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Boogie Woogie/Piano Blues

 When: 1928

Super Genre: Blues

Description:

“Inspired by Ragtime music, Blues got introduced to the piano by the end of the twenties, forming Piano Blues but better known as Boogie Woogie. Similar to Ragtime, left hand provided a steady bass and the right hand provided the treble counterpoint. The result was a very rhythmic, syncopated Blues, much more uptempo and happy than usual. The piano also made it possible to add a 4/4 beat, with accent on 2nd and 4th beat. Hence, Boogie Woogie introduced the backbeat into the world of music: a milestone of great significance. Boogie Woogie’s backbeat is called a shuffle, and it made people’s feet move everywhere.

Boogie Woogie formed the ideal relief after the Great Depression and epitomized music removed of inhibition following the end of prohibition. As a post-depression natural muscle stimulant, Boogie Woogie rapidly became the drug of choice in the thirties, and it wouldn’t take long before “doing the boogie” was a common phrase for dancing to this hyperactive type of Blues.
Of course, Boogie Woogie is or was often abbreviated to Boogie, but this is deliberately avoided here to not cause confusion with the other, unrelated genre Boogie. Another synonym for the genre – Barrelhouse Blues - is derived from a bar at the time where most of the music was played: a barrelhouse. In rather a “loose” atmosphere than a tight one, Barrelhouse Blues was extremely infectious. Of particular interest were the barrelhouses in New Orleans where Piano Blues evolved into New Orleans Blues during the forties, which laid one of the foundations for Funk.” - Musicmap

Sample Song: Little Brother’s Little Boogie by Little Brother Montgomery


Up next…Jump Blues

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