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Archive footage of John Lee Hooker playing his hit ‘Boom Boom Boom’.

The presenter tries to define what it is exactly the blues is. It has been defined by some musicians as not just a series of notes, but as a spirit.

Specific musical qualities relating to the blues include it most frequently use of a 12 bar structure, which gives a sense of completion when 12 bars are played and returned to the beginning of the riff. Also use of the flattened 5th note that allows for bending and sliding of notes to try and emulate the human voice.

Features the following concepts – voice, riff, electric guitar