What is the musical characteristics of blues music and instruments it uses?

Answer 1

the instruments harken back to the origins of blues in the 20s when the original blues artists were poor - field hands, slaves and migrants, born in the fields of the bread basket states that border the Mississippi - they used hand made instruments, inexpensive instruments - used and hand me downs - the master was the acoustic guitar due to its widespread availability, low cost and portability - a lot of blues musicians were travelers - no home to speak of, singing about loss and love and pain - no roots or broken roots so portability was vital to early blues; next most popular was probably the harmonica - again highly portable easy to learn and play came in a variety of keys (so adaptable to many songs) and filled the space that a piano or other complex stringed instrument would fill in an orchestra or band; as blues became a staple and moved to the mainstream - into bars and the like, the piano with it's vast tonal range found it's place in the genre; with the birth of the Electric Guitar in the 40s a new style of blues was born - now known as Chicago blues it features heavy electric guitar strains with brighter tonal qualities - favoring the Fender family (Stratocaster) or the Gibsons - as blues moved from the fields to the mainstream it became Delta blues or Mississippi blues and retained the heavier darker tones of the acoustic flavored with a single electric guitar; the resonator guitar was introduced in 1927 and was essentially a metal or wood based guitar with a sound cone that amplified slightly above the other instruments - also known as the Dobro it has quick high string action and slide guitarists liked it for it's versatility - it could be played as an acoustic or as a slide guitar and became a staple in both Chicago and Delta blues. Noticeably missing from TRUE blues are percussion and wind instruments (including drums, castanets, tambourines, sax, horns, and scrapers). Those instruments are found in regional blues and blues spinoffs but not in true blues.

Characteristics are harder to define - but its roots lie in slave field music - lines that are sung then repeated by others "Lawd said my mama was comin' home (repeat by chorus "said mama was comin' home) she been gone far far too long (repeat by chorus "gone far far too long") She gone catch that midnight train and be in my arms" (repeat by chorus "gone be in my arms yes lawd in my arms") when Mama comes home when Mama gets home (repeat by chorus "when Mama comes home yes Lawd when Mama gets home") that set a rhythm for field work that passed the time. this is known as the "call and response"

the other major characteristic is the soulful gritty raw play on real life - no Fairy Tales or fantasies - the songs - the lyrics are truthful, often painful, and always honest and gut wrenchingly full of emotion - no topics are off limits in blues and they play on daily life realities from social issues like police brutality, abuse and neglect, oppression, poverty, to personal issues like lost love, found love, true love, infidelity, sexuality, salvation and redemption.

Blues is often considered the only true American form of music - and that may be true - despite it being a blend of African music and Afro- American gospel, it is its own style with nothing even close comparatively. We cannot lay claim to campfire western music as that has been played out on plains and prairies on ranges and pampas world wide - merely in different languages - if Blues is our only claim to musical fame - it's a GREAT one to own.