Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-blues
If you’re a music enthusiast or an aspiring musician, you might have heard of the blues, a genre that has shaped the landscape of American music and influenced countless artists across various genres. Coursera offers an insightful course titled ‘The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form,’ which delves deep into the intricacies of this rich musical tradition. In this blog post, I will review the course, highlight its key features, and explain why I highly recommend it.
### Course Overview
The blues is not just a genre; it’s an essential part of American culture and history. This course focuses primarily on the 12-bar blues, exploring its various incarnations, including Early Jazz blues, Swing blues, Bebop blues, Modal blues, and Post Bop blues. Each type has its unique harmonic syntax and improvisational techniques, making this course a treasure trove of knowledge for anyone looking to understand and perform the blues.
### Syllabus Breakdown
The course is structured into seven comprehensive lessons:
1. **Blues Progressions – Theory and Practice**: This lesson lays the foundation by examining the history and evolving harmonic structure of the blues. By the end, students will grasp the basic, generic, and minor blues forms.
2. **Blues Scales**: Here, students dive into the blues scale, jazz rhythms, and riffs, learning call and response techniques and improvisation applications.
3. **Keyboard Realization**: This lesson introduces guide tones and chord construction, focusing on voice-leading techniques to enhance musicality.
4. **“Bird” Blues and Other Blues Progressions**: Students analyze harmonic progressions from jazz standards, practicing ear-training and rhythmic displacement.
5. **Improvisational Tools**: This lesson introduces more jazz standards and explores tritone substitutions and pentatonic scales as improvisational tools.
6. **Improvising the Blues – Part 1**: Students demonstrate improvisational techniques, observing live musicians and using play-along tracks to practice.
7. **Improvising the Blues – Part 2**: The final lesson explores modal categories and scalar patterns, allowing students to apply their knowledge with live demonstrations and play-along tracks.
### Why You Should Take This Course
This course is perfect for musicians of all levels, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player looking to refine your skills. The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application makes it an invaluable resource. The live demonstrations by Eastman musicians provide a unique opportunity to see the concepts in action, making it easier to grasp complex ideas.
Moreover, the course encourages creativity and improvisation, essential skills for any musician. By the end of the course, you will not only understand the blues but also be able to perform it with confidence.
### Conclusion
In conclusion, ‘The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form’ is a must-take course for anyone interested in music, particularly jazz and blues. Its comprehensive syllabus, expert instruction, and practical applications make it a standout choice on Coursera. So, if you’re ready to dive into the soul of music and explore the depths of the blues, I highly recommend enrolling in this course today!
Happy learning and playing!
Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-blues