blue note
Jazz's mournful pitch
A blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than standard, characteristic of blues and jazz.
These microtonal inflections—typically on the third, fifth, or seventh degrees of a scale—create the plaintive, soulful quality associated with the blues: She bent the blue notes beautifully on that solo.
Suspended recreational seat
- bebopFast, complex jazz style
- coolCalm or fashionable
- fusionJoining into unity
- DixielandEarly New Orleans jazz
ragtime · standards · Coltrane · Miles · Ellington · Monk · saxophone · trumpet
Performance by one
- spontaneityActing without forethought
- jammingBlocking or wedging forcefully
- riffingImprovising musical phrases
- licksTongue strokes
groove · swing · phrasing · ad-libbing · scatting · vamping · dynamics · variation
swing
Suspended recreational seat
Dixieland · ragtime · standards · Coltrane · Miles · Ellington · Monk · saxophone · trumpet · double bass
solo
Performance by one
- spontaneityActing without forethought
- jammingBlocking or wedging forcefully
- riffingImprovising musical phrases
licks · groove · swing · phrasing · ad-libbing · scatting · vamping · dynamics · variation · motif
melancholy
Subdued, lasting sadness
bittersweet · plaintive · soulful · ache · yearning · mournful · nostalgic · emotive · heartache · lament
bend
Curve or flex
inflection · pitch · interval · third · fifth · seventh · minor · chromatic · dissonance · tension
- BluesB.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, Howlin Wolf
- pitch techniquespitch bend, bend, vibrato, glissando, portamento
- microtonesquarter tone, cent, comma
- ornamentsornaments, ornament, decoration, decor, adornment
- vintage slangbee's knees, cat's meow, copacetic, groovy, hep
- Microtonal Musicmicrotones, quarter tone, equal temperament, shruti, retuning