How Do I
The Blues - In Music, That Is
If you’re singin’ and playin’ the blues, ready to learn how, or just want to curl up in a comfy chair and read about ‘em, you will find everything you need in the Music Department. A small selection from our blues collection is listed below.
For blues recordings, you may want to visit the Music Department and browse through our large collection of CDs - single CDs and box set collections. If you’ll be staying at home, there are numerous blues tracks on our streaming music sites, specifically Smithsonian Global Sound, African American Song, and American Song. You can listen free of charge with a library card from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Songbooks
The Blues Singer: some of America’s greatest blues songs
qM1630.18 .B6226 1999x
qM1630.18 .B6226 1999x
The Definitive Blues Collection
qM1630.18 .D4214 2005x
qM1630.18 .D4214 2005x
Masters of the Blues Harp (transcriptions)
qM175 .H3 2001x
qM175 .H3 2001x
Return to the topBlues Instruction
Art of Acoustic Blues Guitar. Do That Guitar Rag
This is a downloadable instructional video from Overdrive
This is a downloadable instructional video from Overdrive
Essential Jazz Etudes: The Blues
qMT 505 .W49 2003x (and others)
Click on different instruments to check availability
Includes music CD.
qMT 505 .W49 2003x (and others)
Click on different instruments to check availability
Includes music CD.
Learn to Sing the Blues: 17 tips for performing vocalists
(DVD) MT 893 .L44 2005x
Instructional video
(DVD) MT 893 .L44 2005x
Instructional video
Books about the Blues
Guralnick, Peter, ed.
Martin Scorsese presents The Blues: A Musical Journey
ML3521 .M37 2003
Companion book to the PBS series. The TV program videos are also available.
Martin Scorsese presents The Blues: A Musical Journey
ML3521 .M37 2003
Companion book to the PBS series. The TV program videos are also available.
O’Neal, Jim ed.
The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues magazine
ML394 .V65 2002
The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues magazine
ML394 .V65 2002
Urban, Michael
Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times
ML 3521 .U6 2004
Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times
ML 3521 .U6 2004
Browse the Catalog
Browse under these subject headings.
- Blues Music
- Guitar music (Blues)
- Harmonica music (Blues)
- Piano music (Blues)
- See also Rhythm and blues music
Web Sites
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Library of Congress: Southern Mosaic: John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
This collection includes nearly 700 historic sound recordings that you can listen to online, as text and photos documenting a three-month, 6,502-mile trip through the southern United States in 1939. You can browse through blues songs (85) and listen to them in MP3 format. -
PBS: The Blues: A Musical Journey
Companion website to the 7-part TV Documentary from 2003. A companion book is also available.
Pittsburgh Region
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Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania
Founded in 2004 to support the appreciation of Blues in Western Pennsylvania. -
Pittsburgh Blues Festival
Held annually in July to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. -
Steel City Blues Festival
A festival in March with an emphasis on dance.
