music | 29 LADUEPUBLICATIONS.COM | OCTOBER 2021 9:;<=)=>?:< A minor pentatonic scale plus an added flattened fifth >DEEDF:G)=<?:)>R?C?>H=) HD):DDS)TDC3 IEKCDLI=?HIDF Most frequently used chord progression (/&*# 4/4 time CIJ used around chord changes @AB9?C)9:;<= -.# -.# !"#$%&'()*+,' ) blues ) History, musicians and sounds of the genre )instrument)) *+/!1#)!$22 Popularized blues across races (/&-$" ,565).$'*4 instruments $1!#"-)%&'( 0$)"$&'#4 0$0&#)20&-. illustration by | OVIYA SRIHARI Ragtime, gospel music and folk music begin to mix and form blues @MNN= Rural blues develop in Georgia, Texas and Missisippi @MON= media publicizes more fast-paced songs. However, some still recognize the significance of historic music to St. Louis culture and sustain its beauty. As a member of the Jazz Club, junior Ronan Agrawal has always been involved with music, which allows him to express himself. He plays two different kinds of violins: the classical violin and the electric. “Music allows us to be who we are and defy the normal binary that most generations have aligned to,” Agrawal said. “It has also been a metric, or a sort of tool, that we use to help us express who we are. In a community, the different music and musical instruments that we have access to affects the culture. Everyone brings their own culture into different areas of the world and by bringing that, creates a new culture.” W.C. Handy publishes first blues song in 1912, “Memphis Blues” @O@N= !1/#23)$).&2-+"4 Black female artists popularize the scene @OPN= Along with Agrawal, sophomore Aditya Jain joined the Jazz Club to be more in-tune with culture and his appreciation for music. The group meets during seminar to rehearse. “Music is a way to express yourself,” Jain said. “I became interested in jazz through the jazz concert I attended in middle school. Through music, there’s an orchestra and band and 50 or 60 people who like to interact with each other, play music and have a good time. So, music is a lot of fun and gives a lot of people happiness.” As new forms of music become popular due to modern social change, the younger generation slowly moves towards brief, repeated lines of catchy tunes and beats. Despite the distinctive lyrics and beats that are embedded in each song, Blues paves way for genres such as jazz and soul @OQN= the younger generation sometimes forgets the roots of those forms of music. Thus, only when people recognize and appreciate the heritage of St. Louis music, will the influence of jazz and blues live on for decades to come. “People must be dedicated to not only preserving the African American art form called the blues, but also show how it’s continuing to be a living, breathing part of music today,” Hegwood said. “When we see older pictures, it’s not only black and white. Those people were living in pictures, so to have that notion and understanding that, ‘No, this music is still here.’ That’s the mission of the National Blues Museum: to introduce more younger people to blues. The music they listen to every day, but they don’t quite know it yet.” P