Learn how to improvise:
Riff-Based Blues Songs
It can be challenging to find jazz songs to teach your ensemble by ear! That’s where riff-based blues songs can be extremely helpful.
A riff-based blues head is a 12-bar blues song that is based on a shorter, 4-measure phrase, which is played three times to complete the 12-bar melody. There are numerous examples of riff-based blues heads, such as Sonny Rollins’ “Sonnymoon for Two”, Milt Jackson’s “Bag’s Groove”, and Duke Ellington’s “C-Jam Blues”. In this video lesson, we discuss “Sonnymoon for Two” and “Bag’s Groove”.
Tips:
It’s best to try to teach these songs by ear at first. If this concept is new to your group, consider starting with Duke Ellington’s “C-Jam Blues”, which consists of the 5th (G) and the Root (C) in the key of C.
Do your students know their scales? If you have taught the B-Flat major scale to your students, consider assigning numbers to each scale degree, so that you can use those numbers when teaching by ear. For example, “Sonnymoon for Two” starts on scale degree “1” in the key of B-Flat, then descends to the “flat 7”, “5”, “4”, “flat 3” then finally down to the “1” before playing the ascending/descending “1”, “flat 3”, “4”. lick in measures three and four.
If your students are new to scales/key centers, simply reinforce to them that each song has a “home base” key. Teach them what that note is, and call it “1”. (example: B-Flat is “1” in the key of B-flat!). Quiz them on what other numbers would be (example: “If B-Flat is ‘1’, then what note is ‘2’?”).
As you develop these songs by ear, your students will have a stronger understanding of the vocabulary that can be used for solos!
Want to send this video to your students? Use this link: https://youtu.be/EJ0BzQNIZvg