Peter and the blues.

 Peter has been inquiring into the blues lately. I think he had questions about why I called a piece of mine 'Almost Blues'.

Actually, he may have forgotten but, during lockdown (Covid), Peter actually wrote the lyrics for a blues, and I put it to music.

In the 1970s I wrote a blues called 'The Taumarunui Blues'.

Well, I woke up this morning to the sound of a train, I said

I woke up this morning to the sound of a train.

My alarm clock was working but I couldn't hear it for the rain.

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I've got the Taum Taum Taum, Taumarunui blues, I said,

I've got the Taum Taum Taum, Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumarunui, that's why I'm singing the blues.

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Well, Taumarunui ain't a one horse town, I said

Taumarunui ain't a one horse town.

Them horses got more sense, ain't a single horse for fifty miles around.

---

I've got the Taum Taum Taum, Taumarunui blues, I said,

I've got the Taum Taum Taum, Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumarunui, that's why I'm singing the blues.

* * *

Okay, both these blues tunes are what we call a 12 bar blues.

Music can generally be written in bars.

Not to be confused with baas.

Both of the blues above are in a time called 4/4, or 'C' for common time. That means that there are four beats in each bar - count 1 2 3 4. Listen to Peter's blues and count with the words. You'll find that there are 12 bars... || 1 2 3 4   2 2 3 4   3 2 3 4   4 2 3 4   5 2 3 4   6 2 3 4   7 2 3 4   8 2 3 4   9 2 3 4   10 2 3 4   11 2 3 4   12 2 3 4 || Listen to the chords for guidance.

A blues doesn't have to have the 12 bar form, but most traditional blues tunes do. Check out Mississippi John Hurt, or B.B. King.

So, why did I call my bass tune 'Almost Blues'?

Listen to it again.

 For the solo part (after the tune) the chords go like this.

|| G7/// | G7/// | G7/// | G7/// | C7/// | C7/// | G7/// | G7/// | Am7/// | D7/// | Eb7/// | Eb7/// | Eb7/// | Eb7/// ||

Count the bars. There are 14 (the tune has 14 too).

That's really why I decided to call it 'Almost Blues'. Okay, it really can still be called a blues. I was just having a little 'joke' about the 14 bars. I think that musicians, who don't just play from written notes all the time, would get that little joke.

There you have it.

Hey, just to clear up another little point. My son did a DNA test, some time ago, and it showed his father (me) to be half Irish. I'm fine with that but, because I have never been to Ireland, I identify as a Pakeha from Aotearoa.

I think I deserve some breakfast now. I started writing this at 5.30am.

Sii gentile.

Oh, and here's the full version of Peter's Lockdown Blues.