blues
genresblooz
An African-American music genre built on blue notes, call-and-response, and 12-bar structures.
Blues originated in the American South in the late 19th century, rooted in African-American work songs, spirituals, and field hollers. Its defining features include the 12-bar chord progression (built on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords), blue notes (flatted thirds, fifths, and sevenths), call-and-response patterns, and lyrics expressing hardship, longing, and resilience.
Delta blues (Robert Johnson, Son House) used acoustic guitar and raw vocals. Chicago blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf) electrified the sound with electric guitar, bass, drums, and harmonica. The blues became the foundation for virtually every genre of American popular music — jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, and funk all grew directly from blues traditions. The pentatonic scale and the blues scale remain the most widely used melodic frameworks in popular music worldwide.
Robert Johnson recorded only 29 songs in his lifetime, yet those recordings influenced virtually every rock guitarist who followed — from Eric Clapton to Keith Richards.