blues

(blūz)
pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

1. A state of depression or melancholy. Often used with the.
2. A style of music that evolved from southern African-American secular songs and is usually distinguished by a strong 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths, a 12-bar structure, and lyrics in a three-line stanza in which the second line repeats the first: "The blues is an expression of anger against shame and humiliation" (B.B. King).

[Short for BLUE DEVILS.]

bluesman blues'man n.
bluesy blues'y adj.

View more Entertainment & Arts videos

For more information on blues, visit Britannica.com.

noun

A feeling or spell of dismally low spirits: dejection, depression, despondence, despondency, doldrums, dolefulness, downheartedness, dumps, dysphoria, funk, gloom, glumness, heavy-heartedness, melancholy, mope (used in plural), mournfulness, sadness, unhappiness. See feelings, happy/unhappy.

n

Definition: depression
Antonyms: euphoria, gaiety, gladness, happiness

Origin: 1911

America has long had the blues, but not until African Americans set the blues to music did we know what to do with them. Actually, the first blues in America were blue devils, which were low spirits brought over from England. An American proverb of 1770 says, "Gamble has been long indisposed with the Blues." Washington Irving in 1807 wrote of a man "under the influence of a whole legion of the blues," and a young U. S. Grant wrote in 1846, "I came back to my tent and to drive away, what you call the Blues, I took up some of your old letters."

African Americans had better reasons than most to feel the blues. So perhaps it is not surprising that they were the ones to make the most of the blues by setting them to music. This kind of blues came into being a few years ahead of Jazz (1913), to which it is related, thanks to W.C. Handy (1873-1958). We will locate the beginning of what he called the blues in 1911; its fame was spread by his "Memphis Blues," published in 1912, followed in 1914 by the even more famous "St. Louis Blues." Following his lead, Americans of all colors have been hearing and singing the blues ever since.

---

A secular African-American folk music of the 20th century, related to, but separate from, jazz. The term describes both a characteristic melancholy state of mind and the eight-, 12- and 32-bar harmonic progressions that form the basis for blues improvisation; the most common is 12 bars long. The other characteristic is the ‘blue note’, a microtonal flattening of the 3rd, 7th and (to a lesser extent) 5th scale degrees. Blues has had a decisive influence on Western popular music.

From obscure origins, the genre had developed by 1900 to its typical three-line stanza, with a vocal style derived from the field holler or shout of southern work songs. By the 1920s the first blues recordings were made, of the Mississippi delta ‘country’ tradition (and other southern regional variants) and the ‘classic’ vaudeville-based blues of such singers as Mamie, Clara and Bessie Smith, Sara Martin and ‘Ma’ Rainey. The migration north to Chicago during the 1920s led eventually to a new ‘urban’ blues tradition, coarser and fiercer than earlier styles. This in turn led in the late 1940s to the style known as rhythm-and-blues. All instruments were by this time amplified. The principal exponents were Muddy Waters and Howlin′ Wolf. Blues influenced rock and roll and other genres, including skiffle and soul music. It has continued as an independent genre, latterly performed by B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, among others.

---

Blues as a musical term can describe an oral tradition of African American poetry set to music using blues form (typically three-line stanzas with the first two lines being similar, set to a twelve-bar harmonic framework called a blues progression); the form of the poetry and/or the music; and an aesthetic that remains an ideal for Jazz performance in general.

Blues originated as an expression of the individual and interactive social tradition of a displaced African American population. It began with the African American agrarian working class of the Mississippi Delta and combined African American and European American traditions, particularly hollers (field work songs) and British ballads. It was established by the late 1800s as primarily a vocal and improvisatory genre, often with instrumental accompaniment. Later it became a purely instrumental genre as well, and other blues regions developed—each with its own localized style. Until about 1930 there was a distinction between the earthier style of country blues and the smoother urban blues. Only after blues was well established did it broaden to include the white middle class and function as a form of entertainment.

Often using Slang, blues texts address life's troubles, freedom, and gender roles and relationships, and are often explicit about sex. The recognizable style of the blues may include call and response, a constant rhythmic pulse, blue notes (lowered third and seventh scale degrees), and gritty timbres.

Publications (from about 1912) and recordings (from about 1920) came after blues had long been an established oral practice. The leading performers to popularize classic blues with early recordings were Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, and B. B. King exemplify styles after 1930.

Many small and large jazz ensembles still play blues titles, use blues form, and borrow its manner of expression. Blues has influenced many substyles of jazz and instigated numerous pop genres, including Rock and Roll. The participation of different races and nationalities in the production and consumption of blues today make it a global phenomenon.

Bibliography

Erlewine, Michael, et al., eds. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings. 2d ed. San Francisco: Miller Freeman, 1999.

Murray, Albert. Stomping the Blues. New York: Da Capo, 1989. The original edition was published in 1976.

Oliver, Paul. Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

—Christina Linsenmeyer–van Schalkwyk

A kind of jazz that evolved from the music of African-Americans, especially work songs and spirituals, in the early twentieth century. Blues pieces often express worry or depression.

The Dress Blue uniform.

For a list of words related to blues, see:

• Suits and Uniforms - blues: formal blue U.S. military uniform; dress blues
• Publishing - blues: Informal. blueline
• Styles and Genres - blues: spiritual and melancholy folk music song form originated by blacks in rural southern United States, derived in part from field hollers; major source of jazz, urban blues

---

See words rhyming with "bluesy."

Dansk (Danish)
n. pl. - blues

Nederlands (Dutch)
melancholie, soort popmuziek

Français (French)
n. pl. - (Mus) blues, le cafard

Deutsch (German)
n. pl. - Blues

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - (μουσική) μπλουζ, ακεφιές, (ναυτ.) ναυτικό, ναυτική στολή

Italiano (Italian)
blues

Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - blues (Mús.)

Русский (Russian)
блюз, меланхолия

Español (Spanish)
n. pl. - estilo de jazz de matiz melancólico

Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - blues

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
抑郁, 忧郁布鲁斯歌曲, 沮丧

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. pl. - 抑鬱, 憂鬱布魯斯歌曲, 沮喪

한국어 (Korean)
n. pl. - 비관, 우울, 블루스

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ブルース

idioms:

• the blues    青, 青色えのぐ, 青いもの, 紺のラシャ, 北軍の紺服, 青海, 青ボール, 保守党員

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الجمع) نوع من الغناء و الموسيقى, الكآبه, التعاسه, الحزن‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. pl. - ‮דיכאון, עצבות, בלוז (מוסיקה), מוסיקה עממית אמריקאית שחורה בהלך-רוח עצוב‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.