Anthony Marks - Learn to Play Blues

8/10/2019 Anthony Marks - Learn to Play Blues

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/anthony-marks-learn-to-play-blues 1/64

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LEARN

TO

PLAY

BLUE5

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:O rn",

for

piano

r

keyboard

th extra

arts

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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



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

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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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a)

hz r

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J,_ {}

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_+

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



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.



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.



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.



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

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balafonsa tuw al rL opltotle

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hitt it sttips f

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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

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fthilhftfthh$if,ft=-dw



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



=92

oh

:--T>

l,ord

-

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+

7t * t t

show nle the

way

to the

*t ta

pro-mised taii.

5

oh

Lord

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+ 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.



=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



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.



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.



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



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).



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



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.



,

=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



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

)



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.



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.



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:



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).



3

2

4

I

1

2

I

l

I

l

I

2

I

i . i . fr,.d

j juE*

#'.-+'{*,##

I

4

2



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



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



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 .



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.



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.



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



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.



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



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



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



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



.\.-

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.



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



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.



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.



i. , . ni .a '1 . 16 Lt , p116 ' l ' . 1. , t r , : . ' ) 0 i L ic , o



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



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



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



)

=

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



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



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.



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.



Choo

Choo

Boogie

J=11O

.l

rl

rrl

- T

- l ^ . -

a44

++

N



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



Baorlie

or

Two

s

a

duet

or wo

people

at one

piano.

Play he

eft handof

Part

B

an

octave

ower han

written



I 12-134

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o f h i s

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T

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theear l y

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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

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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



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



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



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-



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



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



J

=96

d

; j___u

()

\ J I

-,,\

\.,-



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.



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

BlursNiorws L,ere opul\r t1A 1{iun

lr lt i fa15lIk

\ _

Roat

uildrist

Ji,r i

l . , rdrir

t 1942

971 l

r{d

Jrfdrifu,

if luenctd

b9t

ltt bluts

a\

JOHN

LEEHOOKER

John

eeHooker

(b.

9l7)

grew

up n

Mississippiut ater

moved o

Detroit.

Particularly

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.

A talen ted inter and

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.



l f

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ha e en io_vedhe mus ic

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th s

book l ry l j s te f jng o someof the

famous

lues

nrus ic ians en t loned

n

i t Th

s

\ \ ' i

ex1 . land

our

knowledge

f

b luesand t s

h is to ry

f

you

are

fami l ia r \ t h

someof

i rs most amous

records t w i l l he lpyou o p layb lues

W e l lT f e ' e . o r d i r c - n

l r i .

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Ak icannf luences

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Alexander,exas

40

Amer ican

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6 l7

ba l lads,6 2 l

40

ban jo20

32

bar re lhouse,48

bend ing ,6 .5

Ber ry , huck,32

Blackwell,crapper.4

Bl 'ndBlake,40

otues

a m p l i f i e d , 3 2

c i t y

54-

country40-

d o w n h o m e , 5 4 - t

EastCoast40-

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ins t ruments .32-3

Miss iss ipp i0 -

no tes ,6 . 9 ,28

o r i g i n s ,0 - I L 6 - 7

p iano.

2 .

8 . 7 .48 . 9 . 1

progressions., 19.45.59

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13 ,

5 . 4 -5 , 0 . l 55

rhythms, 9 ,14

s c a l e s , 69

songs19, 7

Texas.40

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boogiewoogie, 8,

49,5l

boogiewoogie hythm, l

bottleneck.2.33.38.

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Bradford. erry. 4,

25

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Col l inAlber t 2

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Cray. obert,

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DixieLand,6

duets 4 26 '7 . 0 - l .

2 '3

Dainq autboA,The

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Ethiopian erenaders.

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European us ic . . 16 .8

Eze l l . i l l , 8

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I | u t e . 2 7 . 3 5 . 3 6

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6

Fu l le r . l i ndBoy,40

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Cibson S335

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lumpim

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Kcxsnsil ,

Birrs,

King,Albert. 2

K i n e , B . t 5 , 6 2

King.Freddy 2

Leadbelly,6

LewisFurry,6

LewisMeade ux,48

Litt le

walter. 5

L o u i s v i l l e , 5 , 3 3

Magic

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Magic l im ,62

mando l ins

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M'Te l l , l i ndWi l l i e40

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33 , 0 55

Memphislues

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M e m p h i s i n n i e , 2 5 , 3 3

Memphis

l im . 8

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6 . 7 .

8 , 9

shows,6-7 . 2 . 2

Moss,Buddy,

0

Nea l ,

enny.62

NewOr leans,, 7

NewYork, .29

Pat ton , har ley

4

33,40

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p jano

lues,

2 . 8 47 ,48 , 9 5 l

Pifiaops Boagb

'Joaqie8

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race

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7 .22 .2 j .29

Rainey. a . 5

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tecotdet,27,

5,36

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r e c o r d i n g

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K t c e ,n o m a 5 , t o

r i n g - s h o u t

0 - l l

Rober tson herman,62

rock-and- ro l l. 62

Rush. t i s .62

Scot t .

ames.2 l

she l lac ,4 . 5

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s l ide

u i ta r ,

2 38

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r

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songsters ,6 , 7 ,

19 , 0

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Sp iers . enry .24

sp i r i t ua ls ,L I2

St.

aws

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Sld.[O'L??,

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stride

ass.

9

stride

iano,

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end jng

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syncopat jon ,] ' 8 .21 ,29 7

ten t

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4

ThomasHenry20

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twelve-barlues.

19. 7.59

Unforlu

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Vicksburg ,5 .40

v ia l in21,27.32 5 36

Wa

kerT Bone.5 t

wa lk jngass

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Waters . uddy, 3

4 l 55

Weaver ylvester

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West

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Wi l l i amson.onny oy , 5 . 3

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Yancey.

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64



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.

Documents

Anthony Marks - Learn to Play Blues