Swing Rhythms
In Lesson 5, you were introduced to the triplet rhythm. If the first two notes of the triplet group are tied together, the resulting rhythm is called a swing rhythm.
which can also be written as
This is the most common way of writing a swing rhythm.
For simplification the music is usually written of the staff as eighth notes, and a symbol is written above the music to indicate that the eighth notes are played as a swing rhythm. E.g.:
The following chord progression introduces the Gm chord. It uses a swing rhythm. First play the exercise as written (using eighth notes), then play it as a swing rhythm.
The Bb Major Chord
The Bb major chord is constructed from the Bb major scale (see Appendix 2). Using the major chord formula on the Bb major scale, gives the notes Bb, D and F. Play the Bb chord and its two inversions with both your left and right hands in various positions on the keyboard.
Bb Major - Root Position
The C Seventh (C7) Chord
As discussed in Lesson 6, the chords contained in a 12 Bar Blues are the I, IV and V7 chords. If we wish to play a Blues in F, we need to know a new chord - C7.
The C7 chord is constructed from the C major scale (see Appendix 2). Using the seventh chord formula on the C major scale, gives the notes C, E, G and Bb. Play the four notes of the C7 chord and its three inversions with both your left and right hands, in various positions on the keyboard.
C Seventh - Root Position
The following progression is a turnaround in the key of F.
In a 12 Bar Blues in the key of F, the root chord (I) is F and the other two chords used are the Bb chord (IV) and the C7 chord (V7).
The following exercise is a 12 Bar Blues in the key of F, and contains notes that are not usually found in the F major scale. These notes are called accidentals. E.g., G#, C#, and Eb. Notice that all B notes are played as Bb, according to the key signature of F major.
