Blue note

:This article is about the blue note musical device. For the record label, see Blue Note Records.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In jazz and blues, blue notes are notes sung or played at a lower pitch than those of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is less than a semitone, but this varies among performers.

Related Topics:
Jazz - Blues - Note - Pitch - Major scale - Semitone

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The blue notes correspond approximately to the flatted third, flatted fifth, and flatted seventh scale degrees, although they approximate non-equal tempered pitches found in African work songs; specifically, the flatted seventh may often be a justly tuned minor seventh. Blue notes are the most important notes in the blues scale.

Related Topics:
Flatted - Third - Flatted - Fifth - Flatted - Seventh - Scale degree - Equal tempered - Pitches - African - Work song - Justly tuned - Blues scale

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In its earliest manifestations, the flatted mediant and subtonic were the main blue notes. Emphasis on the flatted fifth or dominant was an innovation in bebop in the 1940s.

Related Topics:
Mediant - Subtonic - Dominant - Bebop - 1940s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Blue notes are also prevalent in English folk music (Lloyd 1967, p.52-4).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~