Luke Davis - 6. Blues - 6.1. Influence from negro spirituals lyrics

Ellison (1989) took blues' precedence over any other black music genre as a close descendent of African music because of the common patterns and lyrics based on African models. The patterns included characteristics such as call and response, rhythmic counterpoint, polyrhythms, melodic and harmonic sophistication, slurred and flatted notes, melisma and virtuoso instrumental performances (Ellison, 1989). Its chronological origins, much like jazz, are not as clear-cut as other genres under the “black music” label. The musical origins are less obscure, however; there are clear examples of similar lyrical content taken from negro spirituals and work songs, along with the melisma of gospel music. Where one branch of the spiritual tree lead to more upbeat march music and subsequently ragtime and jazz, the pain and suffering of the slaves took a different root into blues. Above all the musical elements, the blues were fundamentally about a “feeling”, with the music being a representation of this. This “feeling”, of course, came from the pain and strife of the African slaves, taken from their homes and subjected to harsh conditions, being forcibly stripped of their identities and cultures. Blues music was something of a “compromise”, with the griots telling their trouble tales with the banjo, said to be related to the African kora or xalam (Oliver, 2001)