The seeds of his talents were sown early in the blues rich delta of Mississippi where he was raised. Life was by no means easy for him as a young man. He was continuosly shuttled back and forth between his mother’s and grandmother’s homes where he spent many long hours working hard as a sharecropper and just as many hours praising the lord in church, as he belted out gospel songs and honed the skills that would later be enjoyed by millions worldwide.

Jimmy Rushing has been called the greatest of all big-band blues singers and many of today’s blues standards are credited to his writing skills, such as “Good Morning Blues”, “Goin’ to Chicago”, “Boogie Woogie” and many others. The song “Mr. Five-by-Five” was penned in his honor and is said to describe him as being five feet tall and five feet wide.

Marlena Shaw was born in 1942 in New York and given the birth name Marlina Burgess. She was influenced by her uncle and grandmother early in life who exposed her to gospel music early on and helped to develop her love for music and her seductive and sultry sound.

At the tender age of ten she made her debut before a live audience at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, where she performed with her uncle. She was such a big hit they were invited to perform again the following week. As it turned out her uncle had double-booked the night and the pre-teen went on to perform solo before a stunned and very pleased audience.

Her big break came when she was invited to preform with the Count Basie Orchestra and as they say the rest is history. It is easy to understand the attraction to her versatile style and her smooth as satin vocals. Marlena is still performing today and her voice is still as sweet, seductive and sultry as ever.

Born in Mississippi in 1934 Otis Rush is a well known blues singer and guitarist. His style is unique and distinctive with a slow burning style and the long bent notes he made his own. His style of blues became known as West Side Chicago style and has proven to be an influence on such singers as Eric Clapton, Luther Allison and Magic Sam among others.

Other famous blues singers include but are not limited to:

Bill “Hoss” Allen
Ralph Bass
Chuck Berry
Blind Blake
Big Bill Broonzy
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Ray Charles
James Cotton
Arthur Crudup
Magic Sam
Robert Lee McCollum
Fred McDowell
Brownie McGhee
Lillian McMurry
Jay McShann
Blind Willie McTell
Jimi Hendrix

Bessie Smith was another one of the famous blues singers of the 1920s and 30s and was called the “Empress of the Blues.” She began her professional career in the year 1912 when she joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels led by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Before long she signed with Columbia’s records and had major hits called Down Hearted Blues and Gulf Coast Blues. She went on to record more then 150 songs. Some were so popular that as many as 150,000 copies sold in a week. Her broad expressive range was only one of her many qualities that made her an outstanding blues singer.

A popular blues singer in the 1920s was Ida Cox. She was only 14 when she joined traveling vaudeville shows. Ida began a recording contract in 1923 with Paramount. Her first blues recordings were called “Graveyard Dream Blues” and Weary Way Blues.” She wrote many of her own songs. She often recorded songs for Paramount with her Blues pianist husband Jesse Crump. Some of the songs she performed with her husband were Bone Orchard Blues, Black Crepe Blues and Worn Down Daddy.

Alberta Hunter was one the famous women blues singers. Her career flourished in the 1920s and 30s. She was a songwriter as well as a blues singer. She wrote Downhearted Blues in 1923 for Bessie Smith and it was a big hit. Alberta also appeared in New York and London clubs and on stage in musicals. Her recording career began in New York in 1921 where she recorded for the Black Swan Label. In 1922 she started to record with Paramount. In 1927 she went to Europe where she sang in musical revues. She became famous there and stayed for many years. In 1956 she retired from singing and became a nurse. She resumed her singing career in 1977.

Ethel Waters was also one of the famous women blues singers. At seventeen, Ethel was discovered by Braxton and Nugent when they heard her sing at the apartments where she was employed. They paid her $10.00 a week to work in their vaudeville unit. She had a low and clear voice and audiences felt her emotions when she sang. Between 1921 and 1924 she recorded songs for the Black Swan label. She was signed on with Columbia records in 1925. The type of voice she had gave her the ability to sing many different types of music including jazz. She also became a dramatic actress.

The name Bluegrass originally came from a name of a band, ‘Blue Grass Boys’, whose lead singer named Bill Monroe is said to have founded the Bluegrass music.  The popularity of Bill Monroe started in 1940. The band featured instruments like the banjo, mandolin, and fiddles.

Since then, bluegrass music has stayed popular and been exposed in many unique ways.  One of those outlets for the music was the film ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’ by the Coen Brothers which was released in 2000.  The film starred George Clooney.  Clooney’s character, together with his friends in prison, were all members of a Bluegrass music band known as the Soggy Bottom Boys. This film increased the popularity of the Bluegrass music festivals all over the world.

Through the years, the Bluegrass music festivals became events that unite different musicians from different parts of America.  A number of modern country music artists have recorded albums of their bluegrass favorites.  Among these artists are Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, and Allison Krauss.

Bluegrass music festivals have become a gathering for many music enthusiasts around the United States.  The festival has become an avenue for many music lovers to gather together, listen, and play music. The best thing about these festivals is that the bands come together with their instruments and share their music with people who have a similar passion and love for Bluegrass.  In festivals like this, bands play their acoustic instruments such as the guitar, banjo, and the neat-up brass.

On Sunday mornings, the Bluegrass music festivals sound like gospel music in the field and become a special attraction. Music legends such as Ralph Stanley and Rhonda Vincent often perform.  One of the most admired performers at these festivals is Jerry Douglas, who mesmerizes the crowd with his great bluegrass music. Among the most popular festivals are the Colorado Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival, and the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival.

Jazz blues is a musical style that combines both jazz and blues. Jazz, blues, and popular music all got their start in back rooms, clubs, honky-tonks, and in the underground or subculture environments. The histories of jazz, blues, and popular music are intertwined, and the styles often inspire each other. Today, both forms are closely associated and are often combined into a fusion of the two aptly named Jazz blues.

Blues songs are a core component of Jazz blues and have been a highly expressive, predominantly vocal tradition which expressed the stories and emotions of African-Americans at the beginning of the 20th century. Most blues songs usually include words which form a three-line stanza. These are bop songs, but they are blues songs as well. Even songs that are not blues songs, tends to use quite a few blues licks.

Jazz musicians-the people who have educated themselves and who make a living on their own terms despite the odds with all the risks it takes to make this your living, are seen to be outside the system. In the 1970s, many jazz musicians experimented with electronic instruments and created a blend of rock and jazz called fusion.

Harlem in the 1920s was a scene of unprecedented creativity for the country’s best jazz musicians. Some of the greatest jazz players in all of history got their start in the clubs of Kansas City. Not too many contemporary jazz players can say even though a host of the greatest jazz players have performed there.

Great jazz artists, like all important artists, derive their styles from their predecessors. Early in the twentieth century, jazz bands became increasingly popular accompaniments for a new, faster style of social dancing. New artistic possibilities emerged as jazz bands grew in size during the decade of the twenties. Ragtime, boogaloo, and bebop are just a few of the cool styles of jazz music.

Blues itself and its importance in jazz music need no comments. To say it has heralded its way into the hearts and minds of all music lovers is an understatement. Blues Jazz starts with the steady beat and classic chord structure of the blues and laces it with instrumental improvisation. From the blues, jazz incorporated call and response, improvisation, and the emphasis on vocal sound, which is replicated by jazz instrumentation.

Bands and performers are usually local acts in a variety of genres including blues, jazz, rock, and folk. Their music may be blues, jazz, country, classical, gospel, rock ‘n roll, rhythm and blues, or popular. Artists with backgrounds in these styles typically incorporate jazz improvisation into numbers with classic three-chord blues structures. This twelve-bar blues pattern may be the base of rock ‘n’ roll. However, blues has grown well on its own merit and was around way before rock of any form.

Many blues guitarists have had instantly recognizable tones. Such is the case of the most famous of all blues guitarists, B.B. King. He is known as a hard-hitting singer, guitarist, and songwriter. And is arguably the most creative artist of today’s blues guitarists. In like manner, he meets the criterion of a “guitar cousin” for sure.

The Jazz and Blues genres have become inseparable and are intertwined in the best of ways. Whether its pure jazz, blues, or improvisation, it will forever shape the hearts and minds of those who take the time to enjoy it. What an untold influence the artists of these music styles have had on music throughout time.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, blues guitar players like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Lonnie Johnson were the influential performers of the day. They used a slide which was often made out of a knife blade or the broken or sawed off neck from a bottle. Most of the music was improvised, and unaccompanied. The form of the songs were loose, and were rarely, if ever, played the same way twice.

As the 1940’s came, the jump blues style characterized by big band music sequestered the guitar to the rhythm section primarily. The primary influence of this era on blues guitar is that it heavily influenced the development of what would later be known as rock and roll, or rhythm and blues.

After World War II in the 1950’s, blues guitar became electrified and amplified. Starting in Chicago, this new electric blues was characterized by the sounds of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed. All of these players grew up in Mississippi, but migrated to Chicago. The bands typically had, in addition to the electric guitar, harmonica and a rhythm section of bass and drums. Sometimes there would also be a saxophone, though it would be relegated to a rhythmic support role.

B.B. King and Freddie King were also making names for themselves at this time. They were somewhat unique at the time because they did not make use of the slide to play the guitar. B.B. King has long been considered one of the greatest blues guitar players of all time. Freddie King has often been called the King of the Boogie Woogie guitar.

While Chicago had it’s own sound in the 1950’s, some other artists such as T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker were creating what some call the California Blues style. T-Bone Walker was born in Dallas, while Hooker was born in Mississippi. The California Blues Style that they helped to forge was smoother than the Chicago Blues and is somewhat of a melting pot for Chicago Blues, jump blues, and some jazz swing.

Starting in the 1960’s, Caucasian audiences gained more interest in blues guitar thanks in part to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and what was later to be called the British Blues Movement. Bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Cream, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, the Rolling Stone, and the Yardbirds were performing classic blues tunes in addition to their original tunes. Many of these artists inspired American blues-rock artists like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, and Johnny Winter.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Luther Allison where creating what is called the West Side style of Chicago Blues. Their bands were dominated by the amplified electric blues guitar and heavily influenced later artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Lang, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Since the early 1980’s, the blues has enjoyed quite a resurgence in America. The Texas Rock-Blues Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds brought the blues to American rock radio stations. Eric Clapton, who originally gained his fame with Cream and John Mayall, continues to make great blues guitar albums and even recently recorded a set of old Robert Johnson classics. Many famous, legendary blues guitar players such as Buddy Guy and B.B. King continue to share the stage with the new generation of blues guitar players like Robert Cray, Joe Bonamassa, and Walter Trout.

Looking to take your guitar playing to the next level? Are you down and want to use your guitar to let the world know what you’re feeling? Want to make your guitar wail?

You need to learn the BLUES. BB King, Eric Clapton and Jonny Lang were three of the best guitarists ever, and they were blues specialists.

The blues isn’t just a music genre or a series of chords on a guitar. It is a state of mind that you need to fully embraced before you can even think about playing it.

The mechanics of playing the blues is actually very easy. The basic rhythm is just 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4. This is also known as “playing triplets”. If you can play with that rhythm, step 1 of playing the blues can be ticked off.

Step 2, however, is the hardest to master - you actually need to feel the music and let the music come from your soul. The guitar is simply the conduit of your feelings. You will want to play simply with your guitar, an amp and your cable. Anything else will simply get in your way. Leave the effects in your computer - they are wasted on blues.

Finally, step 3 - listen to the masters and try to emulate their style. They aren’t masters for nothing. It isn’t copying - it’s learning. Get some CDs, download some MP3s and just chill out. Pick up your instrument and just play along.

That’s all for now. The next article will have some more technical stuff to help in your blues playing.

Follow the rules, practice hard but most importantly, have fun. For a free ebook - “Learn the Guitar in 48 hours”, then visit my site. Greg Millican http://www.strumandpick.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Millican

There are many scale that can be played on the guitar, but one of the most common ones and the first one I show all my students is the blues guitar scale. The reason I love this scale and teach it first even though the pentatonic is slightly easier and more widely used is because it sounds more musical and by learning is early on my students are already equipped with a scale that can transcend many styles of music. Below I will teach you the basics of the blues guitar scale and how to implement it into your playing.

First lets take a look at the structure of the blues scale. A blues guitar scale is simply a minor pentatonic scale with one extra note. The extra note is referred to as the blue note because of the unique sad quality it brings to the scale.

An E minor pentatonic scale would be made up of the notes:

E G A B D

To get the blues guitar scale you add a B-flat (Bb) into the scale:

E G A Bb B D

The blues scale was designed to play over all dominant seventh chords. A typical 12-bar blues in the key of E would use a I7 - IV7 - V7 chord progression. However it is not required to use seventh chords. You might also use regular major and minor chords and still the blues scale would sound great over them.

In modern times the blues scale can be found in many forms of music. Rock, metal, and country often rely heavily on it’s use for riffs and lead guitar. It can also be found in Jazz although usually mixed in as a hybrid scale with some other modal based diatonic scale.

The blues guitar scale is arguable the grandfather of all guitar scales. it’s unique sound and playability make it a great choice for many styles of music. I always encourage my students and any one interested in becoming a versatile guitar player to master this scale because it is easy to use in almost any application.

Blues music has inspired various styles of music such as, jazz, rock and roll, and country. Learning blues piano will help you learn these other styles of music very easily. This article will teach you everything you need to know to play blues piano.

The 12-bar blues is the most common progression for blues piano. Most musicians use seventh chords when playing this form of blues. The song is broken up into three sets, with each set consisting of four bars. We will play the song in the key of C. The roman numeral I will illustrate the first tone (C) in the key of C. IV will mark the fourth tone (F), and V will mark the fifth tone (G).

To play the first set of blues piano, you simply play a I-I-I-I. The second set is IV-IV-I-I. Finally, the third set is V-IV-I-I. These chords should be played with the right hand. Remember to play seventh chords to give it that blues piano sound.

When playing blues piano on the left hand, you follow a simple pattern of eighth notes. This pattern is I-III-V-VI-VIIb-VI-V-III. If you are playing a C chord in the right hand, you would play the notes C-E-G-A-Bb-A-G-E. When playing the F chord, you would play F-A-C-D-Eb-D-C-A. Finally, when playing the G chord, you play G-B-D-E-F-E-D-B.

Learning to play blues piano is not very difficult. Once you have mastered the 12-bar blues in the key of C, you should work on learning to play it in other keys. Mastering the blues piano is a great foundation to learn other styles of music.

Learning jazz guitar can be intimidating and overwhelming for a beginning student. Unlike styles like rock, blues, and classical, jazz guitar demands that a musician master a wide variety of skills, including jazz guitar scales.

If you are absolutely fresh on jazz guitar, the first thing you’ve got to wrap your fingers around is the major scale and its modes. It’s the reference against which all other scales are defined. Learn them in position as well as up and down single strings. It’s also cool to practice them in one, two, and three octaves.

Once you’ve got those under your fingers and in your ears, it’s time to start learning the melodic minor scale on guitar. The difference between a melodic minor scale and a major scale is only one note, the flat third. The melodic minor scale also has some really cool sounding modes, like lydian dominant which works over a 7#11 chord.

It’s also important to learn your pentatonic scales. Most guitarists coming from a rock, blues, or country background are already familiar with the minor and major pentatonic scales, and if you aren’t you have to check them out. The blues scale is also useful.

A common trap that students of jazz guitar fall into is only practicing scales up and down. Of course, it’s important and is the first step to mastering jazz guitar scales. But if you’re at a point where it’s comfortable to play ascending and descending scales and you feel comfortable with the notes, the next step is to start practicing intervals and sequences. Also, try to vary the rhythm in your scale practice.

Learning jazz guitar scales is an essential part of mastering jazz guitar.

I wish it weren’t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Redds Blues. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Jazz music fans will recognize some of the well known guests that have been assembled to play along with Redd on several of the tracks. Artists like Alfred Lion and Rudy Van Gelder just to name a couple.

If you’re a Freddie Redd fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you don’t even have to be a fan of Redd, or even Jazz to know is good. This is just good music. Period.

While this entire CD is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 2 - Cute Doot, track 4 - Blues For Betsy, and track 6 - Love Lost.

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 - Now. Wow!

Redds Blues Release Notes:

Freddie Redd originally released Redds Blues on October 8, 2002 on the Blue Note Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Now 2. Cute Doot 3. Old Spice 4. Blues For Betsy 5. Somewhere 6. Love Lost

Personnel: Freddie Redd (piano); Jackie McLean (alto saxophone); Tina Brooks (tenor saxophone); Benny Bailey (trumpet); Paul Chambers (bass); Sir John Godfrey (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on January 17, 1961. Originally released on Bluenote (40537). Includes liner notes by Ben Sidran.

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review-315501.html