How have the blues helped shape the sound of 20th century popular music?
One way is structure. The Blues is based on a three-chord pattern: I-IV-V (1-4-5), and usually through a progression of eight or twelve measures/bars. This framework can be heard in the popular music throughout the 20th Century. The Blues has also influenced popular music in form, usually taking the form AAB and call-and-response. Many cultures from around the world use call-and-response, as well as in West Africa. In the United States, it was first heard in church music and field hollers, which also had an influence on the Blues. A preacher or a lead field hand would call out a verse, and then the congregation or laborers would repeat the verse back. A strict interpretation would be: I, A, Call I, A, Repeat/Response IV, A, Call IV, A, Repeat/Response V, B, Response Another way is the the use of “blue” notes. Typically, they are described as flatted thirds, fifths, and sevenths (from the major scale), but they really are lowered by semitone. Semitones are not found in Western music, bu
