Blues Music

The first 200 words of this essay...

Blues Music

Blues Music began as songs sung by black slaves in the mid - 19th century in the Southern United states. It has taken elements from African, European and American folk music.

After the Civil War and emancipation the Blues spread, together with the species that sang and played it, from the cotton fields of the southern states to northern cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where the music became hugely popular.

The notes in the blues scale are very dissonant. This may be because the black slaves were in misery working all day, and the scale represents their feelings. In the scale of C, the notes in the blues scale are:

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This is the chord sequence in 12-bar blues music. It is still sometimes heard in popular music today.

Chord of

Chord of

Chord of

Chord

Bars 1 - 4

C

C

C

C

Bars 5 - 8

F

F

C

C

Bars 9 - 12

G

F

C

C

Blues music has many characteristics in its melody that makes it typical