chicago blues
what it is
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums, piano, and sometimes saxophone, and making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier. The music developed when poor Black workers did the "Great Migration" from the South into the industrial cities of the North such as Chicago in the first half of the twentieth century. Chicago Blues has a more extended palette of notes than the standard six-note blues scale; often, notes from the major scale and dominant 9th chords are added, which gives the music a more "jazz feel" whilst still being in the confines of the blues genre.
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level 2 · the door
big names with a sharper edge
level 3 · one step out
cult favorites and indie darlings
level 4 · further
art pop, hyperpop, and the underground
level 5 · all the way
deep experimental
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questions
What is chicago blues?
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums, piano, and sometimes saxophone, and making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier. The music developed when poor Black workers did the "Great Migration" from the South into the industrial cities of the North such as Chicago in the first half of the twentieth century. Chicago Blues has a more extended palette of notes than the standard six-note blues scale; often, notes from the major scale and dominant 9th chords are added, which gives the music a more "jazz feel" whilst still being in the confines of the blues genre.
What are good chicago blues albums to start with?
Try Hard Again by Muddy Waters, His Best by Howlin' Wolf, West Side Soul by Magic Sam, and Confessin' The Blues by Little Walter.
Who are some women making chicago blues?
musicisforgirls.com/genres/chicago-blues/girls lists women, non-binary artists, and bands with women making chicago blues, from mainstream to underground.
genre notes from last.fm listeners · artists and albums from last.fm, updated 2026-10-20