Blues (En Ingles)

THE ORIGINS OF THE BLUES

SANDRA COSTA TORRANO

Prof. Sofia Virgili
Asignatura: cultura contemporánea de los países de habla inglesa a través de los medios
Curso: 2012-2013
Fecha: 18 de diciembre de 2012
OUTLINE
I. The origins of the Blues
II. What is?
A. Vocal and instrumental music genre
B. Depressive mood
III. African roots
A. Call and response style
B.African instrument
IV. Where and when was it born?
A. Southern of the United States.
B. 19th century
C. Historic context
V. The blues was ready for birth
A. Social problems
B. Emigration
C. Venues
VI. Call and response style
A. African american laborers
B. Work songs
C. Emotional content
VII. Instruments
A. Evolution
VIII. Lyrics
A.Evolution
B. Expression
IX. Music knowledge
A. No recorded
B. No written down
C. First known blues composition
X. Conclusion
A. General evolution
B. First records

THE ORIGINS OF THE BLUES
Nowadays, people listen a huge variety of music, such as Rock, Funk, Jazz, Pop, and so on. These variety has evolved from one famous style: the Blues. Most of the peopleknow that Blues was born in USA by the African slaves, but it is all the information you already know. For this reason, I would like you to know more about the birth of all the present music and Blues, the first known style.
The Blues is a music style and the best expression of melancholy and sadness and is a vocal and instrumental genre. It was used to express a depressive mood based in arepetitive pattern. A characteristic feature of this music is the variety of uses of the guitar which, for instance, would influence the Rock music. There are several characteristics that were present long before the creation of the modern blues.
It’s believed that blues has African roots because they share similar features such as the call and response style, the use of melisma and a wavy, nasalintonation and the “akonting”, an African- American instrument of the Jola tribe of Senegambia, is the predecessor of the banjo. The most important American antecedent of Blues was the spiritual. The style also was related to ragtime, which developed at the same time, though the blues preserved the original melodic patterns of African music.
It was born in the Afro-American communities of the UnitedStates, in the Southern of the United States, specifically in the North Mississippi Delta towards the end of the 19th century, to be precise. It was developed through different kind of songs such as spiritual or prayer songs. The development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the slaves who brought their musical traditions with them when they were kidnapped by the NorthAmerican colons. The first appearance of the blues is dated between 1870-1900, a period which coincides with the emancipation of slaves and the transition from slavery to sharecropping and agricultural production in the southern United States.
As Reconstruction ended and Jim Crow laws began to take effect, Afro-Americans were faced with racism and poverty. Many musicians had to travel in anattempt to make a living so they run away with their guitars. They had meetings at small places where the musicians played and sung; they were called venues, and they were a shelter to disconnect from the real world and have fun with your family and neighbors. Because of that, they spread the influence of the Blues and with basic characteristics in place, the blues was ready for birth.
One of thefirst known forms of music that keep similarity with the blues corresponds to the cries of a call and response style which consisted in one man singing a line, and the rest of the people answering with another line and without accompaniment or harmony. This music is the essence of African American laborer whose spirit is wed to these songs; reflecting their inner soul to all who listened. They...