Frank Wunsch

Blues Time

Even today, well over a century after they were first created, the blues has lost none of its fascination, thanks to its direct expressive power and the variety of forms it can take. The blues was created in the southern states of the USA in the second half of the nineteenth century. Black singers, both male and female, expressed their discontent with the often unbearable living conditions they had to endure, but also sang of the joy and misery of love. Overlaying the three basic chords of the classic cadenze - tonic (T), sub-dominant (S) and dominant (D) - with a melody of African origin containing blue notes yielded the fluctuation between major and minor that is still characteristic of the blues today. This book qualifies to introduce to the blues for pianist of mediate level. Every single one of the short pieces has got its own characteristics, the music varies in tempo and rhythm and it hopefully gives you the chance to consider listening to one of the old famous blues records again. Frank Wunsch (* 1945) is a pianist composer and professor for piano in jazz at the college of music in Cologne.