LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Songs based on the blues!
ayolt -- 11/20/2006, 09:24:05 -- #31324
Hi all,

Could you guys give some tunes which are based on a blues progression? Please also give the key it was originally written in. I came up with these:

Blue monk - Bb blues
Straight no chaser - F blues
Au privave - F blues
Now's the time - F blues

jazz jasper -- 11/20/2006, 10:08:53 -- #31324
Billie's bounce, things ain't what they used to be

jazzwee -- 11/20/2006, 14:46:14 -- #31324
C Jam (guess the key!)
Tenor Madness (I play it in Bb)
Slowtrane (Bb)

Mike -- 11/20/2006, 16:22:15 -- #31324
SANDU
BESSIES BLUES
JUKE
PFRANCING
SWINGING SHEPARD BLUES
TWISTED
WEE DOT
AU PRIVAVE
BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK
BAGS GROOVE
BLUE SEVEN
BLUE TRAIN
BLUES BY FIVE
COOL BLUES
LOCOMOTION
MISTERIOSO
SACK OF WOE
SOLID
SONNYMOON FOR TWO
TAKE THE COLTRANE
THE BLUES WALK
WALKIN
           TO NAME A FEW.

wutrain -- 11/20/2006, 18:12:51 -- #31324
... we're not counting like traditional delta blues and whatnot are we?

jazz jasper -- 11/21/2006, 01:48:14 -- #31324
What about minor blues?  like interplay by bill evans thats a great tune

ayolt -- 11/21/2006, 13:44:10 -- #31324
what are the common keys in which blues are played?

G, C, F, Bb, Eb ?

Mike -- 11/21/2006, 14:23:51 -- #31324
E is also very common when playing with guitar players.  especially guitar players with tastes that lean towards Rock.  A and D are also common in this genre.  If I know I am going on a gig with a Rock leaning Gtr player I spend 15 minutes to a half hour brushing up on my licks in those keys before I fly out the door, because otherwise I tend to play pretty exclusively in the keys you mentioned, with very occasionaly forays into Db.

jmkarns -- 11/22/2006, 09:56:34 -- #31324
Typically the 3rd is flatted in the blues.

ayolt -- 11/22/2006, 16:17:53 -- #31324
does anyone know some more minor blues tunes???? interplay is not in my fakebook.......

and jimkarns: i know :)

BlackWhiteKey -- 11/22/2006, 16:35:50 -- #31324
"mr p.c." is a great minor blues tune in cmin."route 66" is also a great song. i don't the original key though. and john coltrane's "mr. Syms" is a great cmin tune.i don't know if you would consider " the preacher" in f blues, but i do because it sounds like it.

jwv76 -- 11/23/2006, 02:26:26 -- #31324
Some minor blues tunes I can think of are Footprints (Wayne Shorter), Stolen Moments(Oliver Nelson), Equinox (John Coltrane), Unchain my Heart(Ray Charles?). I want to say Ain't no Sunshine, but it's not exactly a 12 bar blues. Theres a lot of "bluesy" minor tunes that start out with 4 bars of i then two bars of iv, just like a twelve bar blues, Summertime comes to mind.

ayolt -- 11/23/2006, 11:23:27 -- #31324
is freddie freeloader considered a blues in Bb? Or is it that some changes are mixed up?

Does anyone know a cool blues head in Eb?

DrJazz -- 11/23/2006, 15:38:30 -- #31324
Yes, Freddy Freeloader is blues in Bb, but the changes in bars 11-12 go to Ab7 (tone down from the expected Bb7).

Bessie's Blues (Coltrane) is a great blues in Eb with easy I-IV-V changes. On the more 'boogie' side, 'Mess Around' is often in Eb, like Professor Longhair's 'Big Chief', and Jimmy Yancey always used to play an ending in Eb to ANY tune, no matter what the key!

bow -- 11/28/2006, 08:33:34 -- #31324
I've been tryin to get some blues downloads online, I should be grateful if i got some from you.

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