List of blues genres
Encyclopedia
Blues
can be categorized into a number of genres. There are also genres of music that are not blues but which can be described as blues-like or bluesy. What may also be called blues is the actual chord structure of a piece, which goes through a standard chord progression, called the blues chord progression, containing the 3 basics chords: I, IV and V, which means the first, the fourth and the fifth degree.
Note that not all of the characteristics above are common to all the genres compared to blues, and not all are true of the blues itself.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
can be categorized into a number of genres. There are also genres of music that are not blues but which can be described as blues-like or bluesy. What may also be called blues is the actual chord structure of a piece, which goes through a standard chord progression, called the blues chord progression, containing the 3 basics chords: I, IV and V, which means the first, the fourth and the fifth degree.
Genres of blues
- Acid blues
- African bluesAfrican bluesMany scholars and ethnomusicologists point to Africa as the origins of the Blues which makes collaborations between Western and African musicians all the more interesting...
- Blues-rockBlues-rockBlues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
- Blues shouterBlues shouterA blues shouter is a blues singer, often male, capable of singing with a band. The singer must project, or "shout", to be heard over the drums and musical instruments of the band. Blues shouting was a major pathway by which jazz music edged over into rock and roll...
- Boogie-woogieBoogie-woogieBoogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
- British bluesBritish bluesBritish blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
- Canadian bluesCanadian bluesCanadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or...
- Chicago bluesChicago bluesThe Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
- Classic female bluesClassic female bluesClassic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female vocalists accompanied by pianists or small jazz ensembles, and were the...
- Contemporary R&BContemporary R&BContemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
- Country bluesCountry bluesCountry blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
- Delta bluesDelta bluesThe Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
- Detroit bluesDetroit bluesDetroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 1950s. Detroit blues originated when Delta blues performers migrated north from the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, Tennessee to work in Detroit's industrial plants in the 1920s...
- Electric bluesElectric bluesElectric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
- Gospel bluesGospel bluesGospel blues is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music, a combination of blues guitar and evangelistic lyrics...
- Hokum bluesHokumHokum is a particular song type of American blues music - a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos...
- Jazz blues
- Jump bluesJump bluesJump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
- Kansas City bluesKansas City BluesKansas City Blues may refer to::*Kansas City Blues , a 1902-1954 minor-league baseball team*Kansas City Blues , a Rugby Super League team founded in 1966*Kansas City Blues , a minor-league hockey team...
- Louisiana bluesLouisiana bluesLouisiana blues is a genre of blues music that developed in the period after World War II in the state of Louisiana. It is generally divided into two major sub-genres, with the jazz-influenced New Orleans blues based around the city and the slower tempo swamp blues incorporating influences from...
- Memphis bluesMemphis bluesThe Memphis blues is a style of blues music that was created in the 1920s and 1930s by Memphis-area musicians like Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie...
- Piano bluesPiano bluesPiano blues refers to a variety of blues styles, sharing only the characteristic that they use the piano as the primary musical instrument. Boogie woogie is the best known kind of piano blues, though barrelhouse, swing, R&B, rock and roll and jazz are strongly influenced by early pianists who...
- Piedmont bluesPiedmont bluesPiedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
- Punk bluesPunk bluesPunk blues denotes a fusion genre of punk rock and blues. Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protopunk and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s.Punk blues can be said to favor the common...
- Rhythm and bluesRhythm and bluesRhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
- Soul bluesSoul bluesSoul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music...
- St. Louis bluesSt. Louis Blues (music)"St. Louis Blues" is an American popular song composed by W. C. Handy in the blues style. It remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians' repertoire. It was also one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song. It has been performed by numerous musicians of all styles from Louis Armstrong...
- Swamp bluesSwamp bluesSwamp blues, sometimes the Excello sound, is a sub-genre of blues music and a variation of Louisiana blues that developed around Baton Rouge in the 1950s and which reached a peak of popularity in the 1960s. It generally has a slow tempo and incorporates influences from other genres of music,...
- Texas bluesTexas bluesTexas blues is a subgenre of blues. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles....
- West Coast bluesWest Coast bluesThe West Coast blues is a type of blues music characterized by jazz and jump blues influences, strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players relocated to California in the 1940s...
- Hill country bluesHill country bluesHill country blues is a regional offshoot of country blues style characterized by few chord changes, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on the "groove" or a steady, driving rhythm...
Blues-like genres
There are several genres that are typically urban in origin, simple in instrumentation and featuring plaintive, melancholy vocals that emphasize the singer's poor luck and unfortunate circumstances. Anthropologist Joaquim Reis de Brito described the phenomenon this way:Thus, if we take together the Fado of Lisbon, the Tango of Buenos-Aires and the Rembetika of Athens, we will note firstly that all of them emerged a little before or after the middle of the 19th century in poor districts of the big port cities of the nascent industry, attracting people from the country or from abroad, and who were confined to a marginal existence. And if we look for other parallels in the development of these urban popular cultures, we will find them again: first, their obscure and repressed beginnings, then their discovery and appropriation by elements of the higher social classes, later their acceptance and admission by the establishment (often after their success outside of the native land) before ending as a subject of tourist exploring the caves".
Note that not all of the characteristics above are common to all the genres compared to blues, and not all are true of the blues itself.
- BikutsiBikutsiBikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaounde. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa...
- Cameroonian musicMusic of CameroonThe best-known Music of the Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and... - BolelBolelBolel is a style of Ethiopian music that evolved out of the Azmari musical tradition in Addis Ababa and elements of modern urban culture. The word bolel is a corrupted form of the word meaning dust, in reference to the bad roads of the rural countryside.- References :* * Falceto, Francis. "Land of...
- Ethiopian musicMusic of EthiopiaThe music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of Ethiopia's ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. However, Ethiopian religious music also has an... - BombaBombaBomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of floor drums, cuá and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: the dancers move their bodies to every beat of the drum, making bomba a very...
- Puerto Rican musicMusic of Puerto RicoThe music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe... - BozlakBozlakBozlak is a form of Turkish folk song from Central Anatolia accompanied by the long-necked saz and ney or kaval. The main subjects of the melancholic songs are separation and love. The songs begin with a very high pitched vocal and end in a low vocal...
- Turkish musicMusic of TurkeyThe music of Turkey includes diverse elements ranging from Central Asian folk music and has many copies and references of Byzantine music, Greek music, Ottoman music, Persian music, Balkan music, as well as more modern European and American popular music influences... - CalypsoCalypso musicCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
- Trinidadian musicMusic of Trinidad and TobagoCalypso music and steelpan is what Trinidad and Tobago is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte... - CountryCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
- American musicMusic of the United StatesThe music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the... - CumbiaCumbiaCumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
- Colombian musicMusic of ColombiaThe music of Colombia is an expression of the Colombian culture, which contains diverse music genres, traditional and moderns according with the features of each geographic region; although it is frequent to find different musical styles in the same region... - DoinaDoinaThe Doina is a Romanian musical tune style, with Middle Eastern roots, that can be found in Romanian peasant music, as well as in Lăutărească and Klezmer music.-Origins and characteristics:...
- Romanian musicMusic of RomaniaRomania is a European country with a multicultural music environment which includes active ethnic music scenes. Romania also has thriving scenes in the fields of pop music, hip hop, heavy metal and rock and roll... - FadoFadoFado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
- Portuguese musicMusic of PortugalPortugal is internationally known in the music scene for its traditions of fado, but the country has seen a recent expansion in musical styles, with modern acts from rock to hip hop becoming popular... - FlamencoFlamencoFlamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
- Spanish musicMusic of SpainThe Music of Spain has a long history and has played an important part in the development of western music. It has had a particularly strong influence upon Latin American music. The music of Spain is often associated abroad with traditions like flamenco and the classical guitar but Spanish music... - KroncongKroncongKroncong is the name of a ukulele-type instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong , the band or combo or ensemble consist of a flute, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato style, string bass also in...
- Indonesian musicMusic of IndonesiaThe music of Indonesia demonstrates its cultural diversity, the local musical creativity, as well as subsequent foreign musical influences that shaped contemporary music scenes of Indonesia. Nearly thousands of Indonesian islands having its own cultural and artistic history and character. This... - Llanto - Panamanian musicMusic of PanamaPanama is a Central American country, inhabited mostly by mestizos . The music of Panama was influenced first by the indigenous populations of Kunas, Teribes, Nobe Bugle and others, and then by the black population who were brought over, first as slaves from Africa, and also Colombia between the...
- Luk thungLuk thungLuk Thung refers to the most popular form of a style of music found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung .Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempos tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato...
- Thai musicMusic of ThailandThe music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome... - MaloyaMaloyaMaloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, traditionally with a purely percussion accompaniment. It has origins in the music of slaves on the island, as has the other folk music of Réunion, sega. It is sometimes compared to the American music, the...
- Réunionese musicMusic of RéunionRéunion is located east of Madagascar and is a province of France. Réunion is home to maloya and sega music, the latter along with neighbor Mauritius.-Maloya:... - MariachiMariachiMariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
- Mexican musicMusic of MexicoThe music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably indigenous Mexican and European, since the Late Middle Ages... - MerengueMerengue musicMerengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
- Dominican musicMusic of the Dominican RepublicThe music of the Dominican Republic is known primarily for merengue, though bachata, salsa and other forms are also popular. Dominican music has always been closely intertwined with that of its neighbor, Haiti .-Merengue:...
- MornaMornaThe morna is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde.Lyrics are usually in Cape Verdean Creole, and instrumentation often includes cavaquinho, clarinet, accordion, violin, piano and guitar...
- Cape Verdean musicMusic of Cape VerdeCape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. The islands also boast funaná, coladeira, batuque and zouk music.-History:... - PasilloPasilloPasillo is a South American genre of music extremely popular in the territories that composed 19th century Gran Colombia: Colombia; Ecuador, where it is considered the national musical style; and to a lesser extent in the mountainous regions of Venezuela and Panamá...
- Ecuadorian musicMusic of EcuadorThe music of Ecuador has a long history. Pasillo is a genre of indigenous Latin music. It is extremely popular in Ecuador, where it is the "national genre of music." Pasillo as a genre is also present in the mountainous regions of Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, to a lesser extent.Today, it has... - Rembetika - Greek musicMusic of GreeceThe music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds...
- RaiRaïRaï is a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s....
- Algerian musicMusic of AlgeriaAlgerian music is virtually synonymous with raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on... - ReggaeReggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
- Jamaican musicMusic of JamaicaThe music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Jamaica's music culture is a fusion of elements from the United States , Africa, and neighboring Caribbean islands such as... - RumbaCuban RumbaIn Cuban music, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Africans brought to Cuba as slaves as well as Spanish colonizers...
- Cuban musicMusic of CubaThe Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world... - SambaSambaSamba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
- Brazilian musicMusic of BrazilThe music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, zouk-lambada, lambada, choro, bossa nova, frevo, maracatu, MPB, sertanejo,... - SchrammelmusikSchrammelmusikSchrammelmusik is a style of Viennese folk music originating in the late nineteenth century and still performed in present-day Austria. The style is named for the prolific folk composers Johann and Josef Schrammel.- The Schrammel brothers :...
- Austrian musicMusic of AustriaVienna has been an important center of musical innovation. 18th and 19th century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburgs, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Strauss II, among others,... - SevdalinkaSevdalinkaSevdalinka is a traditional genre of folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina.Sevdalinka is popular across the ex-Yugoslavia region, especially in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The actual composers of many sevdalinkas are unknown....
- Bosnian musicMusic of Bosnia and HerzegovinaLike the surrounding Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina has had a turbulent past marked by frequent foreign invasions and occupation. As a result, Bosnian music is now a mixture of the national Slavic folklore with some Turkish influences along with influences from the western part of the... - Sha'abi - Egyptian musicMusic of EgyptThe music of Egypt has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians credited one of their Gods Thoth with the invention of music, which Osiris in turn used as part of his effort to civilize the world...
- Sawt - KuwaitMusic of KuwaitThe traditional music of Kuwait were well-recorded until the Persian Gulf War, when Iraq invaded the country and destroyed the archive. Nevertheless, Kuwait has retained a vital music industry, both long before the war and after...
i and BahrainMusic of BahrainThe music of Bahrain is part of the pan-Gulf khaleeji folk traditions. It is also known for sawt music, a bluesy genre influenced by African, Indian and Persian music...
i music - TambúTambuTambu is a drum, music genre and dance form, found on Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, and is a major part of the Dutch Antillean music. On Bonaire, it is also known as bari...
- Curaçao music - TangoTango musicTango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
- Argentinian musicArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... - Zilin - Beninese musicMusic of BeninBenin has played an important role in the African music scene, producing one of the biggest stars to come out of the continent in Angélique Kidjo. Post-independence, the country was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene, where native folk music combined with Ghanaian highlife, French...
- ZydecoZydecoZydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
- Cajun music