The Evolution of Blues Music: From Jali's Kora to Urban Blues - Prof. Blickenstaff, Study notes of Music

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BLUES

Jali (Jalolu, pl, griots)

• Kora
• Similarities to blues
• Divergences from the blues ca. 1925

William Christopher Handy (1873 1958)

• “the Father of the Blues”
• Handy’s documentation and codification of the blues o Text o ‘Blued’ notes o The blues progression

BLUES STYLES

RURAL BLUES

• Developed in 1920s & 1930s

• Common musical characteristics of rural blues

-­‐ Τ hey are performed primarily by solo male

singers.

-­‐ The singers accompany themselves on acoustic

instruments.

-­‐ Words and melodies are frequently

improvised.

-­‐ Use of irregular meters

-­‐ Not sole use of 12 bar blues progression

Texas Rural Blues

• Influences

• General Characteristics (in contrast to delta

blues):

• Lyrics are sung more clearly.

• Singing is in a higher register.

• Guitar lines are linear and melodic.

• Guitar accompaniment is less percussive, more

smoothly picked.

• The guitar fills frequently alternate between the

high and the low strings of the guitar.

• Melodic fills at the end of sung lines are usually

performed on single strings

• There is a tendency to play repeated melodic

figures, or riffs, on the lower strings.

• Accompaniment sometimes utilizes arpeggiated

chords

Mississippi Delta Blues

• Had the strongest influence on the development of rock music.
• Developed in the area known as the Delta region
• Early documentations of delta blues o Charles Peabody o Stovall plantation

• General Characteristics: o Frequent sliding from note to note o Frequent use of slide guitar o A hard, percussive picking style o A forlorn, wailing type of singing o A small melodic range o Intricate polyrhythms between the vocal part and the guitar accompaniment. o Guitar fills are more typically chordal and rhythmic rather than single note melodies.
• Delta blues moves north and west

o Irregular meter o Hard/percussive picking o Chordal riffs

• Faustian legends
• Short recording career and death
• Influence

URBAN BLUES

• Development o The Great Migration o Invention of the electric guitar

Texas Urban Blues

• Blues style of guitar is based on the Texas rural blues o Guitar lines are more linear and melodic. o Guitar accompaniment is less percussive, more smoothly picked . o The guitar fills frequently alternate between the high and the low strings of the guitar.
• Two important differences: o A full sized band is used  The saxophone is often the solo instrument and horns are used in the backup band o Guitar is amplified
• Contribution to rock music

Aaron Thibeaux “T Bone” Walker (

• Early life
• Use of electric guitar
• Independence as a musician o Capital Records o Black & White
• "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (1947) o Single line/string guitar fills

CHICAGO URBAN BLUES

• Development of Chicago and its music scene
• Chicago blues and delta blues have much in common:
  • Frequent use of slide guitar.
  • Frequent sliding between pitches (voice)
  • Numerous single-string fills at the end of a sung line
  • Frequent use of bent notes.
  • Use of intricate rhythm patterns and polyrhythms.
  • Frequent use of double-stopped strings.
• Unlike the Mississippi delta blues: o Reliance on electric guitar o Use of Harmonica as solo instrument
  • Influence of Chicago blues on rock and roll:

Muddy Waters (1915 1983)

• Early life
• Influenced by rural delta blues o Vocal style o Guitar style
• First recordings in Mississippi
• Move to Chicago