Where do the roots of blues music come from?
Where do the roots of blues music 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 is the main musical elements of the blues?
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.
Why are the Blues called the blues?
The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to “the blues,” it came to mean a state of agitation or depression.
What are the instruments 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 is known as the Mother of the Blues?
Ma Rainey, née Gertrude Pridgett, (born April 26, 1886, Columbus, Georgia, U.S.—died December 22, 1939, Columbus), American singer who was known as the “mother of the blues” and who was recognized as the first great professional blues vocalist.
What does the blues music represent?
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.