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David's Tip of the Day: Joining a Band - Part 6 (The Head)

Posted Wed, 10/02/2013 - 09:18 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Let's dig deeper into those essential song elements I spoke of yesterday. The HEAD is the main theme of a song. It's commonly a chorus in length (one time through the form... 12 Bars for the 12 Bar Blues and 8 Bars for 8 Bar Blues) and played in the opening chorus (sometimes twice) and at the end (though not always at the end, it has become commonplace to do so).

I used Jimmy Smith's "Chicken Shack" as an example yesterday. Here's the link to my transcription of the head for the harmonica: http://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/chicken_sha...

The first version follows the rhythm of the original Jimmy Smith recording. The second version is what we commonly hear in the blues world, most notably played by Little Walter (Blues With A Feelin' 1966) and Charlie Musselwhite (Stand Back! 1967).