But, itвЂ™s highly likely that they wonвЂ™t amount to much if you havenвЂ™t mastered and understood classic song structures used throughout music history. And, thereвЂ™s nothing stopping you from deviating from or creating your own structures. A multitude of song forms have evolved over hundreds of years and are used over and over for a reason. I donвЂ™t want to dive too deeply into the importance of structure in music in this lesson, but itвЂ™s very important for creating pleasing music. A lot of people might think, вЂњUse a formula?! How uncreative!вЂќ You have to realize a song form doesnвЂ™t tell you what to play or write, it simply helps you organize what you play or write. Part of your development as a musician is learning about and using song forms. Music is no different and has many types of structures, or song forms as we call them. For example, playwrights write 3-act plays, poets write sonnets, painters paint still lifes, and dancers might dance a Cha-Cha. All art forms have classic structures used as launching points for compositions. If a musician says to you, 'Let's jam on the blues' they are talking about the blues song form.ДЄ song form is a structure, or formula of sorts, for a composition. When musicians talk about the blues, many times they are talking about a specific song form used in countless blues songs. It's simply a sound derived from the blues.

Again, the blues scale has bluesy sounds, but is not necessarily the blues style or doesn't make something a blues song. In this case weвЂ™d say something is вЂњbluesyвЂќ rather than being the blues.ДЄnother common misunderstanding is that the use of the blues scale makes something the blues. For example, a pop song could have blue notes while not being the blues. Having the blues sound doesnвЂ™t necessarily make something вЂњThe BluesвЂќ. They are heard both in the singerвЂ™s voice and on the instruments playing the blues. Some of these blues qualities include particular slides, bends, and вЂњblue notesвЂќ. Many of the characteristic sounds found in the blues have popped up elsewhere. The blues style has had a far-reaching effect on music. The Blues as a Musical Influence and Sound The blues sound is hard to describe in words, but you know it when you hear it. As the famous blues composer and bassist Willie Dixon explains, вЂњIt's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be blues.вЂќ Blues players will often tell you the blues is about life В– the good parts and the bad parts.ДЄnother key feature of the blues style is the unique harmonies, rhythms, and inflections it uses. It doesn't have to be depressing to be the blues. Most people associate the blues with depressing lyrics about loss or loneliness, but thatвЂ™s not completely accurate. Much of what ties together the blues as a musical style is its lyrical content. Typical blues bands consist of a singer, guitarist, bassist, pianist, and drummer. The blues can be, and is, played on any instrument or with any combination of instruments. The legendary bluesman Robert Johnson is the quintessential example. The classic blues figure is a singer accompanied on acoustic guitar and sometimes harmonica. The blues as a style, or genre, evolved beginning around the 1890вЂ™s in the Mississipi Delta area of the United States. I'll explain the differences: The Blues as a Musical Style Musicians think of the blues not only as a musical style but also as a musical influence and sound, and a song form. When speaking of the blues, non-musicians are usually thinking of the musical style of the blues. Judging by the subtlety of the chorus effect, the lush stereo spread and no perceivable pitch modulation, itвЂ™s most likely that he used the Dimension D on the studio recording.When people mention вЂњbluesвЂќ they may be referring to one of several things. Moore never divulged what he used for the chorus effect on this song, but during the Eighties his rig included various Boss and Ibanez chorus pedals as well as rack-mounted units like an Alesis MidiVerb II and Roland SDD-320 Dimension D. Moore contrasted the fat, sustaining tones of the main melodic line and solos with a very clean tone on the rhythm parts highlighted by a subtle chorus effect.

By boosting the midrange with the pedalвЂ™s EQ as well as at the amp and playing mostly through the Les PaulвЂ™s neck pickup, Moore achieved a gloriously thick, singing tone reminiscent of ClaptonвЂ™s Cream-era 'woman tone.'

The JTM45 was dialed to a clean setting, and the GuvвЂ™nor pedal was the sole source of the toneвЂ™s distortion. To achieve the high-gain overdrive and sustain he desired, Moore relied upon MarshallвЂ™s newly introduced The GuvвЂ™nor distortion pedal, which was the companyвЂ™s stomp box interpretation of a JCM800 amp.