...The History of the Blues * In my Assignment I will be mostly taking about the ways that the blues has influenced culture. So what did the blues influence…? Everything. The blues influenced nearly every genre of music that came after it. Jazz in all of its various styles and flavors. From just a basic 12bars you get everything that you need in order to play great music. It’s not like without the blues we would not have any current music actually it’s a lot like that. The influence of blues can even be seen in the classical music of the later Romantic period as well as in various aspects of Contemporary classical music. Literally every style of music that’s come out in the past eighty or more years has once or a few times borrowed something from the blues. To think the whole world would of changed if there was not the blues, or slavery for that matter. To think we would not even have big band music or loud electric guitars, or a guy going yo yo into a microphone. * When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues. * While blues lyrics often deal with personal adversity, the music itself goes far beyond self-pity. The blues is also about overcoming hard luck, saying what you feel, ridding yourself of frustration, letting your hair down, and simply having fun. The best blues is visceral, cathartic, and starkly...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...Blue is the colour between violet and green on the optical spectrum of visible light. Human eyes perceive blue when observing light with a wavelength between 450 and 495 nanometres. Blues with a higher frequency and thus a shorter wavelength gradually look more violet, while those with a lower frequency and a longer wavelength gradually appear more green. Pure blue, in the middle, has a wavelength of 470 nanometres. In painting and traditional colour theory, blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments, along with red and yellow, which can be mixed to form a wide gamut of colours. Red and blue mixed together form violet, blue and yellow together form green. Blue is also a primary colour in the RGB colour model, used to create all the colours on the screen of a television or computer monitor. The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao.[2] The clear sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths are scattered more widely by the oxygen and nitrogen molecules, and more blue comes to our eyes. Rayleigh scattering also explains blue eyes; there is no blue pigment in blue eyes. Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called atmospheric perspective. Blue has been used for art, decoration and as a clothing dye since ancient...
Words: 543 - Pages: 3
...Origin of Blues Blues played an important role in the history of music as it heavily influenced many types of music, particularly jazz and rock. It originated around the 1890’s from the Afro-American slaves’ folk music, work songs and spirituals and was typically performed with one person both playing the guitar and singing. The music consisted of stories of family, struggle, sexuality and rural life. The beginning of the blues-singing period was during the Civil War in America. In 1863, President Lincoln adopted the Emancipation Proclamation into Law, which gave the slaves the freedom not to be bought and sold as slaves, to send their children to school, to be able to live with their families in a house rather than a slave cabin, to attend church and the opportunity to become teachers, preachers, politicians and landowners. This gave them a new attitude towards life. They began to sing openly without concern of white mans punishment, which also allowed them to explore and experiment with white 8 and 16 bar songs. Blues in its early days was a direct decent of African question and answer phrases but now it started to develop when it adopted the 3 line stanza (AAB) then furthermore into 12 bars. Although the blues music was influenced by European music the essential blue chords (I, IV, V) were from American music culture, which was most likely originated from their religious music. In between 1911 – 1914 W.C. Handy made blues popular. He released “Memphis Blues”(1912) and...
Words: 349 - Pages: 2
...The Blues: “Music that Reflects Our Ancestors Cry” Mable Osemwegie Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………..3 Congo Square(past and present)……………………………...……………...4 Story of Storyville/ The Chitlin’ Circuit…………………………………….5 Blues Personality Profile……………………………………………………..6 Words of Blues Song…………………………………………………………7 Blues Instruments…………………………………………………………….8 Jazz Personality Profile……………………………………………………..9 Words of Jazz Song…………………………………………………………10 Original Blues Song…………………………………………………………11 Afterword……………………………………………………………………12 Introduction Blues has its deepest roots in the work songs of the West African slaves in the South. During their back-breaking work in the fields of the Southern plantation owners, black slaves developed a "call and response" way of singing to give rhythm to the drudgery of their servitude. These "field hollers" served as a basis of all blues music that was to follow. Although the lyrics of many blues songs are soulful and melancholy, the music as a whole is a powerful, emotive and rhythmic music celebrating the life of black Americans. The lyrics of the songs reflected daily themes of their lives including: sex, drinking, railroads, jail, murder, poverty, hard labor and love lost. Congo Square (past) Congo Square was a market area where African slaves could sell their wares on “free days.” Though legally slaves were forbidden from owning any kind of property, gathering in large groups, or conducting...
Words: 1970 - Pages: 8
...Hear When I Listen to Billie Holiday’s “Billie’s Blues” Tyler Brady Intro to Music: Term Paper Dr. Burns In the 19th century, a very prominent genre and musical form emerged from the Deep South of America; often defined as a repetitive and poetic music structure derived from jazz, blues music became an influential role in the astounding American identity. On the basis of originality and artistry, Billie Holiday is noted as one of the most influential jazz and blues singers. Throughout a dark life of poverty, drugs and adversity that arose from sexism and racism, Billie Holiday turned to her passion of music and singing. One of “Lady Day’s” most well-known pieces was recorded in 1936 and was titled “Billie’s Blues” This piece is structured as a 12-bar blues piece with a short introduction and six choruses. Throughout this blues song, there is a repetitive and invigorating harmonic pattern present. “Billie’s Blue’s” reflects a very laid back style through Holiday’s signature “lazy” style using many jazz embellishments such as blue notes; moreover, these melodies sung by Billie Holiday, as well as the two improvised solos performed by Bunny Berigan and Arty Shaw, are extremely artistic and original. In despite of a poverty stricken life filled with drug abuse and adversity, Billie Holiday was able to establish herself as a prominent blues and jazz singer; she was able to display this in “Billie’s Blues,” a 12-bar blues piece, with exceptional use of harmony and melody...
Words: 1778 - Pages: 8
...The Memphis Blues: The Role of Beale Street Musicians Memphis contained a variety of cultural influences, due to its “rich delta soil”. This soil helped contribute to the city’s high economic base as a market, travel and exchange center, attracting a highly diverse population. During the early 20th century many of the arriving African American musicians began moving to an area in Memphis known as Beale Street. Beale Street allowed musicians to create soulful and emotionally charged music relating to the struggles they faced involving racism throughout the country (Charlton 9-10). Beale Street musicians such as W.C Handy later helped popularize a form of music throughout Memphis known as “the blues,” which would eventually become a nationwide craze throughout the United States. During the early 20th century Beale street contained the “largest urban black population in the south” (Robertson 4). Thousands of African Americans traveled from all over the U.S to Beale Street for a chance at a better lifestyle (Robertson 4). Beale Street attracted many former slaves to its union territory between the 1860’s and the 1870’s (Williams). With them the music they brought “was a blending of European form (12-bar structure) and African traditions (rhythm), accompanied by narrative lyrics (Conover 10). This synthesis of musical cultures helped to shape the development of the music of Memphis, and aided early musicians in creating a style of music later known as the blues. One important...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...In order to get a comprehensive understanding between the connection of the blues and Buddhism, we must first dive deep into the sophisticated complex we all know as suffering. The word passion comes from the Latin root pati-, meaning suffering, or enduring. Thus, compassion literally means to suffer-with; the compassionate are not immune to the other people's individual pain. And passion is, at its core, a form of pain or suffering we cannot escape. Passion is not for the faint of heart or those who lack patience, but passion is the ability to endure and suffer. Like the famous story of the "Parable of the Mustard Seed" we must come to the ultimate realization like Kilsa Gotami that no one is free from the clutches of suffering, "Suffering, she realized, was the fate of all." Like some of my colleagues have already mentioned in their responses suffering is much more then a concept or an emotion, but a tool which we can utilize to accept our physical reality for what it truly is without the need of pessimistic outlooks. From a blues perspective life literally consisted of constant suffering. Weather it was on the cotton fields with the sun beating on your back all day, the cold sharp sting from the masters whip, or the vulgar appalling remarks that left the white man's mouth to convey their slaves. For the slaves of America there was no enlightenment or awakening that could be achieved through pilgrimages to sacred temples or deep mediation in the rivers of life. They had been...
Words: 900 - Pages: 4
...Women of the “Blues” The last couple of days of class, we have heard several artists who sing the “Blues”. The “Blues”, from my recollection, sounded like, The Blues Brothers. A few things I can recall are a repeated tone and a harmonica added to a short story. The artists that we listened to were Saffire, Curtis Salgado, Cowboy Junkies and Leon Redbone. The “Blues” were described as being sad, mellow with a slow tempo, and tells a story. Instruments that are linked to the “Blues” are the harmonica, a piano, and a base guitar. We learned that the “Blues” came from New Orleans and has been heard since the 1920’s in places like smaller clubs and bars. The women of the “Blues” usually sung torch songs, men who wronged women; ironically, men were the writers of such torch songs. Even though I enjoyed listening to all of the groups, Saffire and Cowboy Junkies were my favorite of the four. Saffire was different from the Cowboy Junkies in the way that the rhythm was more upbeat; they also added humor into their song. They also used sarcasm in the song, Wild women don’t have the Blues. An instrument that Saffire’s group had that was not in Cowboy Junkies group was the piano. I felt that there were more similarities between Saffire and Cowboy Junkies than differences. Some of the similarities, of course, are the groups consist of women, both sing torch songs, both have a mellow tone to their music and similar instruments played. Both of the groups spoke of separation...
Words: 516 - Pages: 3
...Contents The Blues – Traditions and Inspirations Origin 2 Musical Format Development Classification Influence References Origin Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States around the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll is characterized by specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues chord progression is the most common. The blue notes that, for expressive purposes are sung or played flattened or gradually bent (minor 3rd to major 3rd) in relation to the pitch of the major scale, are also an important part of the sound. The origin of the term of was most likely derived from mysticism involving blue indigo, which was used by many West African cultures in death and mourning ceremonies where all the mourner's garments would have been dyed blue to indicate suffering. Blues has evolved from the unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves imported from West Africa and rural blacks into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, with regional variations across the United States. The musical forms and styles that are now considered the "blues" as well as modern "country music" arose in the same regions during the 19th century in the southern United States. Recorded...
Words: 2634 - Pages: 11
...Name: KARTIK KHURANA, ZACHE ECKERT Broad Topic: PROJECT BLUE BEAM Draft Title: __________________________________________________________ (may change) __________________________________________________________ Major Paper Outline INTRODUCTION Hook: Have you ever wondered what those flying disks were in the sky passing by? What if I told you that they are not aliens? What would you think they could be?? Supporting Arguments (Brief): 1. There have been many people who said they think they have seen a projection of a 3D holographic image in the sky. 2. A list of things have been in the sky, some of the examples are Christ’s image, Flying disks and floating buildings 3. Majority of the folks think that they can project a message, symbol or a 3D image directly onto a cloud or water vapour Thesis: I believe that the Government is planning on using this project blue beam to subject us to artificially created Earthquakes and a gigantic Space shows to name a few. The Project Blue beam has four different steps in order to implement the new age religion with antichrist at its head. BODY PARAGRAPH #1 Topic/Transition Sentence: As a matter of fact the floating city has been actually seen by many people in China. 3 Main Pieces of Evidence/Proof from a Variety of Sources (with citations): a) The floating city after a mirage in the shape of a dark skyscrapers made the world especially the people in China puzzled about this mysterious appearance...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
...The Rock and Roll Blues In B.B King’s song “Every Day I have the blues” the song is introduced with the twelve-bar blues chord progression. The song uses a guitar as its main solo instrument, and in some of the live versions that are out there a drum accompanies the song as a steady rhythm in the background. This is known as a backbeat that generally occurs on the first and third beats of a four-beat measure. B.B King uses guitar improvisation in between each of the vocal verses to lead him into his next verse. Another twelve-bar improvisation is located between the verses. “Every day I Have the Blues” features bent notes that are achieved by literally bending the string on the guitar with excess finger pressure. “Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard starts off with the same twelve-bar chord progression that was developed for the Blues. Instead of a guitar as the main solo instrument Little Richard uses a piano as his primary instrument. The guitars serve in accompaniment to the piano and a stead backbeat made by a drum is featured. The tempo of “Good Golly Miss Molly” is much faster than that of “Every Day I have the Blues”. The volume of the voices and instruments are much louder and the piano is played throughout all the singing instead of being used as an improvisation to lead into the next verse. The blues was primarily a vocal genre that developed with in the African American slave culture in the southern United States. The singers of the blues often focused on...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...Why is the sky blue? Many people ask this question and we think they come across as silly or young. But the ironic thing is, is that this question touches on some of the deepest aspects of astronomy and skygazing (Sky-Watch). The question is what causes us to see the sky as blue? There are a variety of answers and not necessarily all of them being true, like when you tell a child that it’s because God spilled his water. The sky is blue because of the wavelength of the colors in the electromagnetic spectrum, the atmosphere of Earth, and our eyes. Many people believe that the sky is light blue just because they have grown up to think only about the color blue when they are asked about the sky. But scientific studies show that the light from the Sun is all the colors of the rainbow. (Note card 3) The light travels in waves and consists of weightless particles that are moving around 200,000 kilometers per second (Sky-Watch). The range of light that our eyes can see is the electromagnetic spectrum. Each color in the spectrum has a different frequency-which is the number of cycles per second. The frequency of light is determined by color. For example, blue light has a shorter and highter frequency than the others. Furthermore, now you know that the light waves coming from the Sun contain all the colors with different frequencies and that the light with a lower frequency has a longer wavelength. For my second point, it is our atmosphere on Earth. In suppor of this we know that...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...John Doe MU 010 Blues and Hip Hop Essay Comparing the Blues and Hip Hop To the inexperienced listener, the blues and hip hop might appear to be worlds apart musically and culturally. While these two genres are almost a century apart in their formation, they actually share numerous qualities in terms of musicality, culture, and purpose. The blues is a predecessor to hip hop and is one of the biggest influences on what hip hop became. Both genres inherited many musical elements from traditional African music, both genres are very referential to songs and artists who came before them, and both serve as outlets of expression for disenfranchised African Americans. While both genres have expanded and diversified as they’ve matured, both began with a minimalist sound. This means there was not an overabundance of instruments being played. The blues could simply be a single performer with an acoustic guitar, but often included a band consisting of a drummer and bass player as well. Hip hop could simply be a rapper performing with a prerecorded backing track, but often included a drummer, bass player, guitarist, and/or disc jockey. Unlike big bands or large ensembles, both genres’ emphasis was usually on a single performer while the other musicians were simply a backing band. In class we watched an interview with Eric Clapton where he said the blues appealed to him because it seemed like “one man against the world.” For the blues is was usually the singer/guitar who grabbed the...
Words: 1039 - Pages: 5
...Blues: A Contemporary Sound “It used to be called boogie-woogie, it used to be called blues, used to be called rhythm and blues. . . . It’s called rock now.” A club filled with smoke on the Southern Side of the city of Chicago, the Macomba Lounge, on a Saturday night in the year 1950. On a dimly lit small stage behind the bar in the narrow long club, mounted a strong African American robed in baggy pants, an electric green suit and a white shirt with a striped tie. A 3-inch pompadour was sported by him with his slicked back hair. He grasped an oversize electric guitar which is an instrument founded in the urban environment of postwar, pulling, caressing, bending and pushing the strings until he produced a distressed sharp cry that crossed...
Words: 5395 - Pages: 22
...in the visible spectrum and so scatter the light. White light is made up of different wavelengths, which, since Isaac Newton’s experiments with prisms in the 17th century, we think of as a spectrum of seven different colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Light at the violet end of the spectrum travels in shorter, tighter waves, which are affected more by the molecules in the atmosphere than the longer, lower-frequency waves at the red end. This phenomenon is named after Lord Rayleigh, the British physicist who discovered it in the 19th century. The sky appears blue because shorter wavelengths are scattered more by the atmosphere than longer wavelengths; so the scattered sunlight that reaches our eyes when looking at the sky (rather than at the sun itself) is predominantly blue. Once you have got your head around that, it might seem that the answer to the initial question—“Why is the sky blue?”—is rather simple. But there is a catch: not everyone would agree that the sky is blue. In 1858 William Gladstone, better known for being the Prime Minister of Britain four times during the 19th century, published a treatise on Homer. He noted, with astonishment, that the Greek poet did not once use the word blue. He used colour words rather oddly—he described the sea as “wine-dark”, iron as violet and honey as green. Further research showed that the Koran, the original Hebrew Bible, the Icelandic sagas and the Vedic hymns, written in India...
Words: 423 - Pages: 2
