Writing the Blues

Chapter::Lyrics

Chapter Summary:

There are many forms of blues lyrical approaches, but the most common is the call and response approach. In this chapter, we'll look as writing lyrics and arranging the lyrics.

Article::Arranging

There are many ways to arrange a blues song, but here are a few pointers:

You generally want to start out with at least a bar or two of introduction
Often, you’ll go through the entire 12 bars once without singing, perhaps playing a lick or two, but holding something back
Many blues songs contain four or five verses of lyrics
There is often an instrumental break after the third verse of lyrics—during this break, show off your best licks
You then wrap up with one or two final verses
To stretch out a song, you may also repeat the first verse and then go through your lead cycle again
End with a fancy turnaround, resolving into the I chord
To make the song feel more complete, start your singing about a half beat early (or add a spoken exclamation as in the above example)—it creates a more interesting and complex texture to have your voice and the chord change happening simultaneously
For interest, mix individual notes from a chord, chord play and shuffle play