Blues

The blues originated from the African-Americans in the

Deep South in North America around the end of the
19th century. The genre is a fusion of traditional African
music and European folk music, spirituals, work
songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed
simple narrative ballads. The blues has influenced
many other genres like jazz and rock. The first
publication of blues sheet music was in 1908 and since
then has evolved from vocal music sang by slaves into
a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres
include country blues, acoustic blues which evolved
into electric blues during the 1940s and rock blues
which evolved in the 1960s and 70s.
The name blues come from the saying blue devil
meaning melancholy and sadness. The lyrics to blues
songs are often describing sadness. The 12 bar
structure is a harmonic progression used in blues,
played over a 4/4 beat. The progression uses the
subtonic (1) the tonic (4) and the dominant (5).

Chords played over a 12-bar

scheme:

Chords for a blues in C:

I or IV

I7

IV

IV

I7

V or
IV

I or V

C or F

C7

C7

G or F

C or G

Reggae
The genre of Reggae was originated in the 1960s in
Jamaica. Its used in much Jamaican dance music, but
has strongly influenced much American jazz and blues
and African music. One of the most easily recognizable
elements is offbeat rhythms and staccato chords played
by a guitar or piano. The tempo of reggae is usually
slower than ska but faster than rock steady.[3] The
concept of "call and response" can be found throughout
much reggae music. The bass guitar is used a lot in
reggae and is given a thick and heavy sound. The
guitar normally plays the off beats. Reggae as a
musical term first appeared in print with the 1968 rock
steady hit "Do the Reggay" by The Maytals. Reggae is
played in 4/4, because it doesnt work musically in
other signatures like . The music emphasized the 2nd
beat and 4th beat of each bar. Reggae songs normally
use standard generic chords progressions. The concept
of "call and response" can be found throughout reggae
music, in the vocals but also in the way parts are
composed and arranged for each instrument. The
emphasis on the "third beat" of the bar also results in a

different sense of musical phrasing, with bass lines and

melody lines often emphasizing what might be
considered "pick up notes" in other genres. A standard
drum kit is generally used in reggae, but the snare
drum is often tuned very high to give it a timbales-type
sound. Some reggae drummers use an additional
timbale or high-tuned snare to get this sound. Crossstick technique on the snare drum is commonly used,
and tom-tom drums are often incorporated into the
drumbeat itself.