List of genres of the blues |
Genres of blues include the
following:
There are several genres unrelated to the blues in any factual sense but are described as blues-like or
bluesy. These are typically urban in origin, simple in instrumentation and featuring plaintive, melancholy vocals that
emphasize the singer's poor luck and, often, violent or criminal behavior. Anthropologist Joaquim Reis de Brito describes the
phenomenon this way:
- Thus, if we take together the Fado of Lisbon, the Tango of Buenos-Aires and the Rembetika of Athens, we will note firstly
that all of them emerged a little before or after the middle of the 19th century in poor districts of the big port cities of the
nascent industry, attracting people from the country or from abroad, and who were confined to a marginal existence. And if we
look for other parallels in the development of these urban popular cultures, we will find them again: first, their obscure and
repressed beginnings, then their discovery and appropriation by elements of the higher social classes, later their acceptance and
admission by the establishment (often after their success outside of the native land) before ending as a subject of tourist
explorations.
Note that not all of the characteristics above are common to all the genres compared to blues, and not all are true of the
blues itself.
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