Month 1 Piano Plan: Stabilize
Anchor song: Sweet Home Chicago / Early Blues 12-Bar Laboratory
Piano role this month: Clarify form and simple support.
Primary key: Bb major blues (four-note left-hand movement is natural) or C major blues (all white keys in the lower register).
12-bar blues chord chart in Bb:
Bar 1: Bb7 | Bar 2: Bb7 | Bar 3: Bb7 | Bar 4: Bb7
Bar 5: Eb7 | Bar 6: Eb7 | Bar 7: Bb7 | Bar 8: Bb7
Bar 9: F7 | Bar 10: Eb7 | Bar 11: Bb7 | Bar 12: F7
Shell voicings in Bb:
- Bb7: left hand Bb + Ab (root + 7th), or Bb + D (root + 3rd)
- Eb7: left hand Eb + Db
- F7: left hand F + Eb
Month 1 piano study versions:
| Version | What to play |
|---|---|
| A | Left hand roots only — one note per bar through 12 bars |
| B | Left hand roots + right hand triad on bar starts (beats 1 of bars 1, 5, 9) |
| C | Right hand spread triad color in one place (once per chorus) |
| D | One short top-line answer (two to four notes) after a natural pause |
Month 1 week-by-week piano focus:
Week 1 — Piano: Open the AMF semester workflow on piano. Play the 12-bar form in Bb or C with left-hand roots only. Record a baseline: form and time, nothing else. Goal: complete three choruses without losing place.
Week 2 — Piano: Add the Charleston feel with right hand — chord on beat 1, short anticipation before beat 3. Practice with left hand roots only until the feel is stable. One call, one silence, one response per four-bar phrase.
Week 3 — Piano: Introduce right-hand triad support — one triad shape, played as a chord or lightly arpeggiated. Add one 027 moment in a natural gap. Build 027 visually from the current chord root.
Week 4 — Piano: Full Month 1 integration. Left-hand shells, right-hand triad support, one top-line phrase, one Aim-Route-Complete arc. Record it. Three sentences in writing: what the form felt like, what worked, what Month 2 improves.