Learnin’ the Blues

by Nir Kligsberg

Artwork: Nir K., Photograph: Assaph H.

Former pianist and an avid scientist, fighting in the poetry trenches using his fearsome Fourier transform and p-hacking techniques.

Joined Jun 2018
Published Books 2

When Mel asked me to write a book about the blues I did not hesitate one minute. Sure, part of the reason for it is that I couldn’t be sure if the offer would still stand once Mel was sober again, but mostly because blues is one of the most fascinating forms of music there is;

Although the blues had (and still has!) major impact on basically any music genre there is – be it jazz, rock and roll or even contemporary classical pieces –

The basis is so simple that practically anybody can sing it.

Yeah. Anybody.

The blues originated in the work songs sang by African-American slaves in the cotton fields (or ”Field Hollers”), from which it got the simplicity of both the melody – 2 or 3 chords – and the content – songs of sorrow and the sadness in everyday life.

I couldn’t find any recordings of said slaves, but here are some prisoners singing in a prison band in the 30’s and that’s close enough:

The blues gain its popularity through traveling musicians wandering from town to town and playing for money.

Because they used spirituals and gospel melodies with secular lyrics, some believed they were devil worshipers or traded their soul for superhuman playing abilities.

Robert Johnson was one of those (travelers, I’m not sure about the devil part):

Ray Charles was similarly charged for bringing ‘church music’ into the ‘bedroom’ half a century later. Especially from 2:49

Developed around the turn of the century by musicians who could not read, let alone read music sheets, blues was mostly improvised, and indeed lots of blues sessions ended up a total mess of cacophony.

Soon enough, blues musicians understood that they have to construct strict rules in order to get along, here are some of them:

Keep it simple!
No sudden changes in the key or the rhythm
The song is slow and melancholic
It consists of 12 bar, four beats to each
It uses pentatonic scales

B.B. King knew what I’m talking about:

Or Muddy Waters:

Some blues musicians didn’t even need lyrics to deliver the melancholy in their songs!

Such are the blues pianists – some you probably don’t know…

Lafayette Leake:

…and some you do:

Mel Rosenberg:

The blues dwindled down alongside the rise of jazz in the 20’s, but had a minor renaissance in the mid-40’s (”the Chicago blues”) with musicians such as Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf