Lesson video

Welcome to today's lesson entitled Blues Music and the 12-Bar Blues.

My name's Mr. Norris.

Today I'm gonna be taking you through as we start to explore this really important style, and as we look at some of the key features of as well, including there, the 12-bar blues, which is really central to this type of music.

So let's get stuck into it.

Our outcome for today's lesson is I can describe the instruments and features that create a blues sound, and I can perform the 12-bar blues chords.

Some key words.

First is 12-bar blues, and this is the standard chord sequence used in blues music based on the chords C, F, and G in the key that we're gonna be looking at it in.

Our second keyword is chord, and this is two or more notes played at the same time.

Chords are usually played as three notes in a triad chord, so we can see that diagram there that represents that, and we'll explore that more as we go.

And then finally, slide or bottleneck guitar.

And this is a guitar playing technique used in blues music, which uses a slide or a bottleneck to slide up and down strings.

First part of today's lesson is looking at the sound of the blues.

Blues is considered one of the most influential styles of music in the 20th century.

It originated in the southern states of the USA in the early 20th century.

So we're talking more than a hundred years ago, and it was created by African American musicians.

It helped to shape many western popular music styles, and many of these will be familiar with including jazz, rock and roll, country, rock, heavy metal, R&B hip hop.

So many of the pop styles that we now have can trace their roots back to blues.

It has some distinctive features that make it recognisable as a style.

In a minute you're gonna pause my video and you're gonna listen to "Love in Vain" by the the famous American blues artist Robert Johnson, there's a few questions I'd like to think about.

Firstly, what do you notice about the style of the singing and the lyrics are a metaphor for something.

What do you think the metaphor is? Finally, I'd like to think about how many different guitar parts can you hear playing at the same time.

So you can pause my video while you have a go at that.

Let's talk through that then.

So blues singing reflects the emotional intensity of the words through phrasing, through changes in dynamics.

So use of loud and soft and vocal techniques such as slurring between notes, so sort of bending notes, growling and vibrato.

"Love in Vain" is about a breakup that uses the metaphor of leaving a place on a train.

So well done if you picked up on that metaphor there.

In each verse, the first line of the lyrics and the melody are repeated with a different final lines.

We've described that as an AAB lyrics structure where the A line is repeated and then we have the contrasting B line.

This is a really common feature of blues songs that we'll explore more.

Now, Johnson was described as the first ever rockstar in the rock and roll Hall of Fame.

He influenced many future artists through his songwriting, his expressive singing, and his pioneering guitar playing.

And he's a bit of a mysterious figure really.

There were only three photos that have been taken of him, and he died quite young, so quite a mysterious life.

But his, the way he used the guitar as guitar playing techniques really influenced many styles of many other guitarists over future, particularly his use of finger picking techniques.

Although there's only one guitar in "Love in Vain" this finger picking style makes it sound like more than that.

Let's just have a little focus in this video here at the finger picking style in the right hand.

So really focus on what that right hand is doing as it's picking the strings individually.

<v ->So in "Love in Vain", there are two separate parts,</v> but they're both played on the same guitar, so I'm gonna demonstrate that for you a little bit now.

The first part is played with the thumb on the right hand, and it's just crotchets, so it goes something like this.

(slow guitar music) And that just loops around, around, around.

And then the second part is chords, and that's played using finger picking, which is the fingers on the right hand.

So here we go.

Two, three, four.

(slow guitar music) So when we put those together, it sounds something a little bit like this.

(blues guitar music) <v ->Let's check your understanding then.

</v> Which best describes the way the lyrics and melody are organised in blues songs? Is it ABA, AAB, or ABB? I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer then was AAB, because the first line of the lyrics or the melody is repeated, but then the final line is different.

So the A line is played twice.

And then there's a contrasting B line AAB.

Now we're gonna listen to a more modern blues song, and this one's called "Sweet Home Chicago".

It's had many different blues covers done, but this one is performed by the the man in the picture you can see there, who's a really famous blues guitarist and singer called Muddy Waters.

Now you'll notice some big differences in this.

One of them is there's a much bigger ensemble, so there are many more instruments and it has a more upbeat, sort of lively tempo and feel as well.

And those are just some of the ways that blues evolved and developed over time.

As you're listening, I'd like to have a go at answering these few questions.

So the first question is, that this piece, like most blues is in 4/4.

So four beats in a bar.

I'd like to see if you can count how many bars are in the verse.

So try and focus on how many bars are in the verse.

Try and pick out what instruments you can use.

And finally, how would you describe the style of the guitar playing? So you can pause my video and have a listen to this and see if you can answer those questions.

Let's review that then.

<v ->So the instruments included vocals, harmonica,</v> it's quite difficult to hear in that recording, but it is playing there.

Guitar, a piano, a double bass, and a drum kit.

There are 12 bars in the verse, and that's a really important number that we're gonna come back to.

And the guitar feature slides up to the notes and usually plays something in between the singing phrases, so it plays in the gaps in the melody, and it has these slides that we're gonna come back to as well.

So typical instruments in a blues band would include vocals, guitar, and those are the two really key ones, the really essential ones.

You might also have piano, double bass or later on bass guitar and a drum kit.

And then you would sometimes get instruments such as saxophone, maybe some brass instruments such as trumpets or trombones, and the harmonica as well, which we can see in that picture there.

It's also called a mouth organ, you might hear it referred to us.

Many blues songs use a repeated 12-bar structure known as the 12-bar blues.

This is a really prominent feature of blues and it's a really key concept to understand.

So we're gonna explore that a bit more later on.

Another thing we'll talk about is slide or bottleneck guitar.

And this is another feature that's really common in blues.

It creates a sound that's in some ways similar to vocals where you can play pictures in between the notes, you can sort of bend between the notes, which makes it sound really typically bluesy.

It's really idiomatic way of playing the guitar.

Let's just have a look at this video of that technique.

And in this time I'd like to focus on the fretboard, so the left hand, and notice how it's got a slide and it's bending between the notes, which creates a really distinct sound.

So let's have a look at that now.

(blues guitar music) Let's check your understanding.

I'd like to list four of the main instruments that are in a typical blues band.

You can pause my video while I do that.

Okay, so you might have said singer and the guitar.

Those are the two really essential ones.

So really make sure you got those.

Piano, double bass or bass guitar and drum kit.

Those are the sort of core ones.

You might have also mentioned, harmonica or mouth organ, saxophone, trumpet and trombone.

Those ones are not as common, but they do often feature in blues band.

So well done if you've got four of those.

Which of the following are common in blues music, 12-bar structure, slurring in the vocals, upbeat tempo, slide guitar, I'd like to choose all that's apply.

And the three key ones here are 12-bar structure, slurring in the vocals and slide guitar.

You do get blues with an upbeat tempo, but typically it tends to have quite a laid back tempo.

So we'll describe that as a really key feature of blues.

Task A, we're gonna listen to the following blues excerpt.

Answer the following questions.

First is how many beats are in each bar? I'd like to suggest three typical blues features of the singing and the lyrics.

Question three, what technique is heard in the guitar part at the end of each phrase? Four, name three other instruments used.

And then finally with question five, how many bars are there in this section of music? So you pause my video, have a listen and give those questions your best shot.

Let's review task A.

There were four beats in each bar, so well done if you've got that for question one.

And that's really typical really of blues.

You don't get much blues that has a different time signature metre than that.

For question two, three typical features of the singing lyrics.

You might have mentioned, the slurs, the slides between the notes where it sort of bends between pitches.

The fact that it's free in tempo, so it's not strictly mechanical in terms of the rhythm.

They're quite, the lyrics are quite melancholic.

They're about love and betrayal.

And then finally, there's that repeated first line created that AAB lyric structure.

So well done if you've got three of those.

The guitar technique used at the end of each phrase is slide or bottleneck guitar.

Three other instruments used were a piano, trumpet, saxophone, double bass, drum kit.

And there were 12 bars in this section of music.

So well done then if you've got those correct.

That really covers some of the real key essential features of blues.

Now let's have a look at playing the chord C, F, and G.

Now, all of the blues songs that we've heard so far feature the 12-bar blues, and this is a really important 12-bar chord sequence in blues music.

In the key we're working in here, it uses the chords C, F, and G, and it's in this very specific pattern.

Let's have a listen to what that sounds like.

And as we're listening, try and follow it through on screen there, counting four beats or one bar for each chord.

Here we go.

(slow piano music) So hopefully you managed to count those 12 bars there and follow those different chords as the chord changes happen in that pattern.

This is a really important chord sequence of blues that we're gonna explore a bit in this lesson.

And in order to play the 12-bar blues, we need to learn to play chords.

So the definition of a chord is that it is two or more notes played at the same time.

And most commonly in Western music, the types of chords that we use are called triads, which are when we have three notes played in this very specific pattern.

We've got three notes there, and there's space that with a note in the gap between each note and the chord takes the name of the root, which is the lowest note.

So this is a C chord because we have C as the lowest note, and we also have E and G.

So the chord takes its name from the bottom, the lowest pitch note in the chord.

Now the three chords in the 12-bar blues in the key of C are a C chord, an F chord, and a G chord.

And you'll notice there they all use that same triad pattern.

So they've all got three notes and there are two spaces to unplayed notes in between the pitches.

So play the chords, here are a few tips.

Use the right hand and play each chord with a thumb on the lowest note, and then the fingers three and five.

So you're using your thumb, your middle finger, and your pinky.

Those are the three fingers that you're gonna be using for each chord.

Practise moving between the chords and do it really slowly at first.

So build up the speed, start really slow.

And keep your right hand to the right of your body so the position is comfortable.

If you're trying to squeeze your right hand across in front of your body, it's gonna feel really cramped and uncomfortable.

Keep it slightly to the right.

It should feel like quite a natural position for your hand to sit in.

Let's have a look now at some movement between those chords and the sort of hand position you want to have when you're doing that.

(slow piano music) Let's check your understanding.

Which of the following is the correct chord sheet for a triad.

Look closely at those diagrams and see which one you think fits the triad shape best.

And the correct answer then is A.

Got the three notes and they're evenly spaced with two unplayed notes in between them.

So well done if you've got that one.

Which of these shows are C chord? And remember, the chord gets its name from the lowest note in the chord.

And the correct answer then is B, because we've got a C as the lowest note as the root note.

So well done if you got that.

Task B.

You're gonna practise finding them, playing them, and moving between the three chords.

That's the C chord, the F chord, and the G chord.

Some success criteria of when you're doing this.

You use the right hand with your thumb on the root note.

You find the triad pattern or that shape for each chord.

You practise holding each chord for four beats, then changing chord from C to F to C, C to G to C, and then F to G to F.

So you practise doing those patterns to really start to build the muscle memory and the feeling in your hand for that movement.

So you can pause my video now and you're gonna have a go at completing that task.

Good luck.

For the second part of task B, I'd like to label these three chords correctly as the C, F and G triads.

So you can pause my video while I do that, and the correct answer is then are, the first is G, and we can tell that because the thumb, the lowest notes on the G, second one is F, and then the third one is C.

So well done if you've got those three.

The final part of today's lesson, looking at the 12-bar blues sequence.

We're gonna watch a performance now of the 12-bar blues chord sequence.

Now that we've learned those three chords, we're gonna put them together into that specific pattern.

So let's have a look at what it should look like.

(slow piano music) Now when you're doing that, we need to make sure that each chord lasts for the whole bar, which in this case is four beats, and that when the chords change, the hand needs to move quite quickly.

So that's why we've practised jumping between the different chords because you don't have long between each chord to change and find a new hand position.

When we're learn in the sequence, it helps to think of it in three sections before bars.

That's our first section, those first four bars, they're all on C.

Then we have the second section, which is two bars of F, two bars of C, and then we have our third section, which is a bar of G, a bar of F, and then two bars of C.

So try and divide up into those three chunks.

And you want to try and learn the order of the chords from memory as well.

Most blues musicians often don't play for music.

It's not really a style that's written down, tends to be done by ear and by memory.

So let's try and practise that sort of essential aspect of blues here as well.

Let's check your understanding, Which of these is the correct 12-bar blues sequence? A few seconds left.

And the correct answer then is B.

So it's got four bars of C, then it moves to F and back to C in the second section.

And then the final section is a bar of G, a bar of F, two bars of C.

So well done if you've got that, that shows that you're already starting to be able to identify this chord sequence.

At task C, you're gonna practise the 12-bar blues.

Some success criteria.

You should use the right hand with the thumb on the root note, that's the lowest note for each chord.

Use the triad pattern.

That shape for each chord is three notes.

Hold each chord for four beats, which is a bar.

When you're changing chord, try and change quickly.

Keep to a steady pulse and practise slowly at first and try to play from memory.

There are our three chords, our three diagrams for the keyboard, and there's our 12-bar blues chord sequence as well.

So without further ado, you can pause my video and give this your best shot.

Finally, we're gonna watch a performance of the 12-bar blues.

I'd like to try and identify how does it meet success criteria? Here we go.

(slow piano music) And here are some of the things we might have said then.

You might have said the tempo is steady.

So the performance is mainly fluent.

Not tried to do it too fast.

There's one slow chord change from F to C, so that could be improved by making it a little bit faster and more efficient.

The triads are played correctly with the correct fingers, and the chords hold for four beats.

That's a full bar.

The sequence is almost played correctly, but the player doesn't change to the last F chord instead it plays two Gs.

So there's one bar where they've got the chord not quite right.

So well done if you picked up on some of those points, and hopefully you'll be able to apply some of those ideas we've discussed there to improving your performance.

Let's summarise today's lesson then.

So blues music is considered one of the most influential styles of the 20th century.

The main structure in blues is the 12-bar blues, and this is the chord sequence which uses the chord C, F, and G when we're working in our key today.

Main instruments in blues include vocals, piano, guitar, double bass or bass guitar, drum kit, and then often harmonica, saxophones and brass instruments such as trumpet and trombone.

Slide or bottleneck guitar helps to give the music a distinct bluesy sort of sound and we can perform that chord sequence as we have done today.

So thank you very much for taking part.

Hopefully you feel that's given you a good start, a good insight into blues music, and I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson.

Thank you.