Prologue and Chapter 1 of "Deep Blues"

After reading both the prologue and chapter one of "Deep Blues" I think I have a deeper understanding of where blues actually originated from. The pages assigned to us for reading were very informative. It was interesting to read about but because there was so much information included, it was hard to absorb it all. It helps to read a little bit at a time to try and understand all the information presented. I really liked how the prologue is split up with a personal story and historical background of the time period. It really helps the reader stay interested and focused.
I was surprised to find out that most all music is attributed to Delta Blues in some way. I didn't ever realize that so much of what we hear today has some characteristics of early blues music. I was also somewhat amazed to find out that although blues is made up of very basic rhythms and music, many people are unable to master it. Delta Blues focuses on the lyrics of the music rather than the rhythm. It is impossible to define Blues in a specific way; it has a tendency toward 12 bar, AAA or AAB verse forms.
Blues music is derived from early African music. For example the Wolof people are most likely the creators of the banjo which is a very popular American musical instrument. Black performing style was very distinctive with grainy vocal textures, and rhythmic momentum. Black American music has always contained impure sounds. You can hear the rasp in some folk, blues and jazz music.
One thing I had trouble understanding was a sound described on pg. 45:
"...pressing a knife against the strings to get a slurred, moaining, voicelike sound that closely followed his singing."
I have trouble imagining what that would sound like. I think it would be interesting to hear it sometime.
I thought it was ironic that the term "primitive music" was used on page 46 considering the fact that we discussed the use of this word describing music for about 20 minutes during one of our classtimes.