Monday, September 17, 2012

The History of Blues

By Alfredo Menezi


How well do you know the history behind the blues music? Maybe you've been playing the blues for quite some time now, but do you have any idea how this music originated? Blues music has become increasingly popular over the years and that is no surprise to many people or musicians who are big fans of the music.

This music genre took birth around the end of the 19th century during the time of slavery. At the beginning, it was not exactly a form of music but little by little it became so, and here are some few things that you should know about the blues in general:

Around 1880, some slaves from West Africa were brought into the south of the U.S for work. Those slaves, while working for their owners in the plantation fields or on the railroads, would frequently sing out loud rituals or other work-songs.

In the songs that they would perform, the slaves would relate about most of the things that they did or encountered in their everyday life, things like poverty, drinking, sex or their hard labor work. Singing gave them the courage to carry on their hard chores every single day.

In the year 1912, the first official publication of the blues music became known through Hart Wand's work as the "Dallas Blues". After that, came W.C. Handy's "The Memphis Blues" about a year later. There are a huge number of musical artists who made the blues music very famous over the last few decades.

Names like Mamie Smith, Charlie Patton or Robert Johnson always come to my mind when I talk about the blues music. Also there are many kinds of blues music such as the Delta blues, the Jump or the Chicago blues, all of them being very famous nowadays.

Of all the different genres of music that are in existence on this planet, the blues is definitely one of the most popular one with millions of fans around the world. Once you start listening to it, you'll find yourself falling in love with it, it is simply a very special kind of music.

If you are a blues guitar player looking for a rapid way to improve your skills, well then maybe I might provide you with some more help. Keep reading and find out what you could be doing to improve your blues guitar skills and become a master guitarist in no time!




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