Exercise 1
A basic exercise using the roots of the chords (the ‘bass notes’, the 1’s) of a basic blues. Knowing and hearing the roots of chords makes improvising easier. Always listen to the bass!
Exercise 2
This time the b7 (a semitone lower than the 7th tone of the major scale of the root of the chord) is added. This makes chords unstable, thus causes tension. In blues this tension is almost constant, making blues loaded with unresolving tensions thus thrilling.
Exercise 3
Instead of going directly from the b7 down to the last note of each bar, there’s a note below that last note first. That last note of the bar can be seen as the target which is postponed by a higher and a lower note; playing around the target, postponing the release of tension.
Exercise 4
This time the rhythm changes and plays with the beat by placing notes just a little bit before or after the beat (the quarter notes).
Exercise 5
Eighth notes galore! Hard to breath in this one. Be creative. Catch small breaths in between and don’t sing too loud. You’ll have a microphone on stage, never forget it. Unlike classical music, jazz singers always sing through mics. This means you can sing relaxed most of the time. Practice this as much as possible. If possible with a microphone and sound system.
