Is Blues the Mother of All Modern Music?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
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We explore where the blues came from and how it went on to influence many modern genres of music. From Delta Blues pioneers like Robert Johnson and Son House to Chicago Blues icons like Muddy Waters and B.B. King.
We breakdown how this genre can be heard in everything from heavy metal to country music. Later Nahre and LA take the elements of the blues to create their own unique track.
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LA and Nhare, Thank you both so much! ❤❤❤
Thanks for watching April! We appreciate you
@@SoundFieldPBS Can't wait to see the next one, you guys are awesome!
@@aprilrhoden116 The next one is all about black gospel music!
@@SoundFieldPBS That's going to be so good, especially after this blues video and the way gospel and blues balance each other. WooHoo! Can't wait to see it, and hear what you two come up with.
@@aprilrhoden116 I just want everyone to know that this episode is thanks to you and the comment suggestion you left us on our goth episode. There would be no Sound Field blues without April Rhoden!
The potato analogy is somehow incredibly clear
boil em mash em stick em in a stew
....reminds me of that Hobbit/LotR quote 😂😂🍟
@@darthbee18 Sam is the original blues man :D
(or was it Merry or Pippin?)
@@stefan1024 It was Samwise Gamgee!
And who better to understand the blues? Walks all the way to Mordor with Frodo, comes back to the Scouring of the Shire, then Frodo done left him and sailed off to Valinor. *insert turnaround*
To paraphrase blues songwriter, Willie Dixon: the blues is the roots and the other musics is the fruits. In keeping the roots alive you yield richer fruits.
I had to screenshot this comment, so i can never forget. Will thank you in my grammy speech
@@toneo8385 hahhaha
He knew what he was talking about! So many artists covered him. Thanks for the quote.
lil pump enters the chat
just like the root of a tree, the popular music root doesnt just have one starting point. but blues is the biggest and the most important part
One influence of the blues that I feel like isn't covered a lot is how it affected vocal melodies. The blues scale isn't the most ubiquitous thing, but the syncopation that blues singers used in their melodies has continued through basically ever genre of music since, and I think it's made music a lot better.
Very much so, this is most evident in Louis Armstrong's lasting influence on vocals.
Yes, agreed! Thanks to African Americans, we ditched the stilted delivery of opera (ie white) singing!
Also, vocals are much raspier than they have been in styles like opera
@David Harrell Oh sure, and I wasn't trying to deny that, but I don't think they're as widespread as the rhythmic stuff.
@@udkline No, you didn't. They did. Back in the 20th century.
"True Blues, the lyrics are absolutely true. Its singing about life experience. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But they didn't lie." - Jimmy "Duck" Holmes
lots of blues artists, like other types of musicians, were alcoholics. alcoholics lie.
Bleeding Gums Murphy tells us that playing "The Blues isn't about making yourself feel better. It's about making other people feel worse"
Bender Bending Rodriguez conversely remarked "The Blues! The sweet sound of other people's suffering - that oughta cheer me up"
Somehow, both of these statements are correct.
A young Bob Dylan once said that playing the blues was intended as a way to get out of your troubles, which could be another viewpoint.
That song doesn't normally last 3 hours;
but we got into a serous thing.
Then I forgot how it ended.
"Happy music makes me miserable." -Steven Wilson
Richard Keel Kind of makes me reflect on how the early output of Swans, at the time one of the ugliest, loudest, most aggressively miserable bands on Earth, was apparently quite strongly inspired by Howlin' Wolf. One of their recent songs, "Just a Little Boy", is actually dedicated to him, although their particular brand of crushing misery has transformed over the years.
@@ConvincingPeople "ugliest, loudest, most aggressively miserable bands on Earth"
Have you even heard Portal?
“We don’t have to do classic blues.” LA nails the development of modern music in one sentence.
One of the things I love about music more and more is how interconnected all the genres are. As much as purists like to keep their preferred genres in individual silos, someone’s going to come along and mutate it into something new and amazing that we’ve never heard before.
Great video, LA and Nahre, as always.
Beck has done this for nearly 30 years, with very different approaches to every album.
@@CorbCorbin So has Beth Hart. Listening to one of her albums or concerts is like flipping the dial on the radio.
Perfect comment
Absolutely. This is, for example, what Paco de Lucia did with the flamenco (a music style characterized by the puritanism of its public), and it was amazing.
🎯 right my boss plays blues all day long and it doesn't sound like classic blues but you know it's blues
It's funny how I never listened to the blues until I started playing the guitar. Now I only listen to the blues 😂
Jeevaneasan Pillay Same😂
Man I found that when I started playing my interest in music just opened waaaay up....Just to see what was possible on the instrument.
Same🤣
Lmao, I started learning to play guitar 1 1/2 months ago and here I am😂😂
same.
Jazz and Blues are the fathers of metal and rock. Black Sabbath, the fathers of modern metal, started as a blues outfit. And you can't listen to early Zeppelin without catching bluesy grooves. Even Pantera, with groove metal. Its everywhere.
3 years later this comment still stands true
Country and Latin (even classical) are also strongly represented in rock punk and metal, yet the Blues structures more or less prevalent throughout.
@@voxxiigen7797yes, because you cannot play rock and roll music without playing inside the blues pentatonic scale, if you go out of that pentatonic you'll be playing another type of music it wouldn't be rock and roll
@@bobbyschannel349 sure, if by rock and roll you mean “music that sounds like blues but isn’t blues” but I say that’s an awfully persnickety definition for a very elastic word.
The Fall
The Pentangle
Lizzy Mercier Descloux
Devo
@@voxxiigen7797 yeah, you play watching world without playing inside the blues pentatonic scale it it rock and roll, when Motorhead and Iron Maiden did something different with that music, when they took the blues and the filling out of rock and roll music, it became something different although, when they play the solo sections in all of the old rock and roll songs, the guitar licks if you will... That 90% blues. And you cannot play like that, without playing Blues Style.. I'm sorry sir, but African-American fingerprints are all over that music whether you like it or not!
Musical evolution is the endlessly complex story of culture interacting with itself. I like that they capture the key points of a style without glossing or oversimplifying the accompanying events and trends.
I can’t get over how good the editing is
Yea
@* Bro. I appreciate whoever you are irl. This comment ain’t it 🤝
@@Bandstand your mother
Chicago Blues will always be, for me, one of the best periods in the evolution of music. Take that raw blues and plug it in for that sweet electric guitar sound, wow, just amazing. Electric blues.
Minnesota Funk just as much
All came from the south. Lightnin hopkins beats all the yankee players
Like they say “The blues is the roots and everything else is the fruits”
Interesting video
Mike R yeah because former slaves were bumping some Franz Schubert in the field
@@shitocodone8940 haha he deleted that. I love classical too but the blues is far more impactful on modern music, by FAR, followed by jazz and ragtime
@@lucasphillips2177 i agree, i don’t remember why i said that but probably was just a joke.
@@lucasphillips2177 yup ice spice is a result of the blues 😂 shes black too
"The blues scale is even really common in Heavy Metal"
*plays hard rock song*
YEAH
An interesting fact a lot of people, even many metalheads, don't realize is that back 1970s groups like AC/DC were referred to as heavy metal. At the time, the usage of the phrase didn't necessarily mean a genre, but rather was just labeling a certain kind of music as sounding extra heavy (i.e. loud/abrasive). It was only later, in the 1980s and beyond, that heavy metal was retroactively changed to mean only those groups that were clearly the influence of metal to come (ex. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, etc.). I don't know whether Sound Field was aware of this when they chose AC/DC as an example though.
@@Sam-cv6un I doubt that there is a single metalhead who doesn't know that.
Also; I'm pretty sure this video wasn't made in the 70s and so should be using today's language.
Yes but his statement is still accurate
Well in early metql it is. Black sabbath metqllica etc. But since nwobhm bands like iron maiden megadeth ozzy are more like classical music. Look at arch enemy and jinger both are fairly modren metal and they are based on classical music .
Nahre seems to have internalized much more that blues feeling (as can be sawed in her improvisation) in this video than in her first one in her channel. It was really nice to see she kept interested.
I think you missed one hugely important feature of the blues: the shuffle.
You can't play the blues straight; that's rock and roll
Bends are crazy important too in early blues
From someone who has made playing the blues his lifetime profession, I must say that I am very proud of you guys for getting it right. This is a true representation of the real blues! Thank you so much.
Bends, hammer-ons/pull-offs and slides are incredibly important to traditional Blues music.
I find when I listen to B.B King that his guitar is pretty much impersonating a human voice. That's what gives it so much soul and connects with us on a deep level.
Whether or not it was, blues still is the genre that got me into music
So much fun to play, of the 1000 tutorials we have done on my channel I would say 100 of them are blues on the Ukulele hahaha.
💯 before I knew what to do I knew I loved music more than most because of the Blues, it's almost demands you to do something, so infectious
Any kind of modern music that has elements of rock/soul/funk is a child of the blues.
Your track reminded me of the krautrock era, when German musicians transitioned from copying blues-rooted prog and psych rock sounds to more spacey synth music. The synth you chose had even that gentle, naive sound of old electronic gear. Very nice.
yeah it sounds like late Can or Kraftwerk.
We NEED more Blues in modern music.
Check out Fantastic Negrito, he's a great example of a more modern blues.
@@cacaneiro Would also like to extend a thank you for this recommendation. I know what'll be on my playlist this week!
It's already there, everything comes from the Blues
I hear you, Jon. Even the 'golden age' of hip-hop was indirectly influenced by the blues (at least in terms of the music that was sampled by those artists). Unfortunately, as hip-hop and pop music have become increasingly minimalist, the influence of the blues has waned in popular culture. But fear not! There are some amazing blues-influenced artists out there. As @7 Ruby said below, Fantastic Negrito is amazing. I'd also encourage you to check out these contemporary (but blues-influenced) rock bands: Royal Blood, The Heavy, Rival Sons, Hannah Wicklund, Greta Van Fleet, Cage The Elephant, Crobot and The Sheepdogs. I'm going to assume that you're already a fan of better known acts like Black Keys. And two of my favorite recent discoveries are female. Go check out Hannah Wicklund "Bomb Through the Breeze" and Larkin Poe "Holy Ghost Fire", those songs are total blues rock fire and they are made by amazingly talented young ladies!
Thanks for posting. This 81 year old listener enjoyed listening to the material. So interesting!! Sounds so good!!
This reminds me of the _Phineas and Ferb_ episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together". One of the songs they played was an exploration of how blues music inspired rock and roll.
When Electronic Music and the blues come together, it sounds like all my old garage band projects...
I never felt more satisfied than listening to the Blues, it really is potatoes because it can become anything afterwards, Rap, Rock, Pop, Soul, Funk, etc... everything has a little bit of the Blues in it plus it plays with the beat, in-between, around or as the lead and always tells a story with words or no words, I'm so glad my grandparents was into the Blues enough to let us hear it in it's rawest form, it's something you can't unhear if you heard enough of it
Your blues song sounds more jazzy to me, I like it though. Interestingly enough, I had this conversation about the root of jazz, blues, hip hop and as I believe you said (I'm going to watch again) I believe they all, even blues, stem from the knee slapping/clapping call and response of gospel.
Our next episode coming Nov 21st is all about black gospel music. Mark your calendar
@@SoundFieldPBS thanks I sure will! I'm having a full on debate about it on fb now! It's the chicken or the egg debate
clapping is awesome... ramsey lewis version of "wade in the water" took that gospel element to the front!
@TruMusic89 interesting input, I'll add it to the debate (which is still happening)😁
Sounds like Herbie Hancock with emphasis on the "herb"
I love this program, PBS never fails to deliver. I also really enjoy Sol's content and all of her collaborations. She embodies the essence of an NYC musician, regardless of what she plays on the piano. That said, I think that she echoes the same misconceptions that a lot of amateur musicians have about the blues (myself included). The blues isn't a chord form, or a means to play a particular scale. The blues was a vocal form before everything else. The vocal structure of a blues is what truly makes it a blues. And the way the blues is sung. In Jazz, we often add chord substitutions to add more movement and complexity. That said, Charlie Parker knew how to play down and dirty blues. John Coltrane knew how to play down and dirty blues. Miles, and especially Louis Armstrong. They knew it because most of them grew up playing in Rhythm and Blues bands and Blues Bands (look at Charlie Parker with Jay McShann). I'm glad that Buckner clarified the importance of the vocal in blues. There's too many people bending strings and playing blues scales and calling it the blues. Perspective, Stevie Ray Vaughn knew how to play a blues--but many imitators just steal his licks and think there the next Blues Boy. Same thing with Jazz standards, we gotta go back to the lyric, to the vocal, to really understand how to play the music. That's my pedantic soapbox moment for the day. Hopefully it's not too inflammatory--it actually wasn't meant to be, I still love Sol's laying and her channel!
You took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks for sharing!
Common in heavy metal music
*Proceeds to play AC/DC
I have no idea how I ended up here, but I'm glad I did. Thank you.
You can download and listen to our featured original track on our Soundcloud soundcloud.com/soundfieldpbs/a-trip-to-the-blues
This is such an incredible nuanced video essay! You guys put so much work into your videos. I hope to see more in the future. Great work guys :)
Make sure you subscribe! Thanks for watching
Huh, I always thought of Blues as a very earthy sound -you know- embracing a lot of very friction-heavy textures, like the vocals, which seem dented by the slow, rigorous onslaught of life, the slide which is made of a broken or shattered object and waltzes into and away from the intended frequency, the blue notes that only seem more blue by the fact that the structure and harmony of the Blues is so repetitious like life itself, all in all representing the struggles of life and the struggle of struggling through those struggles without struggling, if y'all catch my drift.
Speaking of drift:
In contrast, yours seemed very airy, like a volcanic glass cloud that melancholically watches what a thunderstorm it is causing by all those atomic pieces of glass colliding and lighting up otherwise peaceful forest scapes. Far removed emotionally, which is why I feel it more like jazz, but still lamenting and still bluesy, thank you, this was a very enlightening video for me :D
(btw sry if my English is weird. I'm not a native speaker, and just trying to convey what I feel)
Your song....
I'm clearly on a moon base seeing life go by on earth from a telescope wondering "why do they persist?"
Like, 22nd century blues? XD
Your comment is now making our song remind me of the album that Air did for Le Voyage dans la Lune. th-cam.com/video/Crgf42x9z5U/w-d-xo.html
It made me feel, "Aww... I'm out of peanut butter and jelly!"
@@SoundFieldPBS You could have said Yer Blues from the Beatles White Album ; and your song sounds like Herbie Hancock's Watermelon man session really really nice.
Thanks for such a great video, from Japan! 🇯🇵
I shared this video with my Japanese friend, who is around 70 years old and loves blues. Although he doesn’t get any English, but this video makes enough good sense to him visually. When I translated the potato analogy, he was also profoundly amazed. It’s such a meaningful video, even for non-English speakers!
I thank TH-cam for recommending this channel, I can’t stop watching now😭
Sunshine Of Your Love has to be the best psychedelic blues song of all time
Some say that "blues" isn't just the sadness and melancholy, but rather the blending of all human emotions at once - the way all the colors in the visible light spectrum blends into white light, all human emotions blend into this one bluesy color...
This is deep. I like it
I love that idea.
Agreed
Black emotions 😂 remember, its not for all races because of the gate keepers.
You folks took the blues and made one of the best jazz fusion songs I've ever heard
Blues + upper extensions + modern beats = jazz fusion! Good stuff...thanks, y'all.
I just subscribed to this channel and I'm learning a lot more about music than I thought I would. I love how you guys talk about it with passion and it makes me happy to know that I'm not alone in that. ❤️
We want to come at music with positivity! Thanks for learning with us.
@@SoundFieldPBS I can feel that when you guys speak about it and I've learned a lot more about how to draw out tension and or suspension during the horror aspect of music while watching your video on that genre of music and I'm happy to be a part of your channel as a new fan!
We love new fans and we love Cole Sprouse! So cool to hear the horror episode stuck out to you, please let us know if you enjoy any of our other episodes.
@@SoundFieldPBS Coolio and he was a part of my childhood, can't forget about that and of course, I will check out more episodes from you both. you inspire me to expand my knowledge on music and how it all comes together!
This girl is amazing!!!!
Love this. Thank you so much for putting this together. It endorses so many things that I try to teach in my classes of music. Love your manner and presentation. Thanks again
I'm learning so much from these types of programs on different aspects of music. A blues singer once said no matter race religion man or woman even little babies everybody's got the blues
Thanks to all involved in the making of this video
I absolutely love the song you two wrote for this one.
You can listen to it on our soundcloud soundcloud.com/soundfieldpbs/a-trip-to-the-blues
What a good video. I just learned more about the blues than anything I knew before. Thanks.
This video was the start of it all for me. Blues was the key to opening up my appreciation for all forms of music. Can’t believe I’ve come so far
This series is so important. Thank you for having a show about music in a way that non-musicians can understand.
I loved the song you guys made, but I think that it can be hard to really appreciate it without hearing the full song.
Lastly, I am on a journey to discover for my self the difference between blues and jazz. I have been associating all sorts of blues songs with the jazz label that are in fact just blues. So this episode was timely for me. I did not get my question answered, but it was fun none the less.
Thank you for watching! You can listen to the full song here soundcloud.com/soundfieldpbs/a-trip-to-the-blues
Thank you. I just saw film Elvis, and wanted to understand how African American blues was started and its influence on popular music. I absolutely love your video. Sparks my yearning to know more
And every real blues man has one or more songs about TRAINS!
Yes, "the rhythm that the drivers made" (Johnny B. Goode) has definitely been an influence on blues and rock.
Yup. “Train Kept a’rollin” Led Zeppelin
Hear my train a comin'
Jimi Hendrix
Love In Vain by Robert Johnson (covered by the Stones).
A little thing you missed and that I find very important in the blues is the "turnaround" at the end of the 12 bars. The last measure of the 12-bar blues is very important, because it is both the place where you go back to the beginning and fall on you feet again, and also the place where the players/singers go crazy. The 12 bar is something like "start easy...crescendo...bit more...more...go crazy, aaaaand...back to easy".
Blues is distinctly a genre but is also the instigator of an era that changed music and pop culture globally. The age of blues.
Normally, if any headline ends in a question-mark, the rule is you can safely answer it with a "no" - this time is different! Thank you for the great overview of the history and influence of Blues, Nahre and LA... that was awesome! :)
In addition to the factors you mentioned in the "what makes blues sound like blues" segment (Blues-Pentatonic, Dominant 7 chords on I IV and V, 12-bar structure), I think there are a few more "analytical" points of interest:
* Rhythmically, the predominant shuffle-feel is notable - and to expand on what LA mentioned, microtiming is pretty important in blues - usually one plays a little behind the beat, interspersed with rushed passages in the melody to convey urgency and intense emotionality. And related to that:
* Melody in blues, aside from using the minor or major blues pentatonic scale, often places extreme emphasis not just on the vibrato-type wailing that you included, but even more centrally on bending notes - both in vocals and guitar, but ultimately both are imitating aspects of the wailing and crying of a human voice, with its rising pitch on single "notes", prolonged uneven pauses and interspersed rushed passages. This glissando and note-bending happens both over microtonal (quarter-note bends) and wider intervals, and is often emphasized even more by increasing depth and or frequency of vibrato on guitar or tremolo and/or vibrato in vocals.
* Additionally, Blues was the first kind of music in the western world where both in vocals and a bit later in guitar playing, harmonic distortion ("overdrive") became central to the genre's preferred timbres.
Those last two are also why I must say I personally felt more R&B / chill-out-jazz than blues in your piece - without note-bendings, glissandi (and potentially some overdrive) in the melody, it just doesn't evoke too much of that blues-feeling for me... that might just be me though. As always - you did an amazing job with your video! :)
Nope, not just you. I just couldn't have phrased it that way. Also, that rule is called Betteridge's law of headlines. :)
I just found this channel. Easiest subscription ever.
YES SIR, PREACH! EVERYTHING COME FROM THE BLUES!
The track you did sounds like it would be a perfect fit for some of the weirder point-n-click adventure games out there - like Dropsy!
man the blues song you guys made is a jam!!
Excellent !! The whole program! Thank you both cool people!
I use these videos all the time in my music classroom. Thank you for uploading the content!
That's great! Did you know there are study guides for our episodes at PBS Learning Media? www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/sound-field/
Early Black Gospel to me was really ''The Mother of all Modern Music''....Then the Blues, Jazz, Swing, Bebop...then electric Blues...then early Black Rock and Roll (Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley) then Rhythm & Blues, Soul (Motown)...then early Funk or Funky Soul (James Brown 1964-'1969) new Black rock and Blues (Jimi Hendrix) Then new new Funk (Again, James Brown 1970-'77)..with Sly Stone (1968-'73). Stevie Wonder came with his own sound (70's and 80's was his heyday).....Next P-Funk (1970-1987) (and all the Funk and Soul bands of the 70's) Disco, early Hip Hop (Suger Hill Gang, Soul Sonic Force and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)..then the new Black POP SOUND (The Majors) Prince, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner, Cameo and of course Michael Jackson (and Janet Jackson). Then the new version of Disco music in the 80's called Garage House Music created by Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan (New York & Chicago). Then the ''Golden Age'' of Hip Hop....1986-1994 then New Jack Swing, Neo Soul...then last Age of Hip Hop transitioning into Rap-Trap-Then-Crap (my opinion!!) from 1998--2006. Now Black music (in my opinion) has lost it's SOUL!! The new music today feels blatantly ''Evil''......and I know basically all music if we're not praising The Lord is not to be listened too...(but I listen to everything I've listed) but something just feels different with today's Black Music. I'm not feeling it. So I'll just stick to the old classics...music with Soul!
I love that potatoes analogy :D
I didn't grow up around gospel or soul, so when I moved to Mississippi the very first thing in terms of the musical culture that blew my mind, was the church music. People sang snatches of hymns on the school bus, and of course the choir room was frequently filled with singing that drew from gospel traditions, something I'd never heard really. I got to college and everything blew up into this huge storm of learning and encountering sounds that were utterly new for me. In a lot of ways, blues challenged me as a musician just as much - maybe more! - than the "difficult" 20th Century composers.
For instance I learned, unequivocally, that I am very white, I have no rhythm, haha! Not that my music friends cared; blues is rooted not only in suffering but in this sense of community that can transcend every boundary of race and language and time, if you want it to. I was fortunate, surrounded by people who were more than happy to lead me to more experiences and more ways of seeing and hearing. Not always to explanations. I find I'm getting a LOT more of that now, learning as I follow this channel and see where you take us.
As for the progression itself, which is the thing that is easiest to put my finger on...once I learned it, I heard it *everywhere*, and we had a solid week of music theory class that was basically just a multiple part jam session...because someone or other would come in and start playing just a plain twelve bar blues, and the entire class would be singing or clapping, improvising around it, before the professor even got there. And twice he didn't stop us for ten minutes :P That twelve bar blues is just incredibly easy to play with and elaborate on; it gives enough structure to let the music "go somewhere" but it doesn't insist on any particular direction. You can get crazy with it, very quickly, and sometimes folks do. I think that's also why so much of the blues music from the beginning is still just as vital, just as well known in its way, as anything recent: it never went out of style, never really "died" as a sound.
It is about suffering, about life, as you said; but blues has a unique way of simultaneously being very specific AND universal, about that suffering. I have zero idea what "dust my broom" really means as a phrase (I'm assuming it's slang), and I'd be hard pressed to easily understand the lyrics for many, many blues songs: and yet, that doesn't matter. Blues doesn't need words to tell you about those feelings. We KNOW those feelings. It's as if it's in our bones and the song just teases those resonances out of us. We've all felt exhausted. We all know grief, and jealousy, and exasperation. The highs and the lows of love and of life. The unfairness of basically everything! Blues will make you sing and cry and laugh all at the same time, without you having to open your mouth.
That's why it's the best :D and I think it's also why it's so very American. As horrible as our past has been, and as awful as things continue to be right now with so many unspeakable events that weigh heavy on the hearts of anybody sane... But, the blues wouldn't be here without it. I believe Eddie Izzard made the observation (heavily paraphrasing him) that sad people make fantastic music; and people with nothing to complain about make, well, rather boring music. I feel like that's somewhat valid here. It by NO MEANS excuses or justifies any of the godawful things that have been inflicted on marginalized groups by the people with the power. But if America is a cultural melting pot - in the case of the blues at least, injustice has been the fire. (Which we didn't start. Sorry! I couldn't help it.)
You guys are awesome - quickly becoming one of my favourite TH-cam channels ✌️
Wow! As always, this is such a magnificent work that feeds curiosity like no other! I really appreciate the fact that you have continuously provided such high quality video essays without making any compromises from the day one! Never been disappointed by any of your mind-expanding and detail-oriented works! Thanks so much for this! Final take was so pleasant to listen - instrumentation choice was unique and sweet sounding!- and Nahre's playing was so colorful and during chord progression demonstration it reminded me of the timeless classic "Ahmad's Blues" by Ahmad Jamal and at one point while listening to her dynamic passages, it gave a room for some new possibilities and my imagination added some additional trills to it like in "Ahmad's Blues". In fact, what I love about Blues is exactly the same that even though it sometimes consists of endlessly repeating familiar forms and even sometimes overly used cliches, it still contributes to one's imagination with new possibilities by providing access to the home, to certain conventions/forms all the time whenever you feel a bit homesick when searching for new things! Kudos to your enthusiasm and effort as always and please listen to "Ahmad's Blues" one more time for me as well! This piece created a huge influence on Miles Davis that he even used it in his classic "Workin'" album and Jamal was one of his few main influences that even though he was a harsh critic sometimes, in his autobiography, he openly commented on Jamal's music that "He knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement, and the way he phrased notes and chords and passages." Thank you to all for everything you've done so far! 😊👏🚀💥🎶🎉🤯❤️
RE keyboard riffing: She's got (Sol / Seoul / soul).
I believe y’all may have created a new genre, ‘New Age Blues (sprinkled with hints of Nintendo)’ you can copyright it I don’t mind 😂.
Nintendo music jazz fusion
If Nintendocore could be a genre, this blueswave could be too.
Tect blues
Honestly it kinda just sounds like Yellow Magic Orchestra who were a huge influence on early video game music.
The Chicago blues aka the windy city blues is probably where rock & roll comes from and eventually hard rock. And eventually all other forms of rock including country rock.
I love the blues period. gives me goosbumps.
There's something about the blues gets under my skin more than any other type of music. Must have something to do with the down-to-earth humanity of it.
Blues itself had its own influences, such as folk music. There is no start and end point for modern music.
Folk music is a pretty vague term, what kind of folk music do you mean?
@@malaquiasalfaro81 Probably American folk music
@@misterbearmore4633 I can’t believe I missed that lol, dumb question I guess. As for blues though, I feel like it has a strong claim to being it’s recognizably own thing.
@@malaquiasalfaro81 along with work songs, field hollers, and spirituals of the Southern Baptist church, the blues was influenced by the folk ballad style brought over by the English and the Scots
@@michaelbillypec I really appreciate your comment. When trying to write music, I felt like something was missing, and the ballad aspect fits in perfectly, thanks
Without the Blues, Modern Music (all genres) would not exist.
You can't change my mind.
Techno has nothing to do with blues. It's often one note to a beat that is sped up or slowed down.
Love your collaboration. Brought a tear to my eye.
Can I just say that nahre is the cutest person alive
Nahre and LA are the best duo.
Yeah, I was just thinking that. She's very classy which makes me drawn to her.
I was just telling someone the same thing. Talent,looks, intelligent,and her cool ,laidback personality is sexy without trying to be sexy!😍😍
agreed but why is she talking about blues. she is a classical musician . would have rather heard it from blues musicians
yes
haha video over
do you guys have any way for us fans to support you? now that i have a little saved up, i'm considering making a donation to excellent channels such as yours.
i know you're tied up by pbs digital but a patreon or similar would be great
This means so much to us! Right now we just want to thank you for watching and as soon as we set up a way you can support us further we'll let you know.
thank you!!
Go Sound Field! 🔥🔥🔥 the BEST PBS web show.
This is the best! LIVE with FEEL and GROOVE and fresh! Way to go! Is it so easy it bores you? It's open. I am with you.
Your song had this weird uncanny effect for me, to my ears it's both the song you've done which sounds most distinct from the genre it's riffing on, and yet at the same time is instantly recognizable as a blues tune. It's a really cool synthesis of the genre's elements and distinct feel, I really enjoyed it
Thanks so much for watching! You can download it if you'd like on our soundcloud soundcloud.com/soundfieldpbs/a-trip-to-the-blues
The ending song reminded me of Stevie wonder
THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU
Both of you are amazing!
That's why i adore AC/DC their blues songs are out of this world, Also highway to hell, is not metal it's hard rock/ rock
Also this is the best video i've seen all week
The last song sounded like bossa nova to me :^]
On God
Just discovered your channel, GREAT STUFF guys. Really appreciate it!
This woman knows her music. That was definitely the Blue's she was playing on the piano.
“What do these song have in common?”
*looks at title*
“I’m about to end this mans whole career”
Loved your song! The blues don’t get enough attention in today’s world. Thanks for posting.
This channel is great. Keep it going! So inspiring, always an instant click and like! 💯
I was waiting for this video for so long. Every genre carries out a heritage from the past, but what makes music iconic is how the artist is able to level-up. Something that, in my personal opinion, is lacking nowadays. Great to see L.A and Nhare back, I was missing Sound Field´s videos :) Regards guys :D
Only on this show could someone take the blues and turn it into something from the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack
Awesome video about blues music. I am happy to learn in this video that blues music is the mother of jazz, rock and roll, and country music.
Great synth blues composition. It really resonated with me.
Your song is weird! I like it.
So, how far can it be pushed before it is no longer the Blues? Obviously, the roots are there no matter how different the flower, but at what point is a rose no longer a rose?
listen to stolen moments by oliver nelson and peg by steely dan. some seriously progressive takes on the blues.
@@graham.broome Thank you. Those are cool, especially Oliver Nelson. Though, my taste in blues experimentation runs closer to Little Axe, especially the first album; The Wolf that House Built.
But really my point was something different.
When Nahre asked LA how familiar with the Blues he was and he responded with all the genres birthed by the blues, it caught me short. Not that those forms are not directly the children of the blues, and in some cases the intermix is clear.
But at some point they are too different to be the same thing. Not that genres are rigid, of course.
Anyway, just an exploration of a thought that occurred whilst watching the vid.
Happy to continue the conversation if there is interest.
Love the hosts! Perfectly presented. Keep it up, guys!
Fantastic series. Thanks to you both.
Blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits.
Your plant might need roots to grow, but the fruits generally taste best.
So then I feel like Gospel is the mother of all modern music.
Why?
I mean, yeah it had an influence - but it's still all based in the western classical system
It's the God mother :)
No,!!
... 'GOSPEL' is Not the Mother or Father of Modern music!! African Spirituals, worship, Storytelling and "RHYTHMS", are the genesis of Modern popular and Unpopular music. It was previously said (by your video) Thomas Dorsey created Gospel, but, you also said He Started his career with BLUES, and JAZZ!! Gospel is just a name for a Category it is NOT the Root of African Clave based Music!!! You correctly stated the "BLUES" is a Chord progression and Phrasing system. Therefore, 'da Blues' by definition is NOT "limited" to the Lyrical Content,... meaning, All Blues compositions are NOT "Sad" and defeated or limited to the Mississippi Delta;.. Slavery and Oppression was All over the Country, especially the South ( which was reflected in the African based Art) .i.e. New Orleans!! WoodSheding tradein' 4s, Call and Response, Field Hollers, etc. Preceded Gospel!! ..My Opinion but, jis sayin' for the record!!--"FREE BILL COSBY" And All Innocent BlackAmericanDOS, Political and Cultural Prisoners of W/S!! ** This should have gone in the Public comments!!**
@@davidwicks9538 I guess the misconception comes from the fact that most well-known 20th century blues or jazz artists got their musical start in a church. Again, just a guess. Instruments are expensive. Churches have money.
I guess if you're really gettin down to it, old spirituals are the grandmother of modern music
I've made this point for years. People say they don't like the blues. That's like saying you don't like jazz, country, pop, r&b, soul, folk, rock and and roll, heavy metal, funk and to some degree, we could even add things like reggae and rap to that although admittedly to a lesser extent.
Well, some of that early reggae wouldn't have been what it was without the major pentatonic which isn't exclusive to blues but that's a whole other discussion. But it's in there. Maybe a bit deeper but it's in there.
@Dale Clark I'm not sure I understand your point. I'm not a huge fan but I know some of his music. To my knowledge he isn't someone we can point to as one who made some contribution so fundamental it influenced everything that came after. Maybe Beethoven. This is very controversial and many would disagree but I think Beethoven took classical music and pushed it hard enough that it would end up ushering in the romantic period.
@Dale Clark Yeah, that's interesting but it's probably not where music started. But again I'm probably taking everything way too seriously. Lol. You already knew that didn't you?
I love this series so much!
What's upsetting to me is how it seems that a lot of white rock and roll artists essentially stole almost entire songs from black blues artists without giving any compensation or credit to the true artists behind those hits. I noticed this pattern and a lot of popular rock and roll songs were actually just ripped from old school blues artists.
A lot! Nah!
Here come the "Blues" which was code name for white people down south! The music was from all the pain they caused
it came from feeling blue .. aka nearly dead from sorrow .. (blue faced)
@@myname-mz3lo nah! What African man or woman face turns blue? Lol
My granddaddy was a blues guitarist during the great migration. Mississippi to Chicago. He told me the Blues came from how difficult life was for black people at the time. I think most African American art forms stem from those same experiences. My grandmother on my dads side was a Lindy Hop dancer in New Orleans in the 30s and she said dancing was a way to forget that "we were supposed to be less than everyone else, it made me feel like i was as good as anyone". I follow in both their footsteps. I dance Lindy Hop (though is mainly a white dominated hobby these days and people sometimes act like i dont belong🙃) and im a blues organ and piano player. Im thankful my grandparents passed this down to me!