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Chicago's Musical Contribution: Introduction

Living in Chicago, there are many things to aprreciate. There are, restaurants, shopping, and the culture. But part of that culture is Music. Chicago is the home to two major musical genres. Blues and Gospel. Blues and Gospel are world reknowne musical genres and they are Chicago Native. Please enjoy my article and info on these genres.

Pilgrim Baptist Church: The Birthplace of Gospel Pilgrim Baptist Church (Cont'd) Chicago: The Birthplace of Blues PBS: The Blues Road Trip

What is Blues?

Well, by the "dictionary.com" definition, it is a genre of music originating from the Blacks of America and is classified by having a series of "blue-notes" occuring, hence the name "Blues". "Dictionary.com" then goes on to say that it takes the structure of a song consisting of 12-bar chorus which is just a reoccuring 3-bar stanza but, with the second sequence of the chorus repeating the first. That may sound pretty complicated but the listening of this music is actually pretty easily understood and pretty enjoyable. It seems that the origination of Blues was the musical expression of the oppresion of the black American. This is correct but the meaning actually goes deeper than this! As said in an article by historian Aziza Shumba, the Black American had new experiences to sing of frequently seeing as how they were living in segregated America. So these lyrics that were sang by the artists were largely real experiences. As one would see it, that's what became to make this genre of music so unique.

What is Gospel?

Well, as historian Gerd C. Pacher explains it, The Gospel is a genre that is a glorification of the God of the Christian belief. It is characterized by the singer's, group's, or choir's musical ability. It is largely characterized by the use of dominant vocals; to the appeal of the listener. I couldn't agree more! Through singers like Mahalia Jackson and Mary Mary, there is a voice that is distinct to the gospel sound. Strong vocals, confident lyrics, and an instrumental that is full of feeling are all what a gospel song consists of.

The Birth of Great Music

The Birth of Blues

The Great Migration was largely responsible for the creation of Blues and it's establishment in Chicago. Although Chicago may have been one of the ports, if you will, where Blues was established, Blues music was sang in places in the south, for example, Mississippi long before it was established as an actual musical genre. But emerged as a genre somewhere around the 1890's. In the origination of Blues, as I talked of it before in the deep south, had been from the like of a slave keeping time with a job or service of some sort. I call would be projected and then there would be a response to that call among the people who were singing and/or could hear the song. But as it emerged as a genre where there was total singularity in the singing of a Blues song. Where a person would respond to a call made out by another participant, the person singing the song would respond to them self, making the song an interpretation of one's self, as it would seem. As said by Francis Davis, a reknowne connoisseur of the Blues, the Blues has often been said to be personified. The feeling of Blues has been said to overtake the singer or artist and the song wouldn't really be a song anymore. The song would then become an expression of the feeling of being "Blue."

The Birth of Gospel

Gospel owes its birth to the great Thomas Dorsey. During the '20s, Dorsey was part of the Blues sensation called Ma Rainey. While he was on the road, he received information that his wife died in labor. Farther along the road he figured out that his child had died as well. Dorsey had lost all hope in life because, as he stated himself, "...I had my life's hope in the baby." So he strayed away from music but then came back to making "songs of faith", as Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune calls them. He wrote legendary gospel songs such as "Peace in the Valley", "Today", and "Search Me Lord." The song of gospel is an interpretation of the favored feeling that one has for the Christian God. But, the sound of gospel wasn't completely "Holy" nor was it secular at the time, seeing as how the compositions were the fruits of a man who composed Blues before. But even though the sound wasn't loved at first, the music exploded along the South Side of Chicago in the '30s as a result of the establishment of the Pilgrim Baptist Church on 33rd and Indiana in Chicago; the church home of Dorsey.

Works Cited

Davis, Francis. History of the Blues. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2003. Print. Reich, Howard. "The Birth of Gospel Music." Chicago Tribune June 2009. Print.