Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-blues
If you’re a music enthusiast or an aspiring jazz musician, you might have heard of the blues, an essential American art form that has shaped the landscape of jazz music. Coursera’s course, ‘The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form,’ offers a comprehensive exploration of this genre, focusing on its rich history, theory, and performance techniques.
The course is structured into seven engaging lessons, each designed to build upon the last, ensuring that students develop a solid understanding of the blues.
**Lesson 1: Blues Progressions – Theory and Practice** kicks off the course by delving into the foundational aspects of the blues. It covers its historical context and the evolution of its harmonic structure. By the end of this lesson, students will grasp the basic, generic, and minor blues forms, as well as the A A’ B phrase-structure that is quintessential to the genre.
**Lesson 2: Blues Scales** takes a closer look at the blues scale, jazz rhythms, and blues riffs. This lesson emphasizes the call and response techniques that are vital for improvisation, with live demonstrations that make the learning experience interactive and engaging.
In **Lesson 3: Keyboard Realization**, students are introduced to guide tones and their relationship with invertible counterpoint. This lesson is particularly beneficial for those looking to enhance their keyboard skills, as it covers four-part and five-part chords in detail.
**Lesson 4: “Bird” Blues and Other Blues Progressions** focuses on analyzing harmonic progressions from classic jazz standards. This lesson not only teaches students about the music but also provides practical techniques for ear training and rhythmic displacement.
**Lesson 5: Improvisational Tools** introduces more jazz standards and examines tritone substitutions and pentatonic scales. This lesson is crucial for students looking to expand their improvisational toolkit.
The course culminates in two lessons dedicated to **Improvising the Blues**. In **Part 1**, students observe live musicians and practice improvisational techniques, while **Part 2** explores modal categories and scalar patterns, allowing students to apply what they’ve learned in a practical setting.
Overall, ‘The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form’ is a well-structured course that not only teaches the theoretical aspects of the blues but also emphasizes practical application through live demonstrations and play-along tracks. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced musician, this course will deepen your understanding of the blues and enhance your performance skills. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to explore this iconic genre of music.
Enroll today and take your first step into the soulful world of blues!
Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-blues