Unit 3 Session Styles

 Individual Practice and Preparation  What practical preparation do you do before playing the song? E.g. sourced lead sheets, tabs, chord charts or notation; listened to songs on playlists; notated/learnt riffs by ear; selected correct equipment; took care of your voice with correct warm-up; made sure parts were allocated sensibly by instrument/ability etc. - The prep I took for this task is different from all the other performances because we were set 3 songs to learn not just 1. Those songs were Salty Dog blues by Earl Scruggs, A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash and American Honky Tonk Association by Garth Brooks. We where allowed to use lyric sheets in the performance and because I decided to just do singing I spent my time listening to the songs and getting familiar with the structure. What musical preparation did you do? E.g. learning appropriate scales, riffs or rhythms; technical exercises to develop accuracy/speed; tone production; recording yourself and checking against o...

  The musical characteristics of Country Tonality   The typical tonality of a country song is major, and the typical chord progression is (I, IV, V). Now country songs can have a mix of major and minor tonality while still feeling bright and lively Harmony    Typically the (I, IV, V) chord progression is played with dominant 7 chords creating a more bluesy sound which is normal for a country song Extensions    Other extensions typical in country music is augmented 4th's and minor 6th chords Scales    The most typical country scales are the major pentatonic scale, the blues scale and the major scale Riffs    The country genre doesn't use the typical riff, there are often different techniques to achieve the country riff such as fingerpicking to create a fast, sharp, percussive sound Rhythms    Country typical has a 4/4 time often featuring a "boom-chick" sound or alternating bass pattern, country can also have a shuffle pattern w...

  Individual practice and preparation = Mack the Knife (Elle Fitzgerald version) What practical preparation do you do before playing the song? E.g. sourced lead sheets, tabs, chord charts or notation; listened to songs on playlists; notated/learnt riffs by ear; selected correct equipment; took care of your voice with correct warm-up; made sure parts were allocated sensibly by instrument/ability etc. - Before the performance of Mack the Knife I listened to the version we were told to do which is Elle Fitzgerald's version. I tried to work on my use of vibrato which isn't very easy for me however for the jazz style it is quite useful to make it sound more authentic. Originally my band had chosen to do Bebop before we changed our style to Trad so I listened to a playlist of Bebop jazz songs. What musical preparation did you do? E.g. learning appropriate scales, riffs or rhythms; technical exercises to develop accuracy/speed; tone production; recording yourself and checking against ...

  Musical characteristics of jazz Tonality   Jazz tonality can range from Major, Minor, Modal and even atonal tonality Harmony    jazz harmony relies on extended chords like 9ths, 11ths and 13ths Extensions    It uses progressions built on seventh chords, one of the most common progressions is ii-V-I. The chord types include Major 7, Dominant 7, Half-diminished and Diminished 7 chords Scales    There is no typical "Jazz scale" but common scales in jazz music include different modes of the Major scale such as Dorian and Lydian, jazz musicians choose their scales based on the underlying chords used, Dorian and Lydian are common because they use seventh notes Riffs    Jazz musicians can play riffs to build texture, support the soloist, it can also be used as a solo and the common characteristics are arpeggios and chromatic notes to add colour and sophistication Rhythms    The common rhythm of jazz is swung which is labelled the co...

  Individual practice and preparation - The Thrill Is Gone What practical preparation do you do before playing the song? E.g. sourced lead sheets, tabs, chord charts or notation; listened to songs on playlists; notated/learnt riffs by ear; selected correct equipment; took care of your voice with correct warm-up; made sure parts were allocated sensibly by instrument/ability etc. The practical preparation I took before playing the song was listening to it and trying to switch between the chords on my guitar because I found the timing tricky. I allocated myself the first verse so I could focus on my guitar playing the rest of the song. Because there's was a strong lead guitar in this song I knew I should play the chords in the background to be a good backbone in the song. What musical preparation did you do? E.g. learning appropriate scales, riffs or rhythms; technical exercises to develop accuracy/speed; tone production; recording yourself and checking against original recordings. Be...

The musical characteristics of Blues   Tonality The blues tonality is a blend of Major and Minor sounds in the blues scale Harmony  blues harmony is centred around the 12-bar blues  The 12-bar blues uses dominant seventh chords for the I, IV and V structure, typically it plays four bars of the I chord, two of the IV, two on the I, one on the V, one on the IV and two on the I and V Extensions  Typical extensions of the blues is adding a 9th to a dominant 7th chord's (I7, IV7, V7) which can add a richer sound to a progression Scales  Major and minor pentatonic scales are primarily used which gives it the classic blues sound Riffs  There can be riff's in blues songs although not common they can be played on the bass, because blues uses a lot of improvisation typical blues songs may not have them. Rhythms  Blues rhythms are characterized by a 12-bar form with 4/4 time signature, often incorporating syncopation to give it a "shuffle" sound where the beat is...