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The Blues

The blues is an American art form and the most important musical form in jazz. Although there are other formal paradigms of the blues, such as 8-bar or 16-bar, this course focuses on different incarnations of the 12-bar blues. There are considerable differences between Early Jazz blues, Swing blues, Bebop blues, Modal blues, and Post Bop blues. Each type has its unique harmonic syntax, melodic vocabulary and, associated with them, improvisational techniques. While other aspects of jazz performance practice have been constantly changing from one stylistic convention to another, the blues has never lost its identity and expressive power, and continues to exert a powerful influence on the harmonic and melodic syntax of jazz. This seven-week course explores important aspects of the blues, blues improvisation, basic keyboard textures, jazz harmonic and melodic syntax. Topics include: (1) Blues Progressions; (2) Blues and Other Scales; (3) Improvisational Tools, and others. This course will also cover valuable theoretical concepts enabling the student to master the art of jazz improvisation. Each topic will be introduced from a practical perspective with the clearly stated goal: to improve one’s improvisational skills. Jazz improvisation is rooted in spontaneity, creativity, self-expression and, at the same time, self-control and order. A unique pedagogical approach based on a one-to-one musical interaction conducted with different instrumentalists will help to reinforce many of the concepts introduced in this course and realize its stated objectives.

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Rating 4.8★ based on 181 ratings
Length 8 weeks
Effort 7 weeks of study, 1-2 hours/week
Starts Jul 17 (42 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From University of Rochester via Coursera
Instructor Dariusz Terefenko
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Art & Design Humanities
Tags Arts And Humanities Music And Art

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What people are saying

dariusz terefenko

Dariusz Terefenko's demonstrations and explanations helped me better understand the theory and mechanics behind the progressions and improvisations.

Thank you, Professor Dariusz Terefenko!

Thanks a lot, Dariusz Terefenko!

What an inspiration Professor Dariusz Terefenko is.

Professor Dariusz Terefenko is a great teacher and also a great player.

I would like to express my biggest appreciation to Prof. Dariusz Terefenko and all fellow-musicians joined in this course.

Thanks to Mr. Dariusz Terefenko for his meticulous preparation of the course, his generosity in sharing his knowledge and for thinking ahead to prepare backing tracks for the student.

Special thanks to Professor Dariusz Terefenko and Coursera for this opportunity to learn once again.

Dariusz Terefenko is a great teacher!

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recommend this course

I'd definitely recommend this course to someone else and already have!!

The course is nicely put together: packed with theory, practice tips and live examples.I do not hesitate to recommend this course to anyone interested in playing Blues and Jazz.

I RECOMMEND THIS COURSE FOR STUDENTS ADVANCED AND BEGINNERS.

I recommend this course empahtically for anyone wanting to learn jazz improvisation.

I would like to recommend this course to those who genuinely loves music.

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very useful

It suggests very useful exercises to everybody, that will help to develop modulation and improvisation skills.

(Will need to practice a lot for it all to sink in though) excelent It's a very useful course.

The play-along tracks are very useful, too, and last, but not least, it was wonderful to listen to the talented young jazz music students, who demonstrated various aspects of the subjects taught.

Thank very much The couse was very useful.

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music theory

Fantastic introduction to the blues and to music theory.

I have a strong background studying classical, 20th century and modern music theory techniques, and that was the only reason I was able to finish this course.

I am a self-taught amateur musician, and this course really helped me see the underlying connections amongst the various music theory concepts, especially those pertaining to harmony and improvisation, that I have tried to learn on my own.

Very well explained, step by step, increasing difficulty and suitable for different levels of music theory knowledge.

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very helpful

I created my own notes for the course which for me is very helpful.

The ear training and the explanations of the theory were very helpful.

overall it was a great course which i found very helpful..........thanks a lot coursera for providing this type of course.

It has been very helpful for me, I would suggest any one interested in blues and Jazz should take this course.

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Careers

An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.

Assistant Vocal Jazz Coach $44k

Jazz Writer $47k

Simonson Modern Jazz Instructor $60k

Jazz Piano Instructor $61k

Jazz Librarian $61k

Jazz Dance Professor $85k

Adjunct professor of jazz guitar $98k

Associate Jazz Dance Professor $104k

Assistant Jazz Dance Professor $113k

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Rating 4.8★ based on 181 ratings
Length 8 weeks
Effort 7 weeks of study, 1-2 hours/week
Starts Jul 17 (42 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From University of Rochester via Coursera
Instructor Dariusz Terefenko
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Art & Design Humanities
Tags Arts And Humanities Music And Art

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