Blues Standards

[benrand]

Of course, it is hard to keep the feel consistent and not get too wonky and easy to play the actual patterns.

It's a hell of a lot easier to keep the feel for a long time if you are playing with a good guitarist who understands blues feels.

[JoesMechanic]

IMHO...

The Gadd Gang DVD that was up on dime has some of the best blues drumming I have ever heard. I use it to play/practice to when I'm working my blues groove and chops. Gadd has such an amazing feeling, I just want to jump out of my skin. Fat, thick, and SWINGIN!!

If you have a dimeadozen account, I highly recommend you get this DVD. It's just simply some great playing.

[Rhythmatist]

You have to resist the temptation to play over the top of the time like one might in Jazz or in shuffle styles of other musics. With any blues feel it has to be on the back side of the time to give it some authenticity. I recently began working with a blues band after having been away from it for a while and noticed the time was feeling very nervous attributing to the fact that I was on top where the rest of the band was on the backside. This creates the illusion that the drums are rushing even though I might be spot on the metronome. At the next gig I made a conscious effort to stay very relaxed and to "keep it greasy." Playing on the back side can take some time to feel but when you get it it feels great, like a well broken in pair of shoes. And this can be applied to a lot of different things that have been influenced by blues. Dig out some old Duke Ellington or Count Basie records to hear this in a big band Jazz setting as it's just so in your face it's unmistakable. David Garribaldi is a more contemporary master of this. Check out his playing with T.O.P. and listen to where his backbeat sits. Recordings by B.B. King, Ray Charles and others demonstrate how a whole large band can just sit on it. Delbert McClinton's "Live in Austin" is another that just smokes. The real trick is to be able to play with this kind of relaxed feel yet keep the intensity going at the same time.

[dr-funkenstein]

of course there are blues standards. its safe to say there are standards in all music (dont go there about free jazz). and if you should ever wonder what the standards are in the style that interests you, some cursory research would give you LOTS of info. so i am glad you are including this board in your research. there was a series of films produced by Martin Scorsese on PBS that provide a good jumping off point. (i treid to link to them, but they didnt work). you can always get info at amazon.com- scan the reviews written by customers.

remember: no blues = no rock'n'roll, no jazz etc etc. blues is the foundation of american music and should be respected as such. it is NOT "easy" to play authentically! like jazz or latin, blues has a vocabulary that needs to be internalized. to dismiss it as easy would be to dismiss its extraordinary subtleties, complexities and depth---BITCH!!!! (i couldnt resist)

i love it becuase its party music, release music and is usually a joyful process.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ December 27, 2005 07:22 PM: Message edited by: dr-funkenstein ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 27, 2005 07:27 PM: Message edited by: dr-funkenstein ]</font>