Year 8 12- Bar Blues Homework No2

(Robert Cray, “Smoking gun”, Youtube: Robert Cray ~ Smoking Gun )

Listen from the start to 2.01 only to answer the questions below.

The purpose of this work is the identification of Blues conventions as used in contemporary
pieces.
Please try to answer all questions in detail, using appropriate and relevant musical vocabulary.

1. List the instruments performing in this piece (the voice is not considered to be an
instrument).
● Piano/Keyboard
● Lead Guitar
● Drums
● Bass Guitar
2. Are these instruments typical of a traditional Blues piece? Explain your answer with
suitable examples.
● These instruments are typical traditional Blues instruments, as we can see these
instruments among a wide range of Blues pieces, such as Rock Me Baby (Lead
Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, Drums), Hoochie Coochie Man (Lead Guitar, Bass
Guitar(s), Piano, Drums), and Three O Clock Blues (Lead Guitar, Drums, Piano).
3. The structure of this extract is: Intro (0-0.19); Verse 1 (0.20- 0.55); Verse 2 (0.56-
1.26); Instrumental (1.26- 2.01).
Each verse is 16 bars long. Complete the table below identifying the chord progression
used in this piece (some chords have been placed to help you):

I I I I
I I I I
IV IV I I
IV IV V I

Explain how the chord progression used in this piece:

i. Is typical of traditional Blues music.
● This piece has utilised the one, four and five chords of the key Em
● Has a 4/4 time signature
ii. Is different to a standard blues piece.
● Has 16 bars instead of 12
4. Describe the music played in the instrumental section. Make at least three points in your
answer. You may include any specific playing techniques that you can see being used.
● In the instrumental section, he used Vibrato towards the start of the
instrumental. Also, there was String pushing towards the start. When he played
the notes in quick succession, it made it sound like the tempo was faster than it
actually was. The notes that he was playing also transposed to fit the chords
that were in the chord progression. Towards the end, when the V chord was
played, there was a set of repeated notes, almost like a mini riff, ten it went
back to the melody of the song.
5. Reflect on the lyrics and their structure. Do they follow the conventions of Blues music?
(discuss content and shape).How do they challenge these conventions (if they do)?
● They follow the conventions of the blues to some extent. The lyrics are arranged
in an ABCB form, as opposed to the typical AAB form. They also don't follow the
call and response that is supposed to be between the A and the B. In contrast,
they do tell a story, just like normal Blue lyrics, just like Smoking Gun talks
about a man who thinks his wife/girlfriend is cheating on him.
6. This piece was produced in 1986. It is a fairly recent Blues piece. Why, in your opinion,
are Blues conventions continuing to be used almost 100 years after the first Blues music
was created? Make at least three points in your answer. Backup your answer with
suitable musical examples from music that you know where necessary.
● I think that the Blues conventions are still used today, because they talk about
things that still happen today, for example Smoking Gun, which talks about
cheating, which still happens today.This is also conveyed in Three O’clock Blues,
which talks about a man who wants to commit suicide be cause he lost the one he
loved. Another reason that they are still used today is because of call and
response, whether between the instruments or the people singing it. It creates a
sound that is inventive and collective, and it also engages the audience to sing
along with your song, such as in the song How Blue Can You Get?, by BB King. The
final reason why blue conventions are used today is because of the chord
progressions. The typical blue chord progression consists of the I, IV and V
chords. This makes it easy for anyone to play, as these are usually the first
chords you learn to play when you are learning any instrument.