electric blues
Plugged-in Delta sound
Electric blues is a style of blues music that emerged in the mid-20th century when musicians began using amplified instruments—electric guitars, bass, harmonicas with microphones—rather than purely acoustic ones.
The amplification allowed for louder, more aggressive performances in urban clubs and dance halls.
Artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf helped define the sound, which laid groundwork for rock and roll.
- riffRepeated musical phrase
- power chordRoot-fifth guitar voicing
- Muddy WatersChicago blues founding figure
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
- juke jointInformal Southern music bar
B.B. King · shuffle · bend · pick · African American heritage · call and response · roadhouse · honky tonk · slide · rhythm guitar · gritty · turnaround · improvisation · amplifier · distortion pedal · boogie · smoky · smoky bar
- BluesB.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, blue notes, Buddy Guy
- Black Musicjazz, gospel choir, hip hop, R&B, funk
electric bluesacoustic blues
Unplugged twelve-bar tradition
country blues · Mississippi blues · acoustic music · Texas blues · folk music
blues, electric, electricity, electrical, electrify, electron, electrifying, electrified, electrocute