Y E A R 8 U N I T 4 J A Z Z I M P R O V I S A T I O N C H 4

W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K

The Development of the

Blues Name Form

One of the many things which influenced Blues was the black peoples religion. Their church services were lively, and many different instruments were often played. Their worship was so enthusiastic that there was almost a dance-like atmosphere! But the white people thought that their churches were much more respectable, and as well as keeping the services much less noisy, the only instruments usually used were the piano or organ. But black peoples music fascinated whites, who began copying their styles of singing, and acting. Even today minstrel shows are still popular, and have changed very little since those times.

Another way in which black music spread was through medicine shows. These were put on by travelling medicine salesmen to attract likely customers, and were a good opportunity for black musicians to perform. Although these things helped blues to develop, there were many other influences too. Perhaps the most important of these was the terrible suffering of blacks under slavery,

and it was this that led them to sing about their feelings, and the problems they faces. The music was never written down by the early blues singers they would say it was felt, not read. Later on, the blues continued to develop and became important, even in the 1950s and 1960s. Blues is the bases of much of todays RocknRoll music, and the 12 Bar Blues is one of the commonest ways of constructing present-day popular music. Questions 1. What has been described as influencing the blues? 2. Why did the white people not like the black peoples church services? 3. What two instruments only did the white people use in their church services? 4. In what ways did black music spread? 5. What other influence helped the blues to develop? 6. What form of music did the blues help develop in the 1950s and 1960s?