Blues and Arabesk a Comparative Study

Abstract

Music is a reflection of a culture. There is a vast collection of musical genres in human history as many as the cultures in the history of mankind. Blues and arabesk are only two examples. Is it possible that these two distinct musical genres formed on lands far apart have common traits? This paper examines the parallelism of blues and arabesk in terms of the formation of the genres. Both blues and arabesk are the products of cultures of people located in a new land carrying their cultural traditions of the places they have left. The music is formed through interaction with the culture met, roots in the old tradition. Blues is not African music, it is African American. Arabesk is neither Turkish Folk nor Turkish Art music. When themes are analyzed it reveals that the strength of these two musical genres in terms of the bonds, the solidarity they offer their audiences generates through the use of the ‘‘implied narrative’’(Stokes) which is known by both the singer and the audience. By dealing with the results of the conditions, the music eloquently fulfills its protest characteristic without protesting the authority directly. In determining the parallelism of two musical genres so different, the cultures they were formed in and especially the experiences of people play an important role. Both blues and arabesk are the products of the culture of their people and the setting they were formed in.