Blues Music Essay
Rock and roll music is loud, fast, and exciting. But believe it or not, without the simple twelve-bar forms and walking bass lines of blues music there would be no Jimi Hendrix or Led Zeppelin. Rock was born from blues, and the key components of the blues can still be found in rock, like the instrumentation, musical form, and purpose.
Blues music really gained popularity in the 1930s and 40s, but it’s a combination of things much older than this. Blues emerged in the late 1800s as a distinct African American art form. The genre was impacted by not only popular music of the time, but also slave work songs, African spirituals, and the overall hardships of African Americans. This effected what the blues came to be known as; music about hard times. While not all blues music is about troubles, the main goal of this style is to create raw emotion, be it sadness, happiness, or anger. The sound of the blues is usually a very recognizable one. The core instruments used in the blues are drums, guitars, and vocals, and it has a very “groovy” sound to it. It’s the kind of music that can be felt. Blues music uses a lot of call and response patterns and chord progression, the twelve-bar-blues being one of the most eminent chord progressions in popular music. This genre could be considered the base of many other styles, with blues characteristics …show more content…
ubiquitous in almost any music genre that can be thought of. Perhaps the most popular, rock and roll.
Rock music originated and evolved in the United States in the 1940s and 50s. Rock and roll music was directly influenced by blues music, and blues traits are present in most rock songs. It’s often described as a blues rhythm just with an accentuated backbeat, and some of rock’s most recognized elements actually come from the blues. The style contains a lot of the
call and response phrases and chord progression found in blues music. It provides an almost trance-like rhythm. Obviously, rock and roll is known for its pounding drums, ripping guitar riffs, and powerful vocals. But, as stated earlier, these components were the foundation of blues music years before rock and roll was even a thing. Also as in the blues, the main idea of rock is to make people feel and have emotion. Almost all rock musicians will say that rock music is an emotional outlet for them where they can express their inner feelings and beliefs. There are rock songs about anything imaginable, from heartbreak, betrayal, and exclusion, to political rants and calls to action.
In fact, rock and blues are so similar that there’s still a debate on whether or not rock is its own genre or just a variation of the blues itself.
Whichever someone personally feels, the similarities between the two cannot be ignored. Without the composition, feel, and instrumentation of blues music, rock music would not be possible. Without B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, or Bessie Smith, there wouldn’t be Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Nirvana, or so many more of the beloved artists that are admired today. Rock is more than just music. It’s a lifestyle lived by so many, and much of the credit goes to the
blues.
Blues music really gained popularity in the 1930s and 40s, but it’s a combination of things much older than this. Blues emerged in the late 1800s as a distinct African American art form. The genre was impacted by not only popular music of the time, but also slave work songs, African spirituals, and the overall hardships of African Americans. This effected what the blues came to be known as; music about hard times. While not all blues music is about troubles, the main goal of this style is to create raw emotion, be it sadness, happiness, or anger. The sound of the blues is usually a very recognizable one. The core instruments used in the blues are drums, guitars, and vocals, and it has a very “groovy” sound to it. It’s the kind of music that can be felt. Blues music uses a lot of call and response patterns and chord progression, the twelve-bar-blues being one of the most eminent chord progressions in popular music. This genre could be considered the base of many other styles, with blues characteristics …show more content…
ubiquitous in almost any music genre that can be thought of. Perhaps the most popular, rock and roll.
Rock music originated and evolved in the United States in the 1940s and 50s. Rock and roll music was directly influenced by blues music, and blues traits are present in most rock songs. It’s often described as a blues rhythm just with an accentuated backbeat, and some of rock’s most recognized elements actually come from the blues. The style contains a lot of the
call and response phrases and chord progression found in blues music. It provides an almost trance-like rhythm. Obviously, rock and roll is known for its pounding drums, ripping guitar riffs, and powerful vocals. But, as stated earlier, these components were the foundation of blues music years before rock and roll was even a thing. Also as in the blues, the main idea of rock is to make people feel and have emotion. Almost all rock musicians will say that rock music is an emotional outlet for them where they can express their inner feelings and beliefs. There are rock songs about anything imaginable, from heartbreak, betrayal, and exclusion, to political rants and calls to action.
In fact, rock and blues are so similar that there’s still a debate on whether or not rock is its own genre or just a variation of the blues itself.
Whichever someone personally feels, the similarities between the two cannot be ignored. Without the composition, feel, and instrumentation of blues music, rock music would not be possible. Without B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, or Bessie Smith, there wouldn’t be Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Nirvana, or so many more of the beloved artists that are admired today. Rock is more than just music. It’s a lifestyle lived by so many, and much of the credit goes to the
blues.