anthony marks - learn to play blues
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, ; , i ;
'
t t r 1
t ,
LEARN
TO
PLAY
BLUE5
. f
:O rn",
for
piano
r
keyboard
th extra
arts
or
ot l -e '
's i ' - , - - : -
' {
v
is$
s
'..StEl
1
.d
€l
rl
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Contents
About Blues 4
Blue
Melody 6
WalkingBlues 7
BusyBlues
8
Lazy Day Blues 9
The
Originsof
Blues I0
The Promised and 12
On
My WayHome 13
Follow
he
Leader | 4
Woodchopper'sWork Song
The FirstBlues 16
The HappyMinstrel
18
Hound
Dog Blues l9
Songster's une 20
Dime Rag
22
Recording he Blues
24
Swinging
Blues or Two 26
Gracefully
lue 28
TWelve-bar tride
29
FourHandsBlues
30
Blues
nstruments32
Back Porch
Blues
34
Up
to Five Blues 36
Fishin'LineBlues
38
CountryBlues
40
MississippiRiver Blues 42
Black
Cat
Blues 44
PrisonCell
Blues 45
Goin'EastBlues 46
PianoBlues 48
Crary Feet
Boogie 49
ChooChooBoogie 50
Boogie or Two 52
Blues n the City 54
After Midnight 56
The Runaround
58
Funky
BassBlues
60
Blues
Today 62
Listening
o
Blues
63
Index 64
t5
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1 , , ^ - i - ^ ^ + , , 1 ^ ^ ( ^ , , - : -
r u r )
) d ) L y r c
thatwasdevelopedy
African
Americans t the
beginningf he
20th enturyn
theSouth f he USA.
I t s nowoneof he
most mponant
musical ty lesn
tnewono . n l s
book sabout
the
history
nd
developmentf
blues, i th u
nes
to
play
and deas
formakingmusic.
Theword
blues"
s not
n n l ' , , , < a i t n r l a c r r r h p : t , i n c n f
music . t is a lsoused o meana
sador melancholytate f
mind.Periormersang
blues
o expresshese
feel ingsndemot ions.
Some
lues ongsel lof
thehard ives edby
Afr ican
Americans,
hi le
others
el l
thestor ies
f mportant
events
nd
people
Others
dealwithmore
enera
sublects
ikehopes, reams
and
ove f fairs.
Theront oNerf im a.kson'Kdxs,is
CitU fues
About this book
l l
you
areun fa r ri a r
wt t
b lues .
i t might elp
f
you
play
he
tunes n
pages
-9 rrst .
hese
are
oureasy
ieces
hat
wi l l
help
ou
o hear
ow
blues
sounds.
heywl l lalso ntroduce
\ , ^ t ^ < ^ m a ^ f t h p m . \ < t
important spectsf blues
About Blues
to
get
hemostout of he
music.
Af ter
hat ,
he book overshe
l .
c lo ' i . a l
eve lopmentl b l ues
and
gives
xamplesf
tsvarious
styles
T l - ^ ^ i ^ ^ ^ ^
i l lH
p.c \
e \ . J I
I JdgcS
O-v d le
Very
dif ferentromeach ther, ut hey
areal l blues
musicYou
can
1 . , - F ^ ^
, -
- - .
"
I
t r r u t s | Zc
ways. hey re
nearly
l l based
n
certain hains nd
patterns
f
chords. hese recal led lues
progressrons,
no
neyare
explainedn
page
9
and
elsewhere
n
thebook.
Bluessa so ecognizable
becauset is usual ly
layed
n a
few
popular
ins t ruments :
^ : . ^ ^ ^ ' ' i + . . . . , J
p r d i r u , 6 u r L d r , d I u
harmonica. ost
o f i h e n i e c c s i n
th s bookare
wri t ten or
pia
o
n r I c v h n : r r ] h r r t
manyconra ln
par ts
or
gui tar ,
harmonca and
othermelody
i n s t r u m e n t s .
These
may
be
usefu i f you
w d n t
o
p
ay
- n u c
r
w i t h r r e n d .
) ou
c d n i n do u l m o r ea b o u t h s
on
page
63
V n r r r : n : l < n n f t c n r p r o o n i z c
b ues ecausef he
way
he
musicia
s
play
heir
nstruments.
Most
blues
musicians ake
arts
of heirmusic pas hey
go
along.
Thrs
s
cal led
mprovisat ion.ou
(dn
edrn o rcabo, . t lh i son
pdge
l9 and i nd u thow o do
t
on
pages
I ,39and
9.
Playing he tunes
T h p r e > r a h i , r p < t r n a c i n n l : v
throughouthe
book. swel las
tel l ing
ou
somethingbout he
d i f f p r e n l h l , r e * : v l e *
e a ,
L
n r p e
+ ^ - - L ^ , , f ^ l - , , i ^ ^ f l - ^
L r P > d u u u r p r d y r r S u , c
musicwel l .Themetronome
markingst hestart f each iece
tel lyou
what
peed
o
play
bul
you
might eelmore omfortable
witha d f ferent peed.
Mostof he
pieces
ontain
piano
ingerlngumbers. ome f
these
may eel ather t rangef
you
have ot
played
lues efore,
but heywi l l help
ou
o
play
n an
. r ' h e - l , h r r e - . r l p O n r e .
r t
are
amil iar i th he music,
however,
ou
may
want
o t ry
your
own ingerings
At theendof hebook, ouw l l
f indmoreadvice bout
playing
blues,
ndsuggest ionabout
bluesmusic o l is ten o
p l a y i n g ,
n d
e x p l a i n o w
A roll i iorol lr.s
slleet- 11usla
t(0(a
labelsnd
ubluityt
pictures
fblues
A blues armo ict:l
knawn sa blues arp
TheCibsan 533,,
.t
papul6ruitar
u,ith lues
- * i " " ; ; " . - @ ' @ . "
i";
"ffi*lrr-.:
f;:tl*&;r.n,,*
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Recordsand stars
Becauselues evelopedt he
. a n e
- i ' - 1 e
a .
- o . . ^ d
" e r n . d i n p
i t ,
historys c loselyinkedwith he
growth
nddevelopment
f he
recordingndustry.t
was
oneof
the
irst
ypes
f music o become
popular
n thebasis f
recordings
and
ecordingtars. oucan ead
about he history i
recording,
nd
of blues
ecords n
pages
4and
2r Th roughou eboo l
he re '
also
nformat ionbout he i feand
music f many f he most amous
b lues
m
us ic ia
s .
Theearly
art
of hebook
explains
heorigins f blues.t
Sta
CAL'FORN|A
t races he development f the
sty le
from ts
beginnings
n
. a r t ) i _ t \
n a q . \ r A t . i
' : n
A m p r i . d l l
andEuropean usic o the
appearancef he
irst
blues
tunes. ater n
you
can indout
about hedif ferentypes f blues
thatdevelopedl l overAmerica s
the
music
ecame
ore
popular.
Eventual lylues ecamehe
A ^ - i - ^ F - , , - L ^ F + ^ . 1 ^ . - ^^ ^ , , 1
U d \ , J ,
t r U J
\ ,
t r J U d )
)
I J J I J U t d I
music especia l ly
azz
nd rock.
Towards
heendof he
book,
ou
can indout
about he n luen eof
blues n hese ater
< i r i l o < : n r l : h n r r i h r r p <
musiciantoday
nca
CANADA
COLORADO
The home
of the blues
Thismap
showshestates
hich
m : l u a r r n t h a l l n i t a d
q i - a t a c
^ f
America.
t ncludeshe main
towns ndcit iesment ionedn
this
book.
Blues
riginatedn the
Southerntates t Misslssippi ,
Tera-
-d
-ou s a a
dnd
grddud
spread lsewhere.
This
lobe
hot\)
, lherc
heUnited
Stt es t'
\meric6
are ituate
Jackson
_
-
=--1
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=ao
a)
hz r
+'J
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J,_ {}
,8.
_+
Blues scales
and
blue
notes
By he 9th century,
ostAmerican
nd
European
musicwasbased
n major ndminor
cales.
ut
in
parts
of
Africa, lot of musicwasbased n
other
scales. omehad
ewer
notes, nd some
scales ontained
otes
hat
were
l ight ly
ower
r
higherhan n Americanr European usic. his
affected
lues,
which
developed mongAfricans
n
America.
t is
one
eason hy
blues ounds
different
romothermusic.
To hear he di f ference,
lay
a C
major
scale,
fol lowed y he
mainnotes
f a blues cale.
C moiotsfile
Bluesmusicianslso
play
ome
ndividual otes
of the blues cale
i f ferent ly.orexample,
n
the
blues cale
ou
have
ust
played,
hey
mightmake
the
E f latandB f latsound bi t
higher, earero E
andB.Notes
ike
hisare
cal led luenotes. hey
makehemusic ound s f i t is
"between"
alor
andminor eys.
hismay
be
whybluesmusic eels
sador
"blue".
Becausehere s no
note
on the
piano
between
E flat and E.
t is
easiest o
hear he
effect
of blue notes
f
you
sing hem.
Play he
blues cale gain, ndsing
eachnote.Make he
E f latand B
f lat
a bi t
higher
play
E f latand
E,
then try to sing between
he two notes).
You
can
do this on
a
guitar
oo, by
"bending"
he strings
(seepage
35).
To find out how o
imitate
blue
noteson a
piano,
see
page
28.
moinnol?s
f
blues cale
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Walking
BIues
) =s2
5
-
+ f r
*f
'#1 '
t-.d
qC
++
f
a)
w
a
fr+'
frl
a ) t r
-
f t l
I
+.
Blues
rhythms
When
playing
lues,
t is very mportant
o
keep
a
steady
hythm.This
piece
will help
you
o
practise
this.Try earninghe
eft-hand
art
irst,making
sure
you
play
he crotchet hythm eryevenly.
Once
ou
cando this,add he
right handnotes
over
he top, counting arefully. rynot to speed
up or slowdown.
l .
2 .
-
t
In a bluesband, he rhythm s usually eptsteady
by he drummer
nd
bass
player.
n Walking lues,
the left hand
part
mitates he steady
ulse
of a
doublebass
player,
which s knownas a walking
bass. f
you play
he eft handof Walftirq
luesery
evenly,
he
quaver
hythms n the rightwill be
easier o olav.
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Busp-
Blues
Syncopation
ln Busrl lues,
ou
have o
play
someof the
notes
on unusual
eats f the bar.
This s cal led
syncopation.
yncopation
s an important
art
of
blues, ecause
t makes he music
very hythmic
andenergetic.
t needs
ractice,
ut
it will become
easier nce
ou
are amil iar
i thhow t sounds.
Try hese
laying
ints:
Learnhe
eft-hand
art ,
hen i t he
r ighthand
over
he op.
Work ut he
rhythms areful ly,
especial lyhe
ests nd
iednotes.
lay venly,
without
ushing
r forcinghe
rhythm.
isten
careful ly
o thesyncopat ions,
o
hat
you
earn
how heysound.
hemore
ou
play
Busq
lres he
easier
t wi l l become.
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d
ft '
-
^f
e'
1+'
?+
p
?
a)
++"+
?? ??
+
. r '
J
d
h . -
1+' "-
7 '+
13
a)
+++t
I
-
i
? +
?
?
dim.
f r - -++
p
1 3 2 3
Triplets
ln LazqDaq
BlLr€s,
ou
have o
play
hree
quavers
n
the space
f two.The igure
3 above
he first
wo
groups
f
quavers
el ls
ou
o do this.The
sign
sim. ver
he hird
group
means
ou
cont inue
o
play
r iplet
uavers
hroughout
he
piece.
Many
blues unes ave
tr iplet hythm.
r iplets
ake
slow
pieces
ike
hisone eel elaxed,
ut
hey an
also
addurgency
o faster
unes.
Many
luesmusicians ake
he irst
quaver
f a
triplet
group
a
little
longer
nd
ouder
han he
others.Often hey
alsoshorten
or
"clip")
he ast
one n the
group
This reates very
xpressive,
"rol l ing"
hythm.
Youcould ry
this with LazA aaBlues,
nce
you
can
play
t. But make
ure hat
you
always eep
the eft handcrotchet
eatsabsolutely
egular.
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The
Origins of
Blues
rom the I 7 th century
onrvads.
mi l l ions
f A[r icans
rvere
akenby
orce
o the
Southern
tates f America.
hey
were o ld ss laves , a in l y
o he
owners f cot ton
la
tat ions.
Blues evelopedn he l9th
(
c - 1 . . ' v
m o - p
. . : v e .
n d
h e i r
c lescendants .
The African
slave rade
Slaves ere aken
f ommany ou
tr ies
in Afr icaWhen hey
reachedhe United
States f
America,
famlieswere f ten
spl i t
upandsent o
d f ferent arts f he
country.
h swas
largely eca se lave
owners
anteo
o
make t di f f icut for
them o organize
revolts. sa result ,
sG*$*$$R"
A new
freedom
ln 1820 lawwas
passed
anning
lhe r lave rade.No more
laves
were roughto America.
Gradual lylaves ere et ree By
1850
here
were
ver mi l l ion
r . ^ ^ l - l ^ . , ^ - i ^ ^ * ^ - i - ^ T L ^ . -
l r e e os l a v e s n A m e n c a t f e y
s e l
up he i r wn omm
n t ies ,
churches
nd
schoo lsn 86t
af ter
heendof he
American iv i lWar,
s lavery
as
out lawed
altogether.
As he
popu
at ion
[ *
oi l iberated
sod id he
demandor
Some
f hese ty les f
music re
st i l l
ound n
parts
of Afrrcaoday.
Al icafin1Ltsida $
odaLl
this man is
plaLjut,l
:l
drum matlt
ron
lheskin
afa ruit alled
ar
ourd
\
TIis ,r,(trirnra,rldlled
balafonsa tuw al rL opltotle
'th(
pl\Lt(
hitt it sttips f
u'00.1'itlr
rr',itf
s
$n2{){D
050
0LtAls
HMMGIOB$
w t'
r''TALBdta
|'n
t
JJpr
|l53
An 6dr|tli\e 1enl fferino
t110nfq
0t
sttt|es
slavesn each rea
ad
dif ferentul tu
es,
languagesnd el igions,
nd
were orcedo adoplLheEngl ish
language
nd
Christ ianel igion
of heir
owners.
m r < i . . l : n . i n o
andother
orms
of entertainment
Cradual ly,
lues
evolvedrom he
A
llktn
af 10\,t,|ri.an slaves trc
pttcked
ilto I/ri .arqadech f a slav lradels ship
Slaves ere ot usual ly l lowed
to organizeheirownsocial
o v p n l - < R | | f i h c v o f t p n m : d p
music o accompany
hemselves
whi le hey
wereworking,
r or
rel igious
u
poses. hismusic
formedhebasis f he blues.t
was nf luencedy he
styles f
music
f
heirhomeland,f r ica,
anda l so
y hemus ic
hes laves
hadhea d n America.
di f ferentypes f music hatslaves
had
used.
hemost
mportant f
l L e r e w a r e
' e l
p i o
r < n ' r c i c w o t k
songs ndhol lers.
There
re
examplesf hese ty les n the
next our
pages,
nd
you
ind
out
more boul
Lem
belol l
There
s
more bout he
entertainment
music
f
f reed
laves n
pages
6
and17 .
Religiousmusic
Slaves ereencouaged
o
adopt heChrist ianel igion.
A F i o n h n w o , , a r i h A \ , \ r , A r a n ^ r
al lowedo at tend
hurch
ith
s lave-owners,o t heydeveloped
theirown orms
f
worship.
q . m c t r
m p q t h p v r r < c d h c
prayers
nd
songs
f white
American rotestants
ut
more
often hey
nvented
heirown.
Oneof heirmost
popular
methods f
prayer
as nown s
cal l -and-
esponse.hiswas
probably
ased
n sim
lar
ypes f
song
hator iginatedn Afr ica.
The i,1q-shaul
papular
otn
ol u,orship
an,1 ancemonq
Alrican meicans,
orryinald
1
Wfsf A/,'i.d
uub.uuu.uuuuHu
:pE\
e
4
..-n--i
(
x:@
fthilhftfthh$if,ft=-dw
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ln
ca l -and-espone
prayers,
he
p r e o . L e r
S d r g
< e c l : o n 5
l d t u n e .
d r u L r c r u l B r c t s d l
u L r ) o
g
d
rep ly . n
he l9 th century ,
h is
was
oftendone
o accompany dance
c a l l e d r i n g - s h o u t ,h i c h
l so
or ig inatedn Afr ica.
group
of
s ingers tood n a c i rc le ,
hen
m o v e d o u n d ,
i n g i n g n d
c l a p p i n gn i m e o t h e m u s i c
As f reed
s laves et up the i r
own chu ches,hey
organized
choirs
o s ing heirown re l ig ious
music .By
he
Iate
9th century ,
therewere housands
f choirs ,
and a new
ype of re l ig ious ong
the sp ir i tua, had
become
p o p -
" \ ^ i r ' A l r i , " n
A n e . i r a n
Sonre p i r i tua choirs
became
v e r yw e l l - k n o w n ,
n d m a n y u e s
performers
ad
their i rst
contact i th
musrc
n
ougn
chu ch
choirs
Some
lues
mus ic ians ,
especial ly
t hosen
country
reas,
i nc luded
select ion
f
r e l i o o r r c c o n s <
i n
he i r
perform
nces.
Work
songs
People ave lways
sed
music
songs ndchantso make
heir
work ess
oring nd o keep n
t ime vi th ach ther. laves nd
n lhe r
wn" l
e . .
r l e
r ,
nnpd
. n - ,
i r
rhythmic
hants al led ork ongs
lo
ruo rd i -a
l re r r
r i o^ .du r i ^g
the hard,
hysical
ork
hat hey
had
o do.
These
asksncluded
fel l ingrees
ndwood-chopping,
laying
racks n he rai l road,
ock-
work, crop-
p i c k j n g
n d
break ing ocks
I nere were
d i ferent ongs
to su t the
ac l lonsot eacn
typeof
iob.
work
arty
cal led
ut a command
and
heworkershouted
r sang
reply n rhythm.
hishelped
hem
to keep n lmewith
each ther
as
theyworked.
Hollers
"Hoi le f
is Amer ican
lang
or
"shout" .
Hol lerswere
not
complete ongs,
ut shor t
f ragments
f words
and music ln
( o u n u )
d r e d ' .
, \ o r k e l s
a
g
t h e ' .
ho l lers lone
as heyworked,
r
whi lewalk ing ome rom
he
f e l d s
S o m e
worKers tso
usedhol lers
A baqbrihqhq
rel esh,,/ttnt
a
peap
e
u,arhuq n
Ihe
ields
t o c al l o
eachother ,
s e n d i n g
messages
from one
f ie ld
o the
NEXI
Many
s ngers
cou ld e
by heir
d s t inct ive o l lers which hey
made
personal
y us ingspecia l
s ing ing ech ques.These nc luded
y o d e l l i n g
a
t e r n a tn g
a p i d l y
between ighand low notes) ,
fa lset to
h
gh-p i tched
inging) , nd
g l i s s a n d i
s l i d i n g )
h e s e
a l l s r e
forerunners
f the very
personal
.
r l e - O ' o - p b ue -
p e t l O . - t e -
L ikeear ly ie ldworkers,many
blues
. i n p e " \
r . e r
-
- n t v r e ,
p -
z - l - l e
by he way hey srng
or
p lay.
, .
?
Worksongs
u s a l yha d
strong hythms
and were often
based
on ca
l-
a
nd-response
v d L L c r | -
| l e
leader
f a
l9lh
(tnlurq
v'arfu$
latltnq ailroad
racks
Convi( lsrcn a prisan
camp rcakinqa.hs
The ish
ubil.e
tnqes.l
apular
)9th cenl trq p i lual hair
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=92
oh
:--T>
l,ord
-
:--
+
7t * t t
show nle the
way
to the
*t ta
pro-mised taii.
5
oh
Lord
:--
+ t t t t t
show
nle the way to the
t* ta
-/
pm-mised
land.
a J
J '
\ :
lrok to
-wards
Jor-dan
ell me \{+ lat o
you
see?- A
- +? : - \
gold
-
en char- i
-
ot a
t - O z ^
ia
coriling for me.
4 l
I
13
oh
Irrd
:---...
+
z?t , ,
show me
the way to the
*t
*8
pro
trrised
land.
Slaves
and freedom
"The
romised
and" s a common
hrase
n
spir i tuals.
ostspir i tuals ere ased n bible
stories.
he
ewish
people's
eleaseromslaveryn
Egyptwasa
popular
heme.For hem. he
promised
andwas srael. or
Afr ican laves,he
phrase
ad wo meanings.t referredo the deaof
heaven,nd o the
possibi l i ty
f
being reed rom
slavery
n Earth oo.
Playing his tune
ThePromised
and
s a call-and-response
ong
see
page
0). The irst
wo barsof each
ine wouldbe
sungby a
preacher.
henext wo barsare
he
congregation's
esponse.When
you
can
play
hi s
tune,
ry s ingingt , on
your
ownor
with r iends.
To
get
he effect f call-and-response,
lay
or
sing
he
preacher 'sart
oudly. hen
make
he
congregat ion's
eply
artquieter.
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=84
I t s
a long
let
ter frorn my
,'-/
conle honre'
\reah
so I
nl ln home.
-
a n d I n l here
know
m v n lo , t he r ' s
by
tn e
I t s a lLrng
bro ther
lone .
cloor for
me to cortc
I
go t
--'
home.
i n
the soles ol mv
shoes,
About
this tune
Becou>e
n
rnAWau
am?.
a
'
o ler see
dge
|
|
i t would
have adno accompaniment.
oucan
sing
t,
play
t on a melodynstrument
r useone
hand
n the
piano.
ake arewith
he rhythms.
will be
\\'hen
Iin home.
l , o r n r .
- h o m . .
My
Recording
he
past
Today,
orkers o onger
inghol lers. owever e
know
what
heysoundedike rom
early ecording
of f ieldworkers.hese eremade
n Mississippin
the
1940s
yAmericanolk-songesearchers.
holes
Icct
door
front
sore
whcn I
get
to inv fr_ont
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Working
in rhythm
S o m e
w o r l ,
o n g s .
i k e
h e
oneo p p o . i L e
h d d
q u i l e
s low
rhythms. hey
weremeant
o
help workers
i f t
heavy xesor
hammers etween he
main
beats .
Others
like FollowheLeader.
ere aster Slaves
sang hem
to enter ta in hemselves
hi le hey
worked, nd o
make her r
obs
ess
bor ing.
The
. o ' T r n " o n
e d t u l e l
a l l w o r k o n g r . t h e i rs t r o n g
energet ic
eat ,
which aterbecame ne of the
most mpor tant
par ts
of the b luessty le .
Playing his tune
Try
playing
Fallowhe eaders a duet,
with a
melodynstrument
ikea viol in
playing
he
op
l i ne .
Or
p lay
t asa
p iano
o lo as
he op i ne
hardly ver laps
i th he bot tom wo,
t
can
be
played
ithout
eaving nynotes ut .
Or to
get
the
proper
a l -and-response
ffect ,
lay
ust
he
top and
bottom ines. o
make he rhythms ound
energet ic,
lay
he repeated
s n bars2
4.6and
8 witha sl ight
ccent.
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Your
axe is
hea \'y aJ)d your
fin
-
gers
hurt- when youre
)HOP) Just chop-pin
4
wood. There s no time to think you got
to
IHOPII
Just chop
pjn'
d
tLt -
wood.
Be it
Christ
,
mas
Eve or the
mid dle of May
when
you're
IHOPI) Just chop-pin
I2
,
-\-/- -
-
wood.
-
You'll
work l rom Cawn
un til the
end of day when you
re IHOP )
Just chop
pi n
,t700d,
Work songs
This s
a work ong, ndwouldhave een
ungby
a leader nda chorus. lay t
on the
piano
irst ,
and
whe-
you
are amr l ra r
i rh
he
une .
i ng
he
words.Woodthopper'sorft ong jll
sou
nd most
effective
f it is
sungby a
group.
Picka leader o
s rngheopen ing
hrase ,
nd
ge t
l -e the ' s os ing
thechorus :
us t
hopp in ood C lap .
ramp. r
bang tambouriner drum,
whereverou
see he
word
CHOP ".
hiswi l l help
you
keep n rhythm.
Recording the
past
Like
hol lers, ork ongs lowly
iedout
n
the
irst
hal f
of the
20th
entury, ainly ecause ost
of
the traditional abouring
obs
were
akenoverby
machines.y
he
1940s,
heyonlysurvivedmong
Black nmates f
prison
camps.
hese
eople
were
forced
o do hard
physical
orkasa
punishment.
Manywork
songswere ecordedn
prisons
y
musicologists
people
hostudy he history nd
developmentFmusic), s ateas he 1960s.
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t h ough
arious inds
f
enterta
nments
ndshows.
You an
indout moreabout
these
elow. ages8-23
show xamples
f he
dif lerent
ypes
f music hat
show
erformers
layed
nd
made
opular.
Minstrel
shows
Minstrel
hows ecame
very
opular
n thesecond
halfof he
9thcentury
M nstrel
roups
erformed
he
tradit ional
ongs nd
dances f
plantat ionlaves t heatres nd
concert
al ls l l over
he
cou
try. hese hows
ften
contained
omic ketches
nd
other
acts oo.
Il;is
pi
o't ol Lt minstrel
tuLtp
lllled he
Elfti0pi4xSc/p,riiddrs
,ss lhen
tun
4 copu
ol
|hei t[e
'nusi(.
publithed
n lB47
The irst
minstrel
erformers
ere
white,
utaf ter he
Civi lwar,
Afr ican mericans
egan
o form
their
own
minstrel
roups.
hey
becane
ery
ucLP.siul
l ove'
the United
tates
f America.
Many a
lyblues
musicians,
i nc lud ing
.C.
Handy
see
tar
Fi le)sang
minstrel ongs nd
tookpart n minstrel hows.
Tlr. Jr. f t-, sir
or
W C HandLis
inrtrel it
l , r f
Tffrr.r Blf ifs
dnd
Di{iet
Lard
vrit len
a)
Lard
t'tritlen
ar
Bru.r
MirrstrPk
The
First Blues
Minstrel
hits
The irstsuccessfu
minstrelune
was
ump
linr
Crou,, y
Thomas
D.Rice.t wasbased
on a songhehad
heardn the ate
1820s.
T/risi lustr"t ior
rd s
I6kcn
[on
lh. evr
al
u shct l-
lusied, it iar
o/ T/1ofl.rs
Ri.d's
'lump
lin
Cto\t i
Theearl i -^st
known
ecordngs
of Afr ican
merican usic y
Afr ican mericansre
of minstrel
bano playing y ames ndCeorge
Bohee, ade n London bout
1890. ocopies f
hese ecords
have
et
been
ound, ut
weknow
about
hem omadvert isements.
By heendof the
9thcentury,
huge oles
f thesheet
mustc
or
minstrel
unes emonstrated
he
style
popular i ty
Songsters
Aswel lasminstrel
ongs, ar ly
blues ingers
erformed
ater ial
f ommany i f ferent usrcal
t radi t ions.
lack ingers
n
ru alareas f ten
dapted
folkandcowboy
ongs s
wel l so ldba l l adshat
hey
lea ned
om mmigrants
who
had
come
o America
rom
Europe. hese ingers
ere
nown
assongsters.
Oneof
he most
amous
songste
s
wasHuddie edbetter
whobecame
nown s
Leadbel ly
( see tar i l e ) . e ssa id o have
knownmore
han500 ongs.
Songsters'
allads
Many ongsteral lads
ere rawn
from
Europeanolksongs
Tllc
unfortunate
dfre,
Bri t ish al lad
about dying
oldier, ecame
n
Americanowboy
ong,
TheDqing or,6oq.
ater
t
became
blues ong
abouta dy ing
gambler ,
a l ledSt.
lames
lnfirmarq lues.
Somebal lads o ld of
heroes,
real and legendat y.
C6seU
ones
is basedon the
l i feo[ a real
t ra indr iver .He d ied on
Apr i l 29,
1 9 0 0n M i s s i s s i p p i ,h e n he
tra in he
was
dr iv ing
ol l idedwith
a
fre ight ra in .Order ing
is b lack
l i reman Sim
webb to
iump
from
the cab
Jones
tayed n board
o
apply he t ra ins brakes
ightup
to the
momentof impact .
Thebal lad
ohn
Henr l j ,heSte*
Dr iu in '
Man,which e l ls he s tory
of a fatal battle between
a steel-
dr iver
and a machine,
may be
basedon an actual
worker n the
C h e \ d p e a k e . r d h o a i l r o " d r
West
Virg in ia n
t h e
1 8 7 0 s .
Ratlroad
allads ercaften
pefiormed
g sonqskrs
Bal ladswerenot only
about
heroes nd
hero ines. ne song
te l lsof a
gambler
a l ledStack
O
Lee,who shot and
k i l ledan
opponent,
Bi l lyLyons. hebal lad
Frank iend ohnnies hought o
havebeen nspired
y a woman
named
Fran ie Baker ,
ho
mur de r ed e r
o v e t , l b e r lB r t t t
n
st . Louis
n
october
1899
Tla slrr?l-fl?fijrr
or
'Slach
O
Let ba
Fxf, _r el('is.
i i ,pirdl
so,r4sl?rs
]ali.id
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Tent
shows
R p < i d A < < a \ n o c t c r < ^ t h e r
performers
elped
o
popu
a ize
early lues n theAmerican outh.
Tentshowsmoved rom
own o
town, et t ing p n marqueesora
fewnights n each
lace
Themost
famousent
show
was
Si las
Creen's abbit ootMinstrels,
f romNew
Orleans.
Many ent
show
performers
were
women
whosangabout ife
and ts
problems.
heywere
often
accompanied
ysmal l
ands
f
musicians.da
Cox
see
tar
Fi le)
wd)
d
wel knOwn
entshow inoPr
A
posler
adrertisinqht
Rdhrrt odl
Minslr'els
taurinq hou,
Medicine
shows
After heAmerican iv i lWar,
many
doctors oured he country
They rought i th
hemspecial
medicines
f heirown nvent ion,
which hey
laimed ould ure
wide ange
f
l ls.Toatt ract nd
entertainustomers,hey
organized
hows.Many
early
blues ingers
ook
part
n these
medicinehows.
Crcwdsalher raund da(Lafwaqoh
lo v,alchhe
ree
tarlahnehl
Blues ingerda
Cox
(
1896-
967)
oined
minstrel how
asa
in theatres
by the ageof 14.
With
her nasal, esonantsinging
style, she
performed
in
a very
traditional
style.
She omposed any f her
own
songsncludingda Coxt
Lawdy owdyBlues
nd
've
Got
the
Nues
or
Romport treet.
She
is considered
y many o be one
of the finestever emale lues
singers.
knownas he Father f the
Blues.
He began iscareerasa
cornet
soloist ouringwith
Mahara's instrels. aterhe
ed
a band n Mississippi,
laying
ragtime seepage
2) and
minstrelmusic.
He
published
any ongs,
including emphislues 9l2)
andSeLouis lues 9l4), which
were he first widelysuccessful
bluesunes.
LEADBELLY
Leadbelly
Huddie
Ledbetter,1889- 949)
was a
guitarist
and
singer.
By
the ageof
I5 he was a famousmusiciann
Louis iana,ut n l9 l8 he was
sent o
Drison
or murder.
In
he 1930s,
ohn
Lomax,a
collector
of folk songs,
discovered eadbellyn
ail.
He
arranged
or Leadbelly o be
released nd began ecording
songs,ncluding oney 'm AllOut
andDown
l
935)and Goodnight
lrene
1943).
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J
=
rOO-1O8
The minstrel tradition
In he
ate1860s,f r ican mericaningers nd
dancers
eganormingheirown
minstrel
roups.
These
uickly
ecame
ore
popular
han he
earl ier
hi teminstrel
erformers.
hey
erformed
plays
ndcomic ketchesased n
plantat ion
i fe,
andoftenused el igious
usic
s
wel lassongs
anddanceunes. y he
1890s,
lack
minstrel
shows adbecome
opular
l l over
America.
Minstrel
unes
Theearlywhiteminstrels ased
heir
songs
n
simpleEuropeanance
unes f the l8thcentury
Later,
lack
minstrels dded fr ican
merican
rhythms ndmade he
melodies oreelaborate.
Somet imeshey
alsoadded al l -and-response
sect ions
see age
0) ike heones n this une.
PlayTheHappq instrcl
ently,
ut make ure
you
keep hesyncopated
hythms
tr ict ly
n t ime.
i i
I
Fine
,
w
v
I
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The first blues songs
Thestyle
we
nowcal lblues eveloped
n
the
irst
decade f the
20th
entury mong ent-show
singers,
ongstersndminstrels.
Mostof these
eople
id not readmusic,
o
they
made
p
words
nd
unes
s hey
went
along.
This s cal ledmprovisat ion.s hestart ing
oint
oi blues mprovisat ion,
usic ians
sed tandard
patterns
f chords nd
hythms,
al led
lues
progressions.
hese
rogressions
erewel l-known
by 9 l0 bu lmay ave x is tedong e lo reh i s
How bluesprogressionswork
Hound oq
l i res
ses
progression
nown sa l2-
barblues.
t is
a
pattern
f
chords ased
n the
f i rst , ourth nd i f thnotes f a major cale,ast ing
twelvebars.
Below
ou
can
see hese
chords
n
thescale
f G major. hown y he Roman
numerals
, V
and
V.
Blues
rogressions
anbe
played
n
anykey, ut
theyarealways
ased
n thechords ui l ton
the
f i rst , ourth nd i f thnotes f a scale. he 2-bar
progression
epeats
hords
, IVandV,
one
chord
per
bar, n a str ict rder,
ver
welve ars.Below
you
cansee
how
hisworks
n
G major
the
chord
numbers
re
shown n
bracketsf ter ach
ote).
ba rs'4 : C
( l )
C
( lV )
C
( l )
C
( l )
ba rs5 -8 : C ( lV ) C ( lV ) C ( l ) C ( l l
ba rs9 -12 :
D
(V l
C
( l v l
G ( l )
C (1 )
Many
lues
unes,ncluding ound og laes,se
this
pattern,
r others imi laro
i t . But
no
wo
blues unes
ound l ike. achmusician ses he
pattern
s hestart ing
oint
or mprovisat ion,
adding he
eatures
escribed
n
pages
-9, lue
notes, yncopat ions,ndmore omplex hords
based n blues cales.
ater n the book
here
s
moreabout his,andabout
how o improvise.
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,
=84
5
Recording
he
past
Songsters
ere
ome
f the i rst
popular
musicianso be recorded.
ecordingsrom he
l a a O < v
- ^ ' n e o f
r h e o l d e r n l r s l L l d r 5 ,
u c h a <
Henry
homas,howus howsongster
uneswould
have ounded
n the ate 9th century.
homas
recorded
isversion f
ohn
enrqhe teeldr iv in
Man n
1927,
laying
oth
guitar
nd
eed
ipes.
Lr l .e
n" n . l e l< . n 'dn \
edr l y
ong\Ler :
p ldyFd
bdn o
Butslowlyhe
guitar
ecame
ore ommonand
it remained
opular
mong lues
musicians.ike
minstrels,ome arly ongsters
ere ccompanied
byother
musicians ut
ikemany lues ingers,
most
songsters
erformed
lone
o theirown
gulIar
ccompanrn.renr
f
ta ta taa ta
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16
Playing his tune
TrySangslerTl i re n the
piano
.rstCount ery
careful ly,aking are
ot
o
rush he syncopat ions.
When
ou
are
amil iar r th t ,
you
could sk
someone i tha melodynstrument,
special ly
viol in,o
play
he op
ine.
From ballads o blues
Many
ongsters 'bal lads
riginated
n Europe.
Theywereoften
very
slmple
olk uneswith basic
harmonies.heywere lso hythmical ly
ui te
straightforward,
s hey
were
often
based n the
rhythms f Europeanolk dances.
he irst
page
of
s|ngste(sunes ypical f an
early ongsterai lad
with Europeanrigins.
SongstersddedAfrican mericaneatureso the
bal lads. hey sed yncopat ion,lat tened otes
from he
blues cale
see
page
),and
highly
ornamentedocal ines. his
ave
al lads new
character,akinghemone
of the
mostdirect
forerunnersf bluesYoucanhear hison the
second
age
of Songsler'sune.
a)
f
ta ta taa
)
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f
+.
di nt. nw
*l /
t+t
4
3 l
t6
o
'ba
t
c
e,t
.
a=
f
=
a)
=1
l-l_l-
nw
Rags and
ragtime
Another orerunner f blues, agtime
was
a dance
musicbased n the syncopated
"ragged")
hythms
of African
Americanmusic. t developed t the
very
endof the 9th century,
ainly
ut
of he dances
and marches
ritten or minstrel hows.Unlike
songsters 'al lads
ndother
popular
music ty les
of the
period,
agtime
ieces
wereoften
written
by
trained omposers.
ln ragtime,he rregular yncopationsf African
American usicwere
radual ly
smoothed
ut"
into
a
few
standard
hythmic
atterns.
hemost
commonof theseappearshroughout
DimeRag,
and irstappears
n
bars
5 and6.
Today,agt imes usual lyhought f asa sty le f
piano
music, ut herewere lso ags orbands
andorchestras,
ndmany agt ime ongs.
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Playing
DimeRag
Try
playing
he ef thandon
ts
own
a few imes
unt i l
you
can
get
he
quaver
eats teady nd
even. hen dd
n the r ighthand, ount inghe
syncopat ions
areful ly.
lay
moothly,
nddon' t
be
emptedo rush.
dzz
dim.
=
C T E
S C .
f
*
3I
26
a)
t
- , J
- -
na ta
C T CS C .
-
f
-=
ot a
Ragtime
irst eached
he
general
ublic
at the
World's olumbian
xposit ion,t rade
air hat
took
place
n Chicago
n
1893. ver
0mil l ion
people
is i ted
heevent,
nd
were ble o
hear he
music
or he i rst
ime. t
rapidly ecame
opular
throughout
hecountry.
here
ere
number f
famous
ag omposers,
ncluding
enHarney,
Scott
opl in
and
ames
cott .
Thehuge
opular i ty
f ragt ime
elped ar ly lues
to reach
wider
audience.
W. C. Handy's
Menpftis
Blues,
ubl ished
n l9l2
with
he
subt i t le
A
Southern ag' ,
wasoneof he i rst
genuine
lues
tunes o
become uccessfulll over
America.
Ragtime
as
going
out of
fashion
y
the startof
World
War , but by his imeblues
wasan
establ ished
tyle
f
popular
mu: ic.
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Beeording
the
Blues
heman
esponsible
or he
f i r < f h l r r r . < p rn r d n o< u r . r<
pianist
ndcomposer erry
Bradford
n t920
heconvinced
t h eoKeh
record ing
company hat
largema ket
for
blues
records.
Other
companres
soo
n
fo l lowed
O K e h
e x a m p l e
Ti('/ir,il l,lrft's?nrd\ ri r? r,tdd.
[,u dr.]a i?.Uri:.tli(,,r\ral .jj
Pirranrourri, i tor ' irr, l K.h
Establ
I -ed
perfo"ners
so
p
dyed
a
part
n br inging ew
art ists
o the
r - r r d i n .
S n ' n e
'
t c h a c
o
t l 4 . t c L
Lonn ie
ohn .on c t ua l l l
o r ked
s
ta en scoutshemselves
A
growing
ndustry
I n heear l y 920s ew
lues
" ^ - ^ " - J
, , , ^ . - . , , ^ ^ r ^ - ^ , ^ ^ r
about nea week. ew
eople
ad
radjos
o buying
ecords
as he
easiest ay o hear erv lues
songs.
he
earl iest lues ecordings
weremade sing
process
nown
asacoust ic
ecording.
- lt )
rr lr if, i / iaduslia, 'raot l it t .
pC
la m rs
pldltLl
rtr
safu1rto a ldtLtr n
'lhis
uued
tJr.
l i f
rsrdr,r lf ro[n o i l , , ir lr
Tl | l ' l r ru r x r rsaojUkalfd o d
d( ' r ia f ( l ld
d r l l11,,r l
i l l ,h is
Ti l . f i [ , rd t j , r4 l i , , rd i l t ,
i r f s t ,L is . i r fd
4,'00rf
irr c .lrs.
ntadc
of tt
rtsit
cclltri slrellac
' l ir is
l,r(rslar '.1rsa
r,. i\s, l i {r
r1)(i laa
jL1ri4ri,r ' i
/lirrrr
u
iiali
rrril ln(ri ar)ltr,'\ ?,?
trr5n'.i
I n
he
mid -1920s
heacous t ic
system
as eplaced
yelectr ical
recording,hichwas iearer nd
truer o
theoriginal
er lormance.
Race
records
Many
ompanies
ade
ecords
special lyor heAfr ican merican
market. hese
ere
nown s
race
records black f r ica s
at hat
t imeotten eferredo themselves
as
the
Race Theyweremarketed
wherever
here
was
a large f r ican
Amer ican
opu la t i on
su
l y
th
ough ocal ecord
tores,
newspapersndmagazines
Recording
artists
N4ostar ly lues ecordingsere
made y musicians howorked
in revues nd
ent
showsSome
record
ompaniesimply
waited
for alented
eople
o arr ive t
t h p r r < i | | d i - q < e : r r - h i n o f o r . : n
l r n n n r t r r n f v t f ] r e . n r d O i h p r <
paid
ocalagents o l is ten o
^ ^ i a n t , r I n o r f n r m o r < i h , . l r h o n
sent
mobi le ecording
nits
o
recordhem. heagents
appontedby record ompanies
were
s a
lywhi te
us inessmen,
par l . c - l d r l y
o ,a l
eco rd
de" . r
who new
ha t i nd
i mus ic
t
heir
black
ustomersiked.
Some
agents ecame xpert
ta
ent
scouts. enry
S n i c r < : m l l < i . < f n r P
owner n
Jackson
M ss isspp i ,was
respon ble or
r pcn rd r no l h r cp n f
the
greatest
Mississippilues
performers
on
House,
k ip
ames,
andChaleyPatton
A6trls
aftun
aund
al\1ler1
pt't
lt)(t11tl's
laUthq
an
'T,&
@:
Blur'stori is ur,r 'r 'so[]rrr
rr it i / , ' l1, 'r '
llt)Tfiqlr athtli)alari\
Bluesormed large
art
of the
race ecoro
ata
ogues,
speclal ly
t he
mus ic f ru ra lmus ic iansike
Sylvester eaverndPapa
Charl je
ackson
ut ace ecords
were
lso
made
y heatre nd
revue
erformers,
azz
m
usicians,
and rel igious
reachers
nd
s
ngers .
New recordcompanies
ln
1942,
he
American
ederat ion
of
Musicians,merica largest
orga zat ion f
professional
performers,
egan
r i c n r r i p u r l i h i h a
malor ecord
. ^ m ^ r n i a c i ^
winbetter
ay
andcond
t ion
for ts members.
I t ba
ned
memoers om
mak ing
ew
recordngs.
Mrsiaidnsr. i
ptrfornus
fi4hliutl
fot
hti
riltln:
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i ^ ^ , J , J i + i ^ ^ l ^ + L : - - . 1 , , - . - - L
t I ta o o l r o n
I o I n l c o u n n q
- n e
SecondWorldWar herewas
a
shortage
f shel lac he ecord
companies
sed heirstocksc
ore r . eco"d . v
he i .
e -L
e l l r ng
artists
Very
ewof these
performersere luesmusicias,
. . r
blue.
bepa-
o
be
-eglerted
by
many argerecord
companres. s a
resut of
these wo
factors,
new,
independent
c o m p a n i e s
m i d -1 9 4 0 s ,
- ^ ^ - - 1 , - i ^ ^ i ^
> P c L d l z r g r l
recordng
olues
a t s ts .
Ch.ssChan.e d vee-lat/
, trcamo
q
then
r
i n l
p
11
e
t rec tl
labe s
W h i l e o m e
esta l is edart istsike
Sonny
oyWr l l i amson ,
BrgBi l lBroonzyndMemphis
Minnie
ont inuedo work or
he
ma lo r
ompan les any
ou
ger
perlo'ner>
ega" eio'd ng ol he
newones By he 1950s,abels
< r r r h : < f h e < c \ / e e - : v ; n r - l
( :
,
. . - \ o r
dominatedhebluesmarket,
nd
many
eople
t i l lassociate
hem
r
rh Lhe
iner
blue' record gs
Blues
ecording
oday
I n
h e 1 9 5 0 s n d I 9 6 0 s ,he
audience or
b luescont inued o
change
seepage
62) . ts or ig ina l
audience n Amer ica
ec l ined, ut
b luesbecame
opu
ar
e lsewhere
Independent
ompanes ook
advantage
i the
new
audiences,
invest ingn b lues ecord ing hen
most
of
the larger
ompanies
would not . Many ndependent
companies t i l l surv ive,
cont inu ing o f ind newar t is ts
and
promote
heir work.
'dF" ;$d" .
q-*:.:H%
MAMIE
SMITH
In 1920, erry
Bradford wrote
two
songs:
hot lhing
Colled Love
and You
Con't Keep
o GoodMon Down.
He
persuaded
Keh to allowa
popularblues inger,Mamie
smith (1883-
946)
o record
them. The records
attracted
a
lot
of attention in the
black
community.Her
second ecord,
Crozy Bluesand ltt Right
Here For
You | 920)
was the first ever
blues
hit, selling100,000
opies
in a month.
MaRaineyl 886- 939)
is known
as he
Pridgett
n Columbus, eorgia,
he
appeared
n the Eunch f
B/ackberiesolent
how t the age
of 12.She ecame
blues,
azz
nd
vaudeville
inger,ouringwirh
he
Rabbit ootMinstrels
nd hen
with her own Georgia
azz
Band.
MaRainey ademore han 100
recordingsor
the Paramount
company. oday,her best
remembered
ongs
re
probably
SeeSeeRider
| 924)andSoon
his
Morning
1927).
BESSIE
MITH
Bessie
mith, nown
as he "Empress
f the
Blues" 1894- 937) ,
was
probably
he most
famous emale
blues ingerof all.
Born n Chattanooga, ennessee,
she began er career
singingn the
same howsas YaRainey.
y he
early 1920s,
owever, hewas he
star of her own
shows, nd oured
all
over America.
Her first recordin , Downheorted
Biues
1923)wasan mmediate it.
Her other hits ncludeJ.C
olmes
8/ues 1925)
and
Young
Womon's
8/ues 1925).
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3
2
4
I
1
2
I
l
I
l
I
2
I
i . i . fr,.d
j juE*
#'.-+'{*,##
I
4
2
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Playing
this tune
Swinginq
lues
or
T r0 s
a duet or a melody
instrument
such
s he
recorder,
luteor v iol in) nd
piano.
oucanalso
perform
t asa
piano
olo,
playing
he op andbottom ines rombar5.During
the op-Ine estsn bars I
and 12,
ou
could i l l n
the
gaps
y
playing
hechords n hemiddle ine
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Blue notes
on a
piano
B
u e 5
p r d r '
l sL o u l d o t a l t e r h e
p i l (
h e . o n d
piano
o
play
blue
notes,
but theydeveloped
ays
. f r m i t r i i n o t h e n i t . h h , . n d c n f
g u l l d f l < - s
a 1 0
singers hey
id
his
by
playing
wo notes
semitone part nd
crushing"
them ogether s
t heb lues
iano
t y le eve loped
n
he
1920s
crushed
otes
uickly
ecame
neof
ts most
r -
\ ^ r ' r - t
'F . . r t
re ( , Tharc re no ieS
ike
f
h t> in
Cracdul l ,qluc,
hown s
smal lnote-heads
Playing
crushed
notes
There
re
woways
o
play
rushed
otes.
j rst
ry
sound inghe
smal l o te
l igh t l y
e fo re
he
main
note hat
ol lowst Then
ryoverlapping
he
smal l
no tewi th
hema in
ne
so hat
ou
hear
hem
together n
quiet
unes ikeCrctrelal l4
lur
he
over l aphou ld
eshor t
But n
energet icunes ,
piaying
he wo
notes ogether
or
heent ire
eat
makes
he music
more
powerful
ry his
n bars
and
8 of Tweirp-bar
tr idc
n the
opposite
age
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Stride
piano
This une s
n
a sty le
nown
sstr ide,
hich
developed
n Harlem, ewYork, round 910.nd
reachedhe
peak
I
ts
popular i ty
n the I920s.t
s
^ : - : l ^ - l ^ - ^ ^ r i * ^ L , + i - l ^ - r ^ -
\ l - n l . a r
O
d g ' T l e . J I . l d s l e r n o
- a S
T f O
e n e r g e t i c
v n c o p a t r o n -
L en o > t
c l ' i k i n g
e . l u r e
of
s tr ide
piano
s the e laborate ass
ine,which
haswide eapsand
deep,emphat icbassnotes
n
t h e e f th a n d .
Playinga
stride
bass
Pract ise
he
eft
hand lowly,
et t ing
sed o the
largeeaps.
l t
can
help o
"chop
the
owest ote
with
hesideof
your
i f th
inger
but don hi t he
keys oo hard Then dd he r ighthand Try o
p lay
he une i t t l e a - t e r ach
ime.
mak ing
ure
you
keep
he
rhythm
ol id.Don stop f
you
mrss
the eaps'keep
laying
o
theend, hen
go
back
and
pract ise
ny
bits
you
ind
dif i icul t .
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5
9
A blues duet
This
une
s a duet or wo
pianists
o
play
at one
piano.
t wi l l beeasiero
learn f
both
players
practise
oth
parts.
Thiswill makeeach
person
famil iar i thwhat heother
has
o
play.
PartA is
the higher
part,
or he
player
n the right.PartB
is the ower
part,
or the
player
n the eft.To help
you
keep n time,counta fewbarsof
4/4
ogether
at the correct peed
efore
ou
start o
play.
PartB
should
e steady ndsol id,witha clear,
f i rmbassl ine. ive hesyncopatedhords
n bars
2
and
4
a sl ight
ccento adda
"kick".
n
part
A,
t ry
playing
hedotted
uavers
ndsemlquavers
s
i f
hey
were r iplet
uavers
pl i t hecrotchet eat
into
hree
nstead f four, nd
play
he semiquaver
on
the hirdcount. hismakeshe
music
ound
relaxed
nd
energet ict he same ime.
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More
about
improvising
Faur ands
iuess
a
classicwelve-barune.The
f i rs t . t imears on ta in t u rna round ' ,
ph rase
that eads ack o
the start [ the
progres: ion
This
means
ou
can
play
he l2-bar ect ion
betweenhe repeat igns
as oftenas
you
ike. f
you
do this, he
person laying art
A could ry o
improvise
make
p a
new olo
part) .
On he r ight
are
a few ips o
help
you
do his.
The ight-hand
hrases
n bars5,
6,9 and
0
are
cal led
f i l ls" .
hey ink
he mainsect ionsf he
tune
Try mprovis ing
our
own i l ls .Ar i rst
ou
could l ter he rhythms
f hewri t ten i l is , r
change ome f he notes. isten areful ly
o the
result .
s
you
becomeamil iar i th
heeffects f
changinghe
notes
nd hythms,
ou
wil l become
more
on
dent
about
mprovrsrng.
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lues
performers
seda
variety
f
musical
instruments.
ome f
these
ere
radlt ionaly
popular
among olk
musicians,hi le
others
ere
omemadeor
a
part icularurpose.
n
page
8
you
can
ind
out about
he
piano,
whichwas
lso
popular
i th
blues
layers
Guitars
Cuitars reamong
he most
popular
lues nstruments.
Easrly
ortable
nd
reasonably
heapo buy,
gu
ta
soriginatedn
Mexico
andwere ntroduced
o
the
USA yMexican orkers.
-fhit
tL:pe lquilar d Cibsotl
E5335 hdsbettn
layed
t1nanq
bluesntusicians
ikeChuckBerrq
Blues
musicians
sed
gu
tars
o
produce
variety
f sou
ds.
A
knife lade
rawn
along hestr ings
produced
whining
sou
d.This
was
probably
inspired
y a typeof
gu
ta cal ledhe
Hawa i i an
gu l t a r .
A Htirt i iar
uitat
is
plaqetl
flat
acrossh
kna.t vilh L1 rlal
tube alled
slide
Cuitar ists
lso
used
he neck
f a
h ^ t t l p ^ . - i n i o r a n f m a t i l f l h a
oitenworn
on one inger,o
prod ce hisef fect .Bott leneck
^ . - l i . . l ^ ̂ l ^ . , i - - ' - ^ - - * ^ ^
/ r r l u c
p r d y n r g
u s L d | | r E d
widespread
echniquemong
blues
u
ta ists.
Blues
Instruments
Amplified
blues
Electr ic
urtars
ecame
vai lablen
the 930s.
heywere
lugged
nto
ampl i f iers
o
make
hem ouder.
Many
luesmusicians
layed
n
noisy
lubs,
oelectr ic
ui tars
quickly
ecame
mportant
o them.
Mandolins
and banios
Violins
Viol ins ere
most ly
sed
in
groups
a
led
str ing
bands,
hich
were
opular
in hesouth ndeast f
the
USA. heymarnly
played
olk
and
European
ance
L
mus ic ,
nd
gradua l l y
I
began o
pertorm
I
ragt ime.
he
music
$,ffi"
iolin to accompany A nod.nl
b luess ingers.
r io / i , r
Harmonicas
Some lues ands
sed
ha monca
known
sblues
harpsA harmonica
as
hesame
range
sa viol in,
ut scheaper,
more
portable
nd
easiero learn
Thebanio,
n
nstrument
f
Afr ican ngin.was
popular
i th
m ns t re ls
nd t r i ng
a
ds .
bollleucck
Ma dahns ar'(
qubt,
dehele sound
h4
[M|e
eiqfl]sltinqs
netnl
hrtx(
TheU
suallLl
have vooden
acho make
Ihe ould
o d
ando l rns ,
h ch
or i g i naly
tame from taly,
were
oftenused
bybothearly
lues
layers
nd
Southerntr ing ands
A,harmanica
sa sndll
rilir flrr,tril
t'r'ds
ll ts r.id
danultlh(
ips wj
blot\'n a uakt a soutld
Homemade
nstruments
Many
luesmus ic ians
especialy hose n
poor
rural reas. ade
heirown
instruments
rom
a select ion
of
everyday
bjects.
nelal idaas. used
o ttb
dothes.
UI U apptuqhe
ridqts
ltilewearin1himbles
slide
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fug
bands
In he
I920s,
roups
al led
ug
bands ecame
opular.
hey
played
omemadenst uments
inciudng he arge
arthenware
jugs hatcontainedeer r wine.
There ere womain
groups
f
ug
ba
ds,
hose
ased
round
Memphi . e f fesseend
ho .e
n
Loursv i
e .Kentucky
nMemphis .
thebands
were
air ly
r imit ive,
ut
the
Louisvi l leandswere
f ten
more ophist icated.oth
roups
were t rongly
nf luenced
y
minstrelsndemployed
azz
players
ndothermusicians hey
included lues uneswa
tzes,
- , , - i - L - - ^ - ^ - - ^ l ^ ^ ^ t - "
) u r g >
o l u
P U p u L d l
songsn their
performances
()tE
ncmtitrs t' his
tlq
bana
is
plagtinq
homuude
MNMPHTS dUG
BAND
"."{:,3
""*
..J;['
"
*iifri
"*{{"}\T:i,l::Yilr,$]
lht
M llphis
t lg
B6nd
CHARLEY PATTON
/fr\ chartevaaon
t882-
Ftfq
le34) orkediound
\@/
?"::ti];iiliffi:'."
Tennessee,
nd
hated he discipline
of olantationife.
Patton had a gruff,unpolished
singing
oice.
He
useda
bottleneck, ometimes
laying
he
guitar
across
his knees,Hawaiian
style.His recordingsor the
Paramountabel ncluded ongster
tunes like Frankie nd Albert
1929)
and soirituals.His most famous
bfuessong was PonyBlues
1929).
MEMPHISMINNIE
Memphis innie
(
1896-973)was
probably
he most
important emale
blues
uitarist.
he
grew
up in
Memphis, ennessee,
nd
moved
to Chicago n 1928.Her first
husband
was
the
guitarist
Kansas
Joe
McCoy,
and together
they
recorded a seriesof vocal and
guitar
duets.She ater worked
with many other Chicago
musicians. er recordingsor the
Vocalion abel ncluded he best-
selling umble ee
l
930) and
oe
Louis
trut
1935).
SONNY BOYWILLIAMSON
Sonny oy
Williamson1897-
1965) asoneof the
greatest
lues
harmonica laye rs. e was born
in Mississippi,ndwas originally
known
as Rice
Miller.When he
began o broadcast
n the radio
in 194 , he borrowed he
name
SonnyBoy Williamson rom
anotherharmonica
layer.
Will iamsonwasover 50 when
he nradehis irst recordings.
n
| 955 he had
a
hit with Don? Stort
me
to
Tolkin',backedby Muddy
Waters and his band.
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E1
E]
2
Playing
his tune
BaJ Par(h
luesas
parts
or up o Lhree
layers
ParlB is he
prano art ,
which ar be
played
r
its own.
Trynot to
play
he dotted
quavers
nd
semiquavers
n the
efthand oo
rigidly think
of
them
more s
groups
f t r iplet
uavers
o
get
an
authent ic
lues
hythm.
2
A1
Abovehe music,here re
guitar
hordso add o
the
pianopart .
Youcoulduse
several
i f ferent
rhythmsor hem. ry
playing
n thesecond nd
fourth eats f the baronly, r st rum n t ime o
the e l thand [ he
p iano
,4ake
ure
ou
Ldnge
Iromonechord o t \e next
n
tLe
riph- are
E7
7
Thererediaqramsor he uitar hotdsn this une npaqe3
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E
B
C
D
E
A solo
part
P ar l i sa so lo e ody
i -e Y ou
an
p lay
I
ona
f lute,
iol in
or
recorder,
r anyother
melody
instrument.t wi l l also ound ery f fect iven a
guitar.
he ablature otat ion n the ower taf f
mayhelp
you
o workout
which
rets o
play
on
each t r ing.
String bending
I f
youplay
hesolo
part
on a
guitar
ry bending
thestr ing ach ime
youplay
op C.Thiswi l l help
to create n authent ic
lues ound. lay he note,
then
gent ly
move
he
inger
oldinghe str ing
down,
ushing
he str ing
owardshecentre f the
gu i l a r
eck . he
r rc \
f he
no tew i l l
i : e l r gh t l y
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five
Blrres
fJP
to
Playing his tune
Up o
f ive
people
an
play
l- s IUne
ogelher. ere
aresome
uggest ionsbout
how o do this:
As a solo:Youcan
play
he
piano art
on this
page
n
ts
own
The hy lhmhou ld e
egu l . r
but
put
a
very l ight ccent n the
irst
quaver
f
each
air.
hiswi l l make hem
rol l"
l i t t le.
when
you
are
amil iar i th he
music,ry o
play
both he op and
bottom ines
with
he
efthand
only.
f
you
workout he
ingeringareful ly,
ou
can o h i :
o rmo< l f he u ne Once
ou
an
manage
t, ryaddinghe melody
ine
on
the
opposite
age.
t maybe hard o read
rom
both
pages
t once,
ut t wi l l become asier
i th
pract ice.
l ternat ively,
ecordhe music n this
page,
i ther n tapeor
in thesequencerf an
electroniceyboard
hen dd he melody
ine
over
he top.
As a
group:
Get
a
guitar ist
o strum hechords
above
he
pianopart ,
s ing his
rhythm'
4 t \ r , .
t I
4
) ) ) )
'
)
' .
.
As
ong
assomeone
lays
i ther he
piano
r
guitar arts
n this
page, ou
can
addanyor al l of
the
parts
pposite,
n any nstruments
ou
ike.
Thene ody rne poo.rte ouldbe
played
it l '
onehandbyanother
ianist .
r
asksomeoneo
play
t on a
melodynstrumentharmonica
see
oppositeJ,lute,
iol in,
r
recorder.
Below
he
melodyhere re
parts
or
wo
rhythm
instruments.seone, uch
sa drum, or he
notes
with
stems
oing
p,andanother, uch sa
tambourine
or noteswithstems
oing
own.Or
b lnw
n rhy thm ve|he ne.k f a
l a rge
ot t leo
imitate hesound
f a
jug
band
see
age
3)
Tl1ercrcdiaqrams|r the uilar ha s l[1isu e a paqe 3
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o
Sive
Blues
Bluesharmonica
Harmonicas an only
p lay
n
one key, o most
t - t , , ^ l - . . - ^ ^ i , ^ . L , . ^ , ^ t - , ^ . - a , , ^ ^ . , ^ - |
l d r p
,
p r d y s r -
instruments,ne oreach ey.Often,nstead f
using
harmonica
n the keyof the une heyare
playing,
heyuseone
n
the
key
a
f i f th
below.
his
is ca led
playing
cross-harp".
Forexample,Jp oFive Lress in the keyof G,
but a blues cale n
G
contains
natural , hich s
not avai lablen a harmonican C. So
you
have o
useaChormor<a
, , ' h i t hp la l ' l na l l a l
and
p
a1
cross-harp ost
mouth
organs" vai lablerom
t ^ \ / r ^ r a - r p
j n
a h r - a h l j - -
F , r ^ h ^ , , ^ F r , r a
r r o r v
u u u 6 L
L r
o r o
music torewi l l be more el iable.
Piayingross-harplso
means
hat he
most
important otes f hescale reon the
"draw"
you
breathe
n
to
play
hem.
Notes
n the draw
areeasiero bend han
notes
ou
play
by blowing.
Playing his
tune on a
harmonica
Hold
your
harmonicao he hole
hat
plays
he
highest otes s at he r ight .Mostblues arps
have
en
holes, hichmay
be numbered pwards
from ef t o r ight . n he music he numbers
bove
the notes how
ou
which ole o
play.
hearrow
point ing
ightmeans
blow";
he arrow
oint ing
lef tmeansdraw' .So or he rstnote, oublow
through
ole
6
For
he second,
ou
draw hrough
ho le5 .
When
ouplay, utyour
ips
ight ly ver he
holes. hiswi l l help
you
direct heair f low. ou
canbend he
notes
n the draw y stoppinghe
holewith
your
ip or tongue.When
ou
clear he
holeaf ter his, he notewi l l bendupwards.ry
al ter ingheway
ou
breathe ndexperimenti th
b low ing i f l e re r t
o le -
oo Lo ee
wr r . r r rake '
the rrelody
ound
rost
expreq<i\e
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.\.-
Fishine l-,ine Blues
\'\--l
The top
line
Youcan
play
he op
ineof this uneon
any
instrument,ut
a s l ide
uitar
wouldsound
est
Use bot t leneck
see
age
2).For his une,
ou
wi l l onlyneed
he D andG
str ings.
Each ime
you
have o repeathe
noteA, s l ideup
to
the note romsl ight ly
elow
t.Thiswi l l bend
the
no les l i gh t
mak inghem
noreexpres : i ve .
You
can
do this
with
he
op C too.
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Playing his tune
Youcan
play
hisasa
piano
oloby
reading
he wo
owest
l i neso r add
he op
ineona me lodyns t rumentsee e lowr
Thebeatof his uneshould ery elaxed. l ip he astnote n
edch r iplet
ery
l ight ly
5ee
dge
l
to
get
a
good
hyLhrr.
More about
mprovising
I f
youplay
he
repeatedect ion few imes, he
person l ay ing
he
melodyine
an
mprov i se
solo
part .
Base
hison the
wri t ten ine,
ut
ry
addingn other
notes
ndchanging
he rhythms.
At frrst,not every ote
you play
will
sound
good
w i t h
heaccompanimentt takesi r re o
ear r
which otes i t best . hemore
ou
isten nd
experimentheeasiermpro\
si ' rg
econes
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nceblues
was
esta l ished
as
an mportant
ypeof
popular
music, i f ferent
- F , , 1 ^ - L - ^ - - ^ r ^ l ^ , , ^ l ^ ^ i -
r r l L c r u e g d l r \ J u s v c r \ J i J
r
dif ferent
arts
f America.n
he
1930s sty le
nown
scountry
blues ecame opular.t was
based n
he
nus i ro f
heear l i e , t
b l ue '
pe r f o rn
r .
n ru ra
a reas
but
t
became
opular
hroughout
America here
ere
hreemain
centres f
country lues:
he
Mississippi ,exas nd he East
Coast
see
map).
Mississippiblues
TheMississippilues
tyle
rew
up n he
Miss iss ipp ia l l ey
o c n a r i : l l r r i n i h a . l a l f : ^ F t h a
Yazoo iver
romMemphis
own
t o \ / i e l c h r r r o T h ] < . : r c : i < n l t c n
consideredo be hebir thplace
n f h l , r e < T h p n n n r r l e t r , n u , : <
ma
n
y made p of black
pla
tat ion
orkers hough
hese
people
ere o onger
laves,
many f hemst i l l ived n
severe
poverty
ndha dsh
p.
M i < < i s c i o o i h | l e c < n p e r q
p v n r c < < c d
i n t , . n < o
p m . r t
r ^ n <
of ten
roa
ng,
umming
nd
o v p n r , c l l i n o n t h c i . < - n o < N / : l
- . - .ny
accom
an
ed hemselvesi th
wai l ing ot t len ck
uitar
laying
r ( ee
n4oe l . ) l TLF
-n . t i -
< , - a ' c
o l
M ssissippilueswere
Son
Hou e,Robert
ohnson
Charley
Patton
nd
Skip
ames.
Mantl coLntnJ hres
lauers.
tclurlina
Sktp
dmes
ndCharl
Patt l] l
b$atl
lhet c\reers rtertai lLlal
rural
bttrs tntl
t ement
uildikqs
Country
Blues
East
Coastblues
ln the southern ta tes
[ the
At lant ic oast
FIor ida,
eorg ia,
SouthCarol ina,
or th
Carol ina no
Virg ina
,
cond t
on
s
for Afr ican
, , ^ , ^ t ^ . ^ t - - . t - , l . - ,
/ - \ l l l c l l - d l r J I L l c e 5 5 l l d l S l r l r d n l n
Mississippir TexasMany lues
art ists
rom
hisarea ada relaxed
mus ica lt y l e . heync lude l i nd
B lake, l ind i l l i e
M'Te l lB uddy
Mo. . B lnd B o1 u l Je r
nd
B ro r rn ie
M'Chee.
SomeEast
Coast lues
layers
also
performed
thermusic. hey
appeared i th
str ing a ds
lg roups
s ingma in l y i o l i ns ,
gu
ta s ,
ndmando l i ns
,
and
somet imes
a
g
s t r j ng and
tunes swe l l sb lues .
Texas
blues
Texas lueswas
style hat
or iginatedn
heSouthwestf
America
Many exas lues ongs
aremore
trongly ased n
stor iesha Mississippi
lues
songsSu
ects
ncluded ersions
o f heba l ads
+ L - r L - - . 1 l - ^ ^ -
popu
a w i t h
< . n o < l ' o r < l < e o
p a g e 6 ) ,as
, , , ^ - - f - l ^ - ^ r
the
ha dsh
p
and o i lo f
everydayife n
rural reas,
i nc lud ing
fam ine
nd
drought.
Texas
lues ingers f tenhad
high, xpressiveoices,
ndmany
of hemaccom
a
ed
hemselves
on
guitar.
hebest nown exas
blues erlormersnclude
guitar jsts
l in Lemon
efferson
l see
ta r j l e ) , i gh tn in opk ins
and
Texas
lexander.
Th?Pdtdnaurl
lab,tl
'or
oueot'Blind
Leno
lellr/so,l
hits
Ctop
peslt
ike
oltotl
r i 'rari15lcdlur?r
,l.i,llt
alcs iolcli
A ruralduo
plat j i
l
a ham.Mt1fuast
left l
a d
qu iLa r
Blind
performers
ave ways
played
n
mportant
art
n
b luesmus ic . nab leo do
manual ork,
hey
tu ned o music o
earn
l i v i ngWi th
he
enha ced ense f
hea
ing ha t l i nd
n a n n l a n F t o " h . ' , a
many
ecame
L - - - - - _ -
- - . i
_ -
v ' - - , t
i \ 'owA I I ogro"{
___"i____-_._.\ . .
\o' . lTi ._)-
I
I \---ri:nrucx+
-
/'
i
KANsas
r,ssouR,_
- - - - - i . . - - - - - - - _ _ 1 , , - 4 - - - - - ^ - - - ; - .
The American
So
---1
Arca
of the
East
l-J coast blues
',
\ . /
-
Arca
of he
fi
.J
LJ uississippi6lues
---,.-\
\ ,-----_
Area
of the
successful
usic ia
s.
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Texass very
close o Mexico, o
Texas lues
players
ere ery
f om i l i o r r l h
Mex iLar us i . . h ib
inf luenced
he
playing
f Bl ind
Lemon
efferson
nd
many
thers.
Field recording
The irst ecordings
f country
h l , , o < n a r F n r m o r < . , a r a m : , . 1 - h ,
, , . -- r '
sound ngineershomoved
: . n " n d t h a r n n t r v r u i t h r h o i r
r a . . r d i n o
p n
i n m c n t T h l < i <
knowra: f eld ecordrng ome
n f r h c < e n e n n l p u / r n f a . J f ^
recordmusic orcommercial
l < p e n : o o 1 1 l . ) f h t . r <
were esearchers
nd
histor ians
whoweremore nterestedn
captuingunusualypes f
mus ic . any
f he
ea l iest lues ty les
on y surviven
recordings ade
y
these ieldunlts.
EarlAound
rccarclinq
equqment
The
uitar
as
irsl
pldt)ed
n NhericabU
Meriaan usicians
ROBERT
OHNSON
Robert
Johnson
( 19
l - 1938 ) as
born in Hazlehurst,
Mississippi.n the
mid-1930s e
recordedmany
songswith fieldunits n Texas,
includingHellhound n my Trail
(1937),
Believe
'll Dustmy Broom
(1936)
and Ramblin' n my Mind
(
1936.He died
at the ageof 26,
probably
rom
poisoned
whisky.
Johnson's
oice
and bottleneck
guitar
style nfluenced
ome
important
blues ingers, otably
Elmore
James
nd MuddyWaters.
Blues inger on
House Eddie
James,
1902- 988)s hought
by manybluesexperts
to bea typicalMississippi
lues
performer.
nly our of his
recordingsere ssuedn his
lifetime.
hesenclude is
masterDiece
reachin'he Blues
( 930),
with ts half-shoutedyrics
andbottleneck
uitarplaying.
he
records
soldso
poorly
hat a copy
of one of them hasnot
yet
been
found.
Housewas ecordedagain
by
he
Libraryof Congressn
l94l and 1942.
LEMON
JEFFERSON
The bestknown Texas
blues
performer
s
i
BlindLemon
efferson
(1897-
930) . iss ight
haddeteriorated uringhi s
childhood nd he madea livingby
singing n the
streetsof various
towns throughoutTexas.
With his high,
learvoice he
mademore than80 records
between1925
and
| 929.
His besr-
known songs ncludeB/ock noke
Moon (1927)
and Motch 8ox
Elues
(
| 927).His songswere recorded
by manyother bluesartists.
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i. , . ni .a '1 . 16 Lt , p116 ' l ' . 1. , t r , : . ' ) 0 i L ic , o
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Playing
his tune
Ask omeone
o singor
play
he op
ine, r earn o s ing
t
) o u r - e l f
T o d ( c o n - p d - \
l . u s e L h e
p ' d n o
o o r l o r l h e
g - l l d r
chords,
r both.
Alternat ively
lay
he uneon
the
piano
lone,
readinghe
op andbottom
ines. ddsome
f hechords
rom
the
middle
art
during
he
gaps
n
the
op ine.
v
r j v er w as my f ri en d t i ll th al day it
washed my house
1
came in through
my ftont door-
D 5
dont know
why
youre
mad at me but
you re no friend oIntne a
ny more.
Ab7
3
I
D7 G] D7
D
5
2
2
I
1
2
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Blaek
Cat
Blues
a t - -
nw
,tf
___
ta ta
,= tOO
. 1
B b 7
I
867
A
new kind
of bass
ine
ln Bla&
CatBlues,
hemelodys n
the
bass ine,
o
play
he ef thand
learly
nd irmly.
eep
he
right-hand
hords
ven nd
air ly
ulet ,
nd
i t he
syncopatedass
art
around
t. This
may eel
a bi t
t r icky t f i rst , ut
t wi l l
get
easier i th
pract tce.
Other
ways
of
playing
this tune
There re
guitar
hords bove
he music, hich
you
could
sk
omeone
o
strum
wht le
ouplay
the
eft -hand
art .
Or aska
cel l is to
play
he ef t -
hand
part ,
ndaccompany
t with
he r ight-hand
ol the
piano art
or he
guitar
hords.
1
3
I
) t t a a a a
1 -
. t , a
t - ^ t
Therere iagrumso/ hequitar.hords lhis une npaqe 3
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nf
-+-
t a ^
\-./
Woke up
this morn ing
-
a)
won der where
I
am
a r a
Woke up
this moI'I] ing
t * t *
8
Won der where I
t -
am Ive got th e
r-,r
I
+i.t
Pri-son cell blues
,l
t 2
d
+*+
and I'm
a me lan cho ly
man
-
1+'
t a -
o
Minor-key blues
progressions
Mostblues unes rebased n major eys, ut
blues
rogressionssee age
9) do exist n minor
keys.Prison ellBlues asminorchords n
place
of
the usual
major
hords n the
irst
and
ourth
noteof thesca
e.
Playing his
tune
Play his
piece
sa
piano
olo.Make hecrotchet
chords
irmandsteady, ut
not oo oud Once
you
are
amil iar i th he une,
ou
could dd he
words. i ther ing hem
yourself ,
r
get
someone
else o
singwhi le
ou
play
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)
=
LO4-tr2
5 5
5
f
--
&'
I
J
t )
l 5
-l
5 l
j
5
3
.J
6
p
-
. '
1 -
. 4 "
f
- '
1 " -
'
a -
2
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Playing his
tune
You wi l l a l ready ecognize
any
of the
piano
blues
techniquesn Coin 'Er is i lues:
yncopat ions,
rushed
notesand
r ip le t
passages
ry
not to
p lay
oo
quick ly .
Pract ise
he wide eaps
n the r ighthand
bars
3,
7
and
I I for
example) nt i l
you
can
play
hem
conf ident ly .
-l
1 2
29
33
, r l l >
-Z
: ' l
I '
,+ .1
d t111.
) t l
.l
d
#Jt t .
-
ryp
.J
'+
4aa
+,-
I
p
,e-
4
I
-
I l
l
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f
n lhe
Soufhern
ldles ^
ere
I
b lues
r i g i na tedidno \
were
I main ly
ound
i ther
n
rLu rches
r rn
bar . A s
a
re .u l l
p i ano
luess
c lose ly
i nked
o
church
us i c nd
hemus ic
hat
waspopuiarn bars.
Barrelhouse
iano
Many
Afr ican
mericans
orked
iel l ing
rees
n the
orests
f
Texas ndLouisiana.f terwork
theywent
o local
ars
al led
bar re lhouses .
he
ough,
r i v ing
piano
tyle hat
developed
here
is
known
s barrelhouse.
wo
famous
a relhouseianists
ere
Wi l l
Eze l l
nd
Char l i e
pand .
T0
d.t
d
lorid
orrr 'falsoLord
liat |uLl
b.
/r. i ir i
r
[ 'r
r
6.r, t / / iof is. l i . t / i i i ls
f t( i l
put
t t l.L\,spdpt r
)dt it l t l
/ t r , lr irds
0r
rI f ful
lii.,ii
i,t l/r. /i.i
rkr5
Piano
Blues
Boogie
woogie
Whije
a relhouse
eveloped
n
rural
reas
anotherty le
ooogie
^ooq ' e .
ar
pe r f o ' neo
n
i l y
oa r .
and
clubs.
Boogie
oogie
s fasterand hythm caly
more
ompiex
than
barrelhouse
t
acquired
rs
name
rom
he 1928
ecording
inf
Top
Baaqie
Nooqie
by Clarence
"P ine
Top '
Smi th
904
1929) .
he
s t y le ema ined
opu la r
n t j l
he
ear l y
940s ;
ome
lues
nd
azz
p ian i s t s
t i l l
p l ay
unes
n
a
boogie
voogie
ty je
oday
BDoqb
,1aqtc
,L:ts
ldl|d
dl
p|rtits
tllt
u,.re
otttl\tztd
bu
poor
Ah.tc.ln
nericltls
o rai.r
naneq
a
part
hpu.er l
Mrrir
lrl&.s
i.txisls
prt
ntl
Ia
plau
n
B:t
isl
ch l . h$
p
ror
dit,4
t1o:d' nt
usic
rt
JIMMYYANCEY
Jimmy ancey1894-
I95
)
first
worked
asa
tap dancer,
ut
retired
from
show
business
n
1925
o
become
a
groundskeeper
for
the
Chicago
White
Sox,
a
'
baseball
eam.
He
developed
serene.
melodious
ersion
of
boogie
woogie.
He
first
achieved
ame
n
1936
when
he
piano
player
Meade
Lux
Lewis
recorded
his
composition
YanceySpecioll 936).
After
this,
Yancey
made
many
recordings,
ncluding
Yancey's
Bugle
Coll
(1940).
MEMPHIS
SLIM
|, ' / 'T< \
Born
and
raised n
l f i / .€El
[ - \ / . ,
r - remPnrs,
ennessee.
\@/
iilil.'ulT;':,""'-
Memphis
Slim,
ang
nd
accompaniedimsel f n the piano.
His playing
as n
a rough,
powerful
style
that
had its
roots
rn
rural
barrelhouse
music.
At
the
ageof
24 he
hitched
a
ride
o
Chicago,
here
he
workeo
as a
pianist
n Big
Bill
Broonzy's
band.
He
toured
Eurooe
n
the
1950s
nd
eventually
ecame
regular
per{ormer
n Les
Trois
Maillets,
club
n Paris.
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Craz;y
Feet
Boogie
eJ
\-/-
a
1
Playing his
tune
Boogie oogie
ass ines
anbe
air ly
i f f icul t .
Pract ise
hisoneslowly
nt i l
you
aresure
f he
notes. ry
o
"rol l "
our
hand cross
heoctave
leaps
ssmoothly
s
you
can.
l fyou
cannot
stretchheoctaves,
lay
both
quavers
n the
lower ote
of each
air .J
When
ou
can
play
he
le f t -ha -d
c l r
o r l i op r l l y
' y bo l l - o rd . oget
e r
lz .
About
boogie
woogie
The most mpor tant
eature
i boogiewoogie s
the bass ine,which s
an e laborate ers ion
f the
w a l k i r g
a , *
r qe t r
d q e
7 r N , l a n y
a r l r
b o o g i e
a s -
l i n e s
w e r e n
e v e n
u a v e r s ,
i k e h e
o n e n h i s
tune. n la ter
boogie
woogie
unes,
he bass
rhythms
wereoften more
compl icated ike
he
oneson the nextFour
ages.
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Choo
Choo
Boogie
J=11O
.l
rl
rrl
- T
- l ^ . -
a44
++
N
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Playing this tune
l f
youplay
hedotted otes xact ly
s
wri t ten,
heywi l l
sound oo r igid.But f
you
divide hebeat nto r iplets,
ason
page
0, t wi l lmake his
unesound oo relaxed.
A true boogiewoogie hythm s somewheren
between
the wo
-
not
too strict,but
not
too
lazv.
t6
a
44
ta ta ta
A
classicboogie bass ine
Thedotted hythmeft-hand
art
n
this une
s
oneof he
most
ommon oogie ass ines.
Rol l"
your
ef thand crosshekeys,making
hebass
notes ing
out.
Pract jse
t s lowly t f i rst , hen
speed p
when
you
aresureof the notes.Clioo }ioo
Booqir
ounds est
layed
t around
=
I 10,
thoughmany oogie
layers
ould ave
hown f f
their echniquey
playing
t far aster
han his.
Special effects
Many oogieunes
ontainedpecial
f fects r
"novelty"
assages.
n Choo
hoo
ooqid
hereare
j r r l
o l i ons f hewh
s t
e5onAmer ican
re ig l - t
t rains. he
ignbetweenhe
stavesn bars17, 9
and23
el ls
ou
o al ternate
etweenheG sharp
and
he
B f lat ,
s
quickly
s
you
can,
or
hewhole
bar.This remolo
f fect , hich s of tenheardn
b lues i ano aSng r . r i l leed
a l i l l l e
rac t
e
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Baorlie
or
Two
s
a
duet
or wo
people
at one
piano.
Play he
eft handof
Part
B
an
octave
ower han
written
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I 12-134
S e e
p a g e
I f o ra n e x p l a n a t i o nf h e s l g n
n
ba r s
- 3 5 ,
7
9 a n d
11
o f h i s
pa r t
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T
n
theear l y
a r t
f he20 th
I
cenu
y' .
manyAfr ican
I Americans oved rom ural
areas f heSouth o major
c i t ies ,
a in ly
n
the
nor t h
nd
east.
s
a result ,hecharacter
f
blues ha ged
Migration
In
he
1890s
09/.f he otal
Alr ican merican
opulat ion
l ived n
the rural reas f he
American
outh.
ut
grad
a ly
thee
\\ere
euer nd ewer
ob>
there. la tatons
losed, r
became
armed
y machne y
The ays f r a i l r oadu i l d i ng
were ver,
nd here
was
ess
dockyadwork ecausehere
were ewer
argo oatson the
rivers. anyAtr ican mericans
moved
o large i t ies n the
industr ial ortheastf he
USA
Ma
q
miLtrittttLl frian An,:rirnrrs
olloLl*i
thenajar f i ih, 'ort fs
o{ i
Theywanted
o
f ind
obs
anda
better tandard
i
l iv ing.
nd
hoped o escapeheracia
discr iminat ion
hat
was
ommon
in heSouth By 1950, nly20"/"
o f
A f r i can
mer .Ld rsL i ' l r vedn
theSouthern
tates.
This uge
migrat ion f
people
cha ged
hesor i a land conom
c
structure[ America.t wasone
of he mportantactorsn the
growth
f blues sa
major
orm
of
popu
a
music.
Blues
in
the City
City entertainment
Manymigrants
o thebigci t ies
iaced
ewhardshipsvhjch
ere
ma n
ycaused yovercrowding
and
poverty.
A
{i,1)r}t
f iusir i4r(
pld ,
l. Ihrfsd lsrdf
a ,1rrr-dor|rr
prir lf irrr lr lori i
T h e s e
o u g h o fd r l r ons
r o d u c e d
a
- e \ ^
f y p e
o f b l u e . . n o " , , n
" .
c i l y
b l u e s .
i t yb l u e sw a s
a
m o r e
aggr- .ss ive
ty le han country
i - 1 , , ^ - r r , , , - - ^ f + ^ ^ ^ l - . ^ , J L . , L ^
u . - c 5 . l r ^ d ) L . r l
( l r
p l d
H u u \ t d r g e r
groups, i th nstrumentsuch s
saxophone
r rumpet
shown
below)Blues
ecameess
nc . sn_ r - - d n
. r "a
< . t .
r l
t r pd
and
a ra
ged, i thmus cia s
playing
togeth r .
Ttumptls
taP
popular
r1
. ity f t&.sbdrrds c,.1.r jr
l l ldir
l.1r1r /cdrdnf 1(1(
f l lct lat i jr i 0
I |dr
f l r0r L/
r l h t
werc lsa
apular
far
hetrou d
boaminq
aw
Chicago
Chicago ecame
he
ocus
f
b lues
ur i nghe1920snd l930s
A serjes f
duets y hesinger
Leroy
ar r 905- 935and
he
gu ta istScra pe Blackrvel
(
903- 962 . \ ,ere
mong he irst
recorded
xamples
[ c i tyblues.
T h a < t r < - n o < h : r l i h p n p r c n n r l
expressiveeel f country lues,
but heirmelodies
eremore
regular.he hythms ere
more
ins is tent
nd
urgen t
han
man) /
cou t ryblues
ecords.
Downhome
lues
When
he United tates ntered
the
Second or ldWar
n 194I ,
more ndmoreworkers ere
needed
o stal f heweapons
factor iesn
thenorthern i t ies
Th i s ncouragednadd i t i ona l5
mil l ionblackworkers
o move
north om
heSouth.
Their
aste orcountry lues
I a d t n t h a n l o r r a ln n m a n t n f : r i t ,
- - ' .
style nown s
downhome"
blues.t was ike
radit ional
country lues, ut t was ouder
andmore n tense.
t
was
sua l i y
played
n electr icnstru e
ts
S n m e n f t h e o r a r t p < t h l , , a (
musicias were
ownhome
i\
pirsL,r
4du1115r,r|/
lrcr{ raad,-/
)q Lfrou
Cd
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players,
nc ludng Muddy
Waters
see
StarFi le) ,L i t t le
Walter , nd Howl ingWolf
Blueslubs etameertl
optLlar
n all
tfu n6iar
Americanit ies
In
the
ia te 1940s
here
was
increasingemandorblues.
There ere lues lubs nd
rad io
ta t ions
n
a l l t he
ma jo r
ci t ies, ndsales f blues
records ontin ed to
grow.
California
and Memphis
Outside
hicago,i f ierent
blues ty les ere volv ing.
n
\ , d
t u r | | r d d > | | u u t | | t r r ,
q u r ' L v r ,
more elaxed
tyle
wasmade
popular yart ists uch s
T Bone
Walker.
l n Memph is ,
l ues
ad io
stat ions
nd he record
ind strymade lues
ery
popular.
neMemphis J
becamehe most m
porta
t
post-war
luesmusician,
. B.
K
ng
see
tar
Fi le).
BIG BILL BROONZY
BigBill Broonzy
(William
Lee
Conley
Broonzy,1893- 958)
grew
up on a farm in
Arkansas,
before settling n Chicago
in 1920 . here he earned o
play
rhe guirarwirh a light, iltingsyle. n
the 1930s e became leading
figureamongblues
uitarists
nd
vocalists,
roviding
music hat
people
coulddance
o.
Broonzy oured Europe n the
| 950s.His hits nclude
ohn
Henry
(
f 95l) and Blocl<"rownand
White
l
951
,
a
protest
song.
MUDDYWATERS
post-war
blues ingers. e starced
playing
luesn Mississippi.
In 1943 emovedo
Chicago
andbegano record.He
successfullydaptedhe bottleneck
style o the amplified
uitar,
using
slide. ouring xtensively,ewas
later
particularly opular
with
whiteaudiences.is ecordings
include m vourHoochie oochie
rVon | 953)andGotmy Mojo
Working | 955).
B.B.KING
Probablyhe best
known blues ingerof
any
period
s B.B.King
(Riley
King,b. 925).
His nitials tand or
"Blues
Boy"
He worked in Memphis sa DJan d
madehis irst record n 1949.He
taughthimself o
play
he
guitar.
King
performed
with a mixtureof
speech nd song. n the
1960s, e
becamehe
idol of British ock
musiciansuchas EricClaptonand
Mick
Jagger.
is album
There
Must Be a BetterWorld
Somewhere"won a Grammy
Award in 198
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After Midnight
)
=74
t
a)
nry
lr. ./-\,
+ .
t t + +
Af
tcr
5+-
J
d " - + ' + '
-
+ -
n r i d n i o l _ r I
' e s r
n t \
+ ' 6 r ' ++
hezrd.
Al ter
h- - ' - \ - .
+
mid night I iay
on
my
a )
" -
+
4 '
be , l A I
te r
t ^
mid night things ain t as they
I-,.* d*:
,Al ter
l-,* 1)*:
r l
i l
)
t l
I
3
.+
a)
"
-
+,-,+'
\v'
-\_+b.l
mid night
I
dreamDly
t 6a : '- \-.
4 ' + '
dream A
n a .
mo
vie
star with a Ca dil lac car that
d
++ ' +J
whal you are. Af ter
{.;
mi d
++ ' ++
ei t"t
{ - - -
+ '+ '
micl t.rift.rt
h r - ^
-,,^\
-\-z
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Playing his tune
lf
you
have
an electronic eyboard, furMidniqht ould
sound
oodplayed
sing he
lazz
organ" et t ing f
you
are
playing
t on a
piano,
make he
chordsn the ef t
hand ound ery ich
andsustained. ake
he
quavers
very elaxedcount areful ly,
ut do not rush.
t 7
More
playing
hints
First ,earn
After idnighti thout
worrying
bout
the words.When
ou
can
play
t
wel l , ry
singing t
the same ime,or ask
omeone lse o
join
n.
A blues
inger ould
probably
ake
ome f
the notes n
this une ntobluenotes,
y s inging
thema l i t t lehigher
han hey
sound n the
keyboard.ry
hiswith he i rstE
f lat n bar8 and
theB la t n
bars 3 and25.
In many
lues ongs,
neof the musicians,
uch
d( a
gu i l d r i 5L
rkeyboard
laye r .
mprov .se.
solo
part
n the middle.
hisof ten asts or
he
' . rs t
e . gh l a rs l he 2
ba ' p rog re . s io rnd
he
singer
oins
n
again or he ast our
bars.Bars
17 o 24of
this unearewri t ten o
sound ike
this ypeof
solo, ut
you
could mprovise
our
own Make t last
eightbars
I
3
1
a.)
^f
'\-/
r.._.,+.
I
l - -n - .
+
t 3
,
.[
{
"w,
+..
h- - ' 1 - .
e ++
\ - /
-
- ' l '
23
a)
o a .
n p A
mo vie star with
a Ca dil lac
car that s
d
+ '1 '
++
what
you
are. Af-ter
t - ' : ' .
' : ;
+ ' + '
J1
mid night
Af ter
t ^
.:-
+ J'
mid
night
lr - - \-
.
t o .
-z-rt-
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J
=
92-1OO
l
- -
--
d w - r j
- t i t o - I
ryp
' - a
--
13
a.)
& t** 4l
f
+
l4
-\_/-
\-./-
]
,"
t & f r** - .
-//.\
58
\-,2
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d
w-
-
:-
--- --
Playing this
tune
Th i>
une
w i l l
ound
es l i a
p iano
o lo
Pracr icehe
rhythms areful ly,
nd ry o
make hechords ven nd
f i rm.
n
bar
12,
lay
he
irst emiquaver
i th
he
second
f inger f
your
ighthand, nd he
next otewith he
second
inger f
your
ef t .Al ternate etweenhe
wo.
t 6
d
3
>' >--/
;\
, f ie- -
- v - v -
>
] ; . -
* * t * * t A
2 l
l 8
+ 4 f r * * tC
ta
New harmonies
Some
f heharmonies
nTheRunaroundo
nol
str ict ly elong
o a t radi t ional lues
cale. ut he
chord
rogression
tsel f s a minor-key
ersion f
thestandard
2-barormat.
n
he
1950s nd
1960s,lues ont inued
o
grow
nd
develop s
new
musicians:edblr ,es
rogres. ion:
sLhe
basrs
or
al l
k inds f mprovisat ion.
More about improvising
The
second
alf
of this une
s wri t ten
o sound
l ikean mprovisat ion.he hythmic ndmelodic
ideasn
the
ighthandhere
ould
orm he basis
of
your
own mprovisat ion.oucould
play
he
tuneseveralimes,mprovis ingdif ferentight-
hand
part
each jme
youplay
he second
alf Th
last ime hrough,
lay
hecoda o
t inish
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J
=96
d
; j___u
()
\ J I
-,,\
\.,-
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Playing his tune
I ' you i nd
he
yncopa ledl ' v thm f heba . ' I na
r ick )
f i rst
play
t
without
he ie.
Then, hen
ou
add he ie t ry
to
keep he beat teady. ract isehe ef thand
unt i l
you
can
play
t automat ical ly,i thout hinking bout t . Then dd
the
righthand,
aking are
with
he syncopat ions.
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T
n t he
dte q50s
heaud ien (e
I
f o rb lues
egdn
o
dec l i ne .
" *
I o t he r
ype: [ mus ic e .ane
popu
ar
withAfr ican
mericans
Many
lues
erformers
ound hey
couldno
onger
el l
arge umbers
of
recordsn the faceof
compet i t ion
romnew
tyles
f
musrc
ike
ock-ad-rol l .
However
nterestn blues
increasedmong
oung
wh te
aud
ences,
a
t cu a ly
students,oth
n
America
nd
Europe.
Th s encouaged lues
art istsikeB B. King,
Son
House
nd
oh
LeeHooker o
Blues Today
AlbertCol l ins
32-
9931.n
Chicago,everal
erformers
adapted
B King's
ui tar
ty le o
C L c a o , - l , P \
. , f
l ' n p he i . r r > i c
"West
SideSoul" .MagicSam
ed
the
f ie ld n the
development
[
th is fast- f ingered
ui tar
s ty le .
He
was ater o l lowed y
Ot js
Rush,
l i m m y
D a w k i n s
n d
M a g i c
l i r r
Modernblues
Art ists
hohave
ome
o
prominence
ince
he
ate1980s
includeheTexans enny eal
(b .1957) ,
a r r y
a
n
rand
Sherman
obertson ucky
Peterson
b
1964) ,ch i l d
prod
gy
on
pia
o
has ince
ecom-o
a ta ented
gu
ta
st
t ou r
American
u
n verst ies,where
t h o \ , : t f r r . t a . l
t ^ . ^ ^
E/i,isPr.t[,q
a
ud ences.
As
people
invest igate
the
roots
of
rock-
a
nd- ro l l ,
th
ey eal ized
that t haddevelopedromblues.
This ed
new
audienceso
discover
blues, o
t remained
opular.
Many ockmusiciansf he 1960s
were eavi lynf luencedy
blues
Guitar stars
l n he1970shere
as fash ionn
blues or
nstrumental
olos
y
' 'gui tar
stars
Thesemusicians
inc lude l be r t ng
1923-1992r ,
Freddy
ng
11934'1976)
f i
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lr lt i fa15lIk
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uildrist
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a\
JOHN
LEEHOOKER
John
eeHooker
(b.
9l7)
grew
up n
Mississippiut ater
moved o
Detroit.
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dept
at combining is
voice and his rather limited
guitar
playing
nto a single nstrument, he
is
also
given
o accompanying
himselfwith his tapping oot, to
hypnotic effect.
Long recognized
as
an influential
blues
igure, n
the
1990s e
suddenlybecamea superstarwith
a seriesof
recordings ncluding he
Heoler 1990)and Mr. Lucky
1990).
ROBERTCRAY
Roben
Cray
(b.
1953)
is
probably
he best-
known
blues
tar of
the 1980s. e was
born at Fort Benning, eorgia nd
grew up playingazzandsoul
beforediscoveringhe blues.
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guitarist,
he formed the Robert Cray Band
in
1974. hey
released
heir first
album,
Who'sBeenTolking,n
1980. heir
pure
blues
tylehas
become
ncreasingly
opular.
Cray has egularly
layedwith
EricClapton,Keith Richards,
B.B.King,and Chuck Berry.
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l f
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acoustic
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Ak icannf luences
0- l
Alexander,exas
40
Amer ican
iv i lWar ,
6 l7
ba l lads,6 2 l
40
ban jo20
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bar re lhouse,48
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songs19, 7
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64
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LEARN
TO PLAY
BLU
Learno Play luess
a completentroductiono the bluesor
young
musicians,racing
he
ascinating
istoryf oneof theworld'smost
popular
tyles
f
music. ords,
rchive
hotographs,
etailed
il lustrationsndover 0 unes harthedevelopmentf bluesrom
theworksongs f African merican
laves
hrough
o
the
present
ay.
The unes over wide ange
f blues tyles,ndare uitableor
playing
na
piano
r electroniceyboard.any
lso
ave
ddit ional
parts
or melodynstruments,
swellas
guitar
hords,yrics,
percussion
deas
ndsuggestionsor
groupperformance.
pecific
bluesechniques,
uch
s
piano
tride,l ide
uitar
nd he
"cross-harp"
armonicatyle re arefullyxplained,saremore
general
deasike lues armonynd mprovisation.