Politically, blues reacts in the same manner as folk in the sense that it tends to represent the economic and social frustrations of the lower-class. in my opinion, blues is more representative of the working-class and destitute in contrast to mostly conformist melodies of jazz. now that we know the differences in a political sense, I want to know how jazz differs from the blues as according to music theory.

Actually you've got it backwards. Blues usually always follows form. A standard 12 bar blues is usually 4 lines of 3 bars. the first line of the verse is usually repeated over the first 6 bars, followed by another line over 3 bars and a final bar of the verse over the last 3 bars.

There are several variations of blues as well, but the 12 bar is the most known form.

Jazz can follow form if that's the way it's written or if that's the way the musician decides to interpret it, and jazz allows for free improvisation. Any improvisation in blues, still follows the basic musical form.

Jazz can and does also reflect economic and social situations the same as blues and any other music…ever hear the song strange Fruit by Billie Holiday? It's about the lynching of black men in the south…the men being sung about were hardly middle class. Blues is the father of jazz chronologically speaking

Blues follows the I-IV-V progression, and Jazz follows the ii-V-I progression, typically. Jazz has also developed more than Blues, allowing for the inclusion of unusual time signatures, modal vamps, and extended chords. I would say that Jazz is not actually one form of music, but a term that defines a whole history of a particular style, so it's hard to define the theory behind Jazz, because it encompasses so many forms. if you were to ask what the music theory behind big Band Jazz, Modal Jazz, or Cool Jazz was, that would be a bit easier to define. I would even go as far as to say that Blues is one of the forms of Jazz, probably the earliest.

In jazz, nearly all the chords are seventh chords or larger, thus the melodies and solos frequently make use of chord tones outside of the first octave (ninths, elevenths, thirteenths); for a blues player or writer the seventh is a color tone and the ideas are contained within one octave.
Ultimately I am reminded of the joke whose text is similar to the question: blues players play three chords for thousands of people while jazz players play thousands of chords for three people.

As a journeyman jazz singer-composer-jazz pianist, I can answer that question by telling you that jazz is a complicated idiom using some compelling harmonies, melodies, et al….Blues is a simple 12-bar format using simpler changes….Thats's a simple answer. That said, you can still
use upper structure harmonics in blues to make your harmonies sound more complicated…Go for it

g Carroll

Blues is the father of jazz! Blues conforms to a certain 'musical style & interpretation" i.e. 12 bar blues which follows a format. there are variations, but these still generally conform to a format.
Jazz allows the same, but has different time signatures, and a lot of improvisation depending on the artists. I would say that blues was more conformist than jazz.

Soul is in your Heart.( Feeling beyond the written word).
Blues is in your back ( that which weighs heavy on your life).
Jazz is in your Head ( Reaching for the Deeper Meanings)

What's the difference between jazz and blues as according to music theory?