The Blues 10/24/2017

                                          Learning Objectives To something something The Blues.

The Blues The song structure of the blues seems to have originated in the Mississippi Delta in the late nineteenth century. The term the blues, as in “having the blues,” comes from a centuries-old term for a state of melancholy. Blues lyrics usually tell of some trouble, but often in a comical way.

The music Blues music is usually set in twelve bars of music, in 4/4 time the music often has a driving beat that is not unlike the heartbeat rhythm of iambic verse: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.

I’ll be glad when the sun goes down I be so glad when the sun goes down I ain't all that sleepy but I wanna lie down I wanna lie down

Call and Response In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first.

Vera Hall, “Troubles So Hard” Oh Lordy, trouble so hard Don't nobody know my troubles but God

Worry Blues Some people say that the worry blues ain’t bad But it’s the worst old feelin’ that I most ever had Everything I do seem like I do it wrong (x2) Sometime I regret that I was ever born

Lighthouse Blues My Sara got teeth like the lighthouse on the sea Every time she smiles, the light all over me.

Riverside Blues I ain't gon' to state no color, but her front teeth crowned with gold I ain't gon' to state no color, but her front teeth is crowned with gold She got a mortgage on my body, now, and a lien on my soul

Langston Hughes, Mornin’ After I said, Baby! Baby! Please don’t snore so loud. Baby! Please! You jest a little bit o’ woman but you Sound like a great big crowd.