29 Interesting Blues Music Facts That You Need To Know

There are over 1,300 musical genres in the world.

Blues is a musical genre that originated in the United States in the early 20th century. It is a genre of music that is characterized by its soulful sound and melancholy lyrics.

Blues music is special because it combines the soulfulness of gospel music with the structure of jazz. This unique combination creates a sound that is truly one-of-a-kind.

Blues lyrics are typically about love or heartbreak, which makes them relatable to many people. Blues music was created by African Americans as a form of self-expression and protest against racism and discrimination.

Hence, it is known as a protest genre. Blues has evolved, but it all started with one man in the Mississippi Delta in the early 1900s. Today, blues music is more popular than ever before.

This genre of music is truly unique, and there are many interesting facts about it that you may not know. In this article, we will discuss 19 interesting blues music facts that you need to know.

Blues Music Origin And History

The blues music genre originated in the United States in the early 20th century after the American Civil War. It is believed that blues music was first created by African Americans who were living in the southern United States.

This unique form of music was a way for these individuals to express their emotions and experiences, and it quickly gained popularity throughout the region.

Blues music quickly spread to other parts of the United States, and it eventually became popular worldwide. Blues music is now considered to be one of the most popular genres of music in the world.

The blues music genre has evolved over the years, and there are now many styles of blues music. However, all blues music typically has a soulful sound and melancholy lyrics.

Features Of Blues Music

Blues music has a few interesting features. Let us discuss these features so that we can recognize this genre well.

There are a few different blues chord progressions, but the most common one is the 12-bar blues progression. This chord progression has been used in blues songs for many years and is still popular today.

Blues bass guitar playing is often called 'walking the blues'. This is because the bass line plays an important role in blues music and helps create the groove or feel of the song. The walking blues bass line is a simple pattern that goes up and down the scale, and many blues songs use this same pattern.

Blues music often uses dissonant harmonies to create tension and resolve it with more consonance. This is because blues songs are typically about heartbreak or sadness, so they need some tension before resolving back into happiness.

Blues music uses syncopation. It has a very syncopated rhythm, and this gives it an energetic feel that makes you want to tap your feet or dance along. Syncopation is when the beat of music moves up and down instead of staying on one note for too long (like in classical music).

Syncopation can be done with any instrument, but blues songs typically use drums as their main instrument because they are easier to play syncopated rhythms on than other instruments.

This musical genre often uses melisma to create tension and resolve it with more consonance. Melisma is when a musician sings one note for many words in succession, like 'Aah'.

Blues music is microtonal. It uses many notes that are not part of the diatonic scale and this creates tension for listeners who expect to hear just those seven notes in western harmony.

As a result, blues songs have been known as being outside or irregular as they do not follow traditional rules about what note should be used next.

Blue notes are notes that are sung or played slightly off-pitch. Flattened blue notes give blues music its unique sound and make it different from other genres.

Instruments Of Blues Music

Blues music uses a wide range of instruments. Saxophones, electric or acoustic guitars, and pianos are some of the most frequently used blues instruments.

Most blues musicians use guitars. Early blues artists used the only type of guitar available, the steel-string acoustic guitar. Blues musicians of modern times opted for electric guitars. Thanks to this electric guitar, artists like Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton were able to add crispy tones to their music to make it more interesting.

The dobro or resonator guitar is a distinctive guitar used in blues. Rather than traveling through the soundboard (the top of the guitar), the vibration of the string travels across the bridge to a resonator (or several resonators) on these instruments. Resonators are used to magnify the sound of the guitar.

Blues music makes use of two types of bass, upright bass and electric bass, both of which keep the rhythm of blues music upbeat. The upright bass is generally played with a bow. However, in blues music, the bassist plucks the strings. This unique technique is called pizzicato.

There is no music without drums. Blues musicians used the Dixieland drum kit. The kit has a snare bass, bass hi-hat, and one or two tom drums.

The saxophone is also a blues instrument. It plays an important role in shaping blues music. Illinois Jacquet and Bill Moore were some of the popular blues saxophone players. A piano is also used in blues music. Otis Spann was the most famous blues, piano player.

Famous Artists Of Blues Music

Some of the most famous blues artists include Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, and Ray Charles. These musicians helped popularize blues music and make it into the genre that we know today. They have all had a significant influence on blues music and have helped shape its sound and style.

B.B King or Riley B. King (1925-2015) was not only an American blues singer but also a songwriter and guitarist. He is one of the most popular blues singers. He was recruited to Memphis by John Elkington.

There he opened the original B.B King's Blues Club. He was also called the 'King of the Blues'. He is one of the 'Three Kings Of Blues Guitar.'

B.B King is considered to be one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. He was born in Mississippi in 1925 and got his start playing blues music in the '40s. He is credited with popularizing blues music, and he has inspired generations of blues musicians.

Robert Johnson (1911-1938), born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi, is known as the 'Master of Blues.' He became famous due to the use of microtonal music.

He is considered by many to be the greatest blues musician ever. Johnson was one of the most important innovators in the Delta blues style. He was an American blues singer and guitarist who recorded only 29 blues songs before his mysterious death when he was just 27, in 1938.

Muddy Waters or McKinley Morganfield (1913-1983) was also an American blues singer. This singer has won several awards, including the Grammy Hall of Fame award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Most of the American music genres were influenced by the works of Muddy Waters. This blues artist is considered by many to be the 'Father of Blues Music.'

John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) rose to fame after he played an electric guitar-style adaptation of one of the earliest known styles of blues, the Delta blues. He mixed his blues style with fast beat music.

'Boogie Chillen', 'Crawling King Snake', and 'Dimples' are some of his most popular works. John also developed a different version of boogie-woogie, a popular genre of blues music in the '20s.

Eric Clapton is a blues songwriter and guitarist who ranked second in the 100 Great Guitarists of All Time. His music was also featured in several movies and television shows. He has won a good number of awards.

Howlin' Wolf or Chester Arthur Burnett (1910-1976) was a Chicago blues guitarist, singer, and harmonica player. He was considered one of the greatest competitors of Muddy Waters. Chester Arthur Burnett is one of the most popular Chicago blues artists.

Bessie Smith is the 'Mother of Blues Music.' She was a blues singer who performed in the early 1900s and died tragically at 43, when her car crashed during an accident on September 26, 1938. Her song 'Gulf Coast Blues' was a popular blues song as it spoke about the Mississippi River flooding, which happened during that time.

Did You Know...

There are many sub-genres of blues, which is a type of music that has a lot of variation. Some popular blues sub-genres include Chicago blues, Delta blues, country blues, Texas blues, blues rock, and Memphis blues. Each one sounds different because it originates from different parts of the United States.

Blues music got its name from the blue devils, the spirits that people believed would haunt them. Blues music was created as a way to cope with these blue devils and express the sadness and pain that they caused.

Blues music is often thought to be the same as jazz. While blues music has its roots in jazz, the two genres have evolved to be quite different from each other.

Jazz music is more complex and relies heavily on improvisation, while blues music is more soulful and has a slower tempo. Additionally, blues lyrics are typically sadder than jazz lyrics.

Instrumental blues is blues music without vocals. This may be because the original blues songs were sung by African Americans who were not allowed to sing in public due to segregation laws. Instead, instrumental blues was played at dances and parties as a way for people to enjoy the music.

Vocal blues is a type of blues music that is sung by a vocalist. This style of blues typically has slower tempos and more soulful lyrics than instrumental blues. Vocal blues can be performed solo or with a band.

Blues forms can be found in many styles of music, including jazz, rock and roll, country, and even classical. This is because blues music is so versatile and easy to adapt to other genres. Blues musicians often cross over into other genres, which helps spread the popularity of blues music.