Piano Week 25: 12-bar blues performance

Weekly Focus

Week 25 is a blues performance week. The objective is one complete 12-bar performance format with dependable groove, form, and ending.

Success this week means you can run your chosen blues set format start-to-finish without losing form or pulse.

Repertoire & Chord Map

Primary lab is 12-bar blues in one selected key, with transfer to Misty for cadence ideas. Set your exact performance format early and keep it fixed.

Core performance map:

I7 | IV7 | I7 | I7 IV7 | IV7 | I7 | I7 V7 | IV7 | I7 | V7

Daily map task: keep intro, chorus count, and ending identical for comparison across takes.

Supplementary Listening & Ear Training (Required)

Link this listening directly to this week’s theme “12-bar blues performance” so ear work supports your keyboard work.

Weekly listening pick:

• Body and Soul — Coleman Hawkins

Why this track now: It highlights deep ballad harmony and melodic paraphrase, which matches Week 25’s goals.

Ear tasks (10–15 min, at least 3 sessions this week):

1. Listen once without the instrument and name the key center by ear (major/minor/modal). Then verify the key at piano.
2. Find one cadence or arrival point, then play: root + shell ii-V-I (or closest functional equivalent) in that key.
3. Lift a short 4–8 bar fragment by ear, play it slowly, and record ~30s so you can compare your hearing vs. the recording.

Extra challenge (optional): transpose your lifted fragment to the weekly priority ladder when possible (F → Eb → G → Bb → C).

End-of-Week Reflection

Did your fixed blues format stay stable across takes, especially at transitions and endings? Carry one reliable set structure and one weak point into Week 26 checkpoint.