How do blues singers communicate emotion?
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- In this lesson, we will look at wonderful blues singing and how the artist can show the emotion of the lyrics through the way they sing. We will also have the opportunity to write our own blues verse.
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5 Questions
Q1.
What is 'jamming' in music?
A performance in a concert hall.
When people would make jam in a factory.
Q2.
In the early blues of the 1900's, musicians did not have printed scores, how did they play together?
They would copy one another.
They would only play songs they already knew.
Q3.
Which of these descriptions talks about a successful improvisation?
The notes are the same as the blues head melody.
The notes were too long, they rhythms are slow and a lot of the pitches are the same.
Q4.
What is this grid showing you?
Bb major scale
G pentatonic scale
Q5.
Why does a good blues improvisation use swung rhythms?
Blues improvisations only include quaver notes.
Blues music has changed and moved from straight to swung rhythms.
5 Questions
Q1.
What was the nickname given to Bessie Smith in the 1930's?
Empress of America
Empress of fashion
Q2.
What are the lyrics of blues music often about?
Blues lyrics are about friendship and partying.
Blues lyrics are about working at the weekend.
Q3.
The pattern of lyrics are AAB, what does this mean?
All three lines are the same.
The last line is the same as the first.
Q4.
What was often the meaning in the AAB structure lyrics of blues music?
A and B had the same meaning.
A was the verse and B was the chorus.
Q5.
Which words need to rhyme in the AAB lyrical structure?
None of the words rhyme.
The middle of the phrases must have the same words.