Why aren't there any degree programs for the Blues?

[gln1955]

A lot of people (too many to quote) are commenting that the best way to get better at the blues is to get out and play it. That's definitely true, and good advice. But it's also true of almost every field I can think of, and it doesn't mean that school wouldn't help. Doctors learn a ton by actually practicing medicine, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't go to med school.

Studying the blues in an academic setting could be very valuable. From a music theory perspective, there wouldn't be a ton to do. But you could study individual styles of different players, transcribing their lines to see what makes them unique. You could also learn the history of the blues, the conditions under which it developed, its place in society, the stylistic developments, the important contributors, the commercialization of it, etc. There would, of course, have to be a heavy component of playing music with good blues players. But there's more to studying music than just learning how to play your instrument.

I also disagree with the argument that, because the blues is an oral tradition, or simple, or "something you just have to feel," that you aren't able to study it in an academic setting. You can study any kind of culture or art, regardless of how primitive or sophisticated it is. People study cave paintings. People study folk art. People study rock music. Why would it be unreasonable to study the blues?

Getting a degree in the blues wouldn't automatically make you a great blues musician. But if it's something you're interested in, there's absolutely no reason to shy away from studying it.

What you are describing would be a music history major rather than a performance degree. There have definitely been people who have made an academic career studying the history of the blues. I don't think that's what the OP had in mind, but I could be wrong.

 

[OogieWaWa]

A lot of people (too many to quote) are commenting that the best way to get better at the blues is to get out and play it. That's definitely true, and good advice. But it's also true of almost every field I can think of, and it doesn't mean that school wouldn't help. Doctors learn a ton by actually practicing medicine, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't go to med school.

Studying the blues in an academic setting could be very valuable. From a music theory perspective, there wouldn't be a ton to do. But you could study individual styles of different players, transcribing their lines to see what makes them unique. You could also learn the history of the blues, the conditions under which it developed, its place in society, the stylistic developments, the important contributors, the commercialization of it, etc. There would, of course, have to be a heavy component of playing music with good blues players. But there's more to studying music than just learning how to play your instrument.

I also disagree with the argument that, because the blues is an oral tradition, or simple, or "something you just have to feel," that you aren't able to study it in an academic setting. You can study any kind of culture or art, regardless of how primitive or sophisticated it is. People study cave paintings. People study folk art. People study rock music. Why would it be unreasonable to study the blues?

Getting a degree in the blues wouldn't automatically make you a great blues musician. But if it's something you're interested in, there's absolutely no reason to shy away from studying it.

Thanks, rocket, my thoughts exactly, you saved me a lot of typing.

As for having to have the blues to play the blues, well, none of you know me, but I've had at least my fair share in life to have damn well earned the right to play the blues, so I don't want to hear that crap. That's not at all what this is about.

 

[InhumanResource]

The problem with taking the blues to academia, is how it might set hard, fast rules as to how it should be played - which is the antithesis of the blues. The blues is a place of informal 'rules' - not hard and fast rules.

Jazz is probably the only music where you have to lessen the rules explicitly for the purpose of breaking every last one.

Blues isn't the focus of academic studies because it is quite simple. Jazz programs will include blues because there are compositional and improvisational elements that are worth learning, but jazz and classical are usually the focus because they cover the whole breadth of material one needs to study in western music.

 

[LBS-bass]

Thanks, rocket, my thoughts exactly, you saved me a lot of typing.

As for having to have the blues to play the blues, well, none of you know me, but I've had at least my fair share in life to have damn well earned the right to play the blues, so I don't want to hear that crap. That's not at all what this is about.

Here's a question. Are you looking for a course in music theory that will help you become a better player? Or are you looking for a course in blues musicology, which might include a lot of history and folklore study? The reason I ask is that I don't think the blues has enough nuance on its own to be a full theory course, but the history is definitely deep. So for the person who said we were dismissing your thoughts or ideas, I don't really feel like that's the case. I feel like some people assumed you want to learn to PLAY the blues better, and some assumed you want to learn more about the whole thing. It would be helpful to know what you want to accomplish with this degree.

 

[Ekulati]

I'll bet you could find a program in ethnomusicology and/or music history that deals primarily with blues. There's plenty of content there. But if you're talking theory....you can't make a degree out of a 15 minute lesson.

Yup, blues being a vernacular art, anything under the ethnomusicology umbrella will deal almost exclusively with cultural elements -- lifestyles, lineage, hierarchy, texts/poetry, autonomy, agency, and other fancy words -- and not "how the music goes." That said, there have been TONS of papers written under that umbrella. And books, documentaries, etc. that are available.

 

[BazzaBass]

So I'm interested in a post-graduate course, being retired I've finally got time. I really love playing the Blues and all the history and background and theory and everything. You'd figure someone would offer a program somewhere.

Ha, it appears everyone has a jazz program, but I don't see anything specifically for Blues. What the heck?

I really don't like much jazz, and I have zero interest in getting into something that only has Blues as a sidelight. Yeah, maybe the common roots are there, but come on.

The whole thing could cover a huge area just by itself, it's not that narrow of a focus or anything. You could spend a lifetime learning about it. Arguably it may be shy on the technical side, but still. What, maybe we're not "good enough" for the university types?

Anyway, just my rant. I'm not knocking the jazz crowd by any means, I really admire you folks, but it's just not my thing.

Carlos Santana says in his book Jazz is like a large lake it goes on and on. Blues, like a small pond but goes deep

So I'm interested in a post-graduate course, being retired I've finally got time. I really love playing the Blues and all the history and background and theory and everything. You'd figure someone would offer a program somewhere.

Ha, it appears everyone has a jazz program, but I don't see anything specifically for Blues. What the heck?

I really don't like much jazz, and I have zero interest in getting into something that only has Blues as a sidelight. Yeah, maybe the common roots are there, but come on.

The whole thing could cover a huge area just by itself, it's not that narrow of a focus or anything. You could spend a lifetime learning about it. Arguably it may be shy on the technical side, but still. What, maybe we're not "good enough" for the university types?

Anyway, just my rant. I'm not knocking the jazz crowd by any means, I really admire you folks, but it's just not my thing.

People will speak dismissively about the Blues - but I like what Carlos Santana said in his autobiography:

 

[IamGroot]

I have a black belt in the blues,
Cuz I know i paid my dues,
My bass is a Fender
Its colored magenta
But my pink Hello Kitty rules

 

[juancaminos]

I get you. Jazz has all the theory and respect. Blues is the bedrock but it doesn't get much academic attention except as history or as a sidebar to jazz.

It's hard sometimes to see the connection between the two. If you want to understand the connection, read "Really the Blues" by Mezz Mezzrow.

Actually I think there is plenty of room in blues for an academic course of study. You could look at the different styles - Mississippi country blues, Chicago blues, Texas blues, Louisiana blues and so forth. You could look at the transition from acoustic to electric instruments, the inclusion of horns and keys. You could look at how it influenced everything from jazz to folk to soul to rock to zydeco to rap and on and on. You could look at lyrics as expressions of social and political movements. You could look at the African roots of the music and how that thread has carried through in the work of people like John Lee Hooker and Junior Kimbrough.

If you can't find such a course of study, find a college that lets you develop your own major, and do it yourself. Or just do your own research, write a book when you're done, and award yourself a certificate.

THIS RIGHT HERE. Also look at early instruments strung with screen door wire. There is so much to it. People that say there isn't just don't know. They way each style dressed, wrote, played, where the blues harp came from, My God Man!!!! Cotton picking blues, prison blues, slave blues, woman blues, drinking blues, hen house blues, Chain Gang blues, Railroad Blues, Traveling Blues, Mean Woman Blues and on and on and on. The real meaning of Rocking, Shucking, Balling, Howling, Testifying, Devil doings etc. Geez don't tell me there's not much to it...right? I hate it when our guitar player says "oh it's just a simple blues song" Then attempts to play blues but sounds like rock. I digress before the ink runs out...

 

[juancaminos]

Carlos Santana says in his book Jazz is like a large lake it goes on and on. Blues, like a small pond but goes deep


People will speak dismissively about the Blues - but I like what Carlos Santana said in his autobiography:

View attachment 3628827

Love it!

 

[bearfoot]

You couldn't pay me to go and listen to some social justice Marxist drone on about their exploitation narrative about any form of American music, perhaps especially Blues. They've already poisoned rock history with lies and hate mongering. Leave the Blues alone.


I think Jazz and that kind of theory is more relevant than some people are aware of: that standard 3-chord , 12-bar blues we all know and love is not authentic folk blues anyway. Blues was far more chromatic and interesting before the fledgling record industry got involved. Much like with any music form in any era, the effect was homogenizing.

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

So I'm interested in a post-graduate course, being retired I've finally got time. I really love playing the Blues and all the history and background and theory and everything. You'd figure someone would offer a program somewhere.

Ha, it appears everyone has a jazz program, but I don't see anything specifically for Blues. What the heck?

I really don't like much jazz, and I have zero interest in getting into something that only has Blues as a sidelight. Yeah, maybe the common roots are there, but come on.

The whole thing could cover a huge area just by itself, it's not that narrow of a focus or anything. You could spend a lifetime learning about it. Arguably it may be shy on the technical side, but still. What, maybe we're not "good enough" for the university types?

Anyway, just my rant. I'm not knocking the jazz crowd by any means, I really admire you folks, but it's just not my thing.

The Blues is a pretty big subject. The right ethnomusicology program might have what you're looking for. Also, there are universities that will let you design a major, though I think that's kind of an undergrad thing. Maybe think less about theory and more about about culture, and get creative! Contact the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Folkways, etc.. Attend Folk Alliance in February, or get in touch with the Blues Foundation. You can definitely do this!

 

[darwin-bass]

You want a to learn the blues? Simple.

Smoke. Drink too much. Gamble your self into oppressive debt. Get divorced 3 or 4 times.

 

[Scottgun]

I'm sure elvis said that when he "copied" Little Richard and James Brown....

I'm not talking about cases of direct plagiarism of specific compositions.

 

[the rocket]

The Blues is a pretty big subject. The right ethnomusicology program might have what you're looking for. Also, there are universities that will let you design a major, though I think that's kind of an undergrad thing. Maybe think less about theory and more about about culture, and get creative!

100%

 

[the rocket]

The more I think about it, the more I think a music theory course in the blues is entirely viable. Harmonically, there may not be much to work with. But a transcription and analysis course would make sense. You could transcribe multiple solos by a particular player and analyze them to see certain tendencies. You could analyze solos by artists from different eras, or in different sub-genres, to see what characteristics are similar or different. There are graduate-level courses where you study the compositional tendencies of Bartok or Debussy. Why not have a similar course that covers some of the blues greats?

 

[Knavery]

I took a music appreciation class in college and a good part of the semester was the origin of the blues--the field holler as a result of slavery in America, etc. I would think that would be far richer than any music course on the blues which wouldn't amount to a whole lot. It's just too bad such horrible things had to happen to bring fourth a wonderful style of music.

 

[OogieWaWa]

Here's a question. Are you looking for a course in music theory that will help you become a better player? Or are you looking for a course in blues musicology, which might include a lot of history and folklore study?

Musicology, I don't think I implied anything about being a better player, maybe I worded things wrong.

Yup, blues being a vernacular art, anything under the ethnomusicology umbrella will deal almost exclusively with cultural elements -- lifestyles, lineage, hierarchy, texts/poetry, autonomy, agency, and other fancy words -- and not "how the music goes." That said, there have been TONS of papers written under that umbrella. And books, documentaries, etc. that are available.

Exactly, but it would be nice if there was guidance in finding everything under that umbrella without having to dig it up all over again by one's self.

You couldn't pay me to go and listen to some social justice Marxist drone on about their exploitation narrative about any form of American music, perhaps especially Blues.

Post-graduate level stuff is mostly about guided studying and research, and not so much lectures and classroom. Besides, I learned to filter all that stuff out many years ago and draw my own conclusions.

 

[DJ Bebop]

There is,

 

[juggahnaught]

So I'm interested in a post-graduate course, being retired I've finally got time. I really love playing the Blues and all the history and background and theory and everything. You'd figure someone would offer a program somewhere.

Ha, it appears everyone has a jazz program, but I don't see anything specifically for Blues. What the heck?

I really don't like much jazz, and I have zero interest in getting into something that only has Blues as a sidelight. Yeah, maybe the common roots are there, but come on.

The whole thing could cover a huge area just by itself, it's not that narrow of a focus or anything. You could spend a lifetime learning about it. Arguably it may be shy on the technical side, but still. What, maybe we're not "good enough" for the university types?

Anyway, just my rant. I'm not knocking the jazz crowd by any means, I really admire you folks, but it's just not my thing.

Didn't read the entire thread. This may have been said, but you're going to want to look into ethnomusicology for this type of thing. Orthodox western music schools won't supply what you're looking for unless they offer that type of program - you'll want to find something that has a healthy focus on cultural anthropology as well, not just music.

 

[dan1952]

This is a joke, right?