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Unit 2 · The form and the landing

The twelve bars

Learn the twelve-bar blues, four bars home, two away and back, then the turnaround, and sing each bar's root with a swung "doo-bah" into each change. Free.

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What it teaches

The blues is twelve bars long: four of I, two of IV, two of I, then V, IV, I and V to turn around. Each bar's root is the floor under it.

I, I, I, I. Home for four bars

IV, IV, I, I. Away and back

V, IV, I, V. And round again

What you sing

  1. Listen to each, then choose.
  2. The root of every bar on "doo", with a swung "doo-bah" into each change.
Try one round

Singing safely

Light and easy: a loose jaw, a medium volume, the middle of your voice. Accent with breath, never the throat. Stop if anything tightens.

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Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
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