Blue note
Encyclopedia
In jazz
and blues
, a blue note (also "worried" note) is a note
sung or played at a slightly lower pitch
than that of the major scale
for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone
or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues
, in particular, features wide variations from the diatonic pitches with emotive blue-notes. Blue notes are often seen as akin to relative pitches found in traditional African work song
s.
The blue notes are usually said to be the flattened third
, flattened fifth, and flattened seventh
scale degrees. Though the blues scale
has "an inherent minor tonality, it is commonly 'forced' over major-key chord changes, resulting in a distinctively dissonant conflict of tonalities". A similar conflict occurs between the notes of the minor scale
and the minor blues scale, as heard in songs such as "Why Don't You Do Right?
."
In the case of the flattened third over the root (or the flattened seventh over the dominant), the resulting chord is a neutral mixed third chord.
Blue notes are used in many blues
songs, in jazz, and in conventional popular songs with a "blue" feeling, such as Harold Arlen
's "Stormy Weather." Blue notes are also prevalent in English folk music. Bent or "blue notes",
called in Ireland "long notes", play a vital part in Irish music.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, a blue note (also "worried" note) is a note
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
sung or played at a slightly lower pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
than that of the major scale
Major scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
, in particular, features wide variations from the diatonic pitches with emotive blue-notes. Blue notes are often seen as akin to relative pitches found in traditional African work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s.
The blue notes are usually said to be the flattened third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
, flattened fifth, and flattened seventh
Minor seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...
scale degrees. Though the blues scale
Blues scale
The term blues scale is used to describe a few scales with differing numbers of pitches and related characteristics. See: blues.The hexatonic, or six note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the 4th or 5th degree...
has "an inherent minor tonality, it is commonly 'forced' over major-key chord changes, resulting in a distinctively dissonant conflict of tonalities". A similar conflict occurs between the notes of the minor scale
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
and the minor blues scale, as heard in songs such as "Why Don't You Do Right?
Why Don't You Do Right?
"Why Don't You Do Right?" is an American blues- and jazz-influenced pop song – now a standard – written in 1936 by Kansas Joe McCoy. It is a twelve-bar minor key blues form with a few chord substitutes, it is considered a classic "woman's blues" song....
."
In the case of the flattened third over the root (or the flattened seventh over the dominant), the resulting chord is a neutral mixed third chord.
Added tone chord
An added tone chord is a non-tertian chord composed of a tertian triad and an extra "added" note. The added note is not a seventh , but typically a non-tertian note, which cannot be defined by a sequence of thirds from the root, such as the added sixth or fourth...
Blue notes are used in many blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
songs, in jazz, and in conventional popular songs with a "blue" feeling, such as Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
's "Stormy Weather." Blue notes are also prevalent in English folk music. Bent or "blue notes",
called in Ireland "long notes", play a vital part in Irish music.