by kristin jensen - my fun piano studio · by kristin jensen © 2012 ... e flat blues improvising...

By Kristin Jensen

© 2012 EarTrainingandImprov.com

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Copyright 2012 eartrainingandimprov.com. May not be copied without permission.

You Can Jam!

Your teacher will play some chords while you jam. You can play any black

key in any order.

Teacher’s part:

After you’ve had a good jamming session, turn the page to learn how to

play easy E Flat Blues.

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E Flat Blues

To play simple E Flat Blues, use your left hand to play this chord. Use your

thumb and pinky.

Now move your thumb to C.

Practice going back and forth between these two chords. When you’re

comfortable with these two chords, you’re ready to add the right hand.

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E Flat Blues

Improvising the right hand in E Flat is easy- just play any black key.

Press and hold down the first chord while your right hand plays some black

keys.

Then press and hold down the second chord while your right hand improvs.

Your teacher can play an example for you, or you can listen to jazz music

to get a feel for how jass sounds.

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Finger Numbers

Piano players have given each finger a number. Use this chart to learn

which finger to use when you see a number.

Left Right

5 5

4 4 3 3

2 2

1 1

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The C Blues Scale

The first notes of the C blues scale are highlighted below.

Here is recommended fingering for the right hand. Young students can just

get used to the sounds of the blues scale without worrying about fingering.

Come up with a few short licks using these keys. A lick is a short sequence

of notes. Your first lick could go up all four keys in order and then come

back down, using a jazzy rhythm.

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3

2

1

Right Hand

Improvise! Play these keys in any order.

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Blues in C

Your left hand will alternate between two chords, just like with E Flat Blues.

Here is the first chord:

To play the second chord, leave your pinky on C and move your thumb up

one key to A.

Practice going back and forth between the two chords.

Left Hand

Left Hand

Chord 1: Play both keys at the same time.

Chord 2: Play both keys at the same time.

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Blues in C

Now you’re ready to improvise. Press and hold down the first chord while

your right hand plays one of the licks you invented earlier.

Move your left hand thumb to play and hold the second chord. Play a

different lick with your right hand.

Switch back and forth between the two chords in a slow, steady rhythm.

Hold down each chord while your right hand improvises a short lick from

the blues scale.

To finish your improvised song, play and hold the first chord while your right

hand plays a final lick that ends on C.

C

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Cowboy Swing

Next you’re going to learn how to play a western swing bass line. Look at

the picture below to see where to place your hand. Your fingers are going

to have to stretch!

5 2 1

Your teacher will show you how to play this bass line.

There is also a video showing how to play this song.

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Cowboy Swing

Your right hand will improvise with the first five notes of the C Major Scale.

C Major Pentatonic Scale

Using any of these keys, make up a western song. Play slowly, holding

each key down for a long time. Your teacher can show you how to play the

example song on the next page and then you can create your own.

Ready to play with both hands? Get your country swing bass line going

with the left. Imagine a cowboy slowly riding his horse through the desert

on a hot day. When you’re ready, add in the right hand.

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Your teacher can show you how to play this song or you can watch the

video. The right hand plays the notes shown while the left hand plays the

western swing bass in a slow, steady rhythm.

This song was made up using the C Major scale. Try making up your own

song using the C scale

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12 Bar Blues

We’ll learn three left hand chords for this song. Use fingers 5 and 1.

LH Fingers: 5 1

LH Fingers: 5 1

LH Fingers: 5 1

C

G

F

Practice holding each chord down for 4 beats. Count out loud like this:

C 2 3 4 G 2 3 4 F 2 3 4

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12 Bar Blues

The 12 Bar Blues is named for the pattern it uses. There are twelve

measures, and we will play one chord in each measure.

Practice playing this chord pattern:

C C C C F F

C 2 3 4 C 2 3 4 C 2 3 4 C 2 3 4 F 2 3 4 F 2 3 4

C C G F C C

C 2 3 4 C 2 3 4 G 2 3 4 F 2 3 4 F 2 3 4 F 2 3 4

When you’re comfortable playing the left hand chords in this pattern, start

improvising with the right hand.

Improvise with the C Blues Scale. The entire scale is shown below. You

can play any key in any order.

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Rock and Roll

Play a rock and roll bass line by starting with left hand finger 5 and playing

up in order: 5 3 2 1. Go back to finger 5 and repeat this pattern.

Repeat this patter over and over in a steady rhythm.

Your right hand can use a combination of chords. The first chord option is

shown below.

LH Fingers: 5 3 2 1

RH Fingers: 1 3 5

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Rock and Roll

Here are some more chords your right hand can use.

To the chords easier for small hands, omit the middle key and only play

with fingers 1 and 5.

After you’ve learned these chords you’re ready to play with hands together.

Start by getting a steady rock and roll bass line going with your left hand.

Now start adding right hand chords, in any order you like.

RH Fingers: 1 3 5 1 2 5

RH Fingers: 1 5 1 5

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Elephant March

Use fingers 5 and 1 from your left hand to play this bass line. Alternate

keys, starting with finger 5, like this: 5 1 5 1

When you’re ready, your teacher can show you how to play this rhythm or

you can watch the video.

LH Fingers: 5 1

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Elephant March

Your right hand will improvise with the G Major Scale. The first five notes of

the G scale are shown below.

You can play any of these keys in any order to make up a marching song.

Play an introduction by getting the marching bass line going with your left

hand. Then add the marching song you made up for your right hand.

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12 Bar Blues 2

This version of 12 Bar Blues uses three different chord sets: C, G and F.

These sets are illustrated below.

Practice going back and forth between the two chords in each set.

C

LH Fingers: 5 1 5 1

LH Fingers: 5 1 5 1

LH Fingers: 5 1 5 1

C

G

F

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12 Bar Blues 2

There will be 4 beats in each measure and we’ll play a chord on every beat.

This time, when you see the C you will play this:

Play the same back and forth pattern for the G and F measures.

For teachers and those who read music, this is what the left hand part

looks like in music notation:

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12 Bar Blues 2

Here is the chord pattern. Remember that you will play four chords in every

measure, using the alternating pattern you just learned.

C C C C F F

C C G F C C

Like the first 12 Bar Blues, your right hand will improvise with the C Blues

Scale. Here it is again:

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Rock and Roll 2

Add on to the Rock and Roll bass line you learned earlier to make it sound

even better.

First play the bass line you learned earlier.

Leave finger 1 where it is and get ready to do a cross over. Bring finger 2

over the top of your thumb and play F, the next key.

Rock back onto finger 1 and then play the rest of the keys back down in

reverse order. There is a video showing how to play this bass line.

The pattern looks like this:

5 3 2 1 2 1 2 3 5

LH Fingers: 5 3 2 1

LH Fingers: 1 2

Cross over

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Rock and Roll 2

After you’ve got the bass line down, add in some right hand chords. You

can use the chords from Rock and Roll 1 and also these new chords.

RH Fingers: 1 2 3 5 1 2 3 4

RH Fingers: 1 2 4 1 2 4 5

1 3 5

Alternate fingers for small hands:

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Be sure to do ear training exercises with students learning how to

improvise. Ear training goes hand-in-hand with improv. With a well-trained

ear, students can create even more improvised music and have more fun in

the process.

Check back frequently- I’ll be uploading more ear training and improv

activities that make learning music fun for kids.

I hope you enjoyed these fun improv activities!

You’re welcome to contact me with comments or questions- I’d love your

feedback!

-Kristin

[email protected]

by kristin jensen - my fun piano studio · by kristin jensen © 2012 ... e flat blues improvising...

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