A History of Blues Music

Blues music developed as a response to the end of slavery. No longer spending all their lives solely working in the fields and going to church, former slaves began to spread across the country and live fuller lives. Many of them became sharecroppers on their own personal farms as opposed to living together on large plantations. As the former slaves traveled, they began to encounter the cultures of different part of the country, and for the first time in their lives, they had to find work and make money. Men in particular had a difficult time finding jobs. As their lives began to expand, so did the subject matter of the music. The work songs of the slavery era began to transform into an early form of blues, as former slaves began to sing not about their work and their religion, but about their individual lives, travel, and personal struggles with integrating themselves into American society. African-American moved away from singing about traditional African topics, such as the gods, work, nature, and life after death as the adopted American culture, which focused on the individual and his personal life here on earth. Different styles of blues, such as country blues, urban blues, classic blues, and boogie woogie, developed in response to characteristics of different locations and time periods.