Blues In Depth

01. Intro
02. The Feel
03. Standard 12 Bar Blues
04. Breakdown of the I chord
05. Breakdown of the IV chord
06. Breakdown of the V chord
07. The Turnaround
08. Minor Blues
09. Other Blues Forms (8 bar, 16 bar)
10. Conclusion

01. Intro.
Well, I'm taking on this lesson, and we'll see how it goes, I'm hoping it goes well. This could take a while, and it might be pretty long, but I hope it cuts it. I'm going to need a lot of critique and addition to this (seeing as I don't know everything, and would love some additions. Also, make sure you know how to form chords, and how to name them before reading this lesson.

Before you go any further!
I want you to read this lesson and absorb it, but don't become held down by it. If you over analyze this music, your playing starts sounding too technical, too stiff, etc. When you play this kind of music, you have to get your feelings out and you have to relax, and let it flow. That's what blues is about.

02. The Feel.
The main thing about feel would be the shuffle rhythm. If you know how to play with a shuffle skip down to the next paragraph. If you don't, keep on reading. The shuffle rhythm is written on standard notation like this:

E E  =  Q   E
        |-3-|

Shuffle is kind of hard to explain using words, but much easier using your ear; I'll try both. When you count out the rhythm you're going to want to let the "beat" get the longer duration, and the "and" get the shorter duration.

One....and Two....and Three....and Four....and

Using your ear: find a standard blues song, and listen to the drums in the background and the roll of the music, and that would be the shuffle. Try to emulate while tapping on a book or a desk, or anything to replicate that feel. That's all there is to shuffle, just keeping that rhythm going.

Why does it sound so distinct? Good question, there can be several reasons for this, but some of the most common reasons are:
- The shuffle
- Playing out of key tones over it
- The lyrical form

For playing the out of key tones, I'll go into more depth here. When you're playing a standard major blues, you could play a little lick like this, and the bolded notes are out of key.

|-------------------0-----|
|-------------0---2---3/5-|
|-----2b3-0h1---1---------|
|---2---------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-0-----------------------|

In any other musical form, this kind of passage would sound wrong (expect in a more bluesy rock context). The out of key notes are borrowed from the parent minor scale (E major, and E minor) and the blues scale. This kind of playing adds tension to the music and that's what blues revolves around, tension and release.

The lyrics in blues are based off of hard-times, struggles, or good feelings. You might think, what am I talking about good feelings and hard-times, but it's true. The blues is about feeling the music and really meaning it. I'm going to present one lyrical form here that builds on the tension and release aspect. If anyone knows anything about poetry, you know that rhyming lines are assigned a letter, and then the next line that isn't part of the same rhyme gets assigned a new letter. For instance, a poem could have the rhyming scheme of AABBCDCD where the first two lines rhyme, and so do the next two. Lines 5 and 7 would rhyme, as well as 6 and 8. We're going to apply the same context here, but with the entire lines themselves (minus the minor variations, just the general line). Here's an example:

When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
Wouldn't rest content, till I came to Tennessee.

That lyrical stanza would get this as it's scheme: AAB. Lines one and two are the same, and thus receive the same letter. The repetition of the first two lines build tension because you are repeating it, especially over two different chords (the first line over the I chord, the next line over the IV chord - more on that later). It also builds tension by leaving the conflict described through the lyrics unresolved. The third line is a new line and thus starts the process of release. You know resolve the conflict in the first two lines over the turnaround (which acts as the "release" for the music itself).

This kind of lyrical scheme is very common in blues music. Notice the emphasis on the word very. You may be wondering why I included this section here, and I'll tell you why. I included it because I felt that the vocals and lyrics are very much a big part of the music.

03. Standard 12 Bar Blues.
I'm sure you have heard of the blues being 12 bars, 12 Bar Blues, etc. Well, it's true; any 12 bar blues has a pattern. There are only three chords used. The chords are the I chord, the IV chord, and the V chord. These chords are also known as the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords. So, for instance, in the key of E major, the three chords that we would use would be Emaj (I), Amaj (2), and Bmaj (3). For sake of space and time, I'll be using the I, IV, and V method of notation for naming these chords in the pattern. The pattern is this: The first four bars in the 12 Bar Blues are made up of the tonic (I). The next two bars consist of the subdominant (IV), followed by two more bars of the tonic. Next, there is one bar of the dominant (V), one bar of the subdominant, and then one bar of the tonic. Last but not least, the dominant chord is played for the final bar, resolving the progression back to the tonic (which starts a new passage of 12 bars). Here's a diagram type thing to show the I, IV, and V chords if you couldn't really understand what I meant. Each number (I, IV, V) represents one bar:

I   I   I   I
IV  IV  I   I
V   IV  I   V

Hopefully now you will understand the concept being conveyed here about how long each chord is played and which chord is played for the duration of the 12 bars.

Like I mentioned, that's a very basic 12 bar blues, and doesn't have as much harmonic function as newer blues forms. This is because the basic form of blues does not contain the dominant chords which mean major third, perfect fifth and b7 intervals in the chord. Remember not to confuse it with the chord naming above where the dominant chord is the V chord. You could use chords like: E7, E7#9, E9, E11, E13, etc. for dominant chords. The use of the dominant chords add the tension that gives the blues its drive and edge to complete its cycle. So, for a more updated version of blues, this form could be used:

I7  I7  I7  I7
IV7 IV7 I7  I7
V7  IV7 I7  V7

As long as you remember the basic pattern for the 12 bar blues (illustrated in the first example of this section), you can keep adding, and altering onto the chords as long as they remain in the parent tonality. Remember to always try and be original and make it sound good. Too complicated is not always good, as simple as just straight major chords can sound better than something too strained or complicated.

Quick-Change. This kind of 12 bar blues is almost the same as the regular blues, but this time the second bar contains the IV chord, and not the I chord. You see this in a lot of newer stuff, and some of the newer Clapton blues.

04. Breakdown of the I Chord.
Because all of the chords are dominant it would seem that there is no tonal center if you look at it theoretically. However, the strong presence of the root of each chord, drives the progression. With that in mind, think of it as a regular progression and try to not worry about playing out of key notes and just use your ear to determine what you think will go good next.

The function of the I chord (tonic) is to lay down the key of the song. Everything is going to resolve back to this chord at the end, so, this has to be your strong chord rhythmically. When you're playing over this chord, or playing a rhythm with the chord, you are going to want to make it sound good and keep the piece rolling. If you can get the first four bar passage rolling and moving smoothly, the rest will follow.

Over the I chord you don't really want to play anything one half step above, or below the root note. The major 7 and minor second are really no-no's as far as sounding good is concerned. However, you can use these off notes as a chromatic build up if you'd like, especially if you are ending a bar of the I chord to start a new bar of the I chord. That way it seems as if you are connecting the two, kind of like in a riff sense. here's an example of using the major 7 (one half step lower than the root, in this case D# to E) in a blues riff context. The bolded note is the major 7 used over the I chord conservatively:

|------------------|
|------------------|
|-----9-9-7-7--7h8-|
|------------------|
|-7-7--------------|
|------------------|

In blues you can use that kind of chromatic build up to lead to a new chord or another lick to connect everything together. Remember, when you're soloing, you always want to build up that tension and just release it, over and over again. Try playing along to a backing track and building on these strategies.

In bars 7 and 8 you want to start playing like you're hinting at the V chord by hitting the fifth note of the major scale for the key more than often. You can't do it too much, but do it enough to build up tension to when the V chord finally hits. Doing this will sophisticate your audience's ears a little bit more so that they will be able to begin appreciating that tension and release factor of blues.

05. Breakdown of the IV Chord.
The IV chord is probably one of the most underrated chords, especially in blues music. With this chord there can be some really special, harmonic moments when playing over it. This chord is where the tension starts to begin its ascent. When you play over this chord you can use a tritone as a good way to build tension.

The Tritone.
A tritone is an interval of an augmented fourth or diminished fifth. In the transition between the I7 chord and the IV7 chord, there's a cool lick (that uses a tritone) that can be used to build tension and it's rather nifty. The tritone in the IV7 chord is between the major third and the b7 of the chord. Here's the lick used in transition:

 I7       IV7
|-----0-|--3b-------------|
|-0h2---|--2b-------------|
|-------|-----------------|
|-------|-----------------|
|-------|-----------------|
|-------|-----------------|

When you play this example, try gradually bending the tritone over the IV7 chord one quarter step.

If you're wondering why this sounds so intriguing or different, it's because the tritone contains notes from both the major and minor scales of the parent key (E major, E minor). The C# on the B string is taken from the E major scale, and the G on the high E string is taken from the minor scale. When playing this over the IV7 chord, you're just getting the major third and b7, not the root. So, it seems like you're missing something, but you still get the taste of the chord. This is a great way to add tension in your playing.

06. Breakdown of the V Chord.
The V chord is where everything hits its peak. This is where the tension finally stops its ascent and begins its descent. The point of the V chord is for resolution, a place to stop and work your way into the I chord again. Over the V chord your lyrics begin resolving the conflict in the first two lines (of an AAB format). An end is finally in sight for the listeners. They can tell that something is happening when you finally hit the V chord.

In any musical genre the V chord is the best chord to resolve back to the tonic with because the third of the dominant is the leading tone of the tonic. If that makes no sense, keep reading, it will. Look at this:

C major scale: C D E F G A [b]B[/b] C

C (I): C E G
G (V): G [b]B[/b] D

Do you see how the major third in the G triad is the seventh tone in the C major scale. The seventh tone is one half step away from the root, which is why it has the tendency to resolve upwards to C. When you add the dominant seven form of G resolving to C, it resolves a little bit stronger. This is because the F in G7 (G B D F) is only one half step away from the major third in C (E). The F resolves downward and the B resolves upward making sound so distinct.

So, now you know the basic harmony of the V chord is to resolve the progression. BUT, if you look at the 12 bar blues diagrams I made earlier, then you would know that the first time you play the V chord is doesn't go back to I. It travels to the IV chord. A little bit tricky, eh? This move partially resolves the tension but the tension really gets resolved in the next section, and you'll see how it's such a big deal...

07. The Turnaround.
This is the most important part of the 12 bar blues. How so? Well, because everything gets fully resolved in this two bar passage. The turnaround can make or break any blues progression. So, when you're playing the turnaround or soloing over it you want to make it sound good. I'm not talking about half good, or semi-good, I'm talking good. The turnaround takes place over the I chord, and then back to the V chord. These two bars mark the end of your 12 bar progression, and how you're about to start over.

The turnaround usually consists of a downward or upward movement of three to four chords that usually end on the tonic, and then go directly into the dominant so you can resolve your progression. That's all a turnaround is, and you may think it sounds simple. It is simple, but, simply, it's the best part of the blues progression.

Here are a few tabbed examples of turnarounds that you could implement into your playing. Each one of these has a different overall sound, but convey the same message, that your 12 bars are up, and it's time for a new 12 bars:

 A(I)                  A(I)  E7(V)
|----------------------|------------------|
|----------------------|--------7---------|
|----------------------|-------7----------|
|------7-----7-----7---|-7----6-----------|
|-0--4---4-5---5-6---6-|-7---7------------|
|----------------------|------------------|


 C                      G9
|----------------|------------------|
|----------------|-----4\3----------|
|----3-----------|-----3\2----------|
|--------7-7-6-6-|-5---4\3----------|
|-/3---3-3-3-3-3-|-3----------------|
|----------------|------------------|


 E                       E          B7
|------0-----0-----0----|-----------2------|
|-----------------------|-----------0------|
|---/4-----3-----2------|-1---------2------|
|-----------------------|-----------1------|
|---/5-----4-----3------|-2---0-1-2-2------|
|-0------0-----0------0-|------------------|

By building off of those three examples, you should be able to come up with some excellent turnarounds in your own blues playing.

08. Minor Blues.
For the previous seven sections, the focus has been on major key blues. In this section the focus will be switched to a minor key setting. This kind of blues can be darker, and if played in a slow blues fashion, very emotional.

Instead of 12 bars of this:

|: I7 | IV7 | I7 | I7 | IV7 | IV7 |
   I7 | I7 | V7 | IV7 | I7 | V7:|

we have 12 bars of this:

|: im7 | ivm7 | im7 | im7 | ivm7 | ivm7 |
   im7 | im7 | bVImaj7 | V7#9 | im7 | V7#9 :|

To the naked eye, it looks pretty complicating but, really, it isn't. We're going to apply the latter formulas to a Cm Blues progression, so you can see how it works. All of these chords are based off of the C major scale though. So, for a im7 chord, we are going to make the C, a minor 7 chord (C Eb G Bb).

|: Cm7 | Fm7 | Cm7 | Cm7 | Fm7 | Fm7 |
   Cm7 | Cm7 | Abmaj7 | G7#9 | Cm7 | G7#9 :|

That basically sums up the gist of minor blues, but for a more complete post try this by Redwing: The Minor Blues: A "Quick" Tutorial. Material in this section borrowed from the above link.

09. Other Blues Forms (8 bar, 16 bar).
Now that you know about the 12 bar blues forms, here are some more forms for you. An 8 bar blues form is one used to shorten the progression and a 16 bar form would be used to lengthen the progression. Like I said earlier, the main progression is 12 bars long, but these two can be used for variation, or for when you get stuck, and want to try something new.

8 Bar Blues

I7  V7   IV7  IV7
I7  V7   I7   V7

or

I7   I7   IV7  IV7
I7   V7   I7   V7

--------
[b]16 Bar Blues[/b]

I    I    I    I7
IV7  IV7  I    I7
IV7  IV7  I    I
V7   IV7  I    V7

10. Conclusion.
And this concludes my lesson on blues. I hope you enjoyed reading through this long lesson. I hope to have covered the basics and a little bit more than that on my journey through this daunting task. Please be grateful for what I've done here, and leave some comments. I hope you enjoy!

Comments

Good job, man!

[SR20DETT]

COol article!!

[Four Symbols]

very informative. good job!

[Jearl]

great job man. everything was fully explained. its about time a lesson so good was written on music great. 5 stars all the way!

[newyorkdolls138]

Good job. Nicely done.

[The_Strat_Man]

Thanks everybdy!

[thunderbox]

great lesson, ive always wanted to play and write some blues to stray away from my useual metal

[Nosf3ratu]

Good article, but:

When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
Wouldn't rest content, till I came to Tennessee.

That lyrical stanza would get this as it's scheme: AAB. Lines one and two are the same, and thus receive the same letter.

That's entirely incorrect. It would be AAA, because all three lines RHYME. It has nothing to do with the lines being the same.

A better example:

Went to see my baby in Tenessee,
Spent my last few coins on gas
Get there, she don't wanna see
me, so I feel like an ass.

That would be ABAB.

[Evil_Empire24-7]

man u are the best strat man and u are the wisest in this site

[daft_era19]

awesome work man, this is just what i needed, thanks a lot keep up the good work!

[kauz]

it's probably a good article, but it's no fun to read it while some stupid sound is played in the background, which is impossible to swich off somehow.

[south_dude]

great job man!, very complete, the best lesson i read around here. i wait future lessons from you

[south_dude]

undefined wrote:

undefined

I think that lyrical system is diferent in blues.
Blues are about building tension and releasing it.
What strat_man tried to explain is that in lines A he was building up the tension and in line B it resolves the conflict from previous lines

[DaddyTwoFoot]

Very good, informative article on the basics of blues rhythm. 9/10

[tinroof]

I've just printed out your lesson and am looking forward to getting stuck in straightaway!

[fronkpies]

greta lesson man, i love the blues

[EatsP1es]

good good lesson

[bttr.thn.u]

awesome lesson!!!

[punkrocker91]

freakin sweet lesson

[punkrocker91]

sweet

[jeremii]

very thorough and well done, thank you!

[Pigfeets Dupree]

BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE
Strat Man, you gots a hole in your sole daddy. Can we say boring. Man the blues ain,t all dat. you either gots dem or you don,t. So all you bland wannabe partime burnt out melonheads wake up. it aint all that 1 4 5 tunaround. it,s all about the feeling. John Lee Hooker said it best You got to let that boy boogie woogie cause its in..... and its got to come out. Man you talkin straight uptight rhymin simon type stuff. Come down to Basin st. at about fo in da mornin then you know what the blues is. Build on minor pentotonics, throw out every thing you know about theory, and let the bon temps rollez. just got to flow. feel the groove. Hit the pocket rocket and let the mind take off and your fingers guide your soul. then pass around some solo's an fine out who got a hole in da sole and who hurtin way deep down. IT AIN'T ABOUT 4 CHORDS, ITS ABOUT HEART. IF YOU GOT TO BE TAUGHT OR YOU DON,T KNOW WHO BUKKA WHITE OR HUBERT SUNLIN WAS DEN STAY ON DA PORCH AND WATCH THE DOWN DOGS HOWL. BULLFROG SITTIN ON A HOLLA STUMP, GOT SO MANY WOMEN DONT KNOW WHEN TO JUMP. I GUARANTEE. YOU AIN,T ALLTHAT CAT. Sorry to treat you so rough. you wanna learn look me up.
BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE.

[boldaslove]

good article, but Pigfeets Dupree has a major point.

[evvo_gc_fan]

very good article. i enjoyed it. well done =)

[thesmartguy50]

look, it's true that it's important to have feeling when you play the blues, but there is also a great deal of theory involved, as well. What makes a blues player great is when he can take his theory on one hand, then take his emotions in another, and mush it all together and call it his own style. And that's what blues is all about, in a nutshell.

[SamboSkull]

Nosf3ratu, you are without doubt the biggest imbocele ever, it is AAB, he was right. I do music at college, and I can tell you now, he IS right.

Douche.

Sweet tutorial Strat-Man, I luuurv those blues. And BTW, if anyone wants help finding a song with the 'shuffle' rhythm, listen to 'George Thoroughgood - Bad to the Bone'

Keep up the good work, there ought to be more like this on UG.

[SamboSkull]

Sorry for double post, but Pigfeets Dupree, are you suggesting this tutorial would be more correct if it just said "play in the street early in the morning, use just a minor pentatonic scale and sing from the soul"? 'cus thats a tutorial you'd find on a joke page from google. You don't know what blues is. EVERY music comes from the soul, not just blues, thats why we have the thing called 'individuality', or is that too long for your 'soul brotha' self? Your review was neither encouraging nor helpful. Please, make an intelligent answer next time.

Sorry, I'm hyper lol.

[BarneyIX]

Unless there is a different nomenclature for music Nosf3ratu is most definately correct.

The rhyming scheme is based SOLEY off of whether it rhymes or not. All three of the lines in that stanza rhyme ergo its AAA not AAB.

It really doesn't matter though because this was a tight article and I enjoyed it.

Thanks

[Daveyboy]

Sambo thers no need for name calling, we all learn at different rates, and also you are wrong and nosf3ratu is right to some degree. Although the lines all rhyme, they have different rhythms, the 'be' is an abrupt e sound and the end of 'tenessee' is a longer more drawn out e so although they sound the same, they dont really RHYME.
and also sambo, i think pigfeets' review was helpful and informative, although i dont fully agree with what he says, a lot of blues is about 'the feel' and stratman says this many times throughout the article. Pigfeet what you have to appreciate is that you need both sides of the fence to be a truly great player, for instance, everyone knows how to cook and what tastes good, but we are not all chefs. Likewise, someone who studies food as a science but has no sense of taste can never create great food also.
sorry but i'm opinionated and some of the posts here irritated me.
Strat_man, great article,serves as a good tutorial to blues noobs, and in all fairness you have done exactly what you wanted to - covered the basics, if anyone else has problems with this then they are just doing it for the sake of being a dick. (pardon my french)
thanks a lot

[Noel_gotha_bluz]

GREAT ARTICLE. KEEP ON ROLLING STRAT_MAN.
PLAY ON AND LET THE RYTHEM TAKE YOUR SOUL.

Life's a Celebration !

[siliconbronze]

hours late lessons great eyes a getting redder
whiskey riffs and women got me sliding down the ladder
rave on

['tallica07rhcp]

Very good informative afticle

[highway_to_hell]

Yeah man , very nice article

[thomas44]

listen, i got the blues, sold my soul to the devil at juntion 19 of the m62 and eat more rice an peas than any of ya, u wanna know the blues well you aint got the blues, cos i got the blues mover lover i was born blue, strangling on the ambilical chord and that chord was a g7, then i turned black and i been white evr since, but this is a good lesson but nothing teaches the blues like been a bin man on a cold november day, let me hear a halleloo ya!

[Guitarded8988]

although all of this is great this is basiclaly blues structure and theory. the blues is about pouring one's raw emotions out in the form of music. It is the black man's slave songs being combined with european structure and harmonies. It is much more that a twelve bar form with AAB lyrical stanzas. The title is misleading but a good article on what it does cover. Look for my article that should be out in a couple days on blues history if you want to learn more.

[RainMustFall]

Very interesting, very cool article!

[manson2482]

wow im sure that was good but i did not absorb any of it

[lemenz70]

oh yeah real good article! The best I ever read.

[toybitz]

try counting the shuffle like this..1-trip-let, 2-trip-let, 3-trip-let, 4-trip-let but hitting or accenting on the numericals and the "let"s.

[thomas44]

i hate to be bitchy but jesus christ guitarded8988, do want me to buy you a glass belly so you can see when you walk around with your head up your arse? More to the point can any one who says something like 'pouring ones raw emotions out in the form of music' actually have any raw emotions?
sounds like someones spent too much time in the college libary at music college and its not me and its not the peron who took the effrort to write this brilliant lesson so that only leaves ones self! Look out for my article on people who think they know everyting which should be out in a few days if you want to know more.

[Guitarded8988]

thomas44, are you criticizing me for knowing something about the genre and sharing it? I was very complimentary of the article I just thought the title did not fit the content and that there was room for more content to be added. If you prefer an incoherent longer version to what I said, look at Pigfeets Dupree's comment. and yes I believe I play with soul. I guess you're saying that anyone who's ever read anything in a book about music is incapable of playing with as much feeling as someone who is ignorant. by the way, im 17, not in college. Don't get me wrong here Thomas, I'm not the stiff you think I am based on a 5 sentence comment but I do like to learn more about the music I listen to.

[ihatethischord]

rock on guitarded

[SG Special]

I must say, you did a good job, its bery understandable. GOOD JOB. Plus since i love the blues, you could see why its such a good opion. >.

[RHCP_Blood]

Nicely done, except that your example for the AAB doesn't fit... But we get it, nice job. 5/5

[ihatepeas]

The beuty of the blues is that it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. i learned the blues by somebody showing me some scales and saying here you go. Theory is less important then the article shows. You have to learn to love the blues and then you use theory to go deeper into it. And the AAB sample is right if you would listen to what he said.

[Scorched Black]

Just as everybody else has said, Great Job, and thank you for dedicating your time for this, we all really appreciate it.

[Funkyfreako]

Gorgerous lesson... i'll look forward to going throug it when i've learned my theory (noob i am)..

[elliano]

Very informative lesson. Thanks for taking the time to write it and share it with everyone.

[wutai]

thanks for the help

[zerohero]

I think guitared was right about playing the blues by feelings.
I also think its good to know theory to make your music more dynamic.

[TominatioN]

Yo dude forget all the bit-chin' that was a wicked article. yeah blues, metal, jazz its all about expressing emotion and feeling but you can't do that without some of the basic tools - i only learned the pentatonic scales and add in chromatic notes to get the bluesy sounds or the 12bar blues notes and you can use theese but its great to know all of this structure and stuff. erm ive probably lost you as i have myself so i think ill quietly excuse myself.....

[Lazarus Draven]

Cool!...But A little Hard For me To swallow tho....i'm a beginner so i dun really know watchamacallit standard 12 bar blues.

[green boy]

when i started reading this lesson i thought the blues were about wallpaper...now i kno much more..thaks a million dude:P

[noahray]

If you really got the blues, and you're a decent musician, you will play the blues. If not, you will get confused and settle for Emo instead. And BTW he wasn't analysing the lyrics like you would analyze a stanza out of sonnet, he was analyzing the musical schematics, as these lines would be representative of two different rhythms/ in this case progressions I.E

E 022100
E7 022130
B7 021202
Em13 xxx223

E E7 E E7
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
E E7 E E7
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
B7~ Em13
Wouldn't rest content, till I came to Tennessee.

This is not a lesson in analyzing literature, but rather in making sweet blues music that will keep you rockin through divorce, lost dogs, drunken hazes, sleepless nights, pennyless days, you know.

[noahray]

theres sposed to be room between those chords, pardon me

[Edge_Rocks]

Pigfeets Dupree wrote:

BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE
Strat Man, you gots a hole in your sole daddy. Can we say boring. Man the blues ain,t all dat. you either gots dem or you don,t. So all you bland wannabe partime burnt out melonheads wake up. it aint all that 1 4 5 tunaround. it,s all about the feeling. John Lee Hooker said it best You got to let that boy boogie woogie cause its in..... and its got to come out. Man you talkin straight uptight rhymin simon type stuff. Come down to Basin st. at about fo in da mornin then you know what the blues is. Build on minor pentotonics, throw out every thing you know about theory, and let the bon temps rollez. just got to flow. feel the groove. Hit the pocket rocket and let the mind take off and your fingers guide your soul. then pass around some solo's an fine out who got a hole in da sole and who hurtin way deep down. IT AIN'T ABOUT 4 CHORDS, ITS ABOUT HEART. IF YOU GOT TO BE TAUGHT OR YOU DON,T KNOW WHO BUKKA WHITE OR HUBERT SUNLIN WAS DEN STAY ON DA PORCH AND WATCH THE DOWN DOGS HOWL. BULLFROG SITTIN ON A HOLLA STUMP, GOT SO MANY WOMEN DONT KNOW WHEN TO JUMP. I GUARANTEE. YOU AIN,T ALLTHAT CAT. Sorry to treat you so rough. you wanna learn look me up.
BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE.

LOL yes, thats right, everyone throw away all their theory knowledge. Clearly no one should learn how to express themselves intelligently on a guitar, or listen to the genious of some guy who feels kind enough to share his knowledge of the blues to the entire world. I bet you never read a note in your life and are proud of it. Then if I asked you to play me 2 hours of music youd Id hear MAYBE 15-20 rifs.. if that, repeated over and over again in random sequences. Stuff like this makes me sick... If you're only learning the rifs, you're only learning half the music, and you're guaranteed to never be an original. Amazing Lessons Man, You Know Your Stuff.

[atrocity]

very nice man

[I_Dont_Know]

Nosf3ratu wrote:

Good article, but:


When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
Wouldn't rest content, till I came to Tennessee.

That lyrical stanza would get this as it's scheme: AAB. Lines one and two are the same, and thus receive the same letter.



That's entirely incorrect. It would be AAA, because all three lines RHYME. It has nothing to do with the lines being the same.

A better example:

Went to see my baby in Tenessee,
Spent my last few coins on gas
Get there, she don't wanna see
me, so I feel like an ass.



That would be ABAB.

no because the me rhymes it would be more complicated

Checked/Deleted.

[fishergirl106]

I_Dont_Know wrote:

Nosf3ratu wrote:

Good article, but:


When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
When I was in Missouri, would not let me be,
Wouldn't rest content, till I came to Tennessee.

That lyrical stanza would get this as it's scheme: AAB. Lines one and two are the same, and thus receive the same letter.



That's entirely incorrect. It would be AAA, because all three lines RHYME. It has nothing to do with the lines being the same.

A better example:

Went to see my baby in Tenessee,
Spent my last few coins on gas
Get there, she don't wanna see
me, so I feel like an ass.



That would be ABAB.


no because the me rhymes it would be more complicated

actually, by AAB, he doesnt mean the rhyme pattern at all. he means that the first line (A) is repeated twice, then there is a different line to finish it(B). thus the lyrical structure is AAB, not the rhyme pattern.

[Icebolt]

fishergirl106 wrote:

Actually, by AAB, he doesnt mean the rhyme pattern at all. he means that the first line (A) is repeated twice, then there is a different line to finish it(B). thus the lyrical structure is AAB, not the rhyme pattern.

Fishergirl is right, full stop people.

[zObiPhiOn]

Pigfeets Dupree wrote:

BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE
Strat Man, you gots a hole in your sole daddy. Can we say boring. Man the blues ain,t all dat. you either gots dem or you don,t. So all you bland wannabe partime burnt out melonheads wake up. it aint all that 1 4 5 tunaround. it,s all about the feeling. John Lee Hooker said it best You got to let that boy boogie woogie cause its in..... and its got to come out. Man you talkin straight uptight rhymin simon type stuff. Come down to Basin st. at about fo in da mornin then you know what the blues is. Build on minor pentotonics, throw out every thing you know about theory, and let the bon temps rollez. just got to flow. feel the groove. Hit the pocket rocket and let the mind take off and your fingers guide your soul. then pass around some solo's an fine out who got a hole in da sole and who hurtin way deep down. IT AIN'T ABOUT 4 CHORDS, ITS ABOUT HEART. IF YOU GOT TO BE TAUGHT OR YOU DON,T KNOW WHO BUKKA WHITE OR HUBERT SUNLIN WAS DEN STAY ON DA PORCH AND WATCH THE DOWN DOGS HOWL. BULLFROG SITTIN ON A HOLLA STUMP, GOT SO MANY WOMEN DONT KNOW WHEN TO JUMP. I GUARANTEE. YOU AIN,T ALLTHAT CAT. Sorry to treat you so rough. you wanna learn look me up.
BLIND MISSISSIPPI WHITE BOY PIGFEETS DUPREE.

I agree that you need feeling, but first you need at least a bit of technique and theory; even with the best feeling in the world, if you play random notes its just going to sound awful. Anyways, you can't really explain feeling in a lesson, this was about theory.

Anyways, really good lesson!

[hicksman]

yeah man...ive been playin for almost 3 months now, can flow through the pentatonic nice and this article is openin my eyes and helping the creativity along...i can have all the emotion in the world but if i am not aware of how to let it out on the fretboard nothins happenin wit all that emotion. appreciate it man, rock out

[hicksman]

if only i could figure out how to play a freakin B chord! i know the fingering, but damn, any help is appreciated

[white_summer4]

great lesson man

[smurfsatemyshoe]

hicksman, if you're struggling with the B, then i'm assuming that you're trying to play it as a barre chord at the second fret, which is freakin hard. What I'd suggest is either trying to play the 2nd 3rd and 4th strings with one finger (ring finger) or just playing the E major barre shape at the 7th fretm giving you an easier alternative for a B.
Fantastic lesson, shame about all the opinionated posts about the bloody lyrical structur bit, its just an example to illustrate a point damnit, cheers stratman

[The_Strat_Man]

Thanks everyone for the great comments!!!

[webstrat18]

Nice and Thanks!!!

[philipp122]

This is the greatest thing since BBQ chicken. Great job man!

[dawiese]

Sweet Man! So when you said one...and two...and three... the first song that came to mind was LaGrange. No I understand. Thanks StratMan

[stratman45us]

nice but you cant teach the blues its inner soul music.you have to play from deep inside.nice job dude.

[the_woof]

well done.