Conference marvin::uk_music

Oh, by the by; when I referred to Soul in .0, I mean the Gospel-inspired
real thing as done by such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green, or Anita Baker 
to name but three, not Scratch, House, Hiphop or Acid. 
    
Anyway, onto my question....

What is "Blues"?

Some of what we traditionally recognise as Blues is fairly obvious, either
by its verse structure, or the tunes themselves, but the term is used more
widely than that. For instance....

1. On the sleeve notes of Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" album, Benny Green 
assures the reader that some of the tracks have a definite Blues structure, 
but I can only detect it in a few places.

2. ITV's sitcom "After Henry" uses a Gershwin tune "Three-quarter Blues"
as a signature tune; the "Three-quarters" bit is obvious, since it's in
three-quarter time, but I can't hear what I understand as Blues in there.
(Let's consign any discussion on whether or not the above prog is good TV
to another place, yes?).

I've been reading Rolling Stones' "Rock Of Ages" recently, and the authors
describe Blues as having a "bending third". What is a bending third? And
does knowing what it is answer 1 and 2 above?

I'm sure Benny Green knows what he's talking about, and the whole album
takes me to places even a relaxation/hypnosis tape can't go; and I don't
believe a composer of Gershwin's stature would use the term "Blues" unless
that's what it really is. So maybe I should just be satisfied, but I want
to learn from my record collection too.

So any help would be appreciated; if it helps framing your answer, I'm not
a musician, but I can read music somewhat, and can understand simple
musical concepts - for US readers' benefit, that isn't a plug for one of
your audio companies ;-).....

Thanks in advance.

Dave

    Dave, not knowing the specific Miles tracks you are talking about,
    I'll reply in a more general way.
    
    A lot of jazz tunes are based around the twelve bar blues format,
    i.e. four bars of the root chord (tonic) two bars of the chord of the 
    fourth note in the scale of the root chord (subdominant) two bars of
    the root chord (tonic) one bar of the chord of the fifth note of
    the root chord (dominant), one bar of the subdominant, and two bars
    of the tonic. All chords are standard major chords. This is the
    blues structure in it's simplest format.             
    
    For example, a 12 bar in C major would have 4 bars of C, 2 of F, 2
    of C, 1 of G, one of F, and 2 of C.
    
    Jazz music employs a lot of chord alterations, whereby sevenths,
    ninths, elevenths, etc, flattened or sharpened (diminished or
    augmented) are added into the basic root-third-fifth triad. In certain
    cases, these alterations can either directly result in, or imply,
    depending on which notes of a given chord are actually sounded,
    different chords entirely, which results in the other technique
    employed in jazz, that of chord substitution.
    
    Also, a number of bars of the same chord can be substituted by the
    same number of bars of chords which are related to or are alterations
    of the original chord.
    
    So, although a jazz tune may not sound immediately recognisable
    as a blues, it has its roots in the basic structure described above.
    
    'Blue' notes are the flattened third and flattened seventh in a
    major scale that makes a melody soun 'bluesy'. For instance, in
    the scale of C major, which runs C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, the blue notes
    would be E flat and B flat.
    
    The 'bent' third I think is another name for a blue note, although
    a true blue note falls somewhere between the minor and major third
    (E flat and E in the key of C), and so cannot be played on an
    instrument of fixed pitch such as a piano, but can be played on
    an instrument of variable pitch, such as guitar, saxophone or 
    harmonica by 'bending' the minor third pitch upwards slightly towards
    the pitch of the major third, or by producing vibrato, or 'wailing',
    around the pitch of the blue note.
    
    Hope that's been helpful
    
    Bob

    There's more - I left out the possibility of including flatted or
    sharpened fifths in the chord alterations, as well as the sixth.
    
    Some combinations of thes alterations within a chord sound 'off',
    and some sound good - it's partly due to the harmonic theory behind
    the structures, and partly due to how you voice a chord, i.e. where
    within the chord you place the relevant notes, but that's getting
    into an area that's out of my depth!
    
    Lastly, I HEAR what you mean by that word 'soul'!!!!
    
    Bob

    re .2/.3....
    
    Phew. Thanks Bob. I thought I understood a bit about music theory
    'til I read your note - a bit like asking the way in Paris in pigeon
    French, then getting directions where you can only understand every
    third phrase:-)
    
    Benny Green's not a relation, by any chance ;-)
    
    I'll extract/print your replies, take 'em home and get a few LPs
    out, see if I can't teach myself something.
    
    I was referring to any track on the Miles Davis album, but if you
    want an indication of what I meant, try Blue In Green, or Flamenco
    Sketches.

    >> Benny Green's not a relation by any chance?
    
    No, and unfortunately, neither's Peter.
    
    Thanks for the complimentary remarks about my musical knowledge.
    I only really know enough of it to realise I know practically zilch,
    really. But if you can 'hear' it or 'feel' it, rather than just
    appreciate it as dots on a page, I reckon you'll do OK
    
    Good luck with it, and prepare yourself for some major brainache
     
    Bob

    I gave it a go the other night; trouble is, once I was a few bars
    into the first track the music took over and I missed the academic
    bit, and I just sat there for the rest of the side with a daft grin
    on my face.
    
    I'll have to buy a cheap guitar and take lessons, it's the only
    way.
    
    Dave

    Greetings, from another 'daft grinner'
    
    Gets ya like that, don't it....?
    
    Bob