Mr Zhao

Blues and it’s Influence Blues is a music with a unique ethnic diversity. It started with the rural Black-American traditions of southern America. Originally it was associated with music of deep and low-down emotions. But in reality, it reflected how a culture lived and survived in happy and difficult times. Many musicologists try to associate Blues with both European and African tradition. Music Historian Robert Palmer may be most correct entitling it as a Black-American creation. By doing so, Palmer then relates this form to many different aspects of blackAmerican music. Early blues music was music dictated by Call and Response. The Call and Response pattern could be found in 4, 8, 12 or 16 bar forms. The message of the lyric was the most important aspect of the music and dictated what form was used. Because Blues was a message (if you will), it was then a music which adopted itself to many musical styles, ranging from jazz to rock and roll. The musical sound of the Blues is also found in many other non-vernacular styles such as 20th century classical music.

Regional Styles and their Evolution

WC Handy received a lot of credit for discovering BlackAmerican musical genres. Once he found something he would then turn around a sell the rights for profit. He also claimed in his memoirs to be the first Jazz musician. Despite some of these inaccurate claims, Handy still had the economic means to sell and promote Black music to America. Handy who was a ragtime pianist, fell in love with the Blues on several visits he made to rural southern America. Many say he codified the blues, meaning he brought a sense to the musical form of blues. This can be argued, for he did not play the 12 bar forms himself, but stuck to more familiar ragtime forms. On the other hand, he did record and give America a hint of the blues idiom as he recorded and toured across America. The Delta One of the first centers of blues was found in the Delta. It was here, in a place called Dockery