American Music History - Assignment Example

American Music History The Black Americans were slaves until the period of emancipation when they got their freedom of expression. To express their inner feelings, culture, and troubles they went through during slavery, they used blues music, which helped them speak about the racial and cultural discrimination. Blues could express both the African and American cultures, as the music comprises both African and European notes (BBC UK n.p). The blues music had unique stylistic devices, which the whites admired and adopted in their music.

The music offered the blacks a chance to confront a society that had denied them the freedom of speech and expression. The desire to air their troubles such as racism, unequal distribution of resources, and cultural discrimination led to the development of blues as a medium. The blacks were allowed to have leisure time, which they used to compose and sing their blues songs. The musicians sang about such topics as ‘Blackwater Blues by Bessie Smith and ‘C.C Rider by Ma Rainey’ (Faturoti, n.p). In their songs, the image of solitary was evident considering the songs like the down-on-his-luck blues singer, which talked about misery, poverty, oppression the blacks suffered before their freedom.

The lyrics and rhythm of the blues demonstrated suffering of the blacks hence the singers were considered outcasts. 2. A song in AAB format is Sweet Home Chicago by Robert Johnson.3. The topic of the blue song is ‘Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working and isone of the typical topics in the early blues (YouTube n.p).4. Yes, the guitar is the instrument in use.The blues led to the development of jazz, rock n roll, and country music. Jazz developed from the blue styles while rock n roll was a combination of the rhythm and blues with the country music.

Works CitedBbc.co.uk,. BBC - Radio 2 Sold On Song - Genres: Blues. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2015. Faturoti, Ambrose. Renaissance Collage - Roots of Blues Music. Xroads.virginia.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2015. YouTube,. Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin - Jazzandbluesexperience. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2015.