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21 wrz 2014 · The blues is a foundational element of America’s vernacular and art music. It is commonly described as a combination of African rhythms and European harmonies. This description is inaccurate. Blues follows harmonic conventions that are quite different from those of Western European common practice.
The Bessie Smith–Louis Armstrong duet of “St. Louis Blues” is a classic example of this sort of musical conversation: Smith begins by singing, : “ I hate to see the evening sun go down .” Armstrong echoes her final note on his cornet and adds a relaxed melodic response.
9 paź 2024 · Blues, secular folk music created by African Americans in the early 20th century, originally in the South. The simple but expressive forms of the blues became by the 1960s one of the most important influences on the development of popular music. Learn more about blues, including notable musicians.
‘The language and poetry of the blues’ explores the lyrical component of the blues. Modern scholars treat the blues primarily as a musical style, but early scholars also studied blues songs as a form of folk poetry, arising from the common language of African Americans.
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.
A type of African-American musical art that was first developed in the Mississippi Delta region at the end of the nineteenth century, the blues, like many musical expressions, is difficult to define. Some people think of the blues as an emotion; others regard it primarily as a musical genre characterized by a special blues scale containing ...
26 sty 2024 · Definition of Blues. Originating in the Southern U.S. close to the 20th century, blues is a musical style with certain characteristics such as soulful melodies, moving lyrics, and unique harmonic progression. It’s a style that has made its mark worldwide and influenced thousands of artists in other genres and places.