Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
string rhythmic pattern
supports a syncopated
melody
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...
using the
treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger, occasionally others.
The result is comparable in sound to
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
or
stride piano styles.
Blues researcher
Peter B. Lowry coined the term, giving co-credit to fellow
folklorist Bruce Bastin.
The Piedmont style is differentiated from other styles, particularly the Mississippi
Delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of th ...
, by its ragtime-based rhythms.
Origins
The basis of the Piedmont style began with the older "frailing" or "framming" guitar styles that may have been universal throughout the South, and was also based, at least to some extent, on formal "parlor guitar" techniques as well as earlier banjo playing,
string band, and
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
. What was particular to the Piedmont was that a generation of players adapted these older, ragtime-based techniques to blues in a singular and popular fashion, influenced by guitarists such as
Blind Blake and
Gary Davis.
Geography
The Piedmont blues was named after the
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
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plateau region, on the East Coast of the United States from about
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
to
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
. Piedmont blues musicians come from this area, as well as
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and northern
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, western
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, central
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
, eastern
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, and
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
– later the Northeastern cities such as
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
, and
New York.
Nick Spitzer, Professor of Anthropology and American Studies, folklorist, and producer of ''American Routes'' describes Piedmont Blues in this way:
Among the rolling hills, small farms, mills, and coal and railroad camps of the rural East Coast Piedmont, between Tidewater coast and the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, black and white economic and cultural patterns have overlapped considerably — more so than in the nearby areas or the Deep South. Piedmont blues styles reflects this, meshing traces of gospel, fiddle tunes, blues, country, and ragtime into its rolling, exhuberant sound.
Recordings
Recording artists such as
Blind Blake,
Josh White,
Buddy Moss, and
Blind Boy Fuller helped spread the style on the strength of their sales throughout the region.
It was nationally popular with the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
audience for about twenty years from the mid-1920s through to the mid-1940s.
Blind Boy Fuller recorded "
Step It Up and Go" in 1940.
Post-World War II
As a form of Black American popular music, Piedmont blues fell out of favor on a national basis after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. By the late-1950s, it was being performed at US folk music revivals and festivals initially by established Piedmont blues artists such as
Josh White,
Rev. Gary Davis, and
Brownie McGhee and
Sonny Terry, as well as
Cephas & Wiggins,
John Jackson in later years.
While musicologists such as
George Mitchell,
Peter B. Lowry and
Tim Duffy collected recordings by the aging community of Piedmont blues players, younger musicians such as
Stefan Grossman,
Roy Book Binder
Roy Book Binder (born October 5, 1943 as Paul Roy Bookbinder) is an American blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and storyteller. A student and friend of the Rev. Gary Davis, he is equally at home with blues and ragtime. He is known to shift ...
,
Jorma Kaukonen,
Paul Geremia,
Keb Mo',
Michael Roach, Samuel James,
Eric Bibb,
Ry Cooder,
David Bromberg, and
Guy Davis have carried on the Piedmont tradition, often having "studied" under some of the old Piedmont masters.
The Piedmont fingerpicking style of guitar playing has also influenced other folk and popular musicians such as
Doc Watson and
Ralph McTell.
Arlo Guthrie famously used a Piedmont blues backing for his "
Alice's Restaurant" monologues, as it was easy to play repeatedly for long stretches of time.
[Doyle, Patrick (November 26, 2014)]
Arlo Guthrie looks back on 50 years of Alice's Restaurant
''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
Preservation efforts
Cultural organizations in North Carolina have supported the preservation of the Piedmont blues. The
Greensboro-based Piedmont Blues Preservation Society has partnered with musicians such as
Max Drake and a number of public schools in North Carolina to provide performances, exhibitions, and educational programs.
See also
*
List of Piedmont blues musicians
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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External links
Archie Edwards Blues Heritage FoundationPiedmont Blues Preservation Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piedmont blues
Blues music genres
Music of Virginia