Âm nhạc - Chapter 3: Jazz tenth edition

JazzTenth EditionChapter 3PowerPointbySharon Ann Toman, 2004The BluesThe blues has been played and sung in every era of jazzThe blues can be performed with many interpretations2Chapter 3 - The BluesThe OriginEarly “blues” was a result of the slaves singing very sad songs about their sufferingIt was in unison and no chords were used3Chapter 3 - The BluesThe OriginAfter the Civil War, it took on a special musical form - AAB (2-part form)The chords or harmonies that supported the vocal line became standardizedThese harmonies supported the three sung phrases4Chapter 3 - The BluesThe OriginMany titles of music have the word “blues” in the title but are often not the blues because they lack the blues harmonic construction5Chapter 3 - The BluesBlue NotesOne characteristic associated with the blues is the blues tonalitiesBlue tonalities are midway between the tone E-flat and E-natural and between B-flat and B-naturalBlues notes are heard in work songs, spirituals, and all styles of Jazz6Chapter 3 - The BluesField and Prison HollersThe work song sung collectively by plantation workers evolved into solo “hollers” or “cries”Work songs were sung across the open field (plantation)Very free in form7Chapter 3 - The BluesField and Prison HollersPrison Hollers were songs sung by prison inmatesContributed to the type of vocalizations now associated with blues singing8Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues LyricsThe meter of the blues lyrics is generally written in iambic pentameter.Three lines of lyrics, the first 2 being similar - AABEach line of the lyrics has 5(penta) accented syllables which alternate with unaccented syllables (iambic)Example of lyrics written in “iambic pentameter”:“I hate to see the ev’nin sun go down”9Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues LyricsBlues Lyrics are usually 4 measures long and consists of 3 lines (AAB)Each line of the lyrics consists of 2 measures of musicand the remainder of the 2 measure is completed by an instrumentalist – Fill-ins10Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues LyricsFill-ins: 1st means to hear some of the jazz instrumentalistsLater fill-ins were replaced by:Breaks: a place were the entire ensemble stopped playing to feature the solo instrument filling in11Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues LyricsBlues lyrics are usually concerned with unhappy situationsResult: Their melancholy lyrics usually describe the blues emotionBlues is only recognized by its melancholy lyricsButblues can also be happy, swinging tunes12Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues LyricsOne common misconception about the blues is that:The blues originated with work songsbut work songs were functional.but rather blues songs were emotional and had no specific functionThe word “blue” has been associated with melancholia as far back as Elizabethan times13Chapter 3 - The BluesCountry and Urban BluesCountry Blues – usually accompanied by a guitar, harmonica, or bothSinger was usually a manMost important figure of late country blue was:Robert Johnson14Chapter 3 - The BluesCountry and Urban BluesUrban Blues - seems to be more rhythmic, more crisp that country blues, accompanied by a small group. Singer was usually women15Chapter 3 - The BluesTwo Blues Periods1st Blues period: Latter part of the 19th century to about 1930Country Blues: e.g. Huddie LedbetterUrban Blues: e.g. Bessie Smith2nd Blues period: 1930 to the presente.g. B.B. King16Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues SingersBessie Smith (1894-1937)Ethel Waters (1896-1977)Billie Holiday (1915-1959)17Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues SingersBessie Smith:Born in TennesseeMade her first recording “Downhearted Blues” in 1923Best known blues singer of the 1920sReshaped any given song with her own special vocal style and feelings about the textEmbellished the melodic lineKnown as the “Empress of the Blues”18Chapter 3 - The BluesBlues SingersBessie Smith:Helped train singers on the minstrel circuitsSet the standard for all future singing of the bluesRecorded 160 songsAt the time of her death, about ten million of her records had been sold (1927)In 1937, she died penniless in an automobile accident19Chapter 3 - The BluesEthel WatersMade a name for herself in the early 1920sRepertoire ranged from the blues to jazz styles of singing and then to popRecorded with swing bands such as Benny Goodman and the Dorsey BrothersStar of Broadway musicals, films and television shows20Chapter 3 - The BluesEthel WatersHer singing style influenced such singers as: Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan and othersDifferent from other blues singersShe was not a shouterHer singing style was smoother, and her tones and vibrato were unique21Chapter 3 - The BluesBillie HolidayHoliday crossed many musical lines while staying with her individual singing styleInfluenced by Bessie Smith and Louis ArmstrongFrustrating aspect of Holiday’s career must have been that unwillingness of the public to accept black and white musicians performing together on the same bandstand22Chapter 3 - The BluesBillie HolidayAdmired and was influenced by Louis Armstrong and Lester YoungShe added her own feelings, her own lifestyles to her singing style23Chapter 3 - The BluesContemporary BluesThe blues is a tradition all its ownThe blues continues to export its influence on other music styles while maintaining its own identityContemporary blues singers like B.B. King and Robert JohnsonRepresent the contemporary vitality of the blues tradition itself24Chapter 3 - The Blues