RHJB Meetup

3/2/21
Agenda
● The hang
● Open mic
● “The Majesty of the Blues”
The Blues
It is a style, a genre, a song form, a scale, and a culture.
The earliest notion of “the blues” comes from 1741 in a letter by author David
Garrick:
“The Town is exceeding hot & Sultry & I am far from being quite well, tho not
troubled wth ye Blews as I have been.”
The Blues is not unanimously downhearted. It is often upbeat and forms the
backbone of jazz and rock. Yet, the genre allows one to confront grief head-on,
and perhaps to commiserate with the audience in the shared experience of
humanity.
The Blues
Metaphors, double entendre, puns, and innuendo in the lyrics.
Partly to hide messages from the out-group.
Country Blues represents the most direct link to field hollers and
work songs. There are few recordings prior to 1920. Alan Lomax
was lucky enough to catch the voices the earliest known
generation.
Typically, a single vocalist self-accompanied on fiddle, banjo, or
guitar.
Vocal lines were two measures long, leaving breaks for improv or
call-and-response.
By the time Lomax arrived, 12-bar AA’B form had been
established with standard harmonic progression (I - IV - I - V - I).
The Blues
Tonality is neither major or minor, but we refer to major
and minor blues. This is in part due to the fact that the
Blues Scale contains the maj and min 3rd.
This Blue Note, is not known to come from Africa but,
rather, seems to have appeared in the melange of
African and European music during slavery.
The African roots of the Blues are more evident. The
emphasis on triplet phrasing that emerges in jazz (i.e.,
swing) comes from the confluence of 12/8 meter
common to African music and 2/4 march time in
European music.

Typical African bell patterns

Early History

*Disclaimer: This is a vast genre, and we’re only skimming the surface here.

1. Country Blues
2. Classic Blues
3. Urban Blues
4. Instrumental Blues
Early History: Country Blues
Existed before and after the advent of recording.

It is a folk music passed on by oral tradition.

First known recording (1924), Papa’s Lawdy Lawdy Blues

by “Papa” Charlie Jackson.

Other pillars include, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House,

Leadbelly, and “Sleepy” John Estes, and Robert Johnson
to name a few.

Characterized by a self-accompanied singer, rubato, AAB,

relatively less improv compared to call-and-response.
Early History: Classic Blues
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was one of the first black female vocalists to
perform with a jazz band or piano.

Backed by Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders (Cor., Cl., Pn., and Vl).

“Titanic Man Blues” (1926) is the first recorded 16-bar blues:

||: I | I7 | IV V | I | I VI7 | II7 | V | V7 :||

Note: Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins were on this track.

W.C. Handy, the self-proclaimed “father of the blues” spread the

genre by writing original compositions and transcribing known tunes.
His most famous was St. Louis Blues (1914).
Early History: Classic Blues
Bessie Smith “the empress of the blues”

Bessie’s version of St. Louis blues combines

ABB 12-bar with a bridge C to yield ABCA.

Ida Cox was one of the most successful

recording artists said to be more
representative of the style.

Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters, Jimmy Rushing

(later with Count Basie) are pioneers.
Early History: Urban Blues

The introduction of electrified instruments and formal

band arrangements brought a “city sophistication” to
the Country Blues. A descriptor used cautiously. The
Classic Blues was already performed in urban cities,
but the forms had yet to be truly codified.

The integration of blues into the repertoire of early

jazz bands like Count Basie, who included Jimmy
Rushing as a leader of the style, marked a
“maturation” of the style.
Early History: Instrumental Blues

12-bar blues became a standard forme fixe with jazz orchestras.

If anything, it represented a fallback or shorthand to an elaborate composition. It

was the essence of jazz. Call “Blues in F,” and the band knew exactly what to do.

Dippermouth Blues (1923) by King Oliver introduced a form that would be

standard to arrangements: 4-bar intro, 12 choruses, tag. Chorus were passed
between soloists, two at a time. Stop time was used for variety.
Common embellishments on harmony
Standard: I6 | % | % | % | IV7 | % | I6 | % | V7 | IV7 | I6 | %

Var 1: I6 | IV7 | I6 | % | IV7 | % | I6 | % | V7 | IV7 | I6 | %

Var 2: I6 | IV7 | I6 | % | IV7 | #IVDIM | I6 | % | V7 | IV7 | I6 | %

Var 3: I6 | IV7 | I6 | vi7 I7 | IV7 | #IVDIM | iii7 | VI7 | ii7 | V7 | I6 | %

Var 4: I6 | IV7 | I6 | % | IV7 | #IVDIM | iii7b5 | VIalt | ii7b5 | Valt | I6 | %

Var 5: I6 | IV7 | I6 | % | IV7 | #IVDIM | iii7b5 | VIalt | ii7b5 | Valt | I6 | iii7b5 | VIalt | ii7b5 | Valt

Var 6: I7 | VII7 | VI7 | V7 | IV7 | % | I6 | % | V7 | IV7 | I6 | %

Minor: imaj7 | % | % | % | iv7 | % | i6 | % | ii7b5 | Valt | imaj7 | (ii7b5 Valt)

Melody
1st blues scale in C: C, D, Eb, G, A

2nd blues scale in C borrows from the relative major: Eb, F, F#, G, Bb, C

Both can be used at any time. Typically, use #1 over the tonic or IV chord and #2 for
variety and over the IV and V chord.

Maintain the same phrase through harmony or, transpose the phrase with the harmony.

Pickups and putdowns: Classic riffs that repeat, first ending up and then ending down.
Combine these figures.

Master signature turnarounds.

Melody

In minor harmony, scales follow chords more closely. E.g., C min maj 7 or C-7, D
locrian, F min, G alt. There is an easier way to think of these, particularly if you are
familiar with the bebop scales

C min maj 7 >> F7 (play with B vs Bb to add color)

D loc >> Eb

F min >> Bb7

G alt >> Db7 (note: the B is the real color tone here)
Idioms and extended techniques
Drums: The shuffle beat

Bass: Stereotypical bass lines borrowed from piano blues.

Guitar: Slide guitar. Bending notes.

Piano: Boogie Woogie. Stereotypical bass patterns, intros, endings, and breaks. “Pick ups”
and “put downs.” Repetition (i.e., Don’t overplay. Let the harmony do the work!)

Melodic players: Bending the blue note.

Approaching notes from above and below using slurs. And here. Growls. Hums. Buzzes.

Vocalists: See here

Further Applications: Riffs and background lines

Count Basie often improvised entire arrangements based on the blues.

Dawn Hampton, as a member of the Savoy Ballroom house band, reports stealing
riffs from other bands on a nightly basis and using them the next day. Mostly,
because half the kids couldn’t read music.
Resources for practice

Aebersold “Blues in all major keys” and “Minor Blues in all Keys”

David Baker’s Blues Patterns:

https://www.amazon.com/Blues-Improvisational-Patterns-Instruments-Bakers/dp/B
002WZ4FRU

Call and response exercise: Record and improvised call >> practice your
response.

Ear training: Find a classic blues playlist and repeat what you hear.
Further reading...

Frank Tirro’s “Jazz: A History”

Robert Palmer’s “Deep Blues”