Six famous Blues musicians

Most give credits to the blacks for the creation of the blues. When the slaves would be in the fields they would sing of the hardships and changes in their lives. Blues is a combination of black folk music such as chants and spirituals. The blues are based on the joys and struggles of every day life. Blues was used to express emotions that could not be put into words, so where words fell silent the music yelled out. But the most common types of lyrics do relate to loss and carry a sense of misery.

The instruments carry a big part because whether it is an accompanying guitar, piano, or any other chosen instrument, they add to the sorrowful sound of the lyrics. In most common type of blues a line is sung, repeated, then a different line is sung. This creates what they call a sense of drama. The instruments fill of the rest of the song. The base of singing and playing blues is what are called blue notes on a blue scale. The notes are flatted or "bent" to change the key to minor to make the music sound more sorrowful. The blue notes came from a common scale in Africa but unknown in the New World and Europe. In this scale the 3rd and 7th notes were flattened.

One of the biggest parts of the blues is the fact that the music can show and express the feelings of people dealing with their struggles and hard-ships. Blues has stayed so popular today because it delivers songs that move the audience so much.

Leadbelly Leadbetter

Muddy Waters

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Ma Rainey

Bessie Smith

Alberta Hunter