The full name of R&B is Rhythm & Blues, which is generally translated as "Rhythm & Blues". In a broad sense, R&B can be regarded as "black pop music". It originated from black blues music and is the basis of today's western pop and rock. Billboard magazine once defined R&B as all black music, except for Jazz and Blues. It can be classified as R&B, which shows how broad the scope of R&B is. Hip Hop and Rap, which have become very popular in the black music circle in recent years, both originate from R&B and retain many R&B elements. It has derived many different music types, such as the familiar Rock'n'Roll, Disco and Rap, all of which can be regarded as developed from R&B.

The origin of resentment - blues

The predecessor of R&B appeared in the black areas of the United States in the 1940s.

At that time, not many people could afford colorful entertainment. Black people who loved music liked to gather on the streets after dinner and play music with simple instruments such as guitars and harmonicas to express their life and work. , leaving home and other feelings. This led to the development of Blues, the predecessor of R&B.

With the invention of the tape and the emergence of more and more small radio stations, blues music began to break out of the black circle and became popular in Chicago. I don’t know if it’s because blues music has been talked about as sad for too long. Music fans are eager to hear blues songs with strong rhythm, bright tunes and not too sad content.

In response to changes in public taste, musicians added piano, drums, saxophone and the latest technology of the time - electronic guitar, to their works, allowing the audience to follow the rhythm (Rhythm). ) danced to the strong new-school blues music (Blues), creating the classic "Rhythm Song".

Fresh rhythm

Important R&B musicians from the 1950s to the 1960s included Ray Charles, Ruth Brown and The Drifters. Listening to their classic works, you will find that they are very different from the R&B music we are familiar with, such as Jay Chou, Hikari Utada, etc. But as far as musical elements are concerned, they still have many similarities. The most outstanding thing is the rhythm part.

Most R&B works use 4 beats as a measure and 12 beats as a paragraph. Different from traditional white pop music, the rhythm song emphasizes the 2nd and 4th beats of a section, which is a very fresh rhythm effect.

The sound quality changes a lot

The timbre of the singing voice or the musical instrument will vary greatly.

Sound quality is the "texture" of the sound. When we hear "Mud", we will feel that Xu Zhian's singing is very tragic; and the sound of the wooden boy flute often gives us a very lively feeling. This is the effect of the different timbres of vocals and instruments.

In R&B works, such as Jay Chou's "Bullfighting" or "Lady", we can easily find that both the music and the use of vocal lines are obvious in the beginning and chorus. Different treatments.

Singing voices and instrumental parts often echo each other - in R&B songs, when the singer sings certain notes, the musical part or the harmony singer will repeat/sing those notes again. It's like "questions and answers", or it can be used as a "yes man".

Another characteristic of R&B is that it repeats some phrases and sentences many times. Just like the continuous "I don't, I don't, I don't" in "Tornado", it is an obvious example.