Year 8
Year 8
How can you keep going in a long improvisation?
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- In this lesson, we will understand why improvisation in blues music is so important. We will learn how to improvise confidently in longer musical phrases.
Licence
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8 Questions
Q1.
If you are playing a 12 bar blues in G, what would the I, IV, and V chords be?
C, E and G
G, F and A
Q2.
If we transpose the 12 bar blues structure to F, what three pitches would we play?
F E and D
F G and A
Q3.
What is a 'turn around' chord in the blues structure?
Where a band repeats the same chord over again.
Where the band plays a chord in a different key.
Q4.
How is a walking bass line created from chords?
A walking bass line is the notes of the chords played an octave apart.
A walking bass line is the notes of the chords played together at the same time.
Q5.
What types of instruments were used in early blues music?
Brass and woodwind,
Concertina and vocals.
Q6.
What is a blues 'head'?
A solo improvisation.
The 12 bar blues arrangement.
Q7.
Which pitches are heard in the G major blues scale?
G A B C D E F# G
G A B D E G
Q8.
What is improvising?
Copying another musician.
Following a score.
5 Questions
Q1.
What is 'jamming' in music?
A performance in a concert hall.
When people would make jam in a factory.
Q2.
In the early blues of the 1900's, musicians did not have printed scores, how did they play together?
They would copy one another.
They would only play songs they already knew.
Q3.
Which of these descriptions talks about a successful improvisation?
The notes are the same as the blues head melody.
The notes were too long, they rhythms are slow and a lot of the pitches are the same.
Q4.
What is this grid showing you?
Bb major scale
G pentatonic scale
Q5.
Why does a good blues improvisation use swung rhythms?
Blues improvisations only include quaver notes.
Blues music has changed and moved from straight to swung rhythms.