Texas Blues And Blues

2181 Words9 Pages
Blues is generally stereo typed as sad music, which relates to misfortune, regret, betrayal and failure, blues is listened to only when you have lost a loved one or having bad day. However, I believe that blues is just another form of expression like any other style of music. Blues communicates all types of emotions from sadness to joy. Blues is a music genre which originated from the Deep South in the U.S.A during the end of the 19th century. It is derived from folk music, African music, work songs and spiritual songs. The blues music is comprised of bass lines, instruments and lyrics. (Kopp, 2005) In the mid 1800s the Deep South was home to many African Americans who helped to develop what we now call blues music. However, most of their…show more content…
They mainly worked in ranches and oilfield. This style was originally derived from jazz improvisation with the use of a string instrument which is the guitar. The main musician who claims to first practice Texas blues was Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1920 by using improvisation and the guitar. His music brought an identity to the slaves who work in the field. Jefferson influenced and inspired many more Texas blues musicians to come such as T- bone Walker, Lil son Jackson. During the great depression in the 1930, most of the blues musician moved to different cities including Houston, Dallas and Galveston. In these cities, blues music gained its popularity and so did the musicians. Blues was not discovered by only one person. It was multiple of people who played different music to an audience who identified their styles as Texas blues. Examples of the musicians whose discoveries had an impact on the blues are blind Willie Johnson and Big Mama Thornton. Texas blues could also be identified through the use of the heavy guitar and harmonica sound with echoes. (Kopp,…show more content…
This song is usually sung by 2 people or more. However the singing style varies from the first verse to the second verse. All in all, I believe that blues is a great style of music. I never even knew such a style existed however, now I can proudly say that I know and understand the blues with all of its musical elements. The blues has a lot of musical elements which I can learn from and benefit from as a musician. It will also help me improve my musical knowledge of the scales and the notes. Words: 2000 References: Govenar, A. (2010, June 12). BLUES | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Retrieved from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xbb01 Haworth, A. L. (2010, June 15). THORNTON, WILLIE MAE [BIG MAMA] | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Retrieved from
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