胶东大鼓初为盲人所创，早年的演唱者都是说书兼算卦。到了清嘉庆之后，才结合【靠山调】慢慢发展成早期大鼓的曲调。20世纪20年代，流行胶东半岛各地的盲人，吸收东路大鼓、莱阳弹词、茂腔等唱腔曲调，得到新的发展。
Jiaodong dagu was initially created by the blind. In its early years the singers were both storytellers and fortunetellers. Not until the reign of Emperor Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty had it mixed with [Kao Shan Diao] and developed gradually into a dagu in terms of melody and tune. In the 1920s, blind singers in Jiaodong Peninsula adopted features from the Donglu dagu, Laiyang tanci, Mao Tune and other singing tunes, with the result that it was further developed.
胶东大鼓是流行于胶东半岛上的一种鼓曲形式，大致可分为三路。按乾隆初年荣成、刘学义出现时推算，该曲种产生已有250年左右的历史。
Jiaodong dagu is a form of song accompanied by drums, very popular in the Jiaodong Peninsula. It can be roughly divided into three schools. This art has about a 250-year history calculated from the emergence of Rongcheng and Liu Xueyi in the early years of the reign of Emperor Qianlong.
胶东大鼓的伴奏乐器有鼓、板和三弦。
Jiaodong dagu is accompanied by drums, clappers, and sanxian (a three stringed instrument).
民国二十六年（1937）抗日战争爆发，胶东各地盲艺人基于爱国热情，将盲人组织"三皇会"改建为"盲人抗日救国会"，以演唱大鼓进行抗日宣传。
When the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China (1937), the blind singers around Jiaodong, out of patriotism, reorganized the "Sanhuanghui" into "the Blind unio of Resistance Against Japan and Save the Nation from Extinction" to publicize resistance against Japan's invasion by performing Jiaodong dagu.
胶东大鼓在胶东民间民俗文化中占有重要地位，是丰富多彩的胶东民间民俗文化的一个缩影，在各个历史时期，特别是在抗日战争时期，发挥了重要的作用，影响巨大。
Jiangdong dagu plays an important role in the folk culture of Jiaodong, which is a miniature of the rich and colorful Jiaodong folk culture. It has played an important role and has significant influence in every historical period, especially during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
发掘、抢救和保护胶东大鼓，对烟台地区乃至全国的精神文明建设，丰富人民群众的文化生活，提高人民群众的素质，促进人们全面发展，构建社会主义和谐社会，都将产生重要的促进作用。
Exploring, saving and protecting Jiaodong dagu will, throughout Yantai area and even the whole country, play an important role in promoting the spiritual civilization construction, enriching and improving people's cultural life and quality, making people develop in an all-round way, and building a harmonious socialist society.