The blues, as an artform, is the expression of a feeling of depression or melancholoy. It provides the artist, and in turn the listener, relief from the pain of life's woes. Technically, it is the accumulation of many decades of musical tradition passed down by slaves and later by sharecroppers. Many of the first recorded blues artists grew up sharecroppers. They worked hard all day, were poor, and ate meager meals. They learned to relieve their pain by playing the blues. The blues was first played primarily on banjo and harmonica, but was later dominated by the guitar. Many consider the blues not only as an artform, but a way of life. Brownie McGhee once said, "blues if life." To truly understand the blues, one must have the blues.
