The Blues genre developed one of the most widely used song structures of Blues and Jazz, The

12 Bar Blues. Using two songs as examples, discuss the importance of the 12 Bar Blues Blues is the name given to both the musical form and genre created and developed in the South of the USA by the African-American people. It was created at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, worksongs, field hollers and chants. The Blues form is used regularly in jazz, R&B and rock and roll is characterised by the use of specific chord progressions, the 12 Bar Blues. The Blues genre is based on the blues form but possesses other characteristics such as lyrics, bass lines and instruments. Blues can be divided into smaller groups such as country to urban blues that were more or less popular during different periods of the 20th century.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, blues music was not clearly defined in terms of a chord progression. By the 1920s, probably due to the commercial success in the African-American community of singers such as Bessie Smith, twelve-bar blues became the standard. The basic twelve-bar lyric framework of a blues composition is reflected by a standard harmonic progression of twelve bars in a 4/4 time signature. The blues chords associated to a twelve-bar blues are typically a set of three different chords played over a twelve-bar scheme. They are labelled by Roman numbers referring to the degrees of the progression. For instance for a blues in C, C is the tonic chord (I) and F the subdominant (IV). The last chord is the dominant (V) turnaround, marking the transition to the beginning of the next progression. The lyrics generally end on the last beat of the tenth bar or the first beat of the eleventh bar, and the final two bars are given to the instrumentalist as a break; the harmony of this two-bar break.

Much of the time, some or all of these chords are played in the harmonic seventh(7th) form. The use of the harmonic seventh interval is characteristic of blues and is popularly called the "blues seven". In the melody, blues is distinguished by the use of the flattened third, fifth and seventh of the associated major scale. These specialised notes are called the blue or bent notes.
Ragtime pianist and bandleader Jelly Roll Morton is described by some as the first important jazz composer. Born in 1890 in New Orleans, he moved to Chicago in 1922 where he had notable success, making his first recordings and leading a seven/eight piece band called the Red Hot Peppers. In 1926, he wrote Sidewalk Blues. The instrumentation is that of the Dixieland bands that dominated the New Orleans jazz scene in the early years of the century.

There are three frontline instruments trumpet, trombone and clarinet which weave polyphonic lines, often improvised, over a rhythmic section comprising piano, banjo and tuba. The brisk tempo piece in 4/4 has an introduction before the twelve bar Blues begins whereby we hear the three melodic instruments play and unaccompanied two-bar phrase in the order trombone, trumpet, clarinet. The piece begins in Eb major and has small changes to the standard Blues chord progression with the bass moving down stepwise halfway through bar 7 to lead to a C major chord in bar 8. This acts as a secondary dominant to chord II (Fminor) at the start of the final phrase. The full chord pattern is: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I/7 5 IV 6 IV 7 I 8 VI(m aj) 9 II 10 V 11 I 12 I

The main melody is presented on the trumpet with the use of syncopations and blues notes. The second half of the Sidewalk Blues, moves to the subdominant key and is more lyrical with longer sustained notes in the melodic lines. Another song which uses the 12 Bar Blues was West End Blues written in 1928. Louis Armstrong was another influential jazz musician to come from New Orleans and his musical roots were in the Creole music and early hot jazz of that city. In 1922, Armstrong moved to Chicago where he came to fame as a virtuoso trumpeter and soon had his own group, the Hot Five. This group followed a similar format to Jelly Roll Mortons: three melody instruments and a rhythm section. West End Blues was written by Joe King Oliver but it is the recording by Armstrong and his Hot Five that is most famous. The piece follows the same chord structure as Sidewalk Blues and is in the key of Eb major. Armstrongs version is renowned for his remarkable trumpet playing. Each time the 12 Bar Blues begins; there is a change which features a different instrument. In total there are five choruses. The first chorus is a 12 Bar blues played slowly with the melody played by Armstrong on the trumpet. The second chorus is a trombone solo which uses the high register and many smears of pitch. At the third chorus there is an improvised duet between the clarinet and Armstrongs vocals. It employs a call and response format with the vocal supplying the responses. The fourth chorus is an unaccompanied piano improvisation by Earl Hines. In the fifth chorus, the trumpet solo with all the other instruments reappears. Towards the end of this section, the piano sustains a chord, with Armstrong playing a long drawn out bluesy figure. This is accompanied by long tones harmonised by trombone, clarinet and piano to form three different chords that conclude the piece.

In conclusion, Blues musicians found they could express their thoughts fully 12 bars of music. However, there is room in these 12 bars for much creativity, whether musical or lyrical. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a

movement in Britain, which brought about the "British Blues." The blues lends itself to much of the piano music available for playing today. Its influence is apparent in Broadway show tunes, film music and much music of the love-ballad type.