Views on Blues

There seems to be a lot of "discussion" on what sort of music constitutes the blues.  With all of the various opinions, I 'd like to share my own.  Most forms of music have a feel that stimulates an emotional reaction from a given listener.  Musical preference, in my opinion then, is the form of music that gives you the most listening enjoyment.  Some folks prefer classical, some prefer rock, some prefer country, some prefer jazz, some prefer blues.   Emotions are the result of stimulation of various "levels" of the human consciousness.  At the lowest level are the primitive feelings.  At the highest level are the intellectual thoughts.  In other words, somewhere between your soul and your mind, you relate at a certain level.  Often, people who enjoy classical music feel that those who don't are not "cultured" (a measure of social intelligence) enough to understand or relate to classical.  Often, people who enjoy the blues, feel that those who don't, have never experienced the "hard times" (a measure of emotional experience) in their life so they do not understand or relate to the blues.   Then there are those who think that if it didn't come from the Delta and it is not something you do without electricity, then it ain't the blues.  And those who think that white folks don't get it.  And those who think it can never be cultivated outside of America and usually can't happen outside of southern United States.  Some say it is a "simple" music form because it often contains only three chords (tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant for you intellectual types) and repeats itself every twelve bars.  Some blues even stays in the same tone (never leaves the tonic) for the entire song. 

The blues IS about expression .................................. 

The blues IS interpreted in many ways, both electric and acoustic.  There is the Delta sound, and the Chicago sound, and the Texas sound, and the Tulsa sound, and the .......................................  

I do think that it has a hell of a lot more to do with "feel" than it does with technical ability ....................

 

So..... how do you define the blues?? I don't have a clue!  But .... I know it when I hear it!

I especially like it when it has a good groove, and a sufficient amount of FAT.