In the film Banded, Boston-based band Ghost Box Orchestra discusses an idea for a new work based on an image using a simple E minor pentatonic riff. Watch the clip from the film then explore the accompanying exercise in your classroom. Through this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the relationship between musical and visual expression by creating a minor pentatonic composition for a chosen piece of media.

This lesson allows your students to explore their musical creativity through improvisation by developing ideas for melodic lines using the Aeolian mode. Students will gain an aural and theoretical understanding of the Aeolian mode through improvisation and analysis of a minor key groove in our Notation Mixer.  

The activities in BANDED Lesson 2 will build on the composition concepts introduced in BANDED Lesson 1, and will lead students on a deeper exploration of pentatonic scales, this time examining the relationship between minor and major pentatonic scales using a variety of song forms to guide the composition process.

This culminating lesson will build on BANDED Lessons 1 & 2, and will enable students to gain an awareness of the relationship between the minor pentatonic and the blues scale. In addition, students will be introduced to the harmonic structure of the standard blues progression. Students will begin by composing and playing simple melodies based on the blues scale, then move on to improvising over a 12-bar blues using different approaches.

This two part lesson, with an exclusive video tutorial series, features Harold Stephan's presentation at the 2016 City Music Summit as he demonstrates how to leverage the power of a current hit song to teach the 12-bar blues. Demonstrations within PULSE include how to use assets from Take Me To The River and the Study Room to create a rhythmic scaffold of a tune synched to a YouTube video using Noteflight (for student compositions) in order to create an interdisciplinary blues lesson.

Students will explore the socio-political factors that gave rise to the blues and discuss technology's influence on shaping musical genres. Demonstrations within PULSE include how to use assets from Take Me To The River and the Study Room to create an interdisciplinary blues lesson. 

This exclusive video tutorial series features Harold Stephan's presentation at the 2016 City Music Summit as he demonstrates how to remix a current hit song to teach the 12-bar blues. Demonstrations within PULSE include how to use assets from Take Me To The River and the Study Room to create a rhythmic scaffold of a tune synched to a YouTube video using Noteflight (for student compositions) in order to create an interdisciplinary blues lesson.

Students will discuss the socio-political factors that gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s with connection to The Staple Singers' music. By exploring the tune "Wish I Had Answered" students will connect their past discussion to the music they are learning. Demonstrations within PULSE include how to use assets from Take Me To The River, a featured length film that takes a look into the history of STAX Records and the music of Memphis, Tennessee.

This next set of PULSE BANDED lesson strategies begins by featuring the band Zili Misik. The foundation of their music-making is based on respect and collaboration, and their music is influenced by roots music of the African diaspora. Using their music and spirited performance as a jumping off point, these lessons will provide some historical context and engage students in listening to and playing a variety of rhythmic grooves inspired by music of the African diaspora.

In our next BANDED lesson students will dive into the basics of a rhythmic pattern called “clave”, named after the traditional two-stick percussion instrument. There are two basic types of clave: son or rumba clave. Most Afro-Cuban styles of music are built around one version of the clave pattern, which is fixed and repeated throughout the song, and forms the foundation for percussionists, as well as the other musicians in the ensemble. Watch the video to view how Zili Misik incorporates clave patterns into their music.

This last lesson in the BANDED series is a culminating experience in which students will build on rhythmic and melodic concepts introduced in all of the previous lessons in the series. The activities in this lesson will focus mainly on building a groove around the 2/3 son clave rhythm pattern and will explore the basic cascara rhythm and other rhythms that are commonly found in many styles of Afro-Latin music. Drawing on experience with pentatonic and blues scales from previous lessons, students will then improvise or compose their own Afro-Latin inspired groove.

This holistic lesson will test your ear training, composition, and performance skills. By transcribing the original refrain from the spiritual "Wade In The Water" you will then be asked to transpose the melody to a different key using chromatic transposition techniques. Once transposed, you will have the opportunity to play the melody over an original PULSE groove of "Wade In The Water"!

Henry Roeland Bryd, better know as Professor Longhair, is a legendary blues pianist and singer who played a big part in the history of New Orleans music. His iconic combination of the rumba with blues, boogie-woogie, and "second line" parade rhythms influenced New Orleans' greatest piano players including Fats Domino, Eddie Bo, James Booker, and Dr. John. This lesson will introduce students to the basics of "second line" rhythmic patterns from New Orleans and their ties to Afro-Cuban traditions.  

The D Mixolydian Rock Groove featured in this lesson consists of a chord progression over which you'll improvise using the D Mixolydian scale. You'll find that as long as you're playing in D Mixolydian, you don't need to worry about switching up your notes over the chord changes, because the notes in the correct mode will sound good over all the chords. Instead you can focus on melodic ideas, articulation, technique, emotion/feel, dynamics, rhythm, tone, phrasing, space/rest, and listening.

Have you ever worried about playing the "right" notes that you couldn't enjoy playing your solo? The C Dorian Alternative Rock Groove featured in this lesson consists of a chord progression over which you'll improvise using the C Dorian scale. You'll find that as long as you're playing in C Dorian, you don't need to worry about switching up your notes over the chord changes, because the notes in the correct mode will sound good over all the chords. Instead you can focus on melodic ideas, articulation, technique, emotion/feel, dynamics, rhythm, tone, phrasing, space/rest, and listening.

This five-video series will introduce tools and resources for any musician to develop effective practice routines, improve musicianship, and prepare for performances. In this first video, you will discover that the best way to progress musically is through goal oriented practice sessions and organizing your practice time using a journal.

In Lesson 2, you will discover the secret to having an effective practice session by mapping out a clear direction for your entire practice session. Leo Blanco will also guide you through best practices for warming-up while practicing your technique in creative and constructive ways.

This lesson will focus on developing a repertoire library. Your repertoire is a list of songs that you know pretty well and that you feel comfortable playing at any time, whether it’s an onstage performance or recorded session. You will also have an opportunity to jam using play-along tools, such as the PULSE Jam Room and Casio Downloads to develop your performance skills.

Improvisation is the art of composing instantaneously, based on melody, harmony and structure of a song. In Lesson 4 students will describe and understand improvisation's role in a musical tune and focus on developing strategies to improve their own improvisational techniques.

In the last lesson of this series, students will learn about self-assessment, how to modify their goals, and how to find their own voice in music by describing the benefits of recording themselves, identifying their musical influences and long-term goals.