| The
blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes
and a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. It evolved
in the United States in the communities of former African slaves, from spirituals,
praise songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants. The use of blue notes and the
prominence of call-and-response patterns in the music and lyrics are indicative
of the blues' West African pedigree. The blues influenced later American and Western
popular music, as it became part of the genres of ragtime, jazz, bluegrass, rhythm
and blues, rock and roll, hip-hop, country music and pop songs. The
phrase the blues is a reference to having a fit of the blue devils, meaning 'down'
spirits, depression and sadness. An early reference to "the blues" can be found
in George Colman's farce Blue devils, a farce in one act. Later during the 19th
century, the phrase was used as a euphemism for delirium tremens and the police.
Blues
Music
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