Group _______ Name

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Jazz…Compose the Blues

Assignment
1. Write 2 verse (words to your song)
2. Learn the chord progressions (2 people on this part will work)
3. Compose a melody that uses the blues scale and fits your lyrics
4. Add a bass line (ostinato/riff)(keep it simple)
5. Be prepared to improvise between verses during the
performance

Writing Blues Lyrics

1. 1. Choose a topic that reflects the mood of the blues.

2. 2. Follow the formula below for the four lines of each verse of a
blues song:

1st Line: State the problem.

2nd Line: Repeat 1st line.
3rd Line: State half of the solution (or consequence).
4th Line: State the second half of the solution (or
consequence).

Example:

The Homework Blues (one verse)

I’ve got the homework blues because my teacher always gives

us a ton.
I’ve got the homework blues because my teacher always gives
us a ton.
And if I don’t do my homework,
My parents won’t let me have fun.

Notice that the 1st line has 16 syllables. The 3rd and 4th line
should add up to 16 as well. As a rule of thumb, however many
syllables there are in the 1st line should be the same (or very nearly
the same) as the 3rd and 4th line combined. Also, note that the last
word of the 1st line rhymes with the last word of the 4th line.
While not all blues songs follow this exact formula, it is a way to
get started. Listen to as many blues songs as you can and see if they
follow the same formula. If they don’t, what do they do differently?

Write a total of 2 verses.

 Group _______ Name
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Learn the chord progressions

In your group, work through the following exercises to get yourselves

familiar with notes on the Orff instruments and the Blues chord
progression.

There are three basic chords you will need to be able to play for the
Blues. The first is C major:
G
C has the following notes in: E
C

F has the following notes in: C

A
F
G has the following notes in:
D
B
G
Try playing these chords and moving between them in time. Move
your fingers as little as possible when changing chords. For example,
to change from C to F, move the top two notes up and keep the note C
where it was:
A
G
E
C

To make the chords sound more authentic, we need to add one more
note to each chord, don’t worry if this is too hard, it just spices the
chords up a bit. The extra note goes on the top of the chord and is
called a 7th.

BbThe chords now look like

Eb this: C7, F7, G7. F
G C D
E A B
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C7 / / / C7 / / / C7 / / / C7 / / /
F7 / / / F7 / / / C7 / / / C7 / / /
G7 / / / F7 / / / C7 / / / C7 / / /

Here is the 12 bar Blues progression. There are 4 beats in each bar.

Compose a melody
The origin of blue notes can be traced back to traditional
African singing, where certain pitches are sung a little flat.

In the blues, notes are sometimes flattened by a semitone to add

expressive effect to the words or melody, or sound more “blue”. The
notes are usually the third and the seventh degrees of the scale.

In jazz music a flattened 3rd and 7th degree became standard when
playing blues, an a “blues scale” developed. Sometimes the 5th
degree is also flattened..

C Eb F Gb G Bb …the minor pentatonic scale(with flat 5)

Add a bass line

Now we need a bass line and a melody. Both of these can be made up
by playing the notes from the chords when that is being played. Or, a
scale which will work really well is:

A simple bass line may be: (C E G Bb) x4

(F A C E b) x2 (C E G Bb) x2
(G B D F) (F A C E b) (C E G Bb) x2

Improvising is a strong feature of the Blues. Improvising is using notes

from the chords and scale provided to make up a new tune on the
spot that will be different every time.
Group _______ Name
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Everyone will need to take a turn improvising during the performance

in between the verses of your song. This will be part of your grade.