Blues developed in the southern United States after the American Civil War (1861–65).It was influenced by work songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, and the folk and popular music of the white population.
What are facts about blues music?
Taj Mahal took his Blues-name from the astonishing Indian ‘crown of palaces’ after he had a dream about Ghandi.
What are some characteristics of blues music?
Melody and Harmony. The harmony of blues music mainly focuses on the first,fourth and fifth chords of a combination.
What are the top 10 blues songs?
Meaning Spotify listeners prefer to listen to an upbeat musical number. Also, songs in ‘happiness keys’ F major and C major are the most popular for musical songs featuring 8 and 12 times in the top 100.