Tip of the Day

Another tune with a strong hook by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The hook is presented below, but harp players don't commonly play the entire hook, just the last two notes (same pattern as the common Charleston rhythm, but with straight eighths for this rock beat).

I7 = 1 2" 2' 2 2

IV7 = 2 3' 3 4+ 4+

V7 = 3" 4+ 4' 4 4

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's version of "Walkin’ Blues" provides another rock beat/straight eighth groove with a strong hook. Here's the hook on the harp...

I7 = 2 2 2 2 2" or 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 5 or Same with Octaves

IV7 = 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 3'

V7 = 4 4 4 4 4+ (it's common for players to improvise from Bar 9 onward)

It's always a good idea to include a Jr. Parker tune in a set... he was the man, both on vocals and harp. This song was chosen due to its hook-driven nature, which is the main reason why a song is chosen in a set. Hook-driven songs are unique, helping your set to not get old. The hook of this song is also very playable on the harmonica. Below is the hook on your G Harmonica in 2nd Position.

I7 = 2 2 3 4 5+ 5 5 5+ 4

IV7 = 1+ 1+ 2+ 2 3" 3' 3' 3" 2

V7 = 1 1 2' 3" 3 4+ 4+ 3 3" continue reading...

"Rock This House" was chosen as the swing to be on the list. It has the typical ii-V-I found at Bar 9 (replacing the V-IV-I) and guitar fills by Hollywood Fats that's so integral to the West Coast Blues sound. You can find this cut on the classic "Hollywood Fats Band" CD and has some great vocals and harp by Big Al Blake (there's an interview with Big Al on BluesHarmonica.com if you want to learn more about him and Hollywood Fats).

If you like to work with jam tracks, but find that you're lacking in some keys, or find that a particular jam track is perfect for a song you're working on, but a little bit too fast and not in the correct key, there's a simple solution. Place the jam track into a program like the Amazing Slow Downer (www.ronimusic.com), change the key (and tempo if you want) and then save the file. Done, you now have another version of the jam track. continue reading...

To understand the two dropped beats at 1:44 you'll need to listen to one of the other verses for his vocal phrasing. Listen at 2:02 and you'll hear that he starts his vocals on the "and" of 3 leading into the next verse. Listen back to 1:44 and you'll notice that he starts his vocals on the "and" of 1 leading into the vocal verse after the bridge. The pickup to the vocal verse is two beats early. continue reading...

Okay, let's see if you figured it out correctly. Below are the three different chord progressions found in the song, as well as the chorus with the error.

Harp Solo (12)
I I I I
IV IV I I
V7 IV I V7

Verses (8)
I I7 IV IV
I V7 I V7

Bridge (8)
IV I IV I
IV I V V

Chart
Harp Solo (12) | Verse (8) x2 | Harp Solo (12) | Bridge (8) | Verse (7.5) | Verse (8) ||

See if you can figure out where the two beats were dropped in the verse following the bridge and how you could approach the vocals to change this to be a standard 8 bars.

Before I outline "Just Your Fool" by Little Walter I think you should take a listen to it for yourself first. Listen careful to the form and see if you can figure out what's going. Your clue is that it has both 12 and 8 bar forms, with two different types of 8 bar forms present. There's also a deviation (i.e., mistake) in the form in one of later verses.

This song is on the School of the Blues House Band Standards List simply because of its form. There is no standard 8 bar blues chord progression, unlike the 12 bar blues which is expected to be a specific way (with small variations every now and again). In my experience "Key to the Highway" provides the most common version of an 8 bar blues used. If you use this as your reference point, when doing a different 8 bar blues you can say to yourself, "It's like Key to the Highway, but it changes like this..."

The chord progression is...

I V IV IV
I V I Vb continue reading...

"Tramp" provides our most common rock beat (straight-eighths) in the blues. You can hear derivations of this groove in William Clarke's "Pawnshop Bound" and my recent "Here We Go" on the It Takes Three CD. This song also provides a good challenge of dealing with what's basically a 12 Bar Blues in nature, but with an irregular length (some of the chords are double in length and it's not consistent from chorus to chorus). The band's challenge is to turn the form into a consistent form. continue reading...