source file: m1525.txt
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 02:48:22 -0700

Subject: 7 limit and blues

From: Aline Surman <stick@uswest.net>

I'm glad to see Michael Dixon bring the blues up...it is truly a 
microtonal music. I have played blues guitar for 30 years, and at this 
stage, I do not believe that it is possible to pin down the "blue" notes 
to a specific pitch. Just check out Albert King playing "Look Out" (Live 
at the Fillmore), and listen how many different ways he bends the same 
few notes...it is an awesome performance. It is quite correct to say that 
there is a big range of possibilities as to where to bend a note; I teach 
my students to do it by feel, because it is impossible to notate on 
paper. To make things even more nebulous, there are no groundrules as to 
when to bend a note, as well as how much to bend it...sometimes, a sax or 
guitar will deliberately miss a note by a slight amount (usually flat), 
for the "cry" it attains. Every blues/jazz musician is automatically an 
arranger/composer, as well as a player...and improvisation is the name of 
the game...it's a fascinating subject...Hstick