How easy is it to learn to play in this manner? This boy is only age 14


http://youtu.be/3ojt7e88g2I

Erm.....not very easy!

Yes, that was awesome. I watched it three times. Who's student is that?

You don't really teach someone to play like that. You can teach boogie woogie bass patterns and riffs as well as ways of building successful improvisations and solos but this lad has a rare gift.

Thanks for the link. Cool music.

According to his website he started classical study with a teacher at age 9 and continues classical study.

I think it's important to respect his hard work and realize he didn't just fall off a skateboard one day and play like that. Yes, of course he is talented too.

Yeah this boy is gifted. The youtube link was put up in 2009 and now this boy would be 19 years of age. I wonder what he is doing now. Better go look at his website

To answer the original question, you can't learn to do this overnight. Probably years of practice and experience with the style.

He is one of the best boogie woogie players in the world at this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShlVcolw4o

I have been following him for a while. He also tours around and improvise Blues. You can see further video of his on youtube..
Yes, he is very talented. I believe him to be 16 years of age now.

Is there a question in a teaching context?

I will be VERY rude here... I don't fully get the agitation surrounding boogie woogie... I find that the harmonic progression and the rhythmic pattern are identical with one another, so I'm not seeing/hearing too much creativity there. It's like the blues in guitar, but there you get the different sound and you get some bands (Jon Spenser for example) who take it further steps further... Here I'm not too sure... :-/

Sorry...

I agree with Nikolas. I don't see much to admire here, other than his technical fluency, perhaps.

I think the best thing about this video is how much he's enjoying what he's doing. I love watching young people get so much pleasure from their music. For me - the video brings back memories of my first teacher playing at parties. He could improvise blues/boogie woogie/jazz piano arrangements for hours. Good memories!

There's a reminder to all of us.

No matter how skilled we may become over a lifetime of practice on any known instrument, we can turn on youtube and find an 8 year old who's twice as ood.

<humor> <but true>

+1 Define "great." Playing repeated notes quickly is a skill almost anyone can learn very quickly. Playing everything fortissimo requires no skill nor finesse. Learning a LH blues progression is required by most methods around level 3. Not a big deal. Overall, kind of reminds me of Jerry Lee Lewis - perhaps that's his goal.

From what I've heard I think Luca at 12 was already far better than Jerry Lee Lewis ever was. I think the way Luca plays now makes Jerry Lee Lewis look like a beginner.

I think you misread John's post.

"3. Not a big deal. Overall, kind of reminds me of Jerry Lee Lewis - perhaps that's his goal."

I think you misread John's post.

AZN, I suspect we're wasting our energy on this thread.

I haven't figure out the thread yet. I think the OP was asking what he needs to study, maybe with what kind of teacher specializing in what, to be able to play this kind of music in this kind of music. And then there was all this discussion about who is better than whom, and whether he's great.

I don't know a great deal of music theory, but boogie woogie does seem to be more repetitive and lack music sophistication that other types of music have.

However, music is a very individual thing and different people react to different music differently. Simple can be beautiful while sophisticated can be boring. However, I found that many people listening to boogie woogie unknowingly start tapping their foot according to the rhythm (you get that a lot in blues music too). I think that is a very powerful reaction to music and I never saw anybody tap their foot or move their body when hearing classical music. Of course, classical music can express sadness or other "feelings" in a way that boogie woogie can't.

My $0.02

If the purpose of this thread was to entertain me, then you have all been highly successful.

There are a few things everyone should know before this thread gets locked:

1) It takes skill to be able to play like Luca, or whatever his name is.

2) It does not take as much skill as learning Classical.

3) He does not have much musical talent and would very quickly give up if he were to attempt Classical.

How do you know #3?

I like my classical music as much as anyone else but I still think this boy is very talented with what he is doing. It's a different style and clearly one that is enjoyed by lots of people. Sorry to say it but saying there is nothing to admire or that he has no talent or creativity just sounds superior and snobbish. It's what gives classical music and classical musicians a bad name I'm afraid.

Thank you

I am not trying to defend what was said earlier, but I must say that, conversely, classical music gets dumped everywhere I go. The great majority of the population could really care less about music outside of their own little "favorite genre." Most people are not informed about what makes "good" classical music, so they are easily attracted to what sounds really fast and difficult and "impressive."

You play a Chopin Nocturne for them, and they either leave, fall asleep, or say something stupid or snobbish.

Polyphonist's point Number#3:



Polyphonist apparently does not know much about Luca: He/she is not even sure what is Luca's name:



FYIW, Apparently Luca is Classically trained, and prefers Chopin:

http://www.piano99.de/en/info/interviews

Boogie Woogie starts to bore me to listen to after a few pieces because most are very similar and are (for the most part) just based on the 12 bar blues (I, IV, V).

Having said that however - it's just plain fun to play at whatever level you can. It makes me happy, makes me smile, makes me tap my feet and makes people around me happy. Not bad things.

I would like to have been able to play it like him when I was his age, and it's making him happy. He has obviously spent a lot of time at it. As far as how much time, you'd have ask him, but you can be sure it wasn't trivial.

Keep it up.