Old BluesNew Blues Click to play – Robert Johnson – Sweet home Chicago Click to play – John Mayer – Everyday I have the blues TASK: Discuss the similarities… Are there any?

Swing time, same thing: Blues music is mainly performed / composed in swing time. Clap along with the beat changing from straight to swing time every 2 bars (8 beats). Dotted Rhythms: Are made up of pairs of notes in the pattern long- short. The first note is dotted and the second is one third of the dotted note’s value. 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & How to count dotted rhythm LOOOOOONG short LOOOOOONG short TASK 1:

Dotted Rhythms: An uneven rhythm (usually ‘long-short’) produced when a note with a dot is followed by another of one third the value of the first note. If you try singing Three Blind Mice, while clapping the beats, you will find that they stick fairly firmly to the beat. Dotted rhythms, on the other hand, have a different feel altogether. Try tapping the beat while humming or singing We Are The Champions by Queen, and hear the difference. Notes with dots after them increase the note duration by half Dotted notes:

Diatonic Blues Blues music has nothing to do with the colour. It originates from African slaves working the cotton fields in America creating sad music. 3 chords to use Blues music is always based on 3 chords of a scale. Chords I, IV and V. No matter what key (root note) its always the same chords with blues. Work out chords I,IV and V of the A major scale. A………………AA………………AA………………AA………………A T one T one S emi T one T one T one T one S emi T one IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII TonicSupertonicMediantSub-dominantDominantSub-mediantLeading toneOctave ABC#DEF#G#A

12 bar blues Blues chords are played in a specific order called 12 bar blues. Teacher will jam along with sound clip in C major IIII IV II V I V or I TASK 3: Put these chords in order Replace the roman numerals for the correct chords of C major TASK: Perform the 12 bar blues to a metronome. AAAA A A A A D D D E E

Dominant 7 th chord A dominant seventh chord is used in blues all the time!! It is simply a chord composed of a It can be also viewed as a major triad with an additional minor seventh. C 7 Slide guitar 1.Root 2.Major third 3.Perfect fifth 4.Minor seventh

Play 7 th chords C 7 Task: Compose a blues song using as many of the features you’ve learnt today. Guitar and piano only!!!

Listen: What’s happening in the 5,6,7,8’s? Activity: Teacher brings in bass guitar. Class discuss the role of a bass. ABC#DEF#G#A T one T one S emi T one T one T one T one S emi T one IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII TonicSupertonicMediantSub-dominantDominantSub-mediantLeading toneOctave I III V VI bVII VI V III I … … … … … … … … … Working out a walking bass line A C# E F# G F# E C# A

TASK 1, 2 & 3: Perform walking bass line in A,D and E. EXTENSION TASK: 1 person plays the walking bass line and the other plays the chord sequence from last week.

Blues has its own scale The blues scale is any major scale with a minor 3 rd, minor 7 th and an added flattened 5 th. Blues scale: I bIII IV bV V bVII ABC#DEF#G#AABC#DEF#G#AABC#DEF#G#AABC#DEF#G#A T one T one S emi T one T one T one T one S emi T one IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII TonicSupertonicMediantSub-dominantDominantSub-mediantLeading toneOctave Task 2: Improvise to a backing track Improvisation is where you make it up on the spot. I’m going to give you sometime to get comfortable where the notes are. I’m then going to play a backing track and you are going to improvise over the top.

MAKE YOUR MELODIES INTERESTING Conjuct: Disjuct: Melody that moves by step never more than a tone. Melody that moves using lots of jumps. Larger than a tone. Extension task: Improvisation is an excellent skill and must be use wisely. To avoid it being boring and repetitive use Disjunct and conjunct. LONG AND SHORT NOTES

7 th Chords walking bass line Improvisation Dotted rhythms (swing time) Basic triads (chords) Verse Chorus Blues scale 12 Bar blues Play an individual role in a group Select appropriate timbre Lyrical content Keep in time My Song has…