In my career as a guitarist I have accompanied a lot of blues musicians/artists and there is never room to practice the songs together. Usually we prepare a set list before the concert or the artist calls out the songs while playing. We use keywords and gestures to communicate with each other, with which we can quickly indicate at what tempo a song is, where there are breaks, which progression we follow or how we end the song.
Below is a list of our means of communication.
Tempo
- Slow
- Up Slow
- 6/8
- 4/4
- Shuffle medium (Classic Chicago Blues)
- Shuffle up
- Shuffle Up Town (referring to the bass line)
- Shuffle Down Town (bass line)
- Humpty dumpty (Shuffle; short and energetic; with emphasis on how it is pronounced rhythmically)
- Lumpty Dumpty (Shuffle; lazy, laid back)
- Laid Back (relaxed; to create an effect by falling behind the rhythm)
- Boogie (John Lee Hooker/Junior Parker)
- Boogaloo (with emphasis on how it is pronounced rhythmically)
- Jungle Beat
- Street Beat / New Orleans / Louisiana (marching band)
- Funky
- Swing
- Up Swing
- Up Tempo
- The chords are indicated by the fingers: 1 finger, 4 or 5
- A nod of the head, that means "yes" as you are used to do it
- The musician shouts "watch me", which means that an unusual passage is coming and the others must follow him/her
- Tapping the top of the head with the flat of your hand means "From The Top"
- Raising a hand means "watch out, the end of the song or there's a break coming"
- Moving the flat hand down means "turn the volume down"
- The artist points to the musician, who is going to solo. That is usually two rounds (24 bars). If the soloist takes an extra round, he will indicate this
- If the last line is repeated at the end, it is always repeated three times (from the 5)
- If the song ends on a break, the musicians continue counting and fall back on the one. Never leave the singer hanging there
- Through experience, the musicians know where the cues in the song are, where you can give a sign for, for example: a break, a bridge, the end, a quick change, to change the chord, repeating the ending
To count down a number
- 1 - - 2 - -
- 1 n 2 n 3 n 4
- 1 2 3 4
- 1 2 3, 1n 2n 3n
- 1 - 2 you know what to do
- The artist starts alone, the band joins in at 4 or after a round
- Striking the rhythm on the palm-covered strings
Progression
- Minor / major
- 1 - 4 - 5 (Standard)
- 1 - 5 - 4
- 1 - 5 - #
- 2 - 5 - 1
- 1 - 4, 1 - 5
- Stay in 1
- Long 1 (referring to a long 8-line verse, usually ending with a break)
- Turn Around (T.A., intermezzo between verses: 1 - 4 - 1 - 5)
- Quick Change (1 - 4 - 1, 4 - 1 - 5 - 4 -1, T.A.)
- Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Break
- From The Top
- Vamp (improvise on the theme or first chord)
- Ghost notes (a dead, muted, silenced or false not; being aware of notes that you do not play to either make it more exciting or more rhythmic)
Referring to well-known classic blues songs
- Sweet Home Chicago
- Dust My Broom
- Going Down Slow
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Woke Up This Morning
- Big Boss Man
- Every Day I Have The Blues / T-Bone Shuffle
- Stormy Monday (progression)
- Mojo Working
- Key to The Highway
- That's Alright
- The Thrill is gone/Help the poor
- …
Sources: Written from my experiences with accompanying various musicians when I was part of Greyhound Blues Band.