Creating Slow Gospel Blues Progressions

A couple of weeks ago I taught Live-to-Library Slow Gospel Blues Progressions lesson. Students had a bunch of questions and we spent a lot of time on the 2 topics I’m going to discuss in today’s article: dominant motion and bass motion (more specifically alternate bass motion).

Dominant Motion

Dominant motion happens when a dominant chord moves to it’s resolution chord which is up a perfect 4th or down a perfect 5th.

What does this mean?

Well, after studying diatonic motion, you learned that there is only (1) dominant chord per key in music. This we call the V7 chord.

If we take a simple progression like…

Ex 1: C to Amin to Dmin to G7

and we precede each of these chords with their dominant 7th chord, we get example #2 below:

This concept is covered in much more detail in the Live-to-Library Slow Gospel Progressions lesson.

Bass Motion

Bass motion is the motion of the bass note. This could be the root, or it might be another note (usually a chord tone).

In example #3 below, see how I chose a different note to play in the bass? This creates, what I think, is one of the coolest sounds when it comes to chord progressions. Just by messing around with the bass motion, I’m able to create dozens of NEW sounds while using the SAME chord progression! It’s kind of like chord recycling!

If you’re interested in hearing these examples or learning how to play them and many more, please check out my Live-to-Library Slow Gospel Progressions lesson.

Do me a favor and leave your comments or questions below, and be sure to share this article!

Willie President

Willie Myette is a Berklee-trained pianist, author of over a dozen music education books, and serial entrepreneur who has built multiple global piano education brands. A scholarship recipient to Berklee College of Music, Willie launched his first company, JazzKids®, teaching children as young as six how to improvise and create their own music. As a professional jazz musician, he has toured nationally and internationally, produced three albums with his trio Katahdin’s Edge, earned radio play on over 90 stations, received coverage in DownBeat, JazzTimes, and Jazziz, and showcased at SXSW. He is the founder and president of Jazzedge® Academy, Jazz Piano Lessons, and HomeSchool Piano—online platforms serving students worldwide, from absolute beginners to professional pianists, using his structured 6-step teaching method.

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