Improvising Study 1 - Chorus Forms

Improvising Study 1
Chorus Forms
BluesHarmonica.com Support Material
Written by David Barrett
Section 1 – Introduction
Reference: Improvising Jazz by Jerry Coker, A Fireside Book published by Simon & Schuster ISBN 0671-62829-1, quoted pages 15-16 by Richmond Brown
Homework: Listen to a selection (all genres) of your favorite music and make note of how many times
the main theme is repeated.
Section 2 – AAA Chorus Form
Ex. 2.1 – 4 Bar Lick
Ex. 2.2 – 2 Bar Version
Ex. 2.3 – 1 Bar Version
Artist Examples: “Rocker” by Little Walter, 1st Chorus / “Juicy Harmonica” by George Smith, 1st Chorus
/ “Hunch Rhythm” by Kim Wilson, 1st Chorus / “Blues in the Dark” by George Smith, 5th Chorus
Homework: Find or create a 4 bar, 2 bar and 1 bar lick to use as your A and play each lick in the AAA
Chorus Form to a 12 Bar Blues jam track of your choice (it will end up being three choruses in total
length). If you have the equipment to record, record yourself playing to the jam track and submit it to me
for review.
© 2011 David Barrett & The Harmonica Masterclass Co. for BluesHarmonica.com, All Rights Reserved
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Section 3 – AAB Chorus Form
Ex. 3.1 – V-IV-I Lick with Turnaround
Artist Examples: “Juke” by Little Walter, 1st Chorus / “Off The Wall” by Little Walter, 6th Chorus / “The
Bounce” by Rod Piazza, 3rd Chorus / “Blowin’ The Family Jewels” by William Clarke, 1st Chorus
Homework: Find or create a V-IV-I + Turnaround Lick to use as your B and use your Section 2 licks as
your A (4 bar, 2 bar or 1 bar lick) to create an AAB Chorus Form. Play this with a jam track of your
choosing. If you have the equipment to record, record yourself playing to the jam track and submit it to
me for review.
Section 4 – AAA & AAB Chorus Form with Fills
Artist Example: “Walter’s Boogie” by Big Walter Horton, 3rd Chorus
Homework: Use material from Sections 2 and 3 to create one example of the AAA Chorus Form with
Fills and AAB Chorus Form with Fills (two choruses total). Play this with a jam track of your choosing.
If you have the equipment to record, record yourself playing to the jam track and submit it to me for
review.
Section 5 – A B/A C Chorus Form
Ex. 5.1 – Contrast
Ex. 5.2 – Slight Change
Ex. 5.3 – Sequence
Artist Example: “Walter’s Boogie” by Big Walter Horton, 1st Chorus / “Off The Wall” by Little Walter, 1st
Chorus / “The Bounce” by Rod Piazza, 1st Chorus / “Whammer Jammer” by Magic Dick, 3rd Chorus
© 2011 David Barrett & The Harmonica Masterclass Co. for BluesHarmonica.com, All Rights Reserved
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Homework: Use material from previous sections to create three examples of the A B/A C Chorus Form,
the first with B as Contrast, the second as B with Slight Change and the third with B as a Sequence
(reference Blues Music Theory lessons on the site for a full description on how to do this). Play this with a
jam track of your choosing. If you have the equipment to record, record yourself playing to the jam track
and submit it to me for review.
Section 6 – ABC Chorus Form & Context Discussion
Section 7 – Assignments
Ex. 7.1 – Sample lick used for “A”
Ex. 7.2 – Sample lick used for “B” or “C” from Measures 9 through 12 of “Gary’s Blues”
Assignment 1 – Placing a lick into the Chorus Form Context
Take a lick from one of your study songs or create your own and play it to a jam track of your choice as
all five Chorus Forms (seven if you count the three ways to perform B). If you have the equipment to
record, record yourself playing to the jam track and submit it to me for review.
© 2011 David Barrett & The Harmonica Masterclass Co. for BluesHarmonica.com, All Rights Reserved
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Assignment 2 – Analyze “The Strut”
Download the PDF version of this song that does not have my notations (titled “Improvising Analysis The Strut.pdf”) and the original recording (titled “The Strut [Improvising Analysis Song].mp3”) and analyze
it for the usage of Chorus Forms. After you have done this watch the video lesson where I break it down
for you.
Assignment 3 – Song Writing Assignment
Use a jam track of your choosing to write and perform to. Gather licks from study songs (“Temperature”
and “Gary’s Blues” for licks with the jam track for “Temperature” is a good example) and/or makeup licks
of your own to write an original instrumental. You’ll need as many licks as there are choruses in the jam
track, minus one due to the fact that you’ll repeat the first chorus on the last chorus. Take each lick and
experiment with the Chorus Form options. When you’re done you’ll have an instrumental where each
Chorus Form is represented. If you have the equipment to record, record yourself playing to the jam track
and submit it to me for review. Below is an example of what you might come up with.
Chorus 1 – “A” Lick played in the AAA Chorus Form
Chorus 2 – New “A” Lick played in the Af Af At Chorus Form
Chorus 3 – New “A” Lick played in the AAB Chorus Form
Chorus 4 – New “A” Lick played in the Af Af B Chorus Form
Chorus 5 – New “A” Lick played in the A B/A C Chorus Form
Chorus 6 – Repeat your first chorus
© 2011 David Barrett & The Harmonica Masterclass Co. for BluesHarmonica.com, All Rights Reserved
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