What do you get when you combine both jazz and blues? Jazz Blues, like most other forms of music, gained its popularity in the back rooms of clubs, honky-tonks, and even in underground cultural surroundings.

With the history of blues and jazz woven together and some similarities in the styles, to this day the two still inspire each other. With the similarities in each style of music, artist began a fusion funk of the two giving birth to Jazz Blues.

At the very core of Jazz Blues, are blues songs that vocally express life felt stories of emotions bringing each verse to life. With Most blues songs include words forming a three-line stanza like in bop songs.

In the 1920’s, Harlem became the metropolis of an unprecedented creativity for the country’s best jazz musicians. The birth to many jazz players careers and several greats, got their start in the night clubs of Kansas City.

Blues music itself and the role that it plays in jazz music needs no mentioning. To this day you don’t have to look far to find melodies that have been impacted by sweet sounds of blues. If you happen your way down to New Orleans, and through the French Quarter, you can truly appreciate how a city that was once underwater after Katrina, clanged on to the hope of its revival.

Through the sweet sounds of Jazz Blues infused a belief in their culture that spirited the community to rebuild. As jazz, blues or a combination of, continues to heal and bring hope to a battered community, new incredible sounds have come to life, new artist have risen from the debris and old ones returned to bring in an era of new hope and life to this great city.

Playing the acoustic guitar and specifically the blues is one of the most enjoyable and enriching things to do.

As challenging as it may be in learning to play the guitar, once you master just a few chords, you are able to play multiple songs and as you become more comfortable and allow your creative juices start to flow you will find that picking up on some other chords is much easier.

It surprises me that with six little string and some 20 frets the infinite amount of music that can be created is infinitely abundant On top of that, playing blues music has its own subtle note changes that are separate from the conventional scale. This happens by bending the strings to adjust the pitch until it gets to the right sound.

The blues music players from the South had very inadequate means; in fact some had homemade guitars. These instruments were made from just about anything that they could find. Some were made of cigar boxes and wire for strings. One of the most notable blues music player of all time is Chuck Berry whose style was a unique as your personal signature on your check.

The point is this, if you are passionate about blues music and love the guitar. Just pick one up and start strumming a few chords. After some practice and persistence you will be on your way. Just don’t expect to be an overnight sensation or sound like Chuck Berry. Over time your skill will improve and who knows, your friends may actually stick around if you decide to burst out in to a private jam session.

No matter what level of playing you’re at now or which musical instruments you may know how to play, learn piano blues and you’ll be much better off for it regardless of the level of expertise that you are at or even if your focus is another instrument.

Playing the piano is invaluable for musical ideas, arranging for other instruments and just plain fun, relaxing and will open up opportunities when you can accompany other performers.

By learning piano blues you will have also learned many rock and roll songs as well since that technique developed out of blues music.

By simply learning some simple and easy patterns you can get in to the spirit of the blues. Before you know it, you will have mastered those patterns, develop some more complex version of those patterns and develop that are slightly more technical and before you know it you’re playing some very decent boogie woogie blues.

This style of blues with a bit of speed is very impressive. The boogie woogie style came directly out of the blues and is one of the best ways for a pianist to show off their technical ability.

If you ever get the chance, stand behind or next to a blues piano player and just watched what they do with their hands. Watching what they do will really allow you to see what’s going on with both hands and how these repetitive riffs are being implemented.

Just take it slow, analyze and study you will surprise yourself how easy things can really be. Then, like anything else, and a little commitment to some daily practice your peed and dexterity will come. Sure, kids usually pick it up quicker than adults or even easier than us boomers, but anyone who has the desire to learn can do it regardless of age.

Even if you decide to only learn to play the blues, think of the enjoyment that you can have at a jam session. Blues is the international language of music and who know learning to play blues music may spring board you in to other styles like gospel and jazz.

Ever since the 1920s, Memphis has been a Mecca for blues music lovers all over the world.  If you’ve ever been to Beale Street in downtown Memphis then you know that this is the heart of the Memphis music scene.  And it hosts every style of music from jug bands to jazz, and of course the blues.

After WWII, the electric instruments were born into the Memphis Blues.  And during this time musicians flocked to Memphis with these electric instruments.  They would all gather on Beale Street, and soon there became recording studios up and down that street.  One of the most famous studios being Sun Records, who recorded the like of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, just to name a few.

The Memphis Blues is so self expressive, and was an attempt to capture that sound of the singing sharecroppers and workers.  At first, the sound was nicknamed the gutbucket blues, but settled into simply the Memphis Blues.

Still today on Beale Street songs are written and recorded in small studios by artists with a dream.  And the streets of Memphis are just as alive as ever with the sound of the Memphis Blues.  Go there and you’ll see the bars and clubs filled up every night with tourists and locals who will sit and listen for hours and be touched by the music.

Why does the Memphis Blues have such staying power?  Many people believe it’s because it is so much more than just music.  It is a culture and a lifestyle that just continues to get passed down generation after generation.  And chances are it will continue to be enjoyed for many generations to come.

The beloved harmonica has such a history with blues music.  Originally this instrument was only associated with the poor and was simply considered a toy instrument.  But if you know anything about the harmonica and blues music you know that it has become a huge player over the years in this genre.  The first recordings of the harmonica were actually in the 1920s and were intended for the black markets of the South.  And as it became more and more popular musicians began to experiment with different techniques such as tongue-blocking, hand effects, and the most important innovation of all, the 2^nd position or cross-harp.

During the 1950s, the harmonica sound began to make its way North to Chicago with the blues and black migrants.  As the blues sound became more amplified, so did the harmonica.  One of the greatest harmonica players of the time was Sonny Boy Williamson II.  He helped make popular the cross-harp technique, opening the possibilities of the harmonica technique up to greater and greater heights.  Many other artists during this time began to experiment with techniques and the harmonica sound took off.

During the 60s and 70s the harmonica sound began to wane, due to the popularity of the electric lead guitar.  However, during this era many artists who had been influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson II began to emerge. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood , and Bob Dylan also famously played their harmonica to add a touch of blues to their folk and rock sound during this era. Dylan was known for placing his harmonicas in a brace so that he could simultaneously blow the harp and play his guitar.

The harmonica sound lives on today in current music.  Blues Traveler, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine, and Blackfoot are just a few examples of the modernization of the harmonica.