Both songs are designed for alternating solos, improvising using all white keys.  Each song will give you a four bar (16 counts) introduction and then the first soloist should begin his or her solo.  After eight bars (32 counts) the soloists should switch.   When bar # 8 begins, both soloists will hear “1, 2, Ready, Switch”.  On the next count (the down beat of count #1), the present player should discontinue his or her solo and the other (or next) soloist should begin playing.  It does not that much if the performing solo ends their solo a little too late, or too soon, but try to continue throughout the entire eight bar phrase.  It will not be known who end soloing in each song unless the performer(s) list to that MP3 audio file.  Be ready, at any time, to close out soloing at the end of the song.

                The main skill this assignment is designed to work on, is getting use to smoothly shifting, up or down, one note of any given scale (or mode) when soloing.  As you are soloing, if a note is played play that sounds “incorrect”, simply move up or down to the next note of that designated scale.   Or, if you are improvising using a “Blues Clock”, move “clockwise” or “counter-clockwise” to the next adjacent note.  After your solo has been recorded, listen to it and critique the solos from an audience perspective.  As you (or another soloist playing) are playing, try to identify any notes that you feel do not sound correct.  When you do, listen to if you resolved the issue smoothly, using the “rule” stated above.

Bonus:  Another “fun thing” you could do is improvise with these songs using a keyboard.  An electric or acoustic piano, i-Pad, i-Phone (using the “Garage Band App/Its FREE!), or any other black and white keyboard on any device.  Even if you have never played a piano before, anything in the keys of; “C” Major, “A” minor, or the “G” Mixolydian mode, all can be improvised to by ONLY playing the white keys on any given keyboard.  Impress your family, friends, and even yourself, “jammin’” with an instrument you have never (or seldom) played before.