How to write a blues song

Last Updated: December 3, 2021 | Author: Darin Owen

What is the form of a blues song?

AAB / 12 Bar Blues is the most common blues song form. An AAB pattern is used in both lyrics and melody (this is often set out in a “question-question-answer” format) made up of three 4 bar phrases in AAB Song Form. The fundamental structure of 12 Bar Blues is three four-bar lines or sections.

How do you right a blues song?

What is the basic structure in blues music?

A 12-bar blues is divided into three four-bar segments. A standard blues progression, or sequence of notes, typically features three chords based on the first (written as I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) notes of an eight-note scale.

What are the 3 blues chords?

Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the C7, F7, and G7 chords. (For the sake of brevity, I’ll only look at playing blues in the key of C). The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars (thus the phrase “12-bar blues”) that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords.

How do you end a blues song?

Normally,blues turnarounds end with the V chord or a lick based on the V chord before repeating the progression. Blues endings replace the V chord with the I chord, as you’ll see below. If you want, you can replace the last measure with one based on the V chord to create a similar turnaround.

How are blue notes created?

In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context.

How do you write a blues stanza?

The “blues stanza” became a standard lyric in popular music. It is composed of three lines: the second line repeats the first; the third line rhymes. Here, for example, is a stanza from “Green River Blues” by the Delta musician Charley Patton: Some people say the Green River blues ain’t bad.

What makes the 12 Bar Blues unique?

The twelve-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the I, IV, and V chords of a key.

What are at least three 3 types of blues music?

Modern studies of the blues identify a range of different styles of blues: delta blues, country blues, down-home blues, urban blues, harmonica blues and so on.

What notes are used in blues?

The blue notes are ♯ 4/♭5 in the minor blues scale and ♭3 in the major blues scale. The more common minor blues scale has the semitone pattern 1-2-♭3-4-♭5-♭7, and the major blues scale has the pattern 1-2-♭3-3-5-6.

What are blue notes examples?

Who started the blues?

exThe blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th Century. Its inventors were slaves, ex-slaves and the descendants of slaves—African-American sharecroppers who sang as they toiled in the cotton and vegetable fields.

Why is it called blues music?

The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to “the blues,” it came to mean a state of agitation or depression.

Can blues be happy?

Early blues were often comical or raunchy. Songs like Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” continue that tradition. And some blues are downright joyous like Stevie Ray Vaghan’s “Pride and Joy,” or pure fun like the old standard “Jump Jive and Wail.” The common thread in blues is that it’s very personal.

Did blues or jazz come first?

Both genres originated in the Southern United States around the late 1800s to early 1900s, with blues arriving first, then jazz a little later. Both were inventions of African Americans, who combined African musical concepts with European musical concepts, thus making these both uniquely American music genres.

Who is known as the father of the blues?

Today’s blog celebrates the career of W.C. Handy. Born in Florence, Alabama on November 16, 1873, William Christopher Handy became interested in music at an early age.

Where is blues music most popular?

Chicago. The great city of Chicago has music venues for every taste, but it is particularly known for the Blues.

Is Billie Holiday blues or jazz?

Who Was Billie Holiday? Billie Holiday is considered one of the best jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday had a thriving career as a jazz singer for many years before she lost her battle with substance abuse. Also known as Lady Day, her autobiography was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues.

Related Articles