Understanding Bebop Blues

So hopefully you can hear some relationship between earlier blues tunes that we've played and this 52nd Street bebop blues. We're still centered around chords one, four, and five, although we will look at ways to expand that.

What's Different About Bebop?

Bebop introduces a few key differences:

• Rhythmic Emphasis: A little bit more rhythmic emphasis.
• Detail in the Head: A little bit more detail in the melody.

Chromaticism in the Melody

First, I'm going to look at the chromaticism in the melody. For example, when I play my first phrase:

An earlier musician might have just played three A's at that point, but Charlie Parker wanted to disguise the melody. He aimed to decorate it a little more and embellish it.

• The sharp 5, that G sharp, adds a little more detail to the melody.

The same concept applies to the next phrase. I've talked before about the contrast between the minor and major third within the blues:

• Minor third: A
• Major third: C#

Parker plays them both and then does exactly the same thing on the G7 chord, where I have a B flat resolving up to the third. So suddenly, you have familiar lines based on concepts that you will understand and have experienced before, but with an extra layer of detail.

The Effectiveness of Bebop

Our first phrase, instead of potentially sounding perfectly functional, sounds really effective. It resonates more in a bebop style than it did beforehand.

Rhythmic Ideas in Bebop

Rhythmically, a few ideas in bebop are:

• Keep the Music Short and Bouncy: The word "bebop" is an onomatopoeic expression of the phrasing and the language.

For my last phrase of the opening line, I want to make my last notes really short. If I play them too long, it loses some of its punch, some of its effectiveness.

Key Takeaway: Get your articulation really secure on these tunes:

• Really feel those offbeat notes.
• Aim for really nice, short phrase endings.