Blues and Song Form

In a blues song with a sung text, the lyrics consist of a line that is repeated, then followed by a contrasting line (aab). The melody often follows this structure as well. Blues melodies often leave large gaps to allow for call-and-response between the melodic instrument and other instruments. The blues scale is like a minor pentatonic scale with an additional chromatic passing tone: do–me–fa–fi–sol–te (^1−↓^3−^4−↑^4−^5−↓^7)(1^−↓3^−4^−↑4^−5^−↓7^)(\hat1-\downarrow\hat3-\hat4-\uparrow\hat4-\hat5-\downarrow\hat7). The blues scale can be rotated to begin on its second note, creating a major blues scale: do–re–ri–mi–sol–la (^1−^2−↑^2−^3−^5−^6)(1^−2^−↑2^−3^−5^−6^)(\hat1-\hat2-\uparrow\hat2-\hat3-\hat5-\hat6).

Another essential part of blues phrase structure is the notion of call-and-response, a feature likely inherited from the work songs of enslaved Africans and African Americans. The vocal, lyricized melody takes on the role of the “call” while an instrumental filler takes on the role of the “response.” Notice that in “Gulf Coast Blues,” each lyric labeled with an a is sung entirely and exclusively in the first two measures of the phrase. Example 3 annotates a transcription of “Gulf Coast Blues” to show this call-and-response relationship.

The poetic structure: it is undoubtedly a structure made of three lines of fourbars each but its organization differs on the levels of prosody, melody, andharmony.The prosodic structure: AAB generally. The phrase (either sung or spoken)during the first line is repeated in the second line and a second phrasefollows in the third line.9The melodic structure: AAB but often AA’B. The same melodic phrase usuallyis repeated but may be subject to variation.The harmonic structure: ABC. As seen above, the three lines have been differentfrom each other right from the most original chord changes. The first linestarts with I, the second with IV, and the third with V

Chapter 19 provides an analysis of Charlie Parker’s “Moose the Mooche” and Hank Jones’simprovised solo on the tune. This chapter also proposes a pedagogy of rhythm changesimprovisation.

The blues is an American art form. Originally, blues were primarily sung, with one of theobjectives being to tell a story as vividly as possible. To tell stories, blues singers usedsimple repeated phrases charged with a variety of expressive devices. The ability to tell thestory from one’s perspective came to represent blues performance practice in particular,and jazz improvisation in general. The familiar saying that “your solo should tell a story”takes on a completely different meaning when we consider whence it came and howintricate life’s stories can really be. Early blues practitioners were unconstrained by theform of the blues as the duration of improvised lyrics often influenced the length of

Chapter 9 discusses the most important form in jazz, the blues, examines the structureof the blues scale, and provides chord–scale relationships for the basic and minor bluesprogressions