Blues

ORIGIN & MUSICAL INFLUENCES

- Blues means melancholy or sadness.

- Origin in the early twentieth century in African-American communities in the United States, with influence of spirituals, work songs and Scottish and Irish ballads.

- It had great influence on Western popular music: rock & roll, funk, heavy metal, pop, hip-hop.

INSTRUMENTS

Voice

Harmonica (mouth organ)

Banjo

Guitar

Bass Guitar or Double Bass

Piano or Organ

Drumkir

FORM

12 bars, call-and-response pattern

- Call (4 bars)

- Response (4 bars)

- Conclusion (4 bars.)

MELODY & LYRICS

- It uses the blues scale with flattened 3ª, 5ª and 7ª (blue notes)

- Lyrirc: one repeated sentence and one conclusion sentence. Personal topics, about love, lost, sadness...

- Each sentence lasts 4 bars.

RHYTHM

- It uses Shuffle: rhythmic effect made with a brush on a drum, which mimics the steps dragging foot.

  8 quavers played in a "ternary" rhythm, so that the first lasts longer than the second one.

- Call-and-response pattern with repetitive effect.

- Time Signature: 4/4

- Slow blues is played in a 12/8 time signature (4 beats per bar, with 3 subdivisions in each beat)

HARMONY

Chord Progressio in 12 bars I-I-I-I - IV-IV-I-I - V-IV-I-I

Variation: I-IV-I-I - IV-IV-I-I - V-IV-I-V