Blues music originated in the southern United States in the early 20th century. It also mixes the rhythm and rhythm of similar recitation forms in the church.
When listening to blues music, you will find that they all seem to follow the same musical form. The reason is that blues concerts often use a standard form called 12 bar blues. Blues evolved from amateur music of poor slaves into various kinds of music with complex forms, which can also be classified. It was also found in all parts of the United States, and later in Europe, Africa and other parts of the world. Today's blues, like today's country music, began in the southern United States in the19th century. The earliest recordings of blues and country music were made in the1920s. At that time, the fledgling mass music industry studied and produced market types such as "African-American music" and "traditional music" to attract corresponding black or white customers. At that time, apart from the race of the performers, there was no obvious difference between blues and country music, and sometimes record companies mislabeled them. In fact, this classification by race is wrong. For example, at that time, people divided the gospel songs played by black slaves to their masters into blues, but in fact, the origin of this black religious song was hebrides. Thomas sauville, an American black economist and historian, also pointed out that the former slave population in the southern United States was largely assimilated by their Scottish-Irish "countryman" neighbors. But the research of kubik and others also shows that Bruce still contains a considerable degree of African heritage.
There have been many studies on the social and economic background of Bruce. The earliest appearance time of the blues is not very accurate, and it is generally considered to be between 1870 and 1900. This period is consistent with the process of slave liberation and the transition from slavery to cooperatives and small-scale agriculture in the southern United States. Some scholars define the development of this period as the change from group performance to more personalized form. LawrenceLevine believes that "the state's emphasis on individual consciousness, the popularity of Booker Washington's thought and the formation of Bruce are directly related." The psychological, social and economic impact of slavery on blacks is immeasurable, so it is very natural for their secular and religious music to reflect. " Due to the commercial success of ragtime music, American music dealers immediately began to pursue similar commercial success of blues music. The publication of 19 12 Handy's three works similar to blues accelerated the process of adopting blues elements in Pan Xi Lane. W.C.Handy is a professional musician, and he played a key role in promoting blues music. Handy was the first person to rewrite the blues for an orchestra. His rewritten works reached a symphony scale, with bands and singers. He became a very famous composer, calling himself "the father of blues", but some people think that his works are not blues at all. His works can be regarded as a combination of blues, ragtime and jazz, and he mainly uses the Habanella rhythm in Latin American music that ragtime has used for a long time. Handy lived for quite a long time, during which he made great achievements. His most famous work is St Louis Blues.
/kloc-in the 1920s, blues became an important element in American black and American pop music, and was also favored by "white" listeners through Handy's works and classic blues singers. Bruce evolved from an informal performance to entertainment in the theater. Bruce will play in theaters and nightclubs. This evolution has made the blues particularly diverse, and the difference between blues and jazz has become more and more clear. Some record companies began to record black American music. With the development of the recording industry, some country blues artists are becoming more and more famous in the African-American community. Blind Lemmon Jefferson was the first artist to record with a broken guitar. He plays the guitar with blades, wine bottles and other unusual things. Tearing the guitar has become a very important part of Delta Blues. The blues recorded by 1920s can be divided into two styles: one is the traditional country blues, and the other is the relatively diversified urban blues.
Country blues are often accompanied by no accompaniment, or only banjo or guitar, and their performances are often improvised. There were many regional country blues styles in the early 20th century, and several of them were particularly important. The blues in the Mississippi Delta are simple in style and often accompanied by torn guitars or harmonicas. Its singing is simple and passionate. The most influential performer of this style can be said to be robert johnson, who has only recorded a few records, but in these records, urban and country blues are combined in a unique way. Piedmontblues, a kind of "beautiful and poetic" music in the southeast, adopts the elaborately-made fingered guitar technology, and the representative figures are Willie McTell, a blind man, and Fowler, a blind boy. The vivid Memphis blues produced in the 1920s and 1930s were mainly played by the Pottery Bottle Band. These bands use many unusual musical instruments, such as washboards, violins, toy flutes or mandolin. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, many Memphis blues musicians moved to Chicago, crossing the boundary between country blues and electronic blues.
Urban blues is more organized and refined. Classical female blues or funny female blues singers were especially famous in the1920s. For example, Beth Smith, although she is more like a funny musical actress, does enjoy the title of "Queen of Blues". Her "Crazy Blues" records sold 75,000 copies in a month. Her tutor, Ma Renni, is also very respected and is called "the mother of Bruce". Clark wrote that both singers use "a technique of adjusting each song around a center, perhaps to make their voices reach the back of the concert hall more easily", while Smith "likes to sing in unusual tones. She uses her beautiful contralto to change and extend the tune, which makes her singing unparalleled. " Southern artists in the city of Bruce included the most famous black musicians in America at that time.
Another important urban blues style in 1930s and early 1940s was Buji Wooji. Although this style is mainly piano solo, it is also accompanied by singing or using bands or small musical instruments. Bukit Wookied is characterized by a fixed bass melody, a fixed number or an existing repetition. It uses the most common scale changes, with the left hand playing very delicate harmony and the right hand playing gorgeous decorative sounds. Boogie Woogie was originally played by Jimmy Young and the so-called Boogie Woogie in Chicago. Chicago also produced other Buchwood musicians, such as Earl Haines. Haines "plays the powerful rhythm of ragtime piano music with his left hand and Armstrong's trumpet melody with his right hand."
1965-438+Another urban blues in the early 1940s was the jumping blues, which was deeply influenced by big band music. It is characterized by playing rhythmic fast-paced music similar to jazz on the guitar, singing powerfully and using saxophone or other brass instruments. Signed blues musicians later became pioneers of rock music and rhythm and blues. A very smooth Louisiana style between classic rhythm and blues. After World War II, in the 1950' s, with the intensification of urbanization and the popularity of voice generators, a new electronic blues style appeared, especially in Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City.
Chicago became the center of Bruce in the early 1950s. Chicago blues is deeply influenced by Delta blues, because most artists are immigrants from Mississippi. Their style is characterized by the use of electronic guitars, sometimes torn guitars, blues harmonicas, traditional bass and drums. But there are also some musicians who use saxophone, but they use saxophone mainly as rhythm support rather than as solo instruments.
Bruce had a great influence on American mainstream pop music in the 1950s. Baudali and Chuck Berry were directly influenced by Chicago blues, and their passionate performances left Bruce's melancholy style, which is generally regarded as the beginning of rock music. Elvis priestley and bill haley were deeply influenced by dancing blues and boogie Woogie. They brought rock music into the white community. The influence of Chicago blues on Zdeco music in Louisiana is also very important. Many blues styles have been introduced into this type of music, such as using electronic guitar solo and Kincaid music. But some musicians are not influenced by Chicago blues, but by other styles, such as West Coast blues. This style is more fluent than Chicago blues, and it is between Chicago blues, jumping blues, rock and jazz guitar. Some artists have very personal styles. Rock music and soul music in American black music became mainstream pop music in the early 1960s. White musicians spread black music to new audiences in America and other countries. Although most listeners just liked the popular tunes at that time, some people began to trace back to these music. Especially in Britain, there are many bands that pursue the roots of blues. By the end of that era, the styles of blues or blues and rock music played by white musicians had become the mainstream of pop music all over the world.
At the same time, some artists continue to develop the tradition of Bruce. Bibikin reached its peak in the early 1950s and the late 1960s. His skillful guitar skills earned him the title of "King of Blues". Unlike Chicago blues, he and his band use strong bass support instead of tearing the guitar or harmonica.
The music of American civil rights movement and freedom of speech movement triggered the research on the roots of American music, especially on the roots of early African-American music. Important music festivals, such as Xingang Folk Art Festival, re-introduce traditional blues music to new audiences. Before the war, vocal blues and many forgotten blues players were rediscovered. Many pre-war classic blues were re-edited and published.
In the late 1960s, a so-called western blues appeared in Chicago. Compared with the past Chicago style, this new style emphasizes rhythm support, lacks harmonica and saxophone, and has fewer melodies. New artists appeared, their style is a mixture of Chicago style and rock music, using amplified electronic guitars.
But it was the Paul butterfield blues band in Chicago and the British blues movement in the early 1960s that really introduced blues music to young white audiences. British blues is a style formed in Britain, and more than a dozen bands have rewritten the songs of Delta Blues and Chicago Blues. In turn, British blues musicians have brought new inspiration to many American blues rock musicians. These musicians first got inspiration from listening to the music of British musicians, and then began to teach themselves the tradition of Bruce. Jimi hendrix, in particular, was a rare artist at that time, and he himself was a black musician who played illusion blues-rock music. He is a stunt guitarist, and he is a pioneer in creating tone sandhi and feedback in guitar technology. Through these musicians, Bruce had a strong influence on rock music. Since 1980, the blues has been advancing in the traditional style and new style. Texas blues appeared, and this new style used guitar as solo and rhythm instrument. Texas blues is deeply influenced by English rock blues.
At the same time, magazines specializing in blues were published, and blues clubs were established in major cities in the United States, and outdoor blues became a common thing. More nightclubs and hotels appear. Today, almost all music is influenced by Bruce.