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Countr Country Blues: Music Genre Created In Southern States

532 Words3 Pages

John Aglibut
Mr.
American Music
8 October 2016
History of Blues What is Blues? Blues is a music genre created in Southern States of the United States of America by African Americans. The rhythm of the blues form was organized into four-beats pattern and has a AAB structure. Early blues originated in Africa when griots sung accompany songs. Griot is a respectable and the oral poet of a tribe. Griots are story tellers of a tribe; they share stories about the history of their leaders. A griot songs have a rough and expressive characteristics and follows a dual rhythm patterns. After a two rhyming notes it changes. This pattern is also found in the early American blues. The call-response style of singing also affected the development of the blues. This style of singing means when a leader starts to sing a song then a group will response to it. During the slavery, African slaves sung during their work and they called it work songs and they used the call and response style. Field holler style was also a type of singing that was used by a working slave. This type of singing is different from call and response style. Instead of a leader singing and a group responding, an individual worker sings about his or her job. Field holler has a less rhythm than works songs, it is slower and the lyrics is extemporized. …show more content…

Performers used an acoustic guitar while singing. Delta blues originated in Mississippi Delta. Early blues singers mostly talk about their lives. Early blues singers also use the strophic form for their songs. Strophic means repetition of the same lyrics. One of the famous early blues singer was Robert Johnson. He was known to be the king of the delta singers; Johnson was also famous for selling his soul to a devil at a crossroad to achieve success. Most early blues songs where documented since slaves cannot afford a record player to record

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James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" analyzes a very complex relationship between the narrator and his brother, Sonny. Before directing to the attention of the relationship between these two brothers, we have to first understand the personality of each character. Initially, the narrator has a stable job as a hardworking math teacher and makes an effort to assimilate himself to his surroundings, but has never comprehended his brother, Sonny. Sonny is the complete opposite of the narrator. Sonny separates from his brother to become a Blues musician, though becomes addicted to drugs, such as heroin, in order to control his own feelings.

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Robert Leroy Johnson was the most influential and the most significant singer of the Delta Blues during 1920s. Johnson was regarded as the master of the blues because he totally influenced many rock musicians. Eric Clapton, a well-known rock and blues guitarist, has even called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived.” Unfortunately, Robert Johnson, the legendary blues musician, passed away at his age 27. His obscurely documented life led him to a legend which really made a great affect on modern music genres and musicians

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