What is the difference between pentatonic and blues scale?
As seen previously, the minor pentatonic scale has 5 notes: The blues scale is similar to the minor pentatonic, but adds one additional note, the flatted 5th.
This culminating lesson will build on Using The Minor Pentatonic Scale and Exploring Form Using Minor and Major Pentatonic Scales lessons , and will enable students to gain an awareness of the relationship between the minor pentatonic and the blues scale. In addition, students will be introduced to the harmonic structure of the standard blues progression. Students will begin by composing and playing simple melodies based on the blues scale, then move on to improvising over a 12-bar blues using different approaches.
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Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the blues scale by composing a melody for several 12-bar blues compositions and playing their melodies over a standard 12-bar blues progression.
One or a mix of the following: notation paper, notation software, a DAW
Preferred instrument
Bessie Smith – St. Louis Blues
BB King – Everyday I Have the Blues
Duke Ellington – C Jam Blues
T-Bone Walker – Stormy Monday
Eric Clapton – Before You Accuse Me
INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY IDEAS
Exposition of Material
1. If needed, review material about the minor pentatonic scale and the ideas for writing melodies introduced in Using The Minor Pentatonic Scale and Exploring Form Using Minor and Major Pentatonic Scales.
Identifying Key Concepts and Terms
2. Introduce students to the blues scale. Compare the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale.
As seen previously, the minor pentatonic scale has 5 notes:
The blues scale is similar to the minor pentatonic, but adds one additional note, the flatted 5th.
3. After exploring the above material, introduce students to the standard blues progression. Below are two variations using the I, IV, and V chords:
Version 1:
Version 2:
4. The blues is usually in strophic form, with the same 12 bars repeating. Have students listen to and analyze several blues songs, either using songs of the teacher’s choosing or songs from the PULSE Song Library. In addition, some suggested listening is listed in the Materials and Resources section above. If appropriate, students can also suggest songs for analysis.
Activity/Assessment
5. Discuss the goals for the composition project:
a. The main goal of this composition project is to compose melodies that can be played over a standard blues progression.
b. Within the repeating “A” section of the strophic form, there is often another pattern. You’ll notice that often the 12 bars of the blues are divided into an AAB pattern, with the 12 bars being divided into three 4–bar phrases. The first two phrases have the same melody, and the third phrase has a different melody. The following example illustrates an AAB pattern:
c. Alone, in pairs, or small groups, students will compose several 4-bar melodic patterns based on the blues scale. Many approaches to melody writing were presented in previous lessons. If needed, review those concepts now.
d. Once the students have composed their blues melodies, they will begin to develop their 12-bar blues compositions using an AAB pattern. Students will create several versions, combining different melodic patterns for each version.
e. When students have completed their 12-bar blues compositions, they will practice and perform their melodies for the class. In addition, students will use their melodies to do echo and call and response activities in small or large groups.
Download the "From Minor Pentatonic Scale to the Blues Scale" complete lesson.
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Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' named Greatest Song of All Time by Rolling Stone. (WTRF) – Rolling Stone has released its latest list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the Queen of Soul is at the top. Aretha Franklin's “Respect” topped the list as the No. 1 song, according to the entertainment magazine and website ...
(WTRF) – Rolling Stone has released its latest list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the Queen of Soul is at the top.
Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” topped the list as the No. 1 song, according to the entertainment magazine and website.
The outlet said the 1967 hit “catalyzed rock & roll, gospel, and blues to create the model for soul music that artists still look to today.”
“Just as important, the song’s unapologetic demands resonated powerfully with the civil rights movement and emergent feminist revolution, fitting for an artist who donated to the Black Panther Party and sang at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.,” Rolling Stone added. “In her 1999 memoir, Franklin wrote that the song reflected ‘the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher — everyone wanted respect.’ We still do.”
Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” which took the top spot last year, came in at No. 6 this year.
Here’s the list’s top 10:
1: Aretha Franklin — “Respect”
2: Public Enemy — “Fight The Power”
3: Sam Cooke — “A Change is Gonna Come”
6: Marvin Gaye — “What’s Going On”
7: The Beatles — “Strawberry Fields Forever”
8: Missy Elliott — “Get Ur Freak On”
9: Fleetwood Mac — “Dreams”
10: Outkast — “Hey Ya’
Rolling Stone first published its Greatest Songs list in 2004, and it says it’s “one of the most widely read stories in our history.”
To see the full list of the top 500 songs, click here.
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