John Gill

Now let's listen to how all parts sound together.

[Three students play ‘Feeln Blues-E’ in full on acoustic guitars.]

[end of transcript]

John Gill

Now let's listen to how all parts sound together.

[Three students play ‘Feeln Blues-E’ in full, the two students on the left play acoustic

guitars and the student on the right plays the electric bass.]

[end of transcript]

John Gill

 Feelin' Blues-E is a piece written for three guitars and is based on a 12-bar blues chord progression. Each part is being developed on either a one bar or two bar riff idea that shifts according to the relevant chord in the progression for when it is played.

Let's start with part 1, and we have Riley demonstrating how to play this on the guitar.

This is a two bar rift that is played on the top four strings of the guitar. The first four bars of music either use an open string or 2nd fret. Starting on the open second string on the note B, the first string notes are played as crotchets. Then alternating using second finger on 2nd fret, and open third string, followed by second finger, 2nd fret of the fourth string.

[Student plays bars 1-2 on guitar]

This pattern then repeats for bars three and four. Riley will now play through the first four bars of music using this pattern.

[Student plays bars 1-4 on guitar]

You might notice that Riley's using a plectrum, or also known as a pick. See how Riley uses his right hand to play the specific string.

[Student plays bars 1-4 on guitar with focus on his fingers plucking the strings with a plectrum]

This pattern now moves to the first string to match the chord changes in the 12-bar blues progression. This is slightly different and includes the use of the first, second, and third fingers of the respective frets on the second and third strings.

[Student plays bars 5-6 on guitar]

We then return to the initial pattern to go with chord one.

[Student plays bars 7-8 on guitar]

We then see some changes in the pattern for the final four bars, before the piece repeats. Most of the notes used here are based on the root note of the chord or a variation on the riff. The first three notes of these bars all use the same rhythm with crotchets played by a pair of quavers on the fourth beat.

Starting with bar nine, begin playing on the open second string for the first four notes, followed by an open third string. The next bar relates to chord four, and the root note is played on the third string, 2nd fret. This is for the first four notes and is then followed by an open third string for the note G natural. In the first time bar, the note E is played 2nd fret fourth string, followed by an open third string and then open second string. The fourth beat uses third string with second and third fingers on the matchin frets. The final bar is three Bs played on the open second string.

[Student plays bars 9-12 on guitar]

This now brings us to the end of the first time bar. From here, you repeat and play back through the piece. This time, skipping the first time bar and going onto the second time bar. These are the last two bars and consist of the note E played 2nd fret, fourth string, followed by an open third string and then open second string. The fourth beat uses 2nd fret and open string. Both played on the third string. The final bar is a note E held for four beats. Played on 2nd fret.

[Student plays final 2 bars on guitar]

Let's hear all of part 1, including the repeat and second time ending.

[Student plays all bars on guitar]

[End of transcript]

John Gill

 Feelin' Blues-E is a piece written for three guitars and is based on a 12-bar blues chord progression. Each part is being developed on either a one bar or two bar riff idea that shifts according to the relevant chord in the progression for when it is played.

Let's look at part 2, and we have Merrian demonstrating how to play this on the guitar.

This part is based on a two bar riff idea and forms an accompaniment layer in the piece. It also uses a quaver pattern, which helps to drive the rhythm along in the piece. Most of the playing for this part is on the sixth string using frets 3, 4, and 5, with first, second, and third fingers. The root note for each chord of the 12-bar blues pattern is heard strongly on beats one and three, and helps to add to the driving support for the part.

[Student plays bars 1-2 on guitar]

This is repeated for the first four bars.  Merrian will now play through the first four bars of music using this pattern.

[Student plays bars 1-4 on guitar]

The next part of the 12-bar blues progression is chord four, and for this you'll use the same pattern, including frets and fingers, but this time playing it on the fifth string.

[Student plays bars 5-6 on guitar]

Let's see how those two patterns work together in the first six bars of music.

[Student plays bars 1-6 on guitar]

The next two bars are a slight variation of the riff, and you'll see that the hand position shifts with fingers one and two playing on the 3rd and 4th frets, and then following an opening string, move up to the 5th and 6th frets. This allows an easier movement, moving up to the 7th fret using third finger on the sixth string for the next bar and getting ready for the chord change needed for chord five in the 12-bar blues progression.

[Student plays bars 7-8 on guitar]

The next two bars focus on predominantly playing the root note of the chords. This starts with the 7th fret, third finger on the sixth string. Followed by a single open string on the beat 'four and'. This provides space for the hand to move back down and play the third finger, 5th fret. Then first finger, 3rd fret on the beat 'four and'.

[Student plays bars 9-10 on guitar]

You will notice this pattern then leads nicely back down to our open six string at the start of the first time bar. The pattern for these two bars is very similar to bars eight and nine of the piece, and require a hand position shift.

[Student plays bars 11-12 on guitar]

The final two bars of the piece in the second time bar, are one bar of the riff, followed by a semibreve on open sixth string with the note E.

[Student plays final 2 on guitar]

Let's hear all of part 2, including the repeat and the second time ending.

[Student plays all bars on guitar]

[End of transcript]

John Gill

Feelin' Blues-E is a piece written for three guitars and is based on a 12-bar blues chord progression. Each part is being developed on either a one bar or two bar riff idea that shifts according to the relevant chord in the progression for when it is played.

Let's look at part 3, and we have Geraldine demonstrating how to play this on the guitar. This provides a rhythmic drive and bass line to the piece. It's a one bar riff that is played across two strings, and using the first, second, and third fingers. The pattern starts on sixth string open, and then 3rd fret played with the second finger, followed by 4th fret using the third finger. This then leaves the first finger free to play the last two notes for beats three and four. Played on the fifth string, 2nd fret.

[Student plays bars 1-2 on guitar]

This pattern is used for the first four bars of the piece over the chord one in the 12-bar blues progression.

[Student plays bars 1-4 on guitar]

The next two bars of the 12-bar blues progression follow chord four. So, when we look at this pattern, it uses the same frets and fingers, but is now played on the fifth and fourth strings.

[Student plays bars 5-6 on guitar]

Let's hear how the first six bars of part 3 work together.

[Student plays bars 1-6 on guitar]

We now move on to the second line of music, starting with bar seven and the return to chord one in our 12-bar blues progression. For this, we go back to the original pattern that was played on the sixth and fifth strings for two bars. For bars nine and ten. We have four crotchets playing the root note for the chord five, followed by the same for chord four.

To play these notes starts 2nd fret, first finger on the fifth string for four repeated notes, followed by open fifth string for the next four crotchet notes.

[Student plays bars 9-10 on guitar]

Our first time bar uses the riff for the first bar. Followed by four root notes on the fifth string 2nd fret using first finger.

[Student plays bars 11-12 on guitar]

This leads us back to repeat the piece. On the last play through, we jumped to the second time bar for the ending. This involves playing the riff for one bar, followed by a semibreve, held for four beats on an open sixth string with the note E.

[Student plays final 2 bars on guitar]

Let's hear all of part 3, including the repeat and second time ending.

[Student plays all bars on guitar]

[End of transcript]

John Gill

 Feelin' Blues-E is a piece written for three guitars and is based on a 12-bar blues chord progression. Each part is being developed on either a one bar or two bar riff idea that shifts according to the relevant chord in the progression for when it is played.

Let's look at part 3 again. This time we have Geraldine demonstrating how to play this on the bass guitar.

You may be lucky enough to have access to a bass guitar in your music classroom. Adding a bass guitar to your ensemble will provide some depth and fullness to the sound, due to the lower frequencies it produces compared to guitars. One thing you'll notice is that a standard bass guitar has four strings, instead of six that we saw on the guitars.

Other obvious differences are the thicker strings and wider frets. The tuning of the bass is the same as the bottom four strings of the guitar. So to play part 3 on the bass guitar, follow the same pattern for frets and fingers that we saw for guitar. Start on the open fourth string. Then second finger, 3rd fret. Then third finger, 4th fret. Followed by the first finger, 2nd fret on the third string. This remains the same for the first four bars of music, as it follows chord one of the 12-bar blues progression.

[Student plays bars 1-4 on electric bass]

When playing the bass guitar, pay attention to your left hand technique, as you'll need to spread your fingers to allow to reach across the frets on the bass. The next two bars are the 12-bar blues progression follow chord four. So, when we look at the pattern, it uses the same frets and fingers, but is now played on the third and second strings.

[Student plays bars 5-6 on electric bass]

Let's hear the first six bars of part 3 for bass guitar.

[Student plays bars 1-6 on electric bass]

Now move on to the second line of music starting with bar seven and the return to chord one in our 12-bar blues progression. For this, we go back to the original pattern that was played on the fourth and third strings. For bars nine and ten, we have four crotchets playing the root note for chord five, followed by the same for chord four. To play these notes start 2nd fret, first finger on the third string for one bar, followed by open third string for the next bar.

[Student plays bars 9-10 on electric bass]

Our first time bar uses the riff for the first bar. Followed by four root notes on third string, 2nd fret using first finger.

[Student plays bars 9-12 on electric bass]

This leads us back to repeat the piece. On the last time through, we jumped to the second time bar for the ending. This involves playing the riff for one bar, followed by a semibreve, held for four beats on an open fourth string with the note E.

[Student plays final 2 bars on electric bass]

Let's hear all of part 3, including the repeat and second time ending.

[Student plays all bars on electric bass]

[End of transcript]