Sample riff 1

A sample riff from Pentatonic Diary 09-08-21, now rolling out on Musicarta Patreon Tier One.

Many keyboard players play on their own, just for recreation, and Musicarta
is bursting with ideas to help sustain this creative life.

The PD 09-08-21 sample riff you're listening springs from a lesson series which essentially teaches two-handed 'doodling' in the major pentatonic scale.

Solo 12-bar styles are fairly easy to master - with the right teaching
material! - and a  few minutes daily relaxing into a nice groove and doodling
ideas for solos will do wonders for anyone's mood.

The pentatonic scales similarly provide an ideal entry point into creative music-making. They're easy to understand - both at the keyboard and by ear - and have the great advantage of having (nearly) no 'wrong notes'!

It needn't have turned out this blues-y - just my misspent youth rearing its ugly head... ! Other examples (below) showcases different moods

Build-up

Yes, we will get to the build-up!! It's falling in to shape... the sample riffs are a bit of un-deferred gratification. See what you can get; just play along with the left hand, for example. Even use two hands to do it.

Sample riff 2

A second sample riff from Pentatonic Diary 09-08-21, now rolling out on Musicarta Patreon Tier One.

This sample riff doesn't have quite the same blues flavor - no flattened sevenths, for one thing - but it does borrow the I - IV - V chord set.

The only 'rule' for the right hand is, move to the next (next-chord) pentatonic scale by step.

The pentatonic scale tones T-2-3-5-6-T are given; they're colour-coded for I, IV, V, you'll see. Note how the right hand plays only three notes of V, even whiole the left hand plays bot V and IV underneath.

There are hundreds of options, but they don't all sound equally good. A clear case for scribbling down your thoughts on a piece of manuscript paper.

Sample riff 2 - slow-mo

You might find this useful for a play-by-ear play-along - just the right hand, for example.

Going on from here

The demonstrations above are pure MIDI, with no artistic expression at all. On a good piano, and bringing your artistic intention to the performance, any and all of these versions will sound ten times better.

Also, this Musicarta lesson is billed as a 'composing springboard', meaning that you will hopefully 'take it on from here' and use the keyboard texture in your own improvisations.

All you have to do is meander around in a major pentatonic scale in the left hand and put decorative runs in with the right hand.

Complexity can be impressive, but it is not what most listeners are seeking, in the first instance. The performer's love of and enjoyment in what they are doing more often furnishes the magic ingredient - for both parties.