When to Introduce the Blues and Improv Stream
Found in: Blues
Stephen R., California
I posted regarding this stream before, but didn’t get much response. When are teachers introducing the blues program in general? Level 3, 4, or 5? I have been really uncertain about this program and haven’t done very much with it with my students.
On the audio recording Neil talks about the riff/improv projects done in C and then transposing, which can be started concurrently according to him (Jackson in different keys). I’m at a loss as to how to approach this! Then there are the blues scale projects and I, IV, V chord projects! How does one unfold all this in correct dosages and appropriate pacing?
Missy M., Nebraska
Blues is a program that could fit in different places of the music journey for different students. I find that it is something I tend to forget, as I try to fit in supplemental streams. When I do fit this program in, I start around Level 4 with basic variations of Jackson Blues improv (like JB LH with new variations from the Blues Program on the right hand). Once I worked this program into my lessons a few times I realized it can be pretty simple, like a 1 minute part of my lessons with a quick assignment to come up with a BMT combination for their RH.
I like to make it more of a class experience around improv – like a warm up exercise for the day. It is designed to be a pretty small segment in your lessons that unfolds over a long period of time (many months).
My advice would be just to schedule about 1-2 minutes for a micro assignment into your lessons for about the next four weeks and just start it. You will find your own way to fit it in as an ongoing conversation. I think I have found it to be one of those things that can appear to be pretty uneventful and I have to remind my students that it is a real assignment – like the arrangements.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
Typically students are ready for Blues & Improv around Level 4 (check Neil’s prerequisites). I have opted to wait until Level 5 as I want to have more time to focus on RR throughout Level 4.
There are different ways to approach processing the blues projects in different keys. What I do is take students straight through all projects in the key of C, but in the middle of the process begin introducing the projects in the key of F – starting with project 9, which is a transposing project. Going forward, the assignment might be the next project in C, OR the next project in F, OR some of both if one is pretty straightforward for the class.
Eventually I will add the key of Bb, but typically not until they have completed all projects in C. Just depends on how many other projects they have going on, and how easily they process the blues projects. I like Neil’s idea of progressing all the way to the end of the projects in one key so students can see where it’s all going, as opposed to processing every project in several keys before moving on to the next project.
This is an ongoing process; could last a lifetime if one really wanted to get into it. Fun stuff!
Mark M., New York
I used to introduce it in Foundation 3, but then I developed more comprehensive non-blues improv/comp projects than what I had before, so now simply due to that I tend to introduce B&I in Foundation 4.
I actually just gave a talk at the Canada conference about how to integrate all the keys and juggle some of these concurrent projects. Alas, it would take too long to describe all of that by email. Maybe there’ll be some opportunity sometime for another talk on that topic.