Re: VS: [Harp-L] Re: not 12 bar / Roadhouse Blues

[Vince Meghrouni <Foomcorp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Harri,

The ear is our ultimate tool of course, but music theory really helps  
when its time to learn a bunch of tunes for a gig with people you  
haven't played with much or at all when you have to fill three hours  
or so with music, and during rehearsals and what-have-you to get  
things a little quicker.  It's fun also.  I play sax (and harp) and  
there are expectations of a sax player that have been much easier to  
deal with through the theory.  A little knowledge is a dangerous  
thing as they say, and that's what I have, emphasis on the "little"  
part of it.  All kidding aside though, it is helpful.  I do get a  
kick out of it also.

Having said that, I play plenty with people that don't know what  
they're playing in those terms, not the chord, scale, interval or  
form.  But they kick royal booty and I'm honored and humbled by their  
musicality.  So theory does not define a good musician.  But it can  
be a helpful tool.

I'm glad if anything I said helps at all in approaching the tune.   
Feel free to ask something if you think I might be able to help  
somehow as I like to figure things like that out.  No guarantees on  
correctness, however.  But I am in the ballpark enough such that its  
made it useful to me in practical real-life terms so I think I'm  
probably not just flailing wildly in the dark.

Vince


On Mar 21, 2007, at 1:23 PM, Haka Harri wrote:

> Vince,
>
> Your knowledge of musical theory is convincing. I understood 30 %  
> of what you said but I got a clue of what that means as far as  
> Roadhouse Blues goes.
>
> Harri
>
> > -----Alkuperäinen viesti-----
> > Lähettäjä: Vince Meghrouni [mailto:Foomcorp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > Lähetetty: 21. maaliskuuta 2007 21:54
> > Vastaanottaja: Haka Harri
> > Kopio: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> > Aihe: Re: [Harp-L] Re: not 12 bar / Roadhouse Blues
> >
> >
> > For all but verses 2 and 3 it's a one chord (E7) vamp, including the
> > first verse, the guitar solo and Mr. Mojo Risin's poetic g
> > extemporizing.
> >
> > Verse 2 is a 24 bar blues with a somewhat eccentric form (vs. a
> > simple doubling the measures in a conventional blues).
> >
> > 12 bars E7  (tonic)
> > 6   bars   A7  (sub-dominant, i.e., the IV chord)
> > 1   bar   B7  (dominant, i.e., the V chord)
> > 1/2   bar   C& (tritone substitution for the ii chord, made into a
> > dominant chord as is frequently the case in minor blues)
> > 1/2 bar  B7 (dominant, i.e., the V chord)
> > 4   bars E7 (tonic)
> >
> > Verse 3 is as as verse two except it ends on beat one just after the
> > last B7 in the form.
> >
> >
> > On Mar 21, 2007, at 12:46 PM, Haka Harri wrote:
> >
> > > John Frazer wrote:
> > > > not 12 bar. More like 28 bar
> > >
> > > Unfortunately I don't have the recording any more but if memory
> > > serves me right this song has the traditional AAB
> > progression of 12
> > > bar blues eg.:
> > >
> > > "I woke up this morning
> > > And I got myself a beer.
> > >
> > > I woke up this morning
> > > And I got myself a beer.
> > >
> > > The future's uncertain
> > > And the end is always near."
> > >
> > > I'm no expert on music theory and will be the first to admit that
> > > it isn't 12 bar if that is the case.
> > >
> > > Harri
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > Vince Meghrouni
> > http://www.myspace.com/fiendhorn
>
> _______________________________________________
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Vince Meghrouni
http://www.myspace.com/fiendhorn