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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > is there any good 3/4 blues?
is there any good 3/4 blues?
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Jim Rumbaugh
1210 posts
Aug 14, 2016
7:36 PM
I have had a recent interest in 3/4 time. Then I started pondering, "I don't know any blues in 3/4 time" , Yes there is some 12/8 tunes and 6/8., but I can't think of any 3/4.

Can you sugest a 3/4 blues tune that I can listen and learn??

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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
slaphappy
212 posts
Aug 14, 2016
7:56 PM
hmm, there's not much is there!

Miles Davis "All Blues" comes to mind but it's 6/8 and more of a jazz standard tho.

good topic, this has crossed my mind a few times too. curious if you get some more responses


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4' 4+ 3' 2~~~
-Mike Ziemba
Harmonica is Life!

Last Edited by slaphappy on Aug 14, 2016 8:06 PM
timeistight
2033 posts
Aug 15, 2016
12:07 AM


Jim Rumbaugh
1211 posts
Aug 15, 2016
5:49 AM
To Timeistight, I say good try, but I call that 6/8, a 2 beat with triplets, but maybe I am fighting symantics.

As I have tried to imagine/create a 3/4 blues in my head, it keeps sounding more country than blues. I think I'm looking for a 12 bar progression that has a fell of "Mississipp Moon". To me this has a "blues feel" but I do not call it blues. Then again, my head may be in the wrong place.



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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Diggsblues
2049 posts
Aug 15, 2016
5:58 AM
Here's a version by Little Al Price and one by me



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1847
3616 posts
Aug 15, 2016
7:56 AM


i love you tube
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1847
3617 posts
Aug 15, 2016
7:58 AM

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Martin
1053 posts
Aug 15, 2016
8:04 AM
timeistight
2034 posts
Aug 15, 2016
8:22 AM
"To Timeistight, I say good try, but I call that 6/8, a 2 beat with triplets, but maybe I am fighting symantics."

It's notated in waltz time.

Last Edited by timeistight on Aug 15, 2016 8:27 AM
eebadeeb
106 posts
Aug 15, 2016
9:46 AM
There is one discussed in gloves book. Called it c jam blues I think
eebadeeb
107 posts
Aug 15, 2016
9:50 AM
Glovers book
Jim Rumbaugh
1212 posts
Aug 15, 2016
11:07 AM
To Timeis tight: "It's notated in waltz time"
Then you gave me EXACTLY what I asked. (thank you)

BUT

Though there are many good examples here with a 3/4 beat, what I am hearing is either 6/8 over 12 bars or 3/4 over 24 bars. Though not a true blues tune, The "Mississippi Moon" I posted is 3/4 over 16 bars.

Perhaps 6/8 is the 3/4 version of blues??


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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)

Last Edited by Jim Rumbaugh on Aug 15, 2016 11:08 AM
Jim Rumbaugh
1213 posts
Aug 15, 2016
11:11 AM
FWIW. Images of C Jam Blues (mentioned byebabdeeb) by Duke Ellington are notated in 4/4
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
JInx
1216 posts
Aug 15, 2016
1:06 PM
Leadbelly's Black Girl (In The Pines) is in 3/4 time. Maybe it's not a blues though. 8 bar blues? I don't know
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Goldbrick
1573 posts
Aug 15, 2016
1:26 PM


Make this into a blues






Last Edited by Goldbrick on Aug 15, 2016 1:32 PM
hvyj
3103 posts
Aug 15, 2016
3:22 PM
As a practical matter, in live performance situations musicians don't always make a distinction between 3/4 and 6/8--they often just say a particular tune is "in three". FWIW. A lot of minor blues are "in three".

Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 15, 2016 3:25 PM
Jim Rumbaugh
1214 posts
Aug 15, 2016
6:11 PM
My favorite so far:
Seasick Steve = So Lonesome I could Cry
I call it a 16 bar 3/4 time, To confirm I searched for images of "Lonsome I could Cry" and they came up with 3/4

I just had thought.
12 bars 4/4 has 48 beats and 16 of 3/4 has 48 beats. I wonder if there is a connection?

AND to hvyj: "in live performance situations musicians don't always make a distinction between 3/4 and 6/8-" I can agree with that.
BUT
When it comes to DANCING and what the listener is feeling, I say there is a big difference between a 2 beat rhythm with triplets (6/8 fast tempo) vs a slow 3/4 rhythm as in the Seasick Steve performace posted above.

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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Fishlips
49 posts
Aug 15, 2016
8:56 PM
So just to provide a little background information that probably most of you know--

The top number in a time signature is the number of beats per measure, and the bottom number is the type of note that gets one beat.

In 3/4 time, there are three beats per measure and a quarter note gets one beat. If you subdivide the beats into eighth notes, the count is "1&2&3&"

In 6/8 time, there are six beats per measure and an eighth note gets one beat. The count is "123456" with the emphasis on the 1 and 4. Alternatively, 6/8 is sometimes counted as "fast 6/8." The count is then "1&a2&a" with two beats per measure, with three subdivisions per beat.

So 3/4 time is a duple meter with each beat divided into two even subdivisions, and 6/8 is a triple meter with each beat divided into three even subdivisions. They have very different feels. Even though the eighth notes may be occurring at the same speed, the duple or triple feels are very different for players or dancers alike.
Fishlips
50 posts
Aug 15, 2016
9:03 PM
A good example of the difference between duple vs. triple feel of 6/8 and 3/4 is heard in America from West Side Story. The phrase "I like to live in Amer-i-ca" is a fast 6/8 measure followed by a 3/4 measure, with the eighth notes flowing at a steady speed. 1&a2&a|1&2&3&|
AC
55 posts
Aug 16, 2016
2:05 PM
Not blues but bluesy - I love Ray Charles' version of "Still Crazy After All These Years".
groyster1
2868 posts
Aug 19, 2016
10:56 AM
3/4 time is waltz time....difficult to play blues to waltz time
J-Sin
183 posts
Aug 21, 2016
4:27 AM
Would this eternal classic count?



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Reed To The Beat!
Jim Rumbaugh
1215 posts
Aug 21, 2016
4:01 PM
J-Sin That's VERY good, and close to what I have been looking for. If it is a true 3/4 , it is a 64 measure song. So, mmmmmmmm , I don't know. It is a good 3/4 beat and does not FEEL like 6/8. I say that's about as close as I've heard yet.
Thanks for the example.

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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Fishlips
54 posts
Aug 21, 2016
9:36 PM
I hear the Hawkins track as being in 12/8 (or 4/4 with three eighth note triplets per beat). However you describe it, it feels like four beats, each divided by three. 1&a2&a3&a4&a.

It does not at all seem to be like a waltz in 3/4.
Jim Rumbaugh
1217 posts
Aug 22, 2016
7:24 AM
@Fishlips. I agree that it is probably a 12/8. In 12/8 time it is 16 bars which is how I play it in 4/4 time. In 3/4 it's 64 bars. BUT, it such a slow 12/8, it does have the feel of a Viennese (fast) waltz.
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)

Last Edited by Jim Rumbaugh on Aug 22, 2016 7:41 AM
J-Sin
184 posts
Aug 23, 2016
2:41 PM
You're probably right, my bad. But like you said, it does have a waltzy feel somehow. Those staccato horns and the brush strokes -- not the typical everyday blues rhythmics.

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Reed To The Beat!


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