Blues » Early Acoustic Blues » Acoustic Blues

Acoustic Blues is a general catch-all term describing virtually every type of blues that can be played on a non-electric musical instrument. It embraces a wide range of guitar and musical styles including folk, the songster tradition, slide, fingerpicking, ragtime, and all of the myriad regional strains (Chicago, Delta, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Piedmont, etc.) that thrived in the early days of the genre's gestation. But acoustic blues is not limited to merely guitar music; its "acoustic" appellation is an elastic enough term to also include mandolin, banjo, piano, harmonica, jug, and other non-electric instruments including homemade ones, like the one string monochord bottleneck diddleybow.