The blues is an American art form and the most important musical form in jazz. Although there are other formal paradigms of the blues, such as 8-bar or 16-bar, this course focuses on different incarnations of the 12-bar blues. There are considerable differences between Early Jazz blues, Swing blues, Bebop blues, Modal blues, and Post Bop blues. Each type has its unique harmonic syntax, melodic vocabulary and, associated with them, improvisational techniques. While other aspects of jazz performance practice have been constantly changing from one stylistic convention to another, the blues has never lost its identity and expressive power, and continues to exert a powerful influence on the harmonic and melodic syntax of jazz.
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The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form
University of RochesterAbout this Course
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- Music
- Chord
- Jazz
- Jazz Improvisation
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Blues Progressions – Theory and Practice
Blues Scales
Keyboard Realization
“Bird” Blues and Other Blues Progressions
Reviews
- 5 stars86.88%
- 4 stars10.83%
- 3 stars1.39%
- 2 stars0.34%
- 1 star0.52%
TOP REVIEWS FROM THE BLUES: UNDERSTANDING AND PERFORMING AN AMERICAN ART FORM
Everything is clearly explained and demonstrated. It was great being able to downloads course videos and transcripts for reference.
This was one of the best courses I have taken in my 61 years of piano...I'm 67 now...it was certainly comprehensive and extremely educational and most enjoyable. Thank you so much.
A very comprehensive course with clear explanation on the various type of the progressions and scales used in Jazz and Blues music.
Compact and informative lectures that de-mystify the art form. Thank you!
(Will need to practice a lot for it all to sink in though)
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