History of the Blues – 2021

Blues is a music genre[3] and musical form which was originated in the Deep South of the United
States around the 1860s[2] by African-Americans from roots in African-American work songs,
and spirituals. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and
rhymed simple narrative ballads. The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock
and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord
progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes (or “worried
notes”), usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch are also an essential part of the sound.
Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect
known as the groove.

Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early
traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the first
decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the AAB
pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and
then a longer concluding line over the last bars. Early blues frequently took the form of a loose
narrative, often relating the racial discrimination and other challenges experienced by AfricanAmericans.
Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced
back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious
music of the Afro-American community, the spirituals. The first appearance of the blues is often
dated to after the ending of slavery and, later, the development of juke joints. It is associated with
the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music
at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has
since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety
of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and
Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues.
World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening
of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid
form called blues rock developed, which blended blues styles with rock music.