Lesson video

Hello, welcome to today's lesson entitled The Role of the Instruments and the Bass Pattern.

My name is Mr. Norris.

I'm gonna be taking you through today as we start to hone in on the specific roles of some instruments employed in music, and we have a go at exploring some typical patterns of those instruments.

Our outcome for today's lesson is, I can describe the roles of the instruments in a blues ensemble and I can perform a blues bass pattern.

Our key words.

And the first is ensemble.

This is a group of musicians performing together.

For example, a choir, a band, or an orchestra.

Second is improvise, and this is to create music or a musical idea on the spot.

Syncopation.

This is when the rhythm emphasises or accents notes in-between the main beats.

Riff.

This is a short, repeated musical idea used in popular music.

And finally, bass.

The bass is the lowest pitched part in the music, so we'll be exploring those concepts as we go.

First part of today's lesson is focused on the role of the instruments in an ensemble.

So there are typically up to four parts in a blues ensemble.

We're gonna have the singer, the vocalist, the guitar, and potentially the piano, the double bass or the bass guitar, and then the drum kit.

Can you suggest out of those instruments, which parts would usually have the melody and which instruments would usually play an accompanying role? Just take a few seconds to see if you can think.

Okay, let's have a look.

So typical accompanying instruments are the piano and or the guitar.

It might be both.

It might just be one or the other.

The bass, and that could be double bass or bass guitar, and then the drum kit.

And melodic instruments, well, the main one is gonna be the singer, vocalist, because blues normally has lyrics.

It's normally a song style of music, but roles can change within a piece, you know, the piano, the guitar, other instruments such as the brass or the saxophone, maybe the harmonica, the mouth organ can play melodic ideas as well.

And often these are improvised around the main melody.

So in a second you're gonna listen to a clip of a famous rock and roll song by Elvis Presley, who you can see there.

This song is called "Hound Dog." It's really heavily influenced by blues 'cause it uses the 12-bar blues chord sequence.

When you're listening, I'd like you to describe what the vocals, guitar, piano, bass, and drum kit are doing.

So what are their roles, what are they contributing to the ensemble? And who is responsible for driving the music forward? Who gives it the energy and the rhythmic drive? And I'd like to try and use these terms to describe what instruments are doing, so melody, riff, beat or groove, chords, and improvised solo.

So pause my video and give that one a shot.

Let's go though this then.

So vocals are forming the melody, but there are also some backing vocals that are singing chords.

So there's two types of vocals going on in this particular song.

The piano is playing the chords, that's an accompanying part.

The guitar is playing chords, but it also plays an improvised solo.

The bass is playing a riff and the drum kit is playing the beat or the groove.

So they've all got these quite distinct roles, but as you can see, some of them play more than one role as well.

Now, which performer do you think drives the music forward? I would actually say that all of them can be responsible for driving the music forward 'cause they all have slightly different ways that they contribute to that rhythmic drive and that energy.

For example, the vocalist is often the leader and brings energy to the performance.

If you ever watch a a recording of Elvis Presley performing, he's an incredibly energetic singer, his presence and charisma and energy are really infectious.

The repeated chords in the guitar and the piano help to drive the music forward as well through that repetition and their speed, bassline in blues is often constantly moving and this creates rhythmic drive 'cause it's not just staying in the same place.

And then also the drum kit part drives with its groove and its beat and it's sort of constant repeated patterns as well.

So all of them contribute to driving the music forward and giving it a sense of energy and rhythmic drive.

"Hound Dog" was originally composed for, and it was first recorded by Willie Mae Thornton as also known as Big Mama Thornton in 1952.

And she was known for a really strong, powerful, distinctive voice and her really commanding, charismatic performance style as well.

You see a picture of her there.

I'd like to listen to this version of "Hound Dog" and answer these few questions for me.

Firstly, how does she bring energy to the vocal line? So specifically, what does she do with the vocals to make it energetic? What is the harmonica, the mouth organ playing and which instruments are playing chords? So pause my video and have a go.

Okay, let's go through that.

So she brings energy to the vocal line by having a really powerful vocal style and quite gritty timbre to her voice as well.

She improvises around the main tune, the main melody and sings some notes louder than others as well.

So that gives it energy through using accents on some of the notes too, the harmonica improvises small melodic ideas in-between the vocal phrases, so she'll sing a vocal phrase, then there'll be a short improvised melodic idea and the harmonica in the gap, and the piano and the guitar are the two instruments that are playing chords.

So well done if you picked up on some of those points.

Elvis Presley's version of song was more commercially successful than Thornton's.

And as an African-American woman, her contribution to the development of rock and roll is often being overlooked.

So her voice and her importance is often being marginalised in the story of the development of rock and roll.

However, her version is celebrated for its emotional depth and also its authenticity to the essence of the blues.

She comes from a blues background musically and the way she sings, the way she writes the music, the way she improvises, are all considered quite authentic blues style.

In 2016, her version was added to the American National Recording Registry, which is a list of audio recordings that are deemed to be culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.

So it really is considered a real historical significance this particular version of the song.

Let's check your understanding, which of the following instruments usually play an accompanying role in a blues ensemble, vocals, piano, bass, or drum kit, and choose all that apply.

So I'll give you a few seconds to do that.

And the correct answer here then are piano, bass, drum kit and vocals are normally a melodic instrument, although as we did see in the Elvis Presley version of "Hound Dog," you can also have backing vocals in the accompanying roles sometimes as well.

Which two instruments usually play chords but can also play melodic ideas.

I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answers here then are the piano and the guitar.

Those are the two instruments that are versatile enough to be able to play chords and melodic ideas.

True or false, all musicians can be responsible for driving the music forward in an ensemble.

I'd like to think about why as well.

Answer then is true, and that's because all musicians can play this role in ensemble.

The singer leads, they bring energy, the drummer provides a steady groove and beat and the bassline and chord rhythms drive music forward as well.

Task A, you're gonna complete this table, matching the main instruments in a blues ensemble with their typical roles.

We've got instruments down the left hand side, vocals, piano, guitar, double bass or bass guitar and drum kit.

And then we've got five different roles in purple at the bottom as well, melody, chords, repeated riff, beat or groove and improvise melodic ideas or solos.

So you can pause my video, fill in that table using those words and give it best shot.

Let's go through these answers then.

so the vocals typically play the melody, they sing the melody, the piano plays chords or improvised melodic ideas or solos.

And that's the same for the guitar.

It's either chords or improvise melodic ideas or solos.

The double bass, the bass guitar play repeated riff and the drum kit plays a beat or a groove.

So well done if you got those all in the correct place.

The second part of this lesson we're looking at the bass pattern.

I like to listen to this bass pattern.

I like to describe it.

And to do that, what I like to do is tap along with the beat to see what you notice about the middle note of each three-note pattern and what effect does that have on the music.

So in that we're focusing on the middle note and the rhythm, what do you notice about it? So let's have a look now, see if you can do those two things.

One, two, three, four.

(gentle piano music) So let's talk through this bass pattern.

The bass pattern uses the notes of the code, but one at time in a rising or ascending pattern, that's one thing you might have picked up on.

(instructor singing bass pattern) So always that ascending pattern with one note at a time.

The bass pattern follows the 12-bar blues chord.

So if you're listening really closely, you might have noticed that the chord changes match that 12-bar blue chord sequence.

Really well done if you pick that up.

It has a middle note which is syncopated and this is what we were getting at with counting the beats.

That middle note is offbeat, syncopated, emphasising a note in between the main beats.

And this syncopation is typical of blues and helps to drive the music forward as well.

To work out the placement of that middle note, we can count the offbeats, that's the and in-between each beat, one and two and three and four, one and two and three and four and, and if we look at the notation, first note comes on one, the second note comes on the and in-between two and three, and the third note comes on beat four, one, two, and three, four, one, two, and three, four and.

That's our pattern, that's our rhythm that repeats.

Let's watch this video now that shows us how to play that pattern on the piano.

One, two, one two three four, C2 and three four, one two and three four, one two and three four, one two and three four, F2 and three four, one two and three four, C2 and three four, one two and three four, G2 and three four, F2 and three four, C2 and three four, one two and three four.

So to perform the pattern going with your left hand, so this is a bass part which is lower down on the piano, so we're using our left hand, fingers, five, that's our pinky, three which is our middle finger, and one which is our thumb.

And for this, the little finger, the pinky, is gonna be on that lowest note of each chord.

The middle note arrives just after beat two, which is on that and, so, one two and three four, one two and three four, that's that syncopated note.

And the pattern is gonna change to match the 12-bar blues chords.

So you're gonna do four bars on C and two bars on F, two bars on C and so on, always using that same rhythm, that same shape in your hand.

Let's check your understanding, which of these is the correct beat pattern for the bass part? Here's A, one, two, three, four.

(gentle piano music) Here's B, one, two, three, four.

(gentle piano music) Finally, C, one, two, three, four.

(gentle piano music) I'll give you a few seconds to finish that answer.

And the correct answer then was B.

That's the one that sounds like this.

One, two, three, four.

(gentle piano music) One two and three four, one two and three four.

So it's on the and in-between two and three, that middle note.

Well done if you pick that one.

Task B, you are gonna practise the repeated bass riff.

Some success criteria are that you use the left hand with the little finger on the root note for each chord.

So the first note that you're gonna play for each chord is that pinky, that little finger, You play the pattern once per bar and you change the pattern to follow the 12-bar blues chord structures are based on those 12 chords we can see in that grid there.

We're following that with the bass pattern.

And make sure you keep to a steady pulse, practising slowly at first.

So don't get too carried away trying to play it fast, wait until you've really got the muscle memory and you've got used to moving between the chords with that pattern before you try and speed it up at all.

So you can pause my video now and give it your best shot.

Let's move on to the second part of this task.

And for this I'd like you to watch this performance and see how does this match the success criteria.

So let's have a look now.

(gentle piano music) You can pause my video while I just finish off your answer, and let's go through that, so the notes are correct, and they're played one at a time, and the pattern does follow the 12-bar blues pattern.

However, the rhythm of the bass pattern is not accurate because the middle note is not syncopated.

So that's the one key point there that that performer could improve.

Well done if you picked up on that one.

Final part today's lesson is focusing on playing both parts together.

We're gonna watch this performance of the chords performed with the bass pattern.

Like to think about which notes are emphasised and what is the tempo, so what tempo is this performer using.

Here we go.

(gentle piano music) So you might have noticed there, there's an emphasis on that syncopated note 'cause it gives it a real sense of rhythmic drive and the tempo is relatively slow.

That performer there started much slower and gradually built up to that tempo when they're practising.

So when you're putting both parts together, practise finding the chord with the right hand and the root note of the chord in the left hand.

So just practise finding that first position that your hands are gonna be in for each chord as you can see in the image there.

Then you're gonna practise moving both hands from one chord to another.

And the biggest jump is about eight and nine from C to G.

Let's just see what that will look like.

When you've done that, try to emphasise the syncopated note, that gives it that sort of bluesy, rhythmic feeling.

Play it slowly for the full 12-bar blues sequence and gradually work up to a faster tempo.

And then you could try the extended syncopated version as well, where the right hand plays after each left hand note.

Let's just see what that would look, it's a bit trickier.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) And remember, only attempt that one once you really think you've mastered the more basic version too.

Let's check your understanding, which image shows the correct hand starting positions for the C chord.

I'll give you a few seconds.

And well done if you said B.

We can see there the left hand pinky is on C so that's the root note of the the chord for the bass part and the right hand thumb is on C so that's the root note of the C chord as well.

So for this task I'd like to practise performing both the bass pattern and the 12-bar blues chords together.

Some success criteria are that the first note of the bass pattern and each chord start together on beat one of the bar.

So both parts start on beat one together, both parts follow the 12-bar blues chord equal so you changing to the different chords, C, F, and G at the correct time.

You practise slowly at first but build to a faster tempo.

The middle note of the bass pattern is emphasised.

That's that syncopated note.

If you're in a pair, one person plays the bass pattern and one person plays the chords and you use a count-in to start together, so do a one, two, three, four and then start together.

And then you can try the extended syncopated version if you get to that stage where you've mastered the more basic version.

So pause my video now, give this your best shot.

Good luck.

Let's move on to the final part of this task.

And here we're gonna look at a little performance of both of those parts together.

I'd like you to tell me how does this performance match the success criteria? Here we go.

(gentle piano music) And you just pause my video while you're finishing off your answer.

When you're ready, un-pause it.

Let's have a look then.

So you might have said that the tempo is moderate and the middle bass note is emphasised.

So this gives the music a typical blues groove.

Chords in the bass pattern start together on beat one of each bar and they change together at the right time as well.

The chord sequence, however, isn't totally accurate as the F and the G chords are the wrong way around, but this doesn't actually affect the fluency of the performance.

So that would be this performer's next step.

Well done if you've picked up on a few of those points.

Let's summarise today's lesson then.

There are four main instrumental roles in a blues ensemble.

These are the melody, chords, bass and drum groove.

The melody is often performed by a singer.

The piano, guitar, bass, and drum kit play an accompanying role.

The piano, guitar and other instruments such as the harmonica and brass can play melodic lines, which are often improvised.

We've learned to play that syncopated bass riff with the 12-bar blues chords and syncopation like this can drive the music forward and it helps to create a blues feel, so really typical stylistic mood.

So thanks very much for taking part in today's lesson.

I hope you've really enjoyed getting stuck in to those practical tasks there and putting together some of the more complicated patterns that would work.

I look forward to seeing you in another lesson, thank you.