12-Bar Blues

[Triple-o]

The book 12- Bar Blues  by David Rubin has “sat on the shelf”  for years, I finally sat down and started to read it cover to cover. When I got to page 36 I read something that jumped off the page.  “The b3 rd and b7 th are actually misnamed as blue notes. The real blue notes are in between the flat 3 rd and 3 rd and in between the flat 7 th and 7 th. I assume he is talking about the microtone you get with a 1/4 bend on the 3 rd or 7 th. He also said the 5 th and  6 th are true” blue notes” The flatted 5 th, but I don’t believe  I’ve ever heard anyone  called the 6 th a blue note.

The book also led me to  the late Mack Mc Cormick who spend 50 years of his life researching and writing a book about Robert Johnson and the “phantom or shadowy figure” Johnson met at the crossroads. I always thought the “ devil” taught Johnson to “Learn and master” the guitar, but I guess the “phantom”  just  “tuned’” Johnson’s guitar.  I sometimes think I should take my guitar and go walk the banks of the “Sunfiower River”  and see if  I could find a fallen angel that has a side hustle as a  luthier. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rd

[matonanjin]

Triple-o, I'm going to look into this book.