| A Little Knowledge of The Blues |
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Alot of us like the Style we call the blues but not many of us actually know the history behind it. Blues music is the backbone of all of todays American Music. So if you like the style of Rock,Country,Jazz,Folk etc they all came from the blues! Yeah even Metallica. Blues music is said to have started in the cotton fields back in the early 1900's. Black Slaves would sing to each other trying to ease the pain of everyday life as a slave.
I can only imagine the pain these people went through day in and day out. Now you know why blues music has so much feeling. Most blues artists are telling you their lifes story in a song with 12 bars. Pretty cool if you ask me a good why to relieve stress. It is quite interesting how the blues progression came about. It is said that the slave leader (for lack of a better word) when say something to his fellow slaves like a short burst of incouragement and the slave workers in turn would say (A-MEN). You can think of this as the start of the IV to I cadence or the plagal cadence. Sing it yourself (A-MEN) you can hear the progression as you sing it. You can also think of the slave leaders talk of incourgement as being a blues riff you would play on your guitar. If you played a D to an A chord on your guitar and then play a short blues lick directly following it you will hear what I'm trying to describe to you. This later would turn into what we call the 12 bar blues form. It is amazing how this simple form of music developed into what it is today. If you Listen to Jimi Hendrix, ZZ TOP, BB King,Muddy Waters etc... they're still playing the same basic form of the blues only adding to it with modern chords and scales. There is Texas Blues,Chicago Blues,Mississippi Blues,Delta Blues,Rock Blues,Jazz Blues and more There is a taste in there for everyone. In my opinion the best way to learn any style music is to learn the background and how it originated. If your thinking about learning the style of blues or know someone who is we here at The Guitar Files have written a book entitled "15 easy steps to blues guitar" Click here to learn more about it. Hope this short column this month has opened your eyes to the style of music we call the blues. Until next time
Have Fun Brian Calloway |
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