Rick Wakeman - Help / Eleanor Rigby

The blues can be detected throughout modern music, from the way lyrics are written to the way songs are performed. Blues plays a huge part in R&B music, inspiring the use of music breaks, personal lyrics and call and return rhythmic styles. Modern artists also still use the extremely expressive singing style to entertain audiences during live shows. Hip hop artists have often sampled blues music to create new songs that get an emotional boost from the original piece. Modern blues artists still record in the raw singing style that originally defined the genre more than a hundred years ago.

Across modern pop, R&B and hip hop, you can hear the influence of blues as singers bend certain notes for greater emphasis and impact. The legacy of blues shines through as modern writers work to put together emotionally raw work that can touch an audience rather than creating direct narratives in their songs and music.

Appreciating music starts with exploring all genres, and understanding how they are connected and how they have built upon one another. Jazz, R&B and blues are all closely linked, yet each has a distinct sound that touches people in different ways. Each genre has also influenced the world in different ways, both artistically and socially.

Source: Understanding the Influence of Jazz, RB, and the Blues

Rick Wakeman - Help / Eleanor Rigby

• Composed by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
• Released on: The Other Side of Rick Wakeman album
• Duration: 8:31

"Rick Wakeman recorded a series of acclaimed new age albums, and maintained a prodigious recording and touring schedule, balancing his rock, new age, religious, and solo piano work, and played in clubs rather than studying technique."

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