MEET

Cecil

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We learn about the 12 Bar Blues with our partner, Memphis-based blues educator Cecil Yancy.

American Blues first emerged around the turn of the 20th century in America's South, especially the Mississippi River Delta. By the 1920s, African-American artists like W.C. Handy found themselves as the torchbearers of a new genre, performed by African Americans and mainly marketed to African-Americans; though, through a revolutionary new medium -- radio -- it was accessible to everyone.

In the basic blues form, there are four beats to each "bar" or "measure"-- count 1-2-3-4. The musician will play a series of three chords in a progression – "the I-IV-IV pattern" -- that lasts for 12 bars before the music cycles back to the beginning. Musicians call this the 12 BAR BLUES.

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This music is from the United States. Learn more about the United States and the North American region by clicking the button below.

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