DID YOU KNOW?
The blues are a historically African-American song form. They are a blend of ballads and field hollers. Hollers were the work songs of the slaves when they picked crops on the southern plantations. These rural roots make it difficult to document the exact origin of the blues, but it also makes sense that the music became so personal. Interviews with surviving musicians tell of them hearing blues sung throughout the South in the early 1900s.

Blues Patterns

When most people think about blues music, songs are what come to mind. In typical pieces, the singer would tell a sad story through a series of verses. 

Each verse usually had three lines or phrases:

• The first line would be a lament or complaint. For example, you might hear: 'I hate to see the evenin' sun go down.'
• The second line would be a repeat of the same words as a way to emphasize the emotion being experienced.
• The third line: would be a commentary or explanation, perhaps something like, 'Cause my baby, he done left this town.'

Note that the third line rhymed. The verses that followed would use the same pattern and eventually tell the story.