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Music genre

St. Louis blues

St. Louis blues is a music genre that emerged in United States. It is usually classed as a form of blues and music of Missouri. Explore key artists and related styles.

Listen: St. Louis blues examples

Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong - The St. Louis Blues (1925)
3:10Public domainby Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, W. C. HandyWikimedia Commons
3:10
St. Louis Blues March - Shades of Blue - United States Air Force Band of Mid-America
4:09Public domainby Composition: W. C. Handy; Transcription: Cecil…Wikimedia Commons
4:09
St Louis Blues - Handy's Memphis Blues Band (1922 sound recording)
3:08Public domainby Recording: Handy's Memphis Blues…Wikimedia Commons
3:08

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

About St. Louis blues

St. Louis blues is a music genre that emerged in United States. It is usually classed as a form of blues and music of Missouri.

From Wikipedia

Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture. The blues form is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, and is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale, and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes (or "worried notes"), usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.

Genre family tree

Parent genres (↑) and subgenres (↓) of St. Louis blues.

Related genres

Frequently asked questions

What is St. Louis blues?

St. Louis blues is a music genre that emerged in United States. It is usually classed as a form of blues and music of Missouri.

Where and when did St. Louis blues originate?

St. Louis blues originated in United States.

Sources & credits