Week Two Improvisation

For week two of improvisation, we were all on different instruments, I was playing a small keyboard.

This I found very difficult as, being a drummer, I am not really used to having to play on a tuned instrument. It will be really good for me to learn more about using scales out with the theory class and I am really looking to try and get to grips with it.

I am going to practice this at home as much as possible, I may try and get my hands on a small keyboard to practice at home.

When we were in class, we started off playing the C major scale, then the C minor pentatonic, and ended up at the C Blues scale - C, Eb, F, Gb, G and Bb. I knew this in the sense of theory however I have not really tried to physically use it while playing, other than composition, though in composition you don't have to think as quickly.


We had a backing track on in the background and Simon would play a small blues riff, which we were then to copy and play back on whichever instrument we were on. 


When we did this on the Major scale, I found it a lot easier than when we were on the C blues.


This then switched and we were each to play a blues riff along to the backing track, which everyone else was then to play back. This I again found relatively easy, other than the physical playing of the keyboard, I had the riff idea in my head, it was just that my hands struggled to actually connect with the keyboard, and actually play the riff.


For next week we are to listen to more Count Basie and start to use the rhythms sheet that we were given in class to start creating some cool rhythms.