Submitted by Mary Wells, Lodi, California
Idea posted February 10, 2009
Thanksgiving Lesson Plan with "Turkey Woogie" from Music K-8, Vol. 14, No. 2.
Teach vocals, then three, easy, 2-note riffs on recorder (see below):Teach E blues scale or portion of it for improvisation.
Terms: 12 bar (measure) blues chords/chord progression (blues progression) blues scale
(E blues--E G A Bb B D E: can also add low D on recorder)
Improvise/Improvisation riff (repeated pattern usually played by other instruments behind a melody or improv solo) turn around (last 4 measures: V, IV, I )
"Turkey Woogie" form (4 bar intro - same as the turn around)
Chord progression is: 3x I for four bars IV for two bars/I for two bars V for one bar/IV for one bar/I for two bars (turnaround)
Coda: repeat turnaround two more times
I taught three (one for each chord), easy, 2-note riffs on recorder: four eighth notes in each and then two beats of rest (swing the eighth notes)
I chord: ggeg (low E) [underlying chord has G# but G from blues scale sounds good]
IV chord: aaga V chord: bbab
Have students improvise on the blues scale: they can start with BAG and then add more notes as they feel comfortable. Model and encourage lots of rhythmic experimentation. Any note in the blues scale will sound good with the blues progression. Also try the instrumental version of recording so they can hear themselves without vocals. (May improvise with glockenspiels/Orff instruments if available [perhaps put colorful stickers on blues scale notes]).
Extra: Boomwhackers® (play four quarter notes per measure) to accompany riffs, vocals, improv. Write on board or overhead. Chords are dominant (major with minor 7th chords). While 7th is in bass here, voicings sound really good and are designed to have as many students as possible playing while keeping typical Boomwhacker® ranges in mind).Notes listed from low to high:
I (E7) chord D/E/B/D/E/G#/B
IV (A7)chord G/A/C#/E/G/A
V (B7) chord A/B/D#/F#/A/B
Have fun!