{"id":11265,"date":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=11265"},"modified":"2024-10-15T04:55:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T12:55:52","slug":"remembering-oscar-peterson-jazz-blues-form-bass-lines-riffs-cross-licks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/remembering-oscar-peterson-jazz-blues-form-bass-lines-riffs-cross-licks\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Oscar Peterson: Jazz Blues Form, Bass Lines, Riffs & Cross Over Licks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in history is a special day. <\/p>\n

Every 23rd of December, all ardent fans of Oscar Peterson across the globe remember his death. If you are a lover of jazz blues piano, you’ll enjoy this post.<\/p>\n

Oscar Peterson<\/h2>\n

Oscar Peterson<\/b> (O.P.), a black Canadian, was born on August 15, 1925 to Kathleen and Daniel Peterson who introduced him to music. Young Oscar, at the age of 5, was already into the trumpet and piano (his dad’s favorite instruments) but truly channeled his attention to the piano after he suffered from tuberculosis. <\/p>\n

Oscar was classically-trained and spoke highly of Bach’s Preludes and Fugues<\/em>, Goldberg Variations<\/em> etc, however, he fell in love with prevalent 20th century Afro-American styles like blues, stomps, ragtime, boogie woogie, and others. Consequently, his playing showed classical, jazz and popular music influences.<\/p>\n

Personally, I’m a huge fan and think Oscar was out of this world<\/em>. His playing is characterized by clockwork precision (even at a terrible uptempo speed), technical brilliance (reflecting Art Tatum’s influence) and melodic inventiveness (obviously a product of Bach Inventions<\/em>. He said this in a TV show<\/a>).<\/p>\n

On December 23, 2007 (exactly 8 years ago), O.P. died of kidney failure and today we all miss him. In memory of Oscar Peterson, we’ll be exploring a jazz-blues study in the key of F. Have fun.<\/p>\n

Jazz-Blues Piano<\/h2>\n

When you listen to the music of Mose Allison, BB King, etc, you’ll hear one thing they share in common – the blues<\/em>. Blues music is melancholic, dramatic, and expressive. Oscar Peterson is a jazz-blues maestro whose interpretation and style is coveted by so many. We’ll focus on his style in future posts, but until then, remain in the spirit of the blues with all that we’ll cover in this post.<\/p>\n

Structure\/Form<\/h3>\n

The traditional blues form has a 12 bar structure (usually with 4 beats to a bar). These 12 bars can be broken down into three 4-bar sections. The first two sections often use the same melody (or a slight variation) while the third section creates a contrast.<\/p>\n

I | I | I | I | Section A (Introduction of theme or melody. Chord I is the first chord in this section)<\/p>\n

IV | IV | I | I | Section A (Recapitulation of theme or melody. Chord IV is the first chord in this section)<\/p>\n

V | IV | I | V | Section B (Introduction of contrasting theme. Chord V is the first chord in this section)<\/p>\n

Therefore, the 12 bar blues form is an AAB form. Which is:<\/p>\n

4 bars of A + 4 bars of A + 4 bars of B<\/p>\n

Left Hand Bass Lines<\/h3>\n

There are many left hand bass lines in jazz blues. However, I chose this one because:<\/p>\n