Blues Music

Some scholars are of the opinion that the Blues tonality resulted from the quest of West African slaves searching for tones beyond the scope of their pentatonic scale, which did not include the third or seventh tone or the flat third or the flat seventh.

The pitch that resulted was half-way between the minor and major third, fifth and seventh, and is known as a Blues tonality. Copyists noting down the music conceived of the Blues scale in which the third, seventh and at times the fifth scale were lowered half a step. As for that matter there are many variations in melody and rhythm and it is not possible to write them all down. This is also exacerbated by the fact that at the time most of the musicians were very talented in their art but illiterate.

Blues Lyrics:
The first blues singers would sing on these unconventional notes, and accompanying instruments had to go the whole length. Instruments of choice included string, reed, and brass, as these could complement the vocal sounds of the singer. Many performances were and still are to a great extent extempore.

The lyrics are mostly personal insights that are at once evocative and revealing of the depths of human emotion and passion. The most common harmonies are of the 12 bar harmonic progression. The main melodies are those of holler cadences accompanied with steady percussion and consist of three verse stanzas in rhyme.