Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical How do you play the Blues?

Get a copy of the "Blues Hanon" from amazon.com

The Blues Hanon is a good one, just showed it to a student today.
I also like the Jazz Keyboard Toolbox by Bill Cunliffe, it starts with the blues and takes it into jazz.

Z
www.upbeatmusicstudio.com

PLAY and SING!! You strike me as someone who genuinely loves music and plays solely because you need to express yourself. You shouldn't be nervous about doing what you love. Some of what I considered to be the greatest musicians that I've heard had technique that left much to be desired, but the manner in which they played or sang, what they brought out of themselves in music, the spirit in which they imbued their music, made them far better musicians than many I've heard with 20 times the technical expertise. As an example, what do you think of Joe Cocker's voice? Not too pretty technically, is it? How about Michael MacDonald's voice? Monotonous, and all from the back of his throat. On a technical level, everything a singer shouldn't do, right?
What's the result when they sing with this flawed technique and inferior vocal instrument? The result is an incredible performance. They're not great singers based on their voices, but the manner in which they sing, thusly tremendous musicians!
Play and sing free from anxiety. Your music is what you bring to it. Enjoy what you love!

that's where the beer part comes in! seriously, I know what you mean - I was terrified to take a solo the first couple of times I jammed with band. But beleive me - for someone who loves music as much as you obviously do the temptation to eventually jump in and try your hand at it will eventually win out. Relax - it's a jam not a recital.

Oh almost forgot - two books that were pretty good for me were John Novello's the Contemporary Keyboardist (a must-have book of which Blues is only a chapter or two) and Eric Kriss' Barrelhouse and Boogie piano (has some excellent transcriptions of alot of blues/boogiewoogie chestnuts, exercises and a good discussion of bent and crushed notes)

Speaking of THE BLUES.....

Have you checked out the dvd`s that David Bennet Cohen and Dr. John have made?
Avaliable at http://www.homespuntapes.com/
All of them are really great if you are into THE BLUES!!

vituosic1- I LOVE music. Its the only thing that kept me sane growing up in my family. I love Professor Longhair. He sang off key alot but I feel that if you put your heart and soul behind what you do it will be great. I also listen to Rock Bottom. Nobody would sign him on a record deal for a long time because they didnt think he had a good singing voice. It's the blues baby it can be whatever and however you want.
Icon-I remember my first recital. My hands were shaking so bad I couldn't hit the right keys. The teacher made recitals nesessary so I quit going to her. I think that once I'm better at playing I wont be so nervous.
Alias43- I've got the Dr. John teaches New oRLEANS Piano, but it's to advanced for me right now. I love Dr. John but I think they could have done a better job explaining more things and they could have kept the camera on his hands a lot more then they did. But it did come with sheet music.
Thanks again for all of you guys' input.

I find it's also fun to play blues with a Boogie piano style. Even in the Latin-American Rhythm beat. Like I said, it's a far ranging style full of wonderful instant impro-themes.

Alan

Hi keytops and others...I agree fully that it can be difficult to grasp what Dr.John is playing. You`ll just have to watch it over and over again. But its worth the effort. At least i think so.. The dvd`s from David B. Cohen i can absolutely recommend. He is a very good teacher and explains whats happening in a good way.

Generally there seems to be a lot of videos on instruction on how to play the guitar. But very little ( in my opinion that is )on how to play the piano. Or am i way wrong? Is there somewhere on the net where i havent been?

Keytops
Sorry for the delay...I've been really busy. The book is called John Brimhall's complete book of Dancing Rhythms. The reason I mention this book is because it has a lots of different LH boogie styles. Keep listening and imitating what you are hearing. The other book I mentioned "Blues riffs for piano" I think was by Eric Kriss...somebody else mentioned him. This book and others like it will spell out the more common turnarounds and riffs...at least enough to get you going with the basic concepts. That's the best I can do without actually sitting down at the piano with you. By the way...have you taken any lessons with someone proficient in this style of music? You would make quicker progress with a good teacher.

Hobie, Thanks again. I do have a teacher but for some reason I feel like I need to know some basic blues skills so that I don't waste my time having him teach them to me. I feel more comfortable that way. I also like to try things myself to see how I do instead of a teacher trying to get me to do the way they do. Does that make sence?

yeah David cohens' dvds and book/cd combos are pretty useful.

I just started to read some about the blues,
and it said that one way for a complete beginner
to get started playing the blues right off is
to use the 5-note pentonic blues scale:
Eb, F, G, Bb, C, and use it to improvise
over any chord progression. There are
traditional blues chord progressions, but
it said that actually any chord progession
can be used for the blues if you use
the pentonic scale in the rt. hand to
improvise. So, for example, you could play
the chords in a Chopin waltz and improvise
with the pentonic scale above it--any
combination of the five notes--and it will
sound like blues.

That's a start. Actually the very first blues scale I learned was THE blues scale which in C would be: C, Eb, F, F#, G, Bb, C.

However, I didn't REALLY start playing blues until I watched some instructional videos by Dr. John (which were more like a performance that comes with transcriptions) and begun learning "licks." I started using mixolydian rather than the blues scale, but used the flat 3rd as a grace note to slide up to the natural 3rd or to slide down to the 2nd (I would occasionally use some other grace notes, but mainly the flat third).

Greg I agree with you on the Dr.John DVD.

As there is such a varied scope for blues I take the view that it's best to listen or watch plenty of recorded blues to get a feel for what you want to play.

As with jazz, it seems rather a contradiction to ask how to do something which is requiring more of a natural inspiration than a teacher. I realize that unless one can play by ear then some teaching is necessary. But as a final resort it must be a natural feeling that makes the ulitimate pleasure from this musical art form.

Alan

Which Dr. John DVD would you guys reccomend?

I have the dr. john teaches new orleans style piano and i found it to be an advanced DVD for me.some of the time the camera isnt on his hands so you have to have a good ear with these DVD's. just my opinion,oh so humble.

I have the dr. john teaches new orleans style piano and i found it to be an advanced DVD for me.some of the time the camera isnt on his hands so you have to have a good ear with these DVD's. just my opinion,oh so humble.

Keytops,

What presents you with the biggest challenge regarding the blues at this point? Improvising over the progression, executing voicings, or other. I have done a lot of coaching when it comes to getting people started with the blues and have found that various approaches will work, depending on the level of familiarity in different areas. If walking a bass while playing blues in a solo context, for example, presents a challenge, then less focus should perhaps be placed on melody/improvisational complexities (and vice versa). It's a "give and take" relationship as one progresses. Hope you are having fun with it all!

I can do the I IV V with my left hand, but what gives me the problem is improvising with the right hand and also keeping my left hand from speeding up or slowing down. When I improvise with my right hand I dont know what to do or what notes work for the I IV V. I listen to the blues all the time but its hard coming up with my own thing.executing voicings is something I havent even tried. Ive been playing Peggy Lee's Fever for 4 months now and Ive just started trying to voice it. Im not sure if im doing it right I play it the way I would sing it.Thanks for your help.