blues: a type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes
black music: music created by African-American musicians; early forms were songs that had a melodic line and a strong rhythmic beat with repeated choruses
syncope: (phonology) the loss of sounds from within a word (as in `fo'c'sle' for `forecastle')