Description

Grab your coat, hat and your doggie's lead for an outing with Buster Walks The Blues, a laid-back swing duet for both players at about the Grade 1 standard (ABRSM).

The structure of this piece is AABA with a 4-bar introduction and the performance tempo is at 100bpm, with a relaxed walking feel. Quarter-note quavers are played in the classic swing style:

Parts for both players are written in the normal treble and bass clefs, but played an octave above for the Primo, and an octave below for the Secondo.

The Secondo accompaniment features a walking bassline that should be played legato and not too heavily. There is also a little solo for the Secondo to enjoy in the middle 'B' section.

Once the notes are secure, there are then plenty of opportunities to work on the marked phrasing, articulation and dynamics.

The piece will help both players to become more familiar with playing ledger lines in their left hands. It's also a good introduction to 'blues notes', such as the minor 3rd and flattened 7th.

For fun, there are some lyrics in the middle 'B' section, which both players might like to sing or shout out. This could also be an enjoyable audience participation feature that will create a buzz in concerts!

As well as a performance MP3 recording, Buster Walks The Blues comes with 5 other play-along MP3 backing tracks featuring jazz guitar, upright bass and drums:

• Play-along for both players
• Play-along for Primo
• Play-along for Secondo
• Slow tempo practice play-along for Primo
• Slow-tempo practice play-along for Secondo

I hope you have a fun outing with Buster Walks The Blues and I look forward to hearing how you get on!