Topic:
Students in Jazz Band are studying basic improvisation skills. This particular lesson strategy will focus on introducing The Blues Scale, the Twelve-Bar Blues, and the blues scale in a jazz context.
Students in Jazz Band are studying basic improvisation skills. This particular lesson strategy will focus on introducing The Blues Scale, the Twelve-Bar Blues, and the blues scale in a jazz context.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to work out/play the blues scale from any minor key based on the "formula" they will learn. They should also be able to identify what makes up a Twelve-Bar Blues chord progression after the lesson.
Students will be able to work out/play the blues scale from any minor key based on the "formula" they will learn. They should also be able to identify what makes up a Twelve-Bar Blues chord progression after the lesson.
Edpuzzles:
Supporting Resources:
Here's a page that explains more of the theory behind the blues scale:
http://www.simplifyingtheory.com/blues-scale-blue-note/
This page helps to explain the concept of "a relative minor" which was mentioned in the second Edpuzzle:
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/relative-major-and-relative-minor-scales/
Another video on how to play a Twelve-Bar Blues progression:
Here's a page that explains more of the theory behind the blues scale:
http://www.simplifyingtheory.com/blues-scale-blue-note/
This page helps to explain the concept of "a relative minor" which was mentioned in the second Edpuzzle:
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/relative-major-and-relative-minor-scales/
Another video on how to play a Twelve-Bar Blues progression:
Lesson Activities:
- Students will watch and answer the questions in the Edpuzzle videos that teach the basic blues scale.
- Students will read through the supporting resources to better understand the theory behind the sound of the blues scale.
- Students will watch the Twelve-Bar Blues video and learn to recognize the progression.
- Students will select a key to play in, identify the Twelve-Bar Blues chords and the blues scale of the selected key, and then take turns improvising in a group.
Core Music NAfME Standards:
- (MU:Pr4.2.E.5a) Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate, how the setting and formal characteristics of musical works contribute to understanding the context of the music in prepared or improvised performances.
- (MU:Pr5.3.E.8a) Develop strategies to address technical challenges in a varied repertoire of music and evaluate their success using feedback from ensemble peers and other sources to refine performances.
- (5-6.M.Cr.03) Refine and complete artistic work. Improvise and compare different versions of a single musical idea (e.g., adding flourishes, altering rhythms).
- (N.M.Cr.01) Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Improvise short melodic and rhythmic ideas that reflect characteristics of different genres.
- (N.M.P.04) Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation. Identify basic strategies musicians use to practice and employ them in readying a musical work for performance.
