Singing the Blues

What is the general meaning of the word "blues"?

It is "the music of people, a style of music, a type of performance, a despondent state of mind, and a musical form."

What musical tradition influenced the blues style?

The music of enslaved Africans brought to the United States.

What is a common singing pattern in African music, also found in the blues?

Call-and-response pattern.

What is a melismatic embellishment technique in singing?

One syllable of the poetry is set to multiple pitches in the melody.

What example is given for a melisma?

The syllable "Glo-" in the refrain "Gloria in excelsis" from the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High."

What is believed to have influenced the melismatic aspect of vocal music in many African cultures?

The Muslim call to prayer and the embellished manner of reciting the Qur'an.

What are "blue notes" and how do they modify conventional scales?

They subtly modify the third and seventh steps so they are no longer "in tune" with conventional major or minor scales.

What is the effect of "blue notes" on harmony?

They make the resulting harmony seem ambivalent, questioning whether it's in the major mode or the minor.

What are the three African characteristics that found their way into the blues?

Call-and-response, melismas, and blue notes.

What is the standardized harmonic form often used in blues songs?

The twelve-bar blues form.

What are the three "core" chords used in the twelve-bar blues?

The tonic (I), dominant (V), and subdominant (IV).

What did jazz musicians call each repetition of the twelve-bar blues pattern?

A chorus.

What is the meter of the twelve-bar blues?

Duple (or quadruple) meter.

How is the rhythm often approached in the twelve-bar blues, and what did it influence?

It uses a flexible rhythmic approach that lengthens the first eighth note in a pair and shortens the second eighth note; this influenced the "swing" rhythm associated with jazz.

How many phrases of poetry does a blues singer typically sing during the twelve-measure pattern?

Three phrases of poetry.

How many measures does each phrase of poetry typically span in a blues song?

Four measures.

What is the singer's custom regarding the first line of text in a blues song?

To repeat the first line of text, usually with embellishments, before moving on to a new rhyming phrase.

How do some scholars describe the third phrase of blues poetry?

As the "punch line."

What is the diagram of the poetic pattern in blues?

a a b.

What composer spoofed the blues poetic pattern in his musical Starlight Express?

Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948).

What is the song in Starlight Express where Poppa spoofs blues poetry?

"Poppa's Blues."

What is a common synonym for depression in the sixteenth century?

"Blue devils."

What is the primary purpose of the blues?

To help the performer get rid of unhappy emotions; it is a form of catharsis to "sing the blues."

What is the oldest format for blues-singing called by historians, reflecting its rural origins?

"Country blues."

When does country blues singing date back to?

The late nineteenth century or perhaps even earlier.

What is the typical gender of the singer in a country-blues song?

Male.

What instruments might a country-blues singer use to accompany himself?

Guitar, accordion, or harmonica.

How free is the rhythm in country blues, and how strictly is the twelve-bar pattern followed?

The rhythm is usually quite free, and sometimes the singer does not pay strict attention to the usual twelve-bar pattern.

Where do country-blues singers typically perform?

In informal situations—picnics, parties, roadhouses, brothels.

How might a country-blues singer sometimes be paid?

Not cash, but alcohol.

What topics might country-blues singers sing about?

Love gone sour, or more political topics like poverty or mistreatment by the government.

What later musical style did country blues directly influence?

Protest songs that arose later in the twentieth century.

Where did many of the first blues singers live?

The Mississippi Delta region.

How were country-blues approaches initially passed along?

By word-of-mouth.

What are other names for the country-blues style?

"Folk blues," "Southern blues," "Delta blues," or "down-home blues."

Why do we rely on recordings to understand country blues?

Due to its improvised nature, and the first records were made quite a few years after the style had taken shape.

Who was among the earliest recorded country-blues singers, with songs issued starting in 1926?

Blind Lemon Jefferson (1893-1929).

Who was another early recorded country-blues singer, whose first records date from 1933, better known as "Lead Belly"?

Huddie Ledbetter (c.1889-1949).

Who was a country-blues singer who achieved a following in the mid-1930s, associated with a mythology about selling his soul to the Devil?

Robert Johnson (1911-38).

What was the younger cousin to the country-blues style called?

"Classic blues."

What are other occasional designations for the classic-blues style due to its "big-city" characteristics?

"Urban blues," "city blues," or "vaudeville blues."

How was the classic-blues style more theatrical compared to country blues?

Customarily, the audience sat and listened, instead of mimicking the party atmosphere of most country-blues performances.

What was the typical gender of vocalists in classic blues?

Women.

What kind of accompaniment supported classic-blues vocalists?

Either a piano or sometimes a small ensemble of players, called a combo.

What was the typical focus of classic-blues lyrics?

Love and romantic relationships.

How was the rhythm in classic blues compared to country blues, and why?

The rhythm was less free than in the country blues because of the customary participation of multiple performers, and often the song was carefully planned.

What type of blues approach did sheet music usually represent when it started to appear?

The classic-blues approach.

Who was one of the earliest publishers of printed blues tunes, releasing his first sheet music in 1912?

W. C. Handy (1873-1958).

Who was one of the greatest classic-blues singers, dubbed the "Empress of the Blues"?

Bessie Smith (1894-1937).

For what reasons was Bessie Smith dubbed the "Empress of the Blues"?

For her "cast-iron" voice and the many classic-blues recordings she made.

What was Bessie Smith capable of doing in a theater before microphones were common?

Filling a theater without amplification.

What great mid-century jazz singers were affected by Bessie Smith's recordings?

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-96) and Billie Holiday (1915-59).

What notable gospel singer listened to Bessie Smith's songs as a child?

Mahalia Jackson (1911-72).

What did Mahalia Jackson say about Bessie Smith's music?

"When I was a little girl, I felt she was having troubles like me. That's why it was such a comfort for the people of the South to hear her. She expressed something they couldn't put into words."

What rock singer later helped pay for a headstone for Bessie Smith's grave?

Janis Joplin (1943-70).

What did the headstone on Bessie Smith's grave read?

"The greatest blues singer in the world will never stop singing."

What did Columbia Records issue in the 1970s concerning Bessie Smith?

A five double-album set of records devoted solely to her performances.

How long was Bessie Smith refused studio time in the early 1920s?

For three years.

When did a producer at Columbia Records finally give Bessie Smith a chance to record?

February 1923.

What was the financial state of Columbia Records at the time Bessie Smith first recorded?

Virtually bankrupt.

What were Bessie Smith's first two tremendously successful recordings?

"Down Hearted Blues" and "Gulf Coast Blues."

How many copies did Bessie Smith's various records sell over the next six years?

Six million copies.

How many copies did Bessie Smith's records sell within the first ten months of her first recordings?

Two million copies.

What was the impact of Bessie Smith's success on Columbia Records?

Singlehandedly, she put Columbia back on solid financial footing.

Lost Your Head Blues

recorded on March 18,1926, added to the recording session spontaneously

Structure of Lost Your Head Blues

twelve-bar blues structure

Accompanying musicians in Lost Your Head Blues

Joe Smith on cornet, Fletcher Henderson on piano; played in key of Eb

Lyrical pattern of Lost Your Head Blues

a a b

Fill

interlocking cornet motifs used by Joe Smith in response to each phrase of Bessie Smith’s melody

Slide

aka glissando; slide upward quickly through several pitches, used by Bessie Smith as ornamentation