The Secret Influence of Blues On Popular Music

Here is an old line from one of the famous blues songs and it says, "the blues had a baby...and they called it rock n' roll."

Trust me, there is so much truth going on in that single verse You can listen to all the first rock n' roll songs and listen to the blues guitar riffs, chord progressions and scales being played, just in a less bluesy kinda way.

"Johnny B. Good" is a good example of a blues guitar progression being played with a rock drum beat and a vocal melody that is unusual from how a typical blues melody would sound. It doesn't stop there though. The influence on modern music is still very dominant. We hear it in hip-hop, rock, emo, indie, reggae, r & b, funk, etc

The commonly used 1 - 4 - 5 chord progression (3 chords) that is used in blues is also used in almost EVERY type of music that exists. Even Beethovan uses this chord progression as well as many others from the classical period. Not only do blues guitar riffs and chord progressions gets played in modern music, but virtually all guitar solos also have blues overtones in country music as well as the other styles that I mentioned. It has been a Essential component in organizing the shape sound of modern music no matter how you look at it.

Learning how to play blues music should be a top priority on any guitar players 'to-do' list. Once you learn the ins and outs of this genre, you can improvise it to create your own popular songs, riffs and/or solos. Many guitar players that I know improvize on the blues scale to make their key riffs and super amazing leads as well as use the chord progressions to write innovative, more modern music.

Don't let anybody convince you that the blues is dead!