Simpedia

Ian B., Pennsylvania

Subsequent to Unmani M.’s post regarding “Shoo-fly” arrangement from Arrangements 3 (originally taught in Level 5), I thought I’d take a moment to revive a discussion from more than a DECADE ago about the fact that Shoo-fly is a BLUES piece ?. For reference you can view the previous discussion on Simpedia here (https://simpedia.info/shoo-fly-blues), or just search for Shoo-fly on Simpedia.

It’s odd to me that other than a couple very casual mentions from Neil in the TTMs, there is not a more explicit analysis or reference to the structure of Shoo-fly being “12-bar blues in the key of G”—which it IS! And I actually didn’t realize the structure for the longest time ??‍♂️. It would have helped so much to frame it that way for students, because I think a lot of students struggle most with the order and arrangement of the song, more so than the actual execution of the notes.

Technically, it’s “14-bar blues” because there’s an extra two measures of the I chord during the “Sesame Street” lick at the end (Meas. 13-14). There also an additional 3 bars after the repeat (meas. 15-17 in the Level 5 original, meas. 29-31 in the arrangement).

So, in playing the Arr 3 version, there is a 2nd Cycle added (the Coda) with additional material (drawn from Jackson Blues Arr 1.3 and 1.4).

Unmani M., I know your post was more specific to understanding how “D.S. al Coda” works in the written arrangement of any song with repeats and a Coda. But I think if you start from an understanding of the underlying structure being “14-bar blues”, it illuminates WHY the instructions (DS al Coda) appear where they do in the piece.

Maybe this was more obvious to everyone else??

But, for me, recognizing that Shoo-fly is indeed a Blues piece in the key of G made the song structure suddenly make a lot more sense!