1. Starter Activity
12 Bar Blues
•What is a Spiritual?
•Think of 1 similarity and 1 difference between
the lyrics of a Spiritual and an early Blues song
(think about the song we listening to last week)
3. Lesson Objectives:
• Today you will develop your....
• Knowledge of the chord structure of the Blues
• Skills by developing your playing of chords on
the keyboards and playing a bass line in your
left hand
• Understanding of how the chord pattern links
to actual Blues songs
4. Practical activity
12 Bar Blues
Leading to the individual assessment
Suggested approach to your individual practice
•Practise the right hand chords – when you can
play them with perfectly in time with no pauses
•Then practise the left hand bass line– again
when you can play this perfectly
•Then slowly put the 2 hands together
5. 12 Bar Blues Chord Progression
Remember:
C = C E G =1,3,5
F = F A C = 1,3,5
G = G B D – 1,3,5
C C C C
F F C C
G F C C
6. Bass Line – in the left hand
C
5 – little
finger LH
C
5
C
5
C
5
F
2 – pointy
finger LH
F
2
C
5
C
5
G
1 – thumb LH
F
2
C
5
C
5
7. Assessment criteria
Level 4 The pupil performs the complete piece (12 bars of the blues) with right and
left hand. There may be some breakdowns in the performance that
interrupt the flow. Timing between chord changes may not be steady and
the advised fingerings are not always used. There is little evidence of
dynamic contrast.
Level 5 The pupil performs the complete piece (12 bars of the blues) with right and
left hand. The music flows well and there is good timing throughout the
piece. Occasional slips on notes do not interrupt the overall flow. There is
some attention paid to the advised fingering. You can hear basic changes in
the dynamics.
Level 6 The pupil performs the complete piece (12 bars of the blues) with right and
left hand. The performance is fluent (it flows all the way through) and the
pupil uses the advised fingering to enhance their performance. There is
detailed attention paid to the dynamics, with subtle changes heard. The
piece sounds stylistic and blues like.
8. H/W
• Prepare individual performance of 12 Bar
Blues for assessment in lesson on Friday 3rd
October
9. Key words
• Chord
• Worksong
• Spiritual
• Call and response
• Unison
• Harmony
• Bass line
10. Key words
• Chord
• Worksong
• Spiritual
• Call and response
• Unison
• Harmony
• Bass line
