What is the difference between blues and r&b?

Blues talks about trials and tribulations. Blues is the harsh truth of love, loss of love, cheating, all of lifes troubles and all of lifes Good Times...The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!!!! It' Real for sure!
* Cheating in the Next Room
*Last 2 Dollars
*Don't Jump My Pony
*Hit it & Quit It
*I'm Mr. Jody
*While You Been Stepping Out (Some One Else is Stepping In)
#####These are just a few titles that give a sample of what it is all about. It can go deeper. Check it Out!


R&B Speaks about loving and keeping, and If lost, how can I get it back. It speaks about grooving and moving. It speaks about having fun even in a down situation. It' speaks of reality as well. It's all about Joy and Pain with both R&B and Blues!!!

What ever you choose, enjoy it, appreciate it and love it forever!!!!!

Riffs and meter.

well, the name... Rythm N Blues ain麓t blues,you know. Blues is the older style....

One difference is that in blues music the chord structure is usually based on the 141541 (i.e.CFCGFC) chord progression. R&B isn't.
Also the main lyrical theme in blues is sadness, bad luck, depression, etc. R&B lyrics can be sad but thats not the theme representing the genre like it is with blues.
Also blues is a great format to jam in if you are semi skilled as a musician. You just need to know the key. R&B isn't that easy to just get up and jam to. Theres usually a lot more chords.

Blues usually follows specific chord patterns and has specific themes about being given the shaft by life's circumstances - not always, but usually. R&B is more about romancing a lady, and can have very different chordal progressions and structure, and instrumentation. You probably won't hear a string section in the blues very often, but in R&B it is very common. They do overlap, and they both cover a lot of territory.

Blues has that southern draw and helps you with problems and R & B is alabout love and sex and Angie must really love Johnny "JT" Taylor cause you named all his songs

R&B> rhythm that moves you, when your in a blue mood...

I once heard an old dude tell me in Chicago that rhythm and blues is talking about how broke you are, how lonely you are, and how hurt you are while you're sitting on your front porch with a guitar and that with the blues, you don't have a damn porch to sit on to sing about them.

Basically though, chord progression and age are what separates the two. R&B spawned from the Delta Blues of the 20s and turn of the Century. Blues has a standard 1-4-5 whereas R&B varies.

Hope this helps and made you laugh.

blues is much more whiney and old. :)

The blues repeat the first verse and tune, then "answer" with a chorus. Originally sung solo the lament of 1 person, and with little or no accompanyment.

Blues generally uses more guitar oriented songwriting (not always) It follows a I-IV-V progression(not always) and generally is in a 12 bar format(8 is also common). R&B, is horn oriented in most of it's forms. R&B is more soul music, than blues. Horns and big vocals, done with a distinct bluesy feel, but not restricted to the above chord progressions, or time formats. Ex: Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, blues. Otis Redding, Temptations, R&B.

The farther you get from the classic 12-bar AABA' pattern, the more you drift towards R&B.