From hip-hop to jazz to R&B to rock, every genre offers musicians and fans a unique sonic journey and new opportunities to discover great music. Many of the heavy metal music is based on the roots of blues.Learn Blues Piano: How the Blues Influenced Modern Music The elements of music in R&B, hip hop, and rock and roll genres are also related to blues music. The most popular sub-genre is blues-rock, which is a blend of blues and rock elements. This type of music has been through many modification phrases with regards to lyrics, instruments, and harmony which is evident in most types of music today. Using various instruments is the chief reason why there are many branches in blues music found today. Basses, drums, and harmonica are included in the blues scene today. Nowadays, as this music has become so innovative, many other instruments have been added as a standard. However, in the early 1900s, guitar and piano were added. Musical Instrument SoundsĮarlier, the banjo was prominently used as the main instrument for blues music. Hence, verses are in a question-answer format. Thematically, blues lyrics concentrate more on sadness and disappointing stories such as poverty, lost relationships, death, violence, racism, and so on. Singing first two lines is divided among eight measures in a 12-bar, whereas the rest four measures consist of singing the third line. So, the lyrical structure becomes in the AAB pattern. The third line, is the response to the first two lines. Most of the time, the first two lines are the same, and have question-like lyrics. The first two lines are more or less the same, followed by the third. The verse of a conventional blues song comprises three lines. Just like the melody, harmony, and rhythm lyrics are also to be placed in blues music in a different manner. Taking the example of E-A-B combination, the 12 bars can be divided in E/E/E/E/A/A/E/E/B7/A/E/E pattern. This will be followed by four beats for the fifth, four more beats for the fourth chord, finally coming down to eight beats for the first chord. For example, the first chord will be played for 16 beats, eight beats for the fourth chord, and eight beats for the first chord again. Normally, the bar is divided into certain numbers of beats for different chords. The three above-mentioned chords are played for 12 bars.
The rhythm is based on the 12-bar and 48-beat repetitive pattern. The rhythm is also a unique characteristic of blues music.
These notes are traditionally played in a blues scale. When it comes to melody, blues music also consists of an emphasis on the flattened third, fifth and seventh notes of a major scale. This is exactly similar to the standard relative chord combinations. And for G as the starting chord, the following chords would be C and D. So, if the musical piece starts in the A chord, next chords will be fourth ‘D’ and fifth ‘E’ chords. The harmony of blues music mainly focuses on the first, fourth and fifth chords of a combination. Major Elements of Blues Music Melody and Harmony
Banjo and piano were the early instruments in this music type. Some of early blues music personalities were Bukka White, Robert Johnson, and Bessie Smith. This music was a result of the combination of African and Western cultures in the Southern part of America. Most notable genres of music such as rock and rhythm and blues have been developed on the basis of the contents of blues music. This article concentrates on the musical elements of blues music…īlues is undoubtedly the most popular music genre which has undergone many changes in its characteristics since its inception. The components of blues music are a base for the introduction of many other sub-genres of this music.