Every Day I Have the Blues
B. B. King
Alternative embedded performance: B. B. King live at Farm Aid 1985. The preferred recording remains linked on YouTube.
First listen
Listen once without writing. What do you notice?
Listen closely
1 PULSEHow does the band keep a steady blues feel?
Sentence stemThe beat feels ___ because ___.
Vocabulary
- steady
- relaxed
- swinging
- the rhythm repeats
2 TIMBREHow can you tell the voice and guitar apart?
Sentence stemThe voice sounds ___; the guitar sounds ___.
Vocabulary
- warm
- rough
- bright
- bending
3 PITCHWhat happens when the guitar bends a note?
Sentence stemThe guitar note ___.
Vocabulary
- slides higher
- falls
- bends
- wavers
4 TEXTUREHow do the voice and guitar answer each other?
Sentence stemB. B. King sings ___. Then the guitar ___.
Vocabulary
- a line
- answers
- fills the gap
- repeats the idea
5 STRUCTUREWhich musical pattern keeps returning?
Sentence stemI hear ___ return after ___.
Vocabulary
- the blues pattern
- a sung line
- a guitar answer
- twelve bars
How does this piece make you feel?
There is no right or wrong answer. Which words match your response?
calmexcitedhopefulcuriousjoyfulpowerfulpeacefultensedreamybravethoughtfulenergeticmysteriouscomfortedrestlessproudsadsurprisedupliftedfocused
Music through time
1955 · Electric blues
- Medieval500–1400
- Baroque1600–1750
- Classical1750–1820
- Romantic1820–1900
- 20th century1900–2000
- Contemporary2000–present