So far in this module you've learned

• to count and play the all-white-key minor pentatonic scale (in three places)
• to play the One-octave Pentatonic Minor Blues (module riff), and
• to dress up the right hand melodic line with various 'ornaments'.

Now to get creative! We’re going to play our pentatonic blues material all over the keyboard, rearrange the bits, play it with different hands and generally ‘rough it up’.

Because here at Musicarta, we don’t just want to copy a riff and play it, we want it to be a springboard into creativity – and the pentatonic scales are just perfect for that.

We start off with playing our blues in Em rather than Am – fairly simple since it’ll still all be white-key. Then we play a true 12-bar version with an E minor pentatonic scale in it (you'll hear the difference). After that we revert to A minor for a two-handed version, and finally we go for some serious syncopation in what I call the ‘Bells’ versions.

The One-octave Blues in E minor

The hands play exactly the same pattern of keys but starting a fourth lower - in E minor.

Here's a video showing a practice-speed performance on MidiPiano in piano-roll view. The two pentatonic keyboard diagrams you need are shown in the video.

Here's the chord sequence - but remember that the right hand stays in E minor pentatonic (now! - was A minor before) for all of the last line. Only the left hand plays the Bm ('dut-de-doo').

Now here's an up-to-speed performance.

A true 12-bar version

Now we’re going to play a ‘true’ twelve bar version of the riff. The difference is in the last third, which in a straight-down-the-line twelve-bar chord sequence would have a bar of E (two bars here in fact), then in D, then back in A to finish.

You’ll hear how familiar it sounds.

Some people who’ve learned this riff with me have wanted to go up the Em pattern and down the Dm pattern feel free to experiment – and to put as much decoration in the right hand as you like.

There's a practice-speed run-through of the new last line before the performance proper.

A two-handed version

Now for the two-handed version. It’s useful because you’ll be playing the same sounds with different hands.

It's easy to get stuck with just one version. If you really know your stuff, you can play it in different ways.

This is the kind of repetition that will help you become a musician who looks at the keyboard and knows what the notes are going to sound like.

Here's the preparation.

Here's the performance video.

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We hope you've enjoyed your free Musicarta Pentatonic Workbook sample module! Now join the thousands of musicians who've cut their musical teeth on the pentatonic scales - and discover all the music you can make with these five-note gems!