Music Revision

Howlin Wolf

• Chester Burnett 1910-1976: A black American singer, Guitarist and Harmonica player
• Renowned as a powerful singer in Chicago Electric Blues Style. 
• I'm Leavin' You was recorded in 1958 in the style of 1950s Chicago Rhythm and Blues 

Howlin Wolf: Instrumentation

• Vocals: Vocals lead the piece (melody) 
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• Lead Guitar: 'Fills in the gaps,' takes the melodic lines and fills when vocals do not lead melody
• Rhythm Guitar: The rhythm guitar helps maintain rhythm  
• Piano: Largely improvised, within each bar extended chords are given to give pianist an idea of what to play
• Drums: Drums play shuffle rhythm, plays rhythmic fill when instrumentation stops the emphasis is on the weaker beats of the bar giving a sense of syncopation 
• Harmonica: punctuates the texture with characteristic chords.

Howlin Wolf: Texture

• Mostly homophonic in the verses, with a strong chordal accompaniment acting as a backing for the vocals. 
• There is a dialogue between Voice and Lead Guitar - typical of both Rhythm and Blues and earlier Blues styles. 
• ‘Stop’ time textures feature in the first three bars of Verses 2, 3, 5 and 6. Punctuating chords on the first beat of these bars, and a triplet fill in the fourth, lead to the subdominant chord in the fifth bar of the sequence

Howlin Wolf: Tonality

• Key of G major
• Some modal inflections in 'Blue' notes in the vocal and instrumental parts (modal inflection is alterations of one or more notes within a tonal context that hint to one or more modes) 
• No modulation
• Blues Modality

Howlin Wolf: Harmony 

• Lots of 7ths and 9ths (Blues notes)
• A ‘standard’ twelve bar Blues sequence in G: 

Bars 3-6 G7 (I) 
Bars 7-8 C9 (IV) 
Bars 9-10 G7 (I) 
Bar 11 D7 (V) 
Bar 12 C9 (IV) 
Bar 13 G7
Bar 14 Db-D9 (chromatic approach to V).

• Product of improvisation than pre-composition
• Based on chords or primary chords (1, 4 and 5)
• Extended Chords (G7, C9, D7) 
• Last bar prepares ear for return to the tonic in nect repitition of the sequence
• 7th Chords do not have cadential function as in 'traditional' harmony

Howlin Wolf: Melody

• The vocal melody consist of a series of 1 bar phrases, most of which begin on a D and work downwards, to various notes, e.g. tonic (Bar 3), subdominant (Bar 4). 
• The frequent ‘blue’ notes (Bb and F natural) clash with the underlying diatonic harmonies. 
• Pentatonic shapes predominate, mainly based on the notes F, G, Bb, C, and D. 
• Guitar lines are more complex, with use of the Blues scale, including the flattened fifth (D flat), as well as the third and seventh (Bb and F natural). 
• Much dialogue between the Vocal and Lead guitar parts. 
• Frequent slides and pitch bends in both guitar and Vocal parts.
• Use of few two note and three note melisma's
• Descending phrases
• Blues Scales

Howlin Wolf: Rhythm

• Driving 4/4 time, but with a ‘shuffle’ rhythm (swung rhythm). 
• Triplets. 
• Semiquaver grouping ending with Scotch snap (Bar 21). 
• Snare drum ‘backbeats’ on beats 2 and 4. 
• Syncopation at times, e.g. bar 2.

Howlin Wolf: Structure

Six choruses of a standard 12 bar blues, to which is added a short intro and a repeat and fade (Coda) 

• B1-2: Introduction - Guitar Break
• B3-14: Verse 1 - Vocals, Rhythm and Lead Guitar with piano improvisation
• B14-26: Verse 2 - 'Stop' time at opening
• B26-38: Verse 3 - 'Stop' time at opening
• B39-50: Guitar Solo - Guitar, wordless vocals and Harmonic, while rest of band continue in shuffle rhythm
• (B50-62) 14-26: Verse 5 - 'Stop' time at opening
• (B62-74) 26-36: Verse 6 - 'Stop' time at opening
• B51-End: Coda - Improvised vocal lines over guitar riff

(Verse, Stop Chorus, Solo, Repeat, Coda) 

Howlin Wolf: Performance Techniques

• Vocal Part likes mostly within middle range, spanning for the most part a mjore sixth (F-D) 
• Syllabic style
• Frequent slide/bend and half-spoken inflections - typical of blues style
• Harmonica punctuates texture with characteristic chords
• The Lead Guitar opens the song with a typical Blues introductory figure. It then works in dialogue with the voice with a combination of monophonic ‘licks’ based on the Blues scale, and double–stopped thirds, high in its register. 
•  In its solo (verse 4), it also plays some three note chords, both root and first inversion. 
• Slides and bends are used quite frequently in the Lead guitar part.