Here are the notes for my presentation on The Blues:
“Didn’t Wake Up This Morning” … Get the Blues … Play the Blues
Notes & Links
1. Intro — “Woke Up This Morning” was recorded on the album Down Home Blues by blues musician Lightnin’ Hopkins recorded in 1964 and released on the Bluesville label.
2. Bessie Smith 1894 – 1937 “Reckless Blues” (with Louis Armstrong)
3. Robert Johnson 1911 – 1938 “Me and the Devil Blues”
4. Helen Humes with Count Basie & Lester Young (on clarinet) “Blues with Helen.” I used to often play with Helen Humes when I lived in Louisville, Kentucky. I credit that early exposure to her incredible musicianship as a cornerstone in my personal musical development.
5. Characteristics of the Blues
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- The Blues tell a story, often in three 4-bar phrases (12 bar form).
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- Certain notes in a key are emphasized to create the Blues sound: b3, b5, b7
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- The harmony of a Blues progression begins on a I7 chord, moves to the IV chord in bar 5, and back to the I7 chord in bar 7. There is often a “turnaround” at the end of the 12-bar form.
6. Styles of Blues
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- New Orleans, Delta Blues, Chicago Blues, Kansas City Blues, Texas Blues, Country Blues, Blues-Rock, Gospel, Jazz
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- The Blues sound can be realized in several ways: blue notes, Blues scale, vocal melisma, outlining Blues chord changes
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- Not all music that sounds “bluesy” is the Blues.
7. Plain ‘ol Blues Harmony — “Hound Dog” Big Mama Thorton, 1952. During the vocal choruses, they play a 13-bar blues (extra bar at the end of the form).
8. Basic Jazz Blues harmony adds more chords.
9. Jimmy Rushing 1901 – 1972 “I Left My Baby” (minor Blues)
10. Billie Holiday 1915 – 1959 “Fine and Mellow”
11. Duke Ellington “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, Newport, 1956”
12. Gospel — Sister Rosetta Tharpe “My Little Sparrow”
Sister Rosetta Tharpe uses “Vestapol” tuning to the key of Db major. The guitar is tuned: Db, Ab, Db, F, Ab, Db. This is not a Blues form, but uses elements of the blues sound.
13. Chicago Blues — Muddy Waters “I Got My Mojo Workin’”
14. Charlie Parker “Now’s The Time”
15. Ornette Coleman 1930 – 2015 — free jazz with a Blues melody —“Blues Connotation”
16. John Coltrane 1926 – 1967 — modal Blues — “Mr. Knight”
17. McCoy Tyner “Blues on the Corner” — Blues with modern harmonies
18. Kenny Dorham / Joe Henderson “Mamacita” — Jazz Boogaloo
