When we hear a banjo, we can’t help but think of the blues.  It also remind us of Dixieland and country music, but most definitely the blues.  The blues and the banjo go hand in hand.  There are many different types of banjos and though they are the same instrument, their sound is unique.  The banjo itself is a unique and wonderful stringed instrument.

African Americans and Caucasians have shared a love and appreciation for the banjo.  African Americans have been playing it for nearly 300 years, and Caucasians since the turn of the century.  And the banjo sounds different in different regions.  If you hear the banjo sound in the Mississippi Delta, it will sound completely different than in Virginia.

The music and style of the banjo was really shaped in the late 1800s by African Americans.  One of the greatest banjo players during that time was Gus Cannon, or better known as “Banjo Joe”.  During 1927 Banjo Joe cut several recordings for Paramount In which his “frailing techniques”, slide playing, and roll patterns became incredibly famous.

The banjo music played back then had such a fluid sound.  It created a nostalgic feeling of friends gathering for a good ole fashioned jam session.  Today it can sound like just about anything, square dance, swing, bluegrass, and everything in between.  What a wonderful instrument and you just can’t miss the banjo sound.

On the South Side of Chicago, in a neighborhood called Bronzeville, many different blues styles were played alongside each other during the 40s and 50s.  This neighborhood was home to different races and social classes that developed innovations in blues music. “The Harlem of Chicago: The History of Bronzeville” is an exhibition at the Chicago Blues Museum.  This exhibit explores this neighborhood’s musical heritage through photographs and memorabilia.

Many African Americans had moved from the South to larger cities in the North during the Great Migration of the early twentieth century.   Bronzeville was a cultural hub for Chicago’s growing African American population and the blues community.  Nightclubs were opened that entertained with the electrically amplified instruments that had not been available in small southern communities.

The Chicago Blues Museum has collected a large number of artifacts by creating relationships with the families of blues musicians who performed during the 40s and 50s. These families have donated many rare items such as photographs and music. The hope of the museum is to encourage an appreciation for the blues through education programs and performances.  Make sure to visit the museum on your next venture to Chicago.

In the early 1900s is when the Blues as we know it today took shape in this country.  But if you have studied the Blues you know that it’s roots stem back hundreds of years and many miles across the Atlantic Ocean to both Africa and Europe before taking root in the American South.

It was actually the blending and clashing of African and European music where it all started.  Add to that the spice of the American South and you have the Blues as it is today.

The use of flatted notes (the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th) come from the indigenous music of West Africa, therefore the Blues have mostly been influenced by African-American culture.  And interestingly enough the lyrics of Blues stem from the “field hollers” of slaves. The instruments most associated with the Blues are guitar, harmonica, and piano, which are not African in origin but they come from Europe.

Then during the Reconstruction Era in America (post Civil War period), proto-blues music began to develop due to dance halls and bars that were frequented by the rural working class.  These “Juke Joints” began to sprout up all over the South.

The music created and listened to in these joints was made for dancing, and in time a shuffling beat similar to the “ragtime beat” became popular.  This rhythm would soon become well known and associated with the Blues.

As the Reconstruction Era ended, African Americans were faced with much racism and poverty.  They were forced to travel from place to place to find work.  Many of them made an attempt to make a living with their music, and so they traveled with guitar in hand via train.  No wonder trains are such a common symbol in Blues music.  As these musicians traveled, the incredible music and lyrics of the Blues was spread and is now a world wide passion.