Blues, Blues, Blues!

This is one of my personal favourites. Born (as far as we know) in the Mississippi Delta and sung by the descendants of slaves; sired by gospel and the troubles and fears of a black society.

Sweet, swingin’, seductive blues.

There have been many attempts to define what blues is; made up of often a very rigid chordal pattern, with improvisation and the use of “blues notes”. However none of these capture the essence of blues for me.

In my opinion the closest approximation to a definition of blues includes the above elements, yes, but also one crucial element. The feeling. Blues is about more than a set chord progression or a particular note in a scale. Blues is releasing your sadness, fears and even anger or frustration, through a music that allows you to make it your own.

No blues song will ever be sung the same way twice. Yes, the pattern of chords may be rigid and the arrangement may be simple, but it’s not about that; it’s about the passion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

The Birth of Cool

Hip-hop. What comes to your mind when you hear those words?

Is it baggy jeans? Hats? Street-dancers? “Cool” people?

I’ll bet anything it isn’t the Reformation…

Obviously at first glance hip-hop has no connection whatsoever to the slow chanting music of the early Protestant Church, however the ancestry is direct and traceable.

Plainchant was the dominant style of church music in the 16th century for Protestants. The music was slow, ethereal and could be construed as “boring”. When Scottish Protestants fled to Switzerland, they picked up these traditions and brought them back with them to the British Isles. This music then crossed the Atlantic during the plantation of America.

In America at this time, black people were not permitted to sit with the rest of the congregation in church, residing instead in the upper balcony. Coming from an African background (where the musical tradition is very strong), I’d guess they were fairly bored in church a lot of the time.

So when African-Americans began setting up their own churches they also created a totally new style of church music. Blending elements of African music (with interesting rhythms and much vocal harmony) and the Protestant plainchant (a focus on words and bare arrangement), the first of the great legendary tradition of “black music” was born.

(Below; an all African gospel choir in traditional dress)



Gospel was the swinging, singing music of black churches at the time, and I bet the whites were not just a little bit jealous of the new, fun, lively style of worship. Early gospel music was comprised largely of vocals, owing to the lack of many instruments available to these black churches. This was compensated for by rich, vibrant choral arrangements and, later on, with shiny robes. Also found in early gospel music were many of the key defining elements of the other styles of black music; improvisation, ornamentation and solos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoJz2SANTyo

In my opinion black music is still by far the coolest sector of the musical world- you can’t beat a bit of blues, jazz, soul or even gospel. So, although I’d reckon they wouldn’t be very happy about it, early Protestant reformers began the journey towards hip-hop, and they truly did give birth to the origin of cool.

Introductions

Greetings world. My name is Dougie and in case there is any confusion that is Dougie pronounced "dug-eee"... Ridiculous that this needs to be clarified I know but there are some...

I am a lover of music. Tribal, folk, baroque, classical, romantic, gospel, blues, jazz, hip-hop, funk, reggae, rock and roll, heavy metal, thrash, pop, techno, .... Whatever it is, there will be some version of it that gets me going.

Oh and for you music-freaks out there; yes I did put the list more or less in chronological order.

So, what follows will be a blog of musical review and discussion, with some interesting facts thrown in here and there. Please feel free to post suggestions for things to review and comment on anything I write. (Also if you find any spelling or grammatical errors in what I write please do alert me and take enjoyment from my embarrassment and shame by drawing attention to it in the comments for all to see.)

I will begin with an upcoming history of hip-hop and its oh-so-surprising origins!

PS: Please note that that is "its" without an apostrophe ;). Enjoy!