Monday, February 4, 2013

Understanding form: The 12-bar blues

Please read this description of the blues form and listen to this recording of Elmore James singing "Dust my Broom".

From what you've read and heard on the blues, please respond to the following prompts:

  • What characteristics of the blues helped to make it a universal form known around the world and played by all manner of jazz, blues and rock musicians?
  • What characteristics of the blues made it, initially, a musical form that was not fully embraced by main-stream society?
  • Why was W.C. Handy so important in the development of the blues as a popular musical style?

No comments:

Post a Comment