So far in this module you've learned
Now to get creative! We’re going to play our pentatonic blues material all over the keyboard, rearrange the bits, play it with different hands and generally ‘rough it up’.
Because
here at Musicarta, we don’t just want to copy a riff and play it, we want it to
be a springboard into creativity – and the pentatonic scales are just perfect
for that.
We start off with playing our blues in Em rather than Am – fairly simple since it’ll still all be white-key. Then we play a true 12-bar version with an E minor pentatonic scale in it (you'll hear the difference). After that we revert to A minor for a two-handed version, and finally we go for some serious syncopation in what I call the ‘Bells’ versions.
The hands play exactly the same pattern of keys but starting a fourth lower - in E minor.
Here's a video showing a practice-speed performance on MidiPiano in piano-roll view. The two pentatonic keyboard diagrams you need are shown in the video.
Here's the chord sequence - but remember that the right hand stays in E minor pentatonic (now! - was A minor before) for all of the last line. Only the left hand plays the Bm ('dut-de-doo').
Now here's an up-to-speed performance.
Now we’re going to play a ‘true’ twelve bar version of the riff. The difference is in the last third, which in a straight-down-the-line twelve-bar chord sequence would have a bar of E (two bars here in fact), then in D, then back in A to finish.
You’ll hear how familiar it sounds.
Some people who’ve learned this riff with me have wanted to go up the Em pattern and down the Dm pattern feel free to experiment – and to put as much decoration in the right hand as you like.
There's a practice-speed run-through of the new last line before the performance proper.
Now for the two-handed version. It’s useful because you’ll be playing the same sounds with different hands.
It's easy to get stuck with just one version. If you really know your stuff, you can play it in different ways.
This is the kind of repetition that will help you become a musician who looks at the keyboard and knows what the notes are going to sound like.
Here's the preparation.
Here's the performance video.
Now go on to the 'Bells' rhythmic variation, with the anticipated left hand (strange but true...).
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THE MUSICARTA PENTATONICS WORKBOOK video course
Introductory
Practice Patterns
Melody Work and
Playing by Ear
Pentatonic Riffs
and Diaries - Minor Pentatonic Major Pentatonic
Chromatic Minor
Chromatic Major
Pre-video Pages
Pentatonics videos
Archive Pages
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The MusicartaA methodical approach to keyboard syncopation for
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