MUH 2010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Crazy Blues, Memphis Minnie, Cover Charge
Document Summary
12-bar blues one of the most popular forms of african american music of 20th century. Many early jazz pieces were based on 12-bar blues. The blues feeling of sadness or melancholy (term was popularized in late 1800s) December 14, 1862 charlotte forten, black schoolteacher, wrote term in her diary. Musical and poetic form of the 12-bar blues. Lyrics often structured with rhymes as aab (each letter corresponding to about 4 measures of music) Each couplet = 1 full episode or just a chapter. Sex and relationships are a central theme; often address personal, financial, sexual, and social issues. Each of the 12 bars typically had a single chord; most blues songs only had about 3-4 chords. Blue notes a note found in the blues that is bent in pitch rather than played precisely in tune. Serve to create tone color and pitch variation within a melodic or harmonic line.
