Blues are always Blues
Blues is a musical genre and form that originated in the Deep South of the United States in the late 19th century. It is characterized by sad and expressive melodies, often sung by a solo vocalist accompanied by a guitar or a harmonica. Blues lyrics typically reflect the hardships and struggles of the African American community, such as racial discrimination, poverty, and oppression. Blues music also incorporates elements of spirituals, work songs, field hollers, and chants from the African American culture. Blues music has influenced many other genres of popular music, such as jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and soul.
The term “blues” comes from the expression “having the blues”, which means feeling depressed or melancholic. The blues is often considered a form of therapy, as it allows the singer to express their emotions and cope with their problems. The blues is also a way of preserving and celebrating the African American heritage and identity, as it reflects their history and culture. The blues is not only a musical style, but also a worldview and a philosophy of life.
One of the most distinctive features of the blues is the use of the blues scale, which consists of six notes: the tonic, the minor third, the perfect fourth, the diminished fifth (also known as the blue note), the perfect fifth, and the minor seventh. The blue note is a flattened note that creates a dissonant and tense sound, which adds emotion and expressiveness to the melody. The blues scale can be played in any key, and is often used to improvise solos and riffs. Another characteristic of the blues is the use of the call-and-response pattern, which is a form of dialogue between the singer and the instrument, or between two singers, or between the singer and the audience. The call-and-response pattern creates a sense of interaction and participation, and also adds variety and contrast to the song.
The most common structure of the blues is the twelve-bar blues, which consists of three four-bar phrases. The first phrase is based on the tonic chord, the second phrase is based on the subdominant chord, and the third phrase is based on the dominant chord and the tonic chord. The twelve-bar blues is also known as the AAB form, as the lyrics usually consist of two lines that are repeated (A) and a third line that is different (B). For example, in the song “Sweet Home Chicago” by Robert Johnson, the lyrics are:
Oh, baby, don’t you want to go? (A)
Oh, baby, don’t you want to go? (A)
Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago (B)
The blues has many subgenres and styles, depending on the region, the instrumentation, the tempo, and the mood. Some of the most famous subgenres are the Delta blues, the Chicago blues, the country blues, the electric blues, and the blues rock. Some of the most influential blues musicians are Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and Eric Clapton.
The blues is a timeless and universal music, that speaks to the human condition and the soul. The Blues is always Blues, because it expresses the feelings and experiences that are common to all people, regardless of their race, class, or background. The blues is a music of resilience, hope, and joy, that transcends the boundaries of time and space.
