Blues music sounds a bit like jazz. It uses repeated
chords and the call and response which was used in
African music.
Blues came about by African Americans. They began playing it
and it was mostly played in the south. It is slow and is a mixture
of jazz and rock and roll. The slaves on the plantaion used to
sing it as a work song.
Blues music
Blues music uses the notes of the blues scale c
eb f gb g Bb c
The third and seventh notes are flattened
Blues music uses a swinging off beat rhythm
they use quavers and semiquavers to make it
sound like that. It also uses the 12 bar blues
which are the chords C C C C F F C C G F C C.
Blues music also uses a walking bass. In blues
there are three lines in each verse. the pattern is
A A B. Also at the end of each line there is a fill
which is a line of instrumental.
Blues music uses a slow tempo. Also they use
harmonica, guitar, banjo, violin and the double
base.
Defintions
Pentatonic; The scale used in blues music
Scat singing: When you improvise random notes.
Riff; A pattern of notes like an ostinato
Stop time: When the band stops playing and there is a solo.
Improvisation: When you play notes that you are doing on the spot from a pacific scale.
Think in Blues by Bessie Smith
Each verse has three lines. There is a fill after each line. There are four bar introduction. It
uses a slow tempo, loud dynamics that suddenly go soft. Nowadays in Blues music we have
electric instruments. We don't follow the traditional blues structure and our lyrics are more
upbeat.
Minor key. Long notes. Lyrics tell a story. Vocals do the
melody the trumpet does the fills and piano does the chords.
How to remember the lines and spaces of the base and treble cleff
Treble clef: Spaces= face lines= Every Good Boy Deserves Footballs
Base Clef: Spaces= All Cows Eat Grass Lines= Good Boys Deserve Fun Always