I often jokingly refer to my play along teaching personality as part Richard Simmons and part Bob Ross.
If you’re not old enough to get either reference, Richard Simmons became popular by doing high energy aerobic workouts, and Bob Ross was a super chill painter, famous for saying things like “happy clouds”.
This play along video is 100% Bob Ross.
You can play along on violin, viola, cello, bass, or any instrument.
Play along to catch a chill vibe. Think of it as morning Yoga. Read my notes below the video for more ideas.
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Notes:
- Intermediate: I recommend this play along lesson for Suzuki Bk 3+, school orchestra students grade 8 and above, or adult learners with 3-5 years experience.
- It’s in the key of G major; the two repeated chords are G major7 and C major7.
- At the end of the video I leave the vamp as a stand-alone backing track for you to play what you like.
- The beginning features select melodies. After a few minutes I transition to a scale pattern for a while.
- Every line I play is just a Suggestion, meaning you can play your own ideas.
- One way to vary what I play is to use the same rhythm, but change the notes
- One way to make this easy is to imagine the key signature, and then use ANY notes within that key signature. This approach does not work in every musical situation, but I designed this situation to make it work for you:) In this case, you can use the key signature of G major (one sharp F#).
- An alternative to the G major scale is the E minor pentatonic scale (aka the G major pentatonic scale)
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