The Electric Guitar: Blues And Country Music

The electric guitar transformed both blues and country music, allowing for it to become a very important piece in American popular music history. Beginning in the mid 1940’s, a Blues artist named Muddy Waters began using an electric guitar. He later became known as the first blues artist to successfully use an electric guitar in his music, creating a subgenre called Electric Blues. Differing from the classical country blues, Muddy Waters created something more urban in Electric Blues. By using electric guitars, pianos, bass, and harmonicas, Muddy Waters was able to create this music that had new elements (electric guitar) along with the old, classical blues feel. A very good example of this would be with Muddy Water’s song, “Hoochie Choochie Man.” BY using the electric guitar, he was able to create two riffs, one with the electric guitar and another with the harmonica.
In 1936, Bob Wills wrote a song called “Steel Guitar Rag” which was the first of its country music type to include an electric guitar. The song featured an electric guitar, a piano, and saxophone. Bob Wills successfully blended blues with jazz and pop, creating the newest style of the time, Western