Who invented blues?

The blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th Century. Its inventors were slaves, ex-slaves and the descendants of slaves—African-American sharecroppers who sang as they toiled in the cotton and vegetable fields.

Who did the blues start?

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. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.

Who is known as the father of the blues?

Born in Florence, Alabama on November 16, 1873, William Christopher Handy became interested in music at an early age.

Who was the first person to make blues?

One of the first professional blues singers was Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, who claimed to have coined the term blues. Classic female urban or vaudeville blues singers were popular in the 1920s, among them Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Victoria Spivey.

When did blues first become known?

The origins of the blues are poorly documented. 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.

Which came first jazz or blues?

Both genres originated in the Southern United States around the late 1800s to early 1900s, with blues arriving first, then jazz a little later. Both were inventions of African Americans, who combined African musical concepts with European musical concepts, thus making these both uniquely American music genres.

Is blues the mother of all music?

The blues are often referred to as the mother of modern musical forms. But where did the blues come from? The blues first grew out of the music of enslaved African Americans (and later African-American sharecroppers, railroad work gangs, and prison work gangs) and described life's hardships.

Does blues music come from slavery?

Contrary to what some people believe, the blues is not “slave music.” Although it was cultivated by the descendants of slaves, the blues was the expression of freed African Americans. The Great Migration directly influenced the blues' many evolutions.

How did the blues get its name?

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.

Who invented blues rock?

In the late 1960s, Jeff Beck, with his band the Jeff Beck Group, developed blues rock into a form of heavy rock.

Who is considered the Father of the Blues and why?

Let it play in the background as you study and immerse yourself in this topic! Musician and composer William Christopher “W.C.” Handy was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. Widely known as the “Father of the Blues,” Handy is recognized as one of the leaders in popularizing blues music.

What city is the birthplace of the blues?

Mississippi town known as 'Birthplace of the Blues' to offer live music every night. CLARKSDALE, Miss. — One Mississippi town known as 'The Birthplace of the Blues' is doubling down on efforts to have live blues music inside at least one venue in the city every single night of the week. Clarksdale, Miss.

Is jazz and blues the same?

Jazz music is often much more lively and upbeat than blues music. Jazz is often associated with swinging and swaying movements, lively atmospheres and even abstract, unpredictable noise. Blue however, is melancholic, sharp and slow – and the format of the music can often sound very similar from one song to the next.

Who recorded the first vocal blues song?

They were about to play a song written by Perry Bradford, and to sing it with them was Mamie Smith. Called “Crazy Blues,” it is the first blues record.

Who started jazz?

In the late 1890s, syncopation joined with soulful melodies, upbeat dance tunes united with the sultry sound of brass instruments, and jazz began to emerge. Buddy Bolden, an African-American bandleader called “the first man of jazz” by historian Donald M Marquis, was at the forefront of the jazz movement.

How did the blues begin?

The origins of the blues are poorly documented, but it is believed that after the American Civil War (1861–65), formerly enslaved African Americans and their descendants created this genre while working on Southern plantations, taking inspiration from hymns, minstrel show music, work songs and field hollers, ragtime, ...

Why is the blues considered the devil's music?

Later on, blues developed in the seedy parts of towns, in Juke joints (bars), speakeasies (illicit nightclubs) and brothels. And because some of the lyrics were raunchy, and most songs were about man-woman relations, drinking, lust, love, loss and longing, blues was considered sinful.

How many types of blues are there?

You might know blues when you hear it. But would you know what genre of blues you're hearing? Blues comes in many different flavors, roughly 25 of them, each with their own nuances and style.

Does blues come from Africa?

Although many would point to the blues having come from places like the Mississippi Delta, the blues really originates from West Africa. It began with the musical cultures of African people who were brought to American due to the slave trade.

Why did African Americans sing the blues?

The Blues really started when African people were taken to America to work as slaves on plantation fields. The slaves would sing songs of their despair and suffering to make the time pass more quickly.

Who invented 12-bar blues?

"W.C. Handy codified this blues form to help musicians communicate chord changes." Many variations are possible. The length of sections may be varied to create eight-bar blues or sixteen-bar blues.

Where did blues originate in America?

The story of the Blues began in northwestern Mississippi in the late 1800's. It was initially a folk music popular among former slaves living in the Mississippi Delta, the flat plain between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers.

What music influenced blues?

Source, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues Blues musical styles, forms (12-bar blues), melodies, and the blues scale have influenced many other genres of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, and popular music.

How did blues lead to jazz?

Although many other influences have existed and continue to influence the development of jazz music, blues is the basis of jazz (and later, rock & roll). Blues was the first music to emphasize improvisation, and its unique tonal coloration became an integral part of the jazz vocabulary.