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#2458306 09/09/15 06:27 PM
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Hi!
I am learning both blues and country piano. To me it seems much more easy to achieve the blues sound on a piano that it is when it comes to country. What are your thoughts on this?
It seems like blues piano is way more suited for a solo pianist than what country piano is. Country piano is bassically just making piano a rhythm instrument.
AS pianists what are your views on this?

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Could you give some youtube examples of country piano? I'm not sure what that even is.

The majority of piano piano in pop/rock is very minimal accompaniment. I wouldn't even really call it rhythm because guitar takes that role most of the time, it's more the harmonic structure of the song. Kind of like the bass for the middle register, but also able to play fills and solos when needed.

Of course piano also has the ability to be a complete solo instrument as well which you readily see for blues, pop, jazz. But you rarely see it for rock or country unless it's a ballad which isn't typical of the genre. The guitar and drums are just the core of those styles and while the piano can mimic it it's not suited to it.

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Here's some Country piano - https://youtu.be/JvfG9uFswis (Floyd Cramer - "Last Dance")


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Hey IA, here's a C&W top 25 list ... youtube should provide some piano samples like the second link:

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Cultur...video/Stand-by-Your-Man-by-Tammy-Wynette



https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crazy+patsy+cline+piano

Last edited by Rerun; 09/10/15 06:09 AM.

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Originally Posted by iamanders
Hi!
I am learning both blues and country piano. To me it seems much more easy to achieve the blues sound on a piano that it is when it comes to country. What are your thoughts on this?
IMO situation is just the opposite: to play the blues on the piano is more complex than country; melodic line requires subtleties, even beyond the temperament of the piano through touch . Country style on the piano - in addition to the repertoire is a  manner of decoration melody in the right hand, as it did for example Floyd Cramer .I did this even with a Russian folk song.
Left-hand part borrowed from   bass or stride piano ( that I love more).Country style accompaniment on piano is taken from the guitar. So you can understand why the country pianist is not really considered as separate profession - unlike the blues pianist.

Quote
It seems like blues piano is way more suited for a solo pianist than what country piano is. Country piano is bassically just making piano a rhythm instrument.
Why ? If a pianist can play solo waltz or ragtime, he can also play country music!



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This is something very near and dear to me. I've played guitar and five string banjer since 1980. I've played fiddle for a dozen years. I see piano from this perspective. Pianists don't understand when I equate a piano to a banjo. I've been fitting threes & fives within fours & eights, all my adult life. I didn't know it was called a chord arpeggio until a couple of years ago. I am keen to phrasing, and fitting the chord arpeggio within the phrasing, I can fit a piano (roll) in where a guitar chord strum won't. Because I think of it like a banjo roll. But it's better than a banjer, because it has a low end. So of the millions of two and three chord Country tunes I can play them in either, C,D,G, or A, if I have the words.
Quick & dirty example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEJD7fX7DuI


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Originally Posted by Farmerjones
I've played fiddle for a dozen years. I see piano from this perspective. Pianists don't understand when I equate a piano to a banjo.


Well, it depends on what pianists!

https://soundcloud.com/jazzman1945/russian-country

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One of the best examples of a classic country piano song :



A long long time ago, I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile....
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Hi!
When you play piano it is often very important how loud or soft you play certain notes.
Today I tried some rock n' roll piano (like Jerry Lee Lewis). Is it important that you don't play the left hand too loud or should both hands be played with same loudness?
What do you think about such things?
In classical music dynamics is very important. Is it also important in rock music? What do you think?

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Originally Posted by iamanders
Hi!
When you play piano it is often very important how loud or soft you play certain notes.https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/images/icons/default/shocked.gif
Today I tried some rock n' roll piano (like Jerry Lee Lewis). Is it important that you don't play the left hand too loud or should both hands be played with same loudness?
What do you think about such things?
In classical music dynamics is very important. Is it also important in rock music? What do you think?


The question of existence of balance between melody and comping is universal and does not depend on the genre of music. In rock and roll - just as in the classical vocal music - nothing should drown out the singing, especially the drums; between drums and bass there is a balance , between whole rhythm section and vocals too . All this certainly affects the performance on piano.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nPONxMNlbM

Last edited by Nahum; 10/08/15 12:26 AM.
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Originally Posted by iamanders
Hi!
When you play piano it is often very important how loud or soft you play certain notes.
Today I tried some rock n' roll piano (like Jerry Lee Lewis). Is it important that you don't play the left hand too loud or should both hands be played with same loudness?
What do you think about such things?
In classical music dynamics is very important. Is it also important in rock music? What do you think?

For both ensemble R&R and solo blues piano, you play both hands at f (forte). In solo where the LH is playing a groove it has an almost unique supporting role in having to do both the work of drums and bass and to compete with the RH which has the natural dynamic advantage of being in the upper register.

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Originally Posted by Nahum
Originally Posted by iamanders
Hi!
When you play piano it is often very important how loud or soft you play certain notes.https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/images/icons/default/shocked.gif
Today I tried some rock n' roll piano (like Jerry Lee Lewis). Is it important that you don't play the left hand too loud or should both hands be played with same loudness?
What do you think about such things?
In classical music dynamics is very important. Is it also important in rock music? What do you think?


The question of existence of balance between melody and comping is universal and does not depend on the genre of music. In rock and roll - just as in the classical vocal music - nothing should drown out the singing, especially the drums; between drums and bass there is a balance , between whole rhythm section and vocals too . All this certainly affects the performance on piano.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nPONxMNlbM

The OP is surely asking how the performing musician should treat dynamics. In recording, acoustic screens and booths - particularly for drums and vocals - are employed and balance decisions made by record producers and mixing engineers, not by the musician. Some drummers are loud and some are less so and are booked according to the producers' preferences. Often, a performance, like keyboard or guitar, will be recorded or replaced after the basic track has been laid down so performance volume wouldn't be an issue. In concerts it's the front of house mixing engineer who ensures everything is balanced and unless it's a difficult or small venue, musicians do their own thing, careless of balance issues. In fact they go beyond careless by organising their own monitor mix. It certainly wouldn't be relevant to iamanders question about how he plays his keyboard since this is likely to be electric (he can play pp and turn up the amp or ff and turn it down) or acoustic piano (miked and mixed).

In any case, it's not always about volume. In modern pop, the snare is very often the loudest by a huge margin but doesn't challenge the vocalist because of its location in the sound spectrum.

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Originally Posted by dire tonic

For both ensemble R&R and solo blues piano, you play both hands at f (forte).


Sometimes, but definitely not always. Certainly yes for Jerry Lee.

However, with Blues piano, there is a wide range of dynamics with that music.

Some examples of "not forte with both hands Blues" are are Charles Brown, and early Ray Charles, both have a definite variety of dynamics.

And, if you are playing with an ensemble / band that has a bass player, and you play LH bass forte, the bass player will not be happy with you because you are invading his sonic territory.


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Originally Posted by rocket88
Originally Posted by dire tonic

For both ensemble R&R and solo blues piano, you play both hands at f (forte).


Sometimes, but definitely not always. Certainly yes for Jerry Lee.

However, with Blues piano, there is a wide range of dynamics with that music.

Some examples of "not forte with both hands Blues" are are Charles Brown, and early Ray Charles, both have a definite variety of dynamics.

And, if you are playing with an ensemble / band that has a bass player, and you play LH bass forte, the bass player will not be happy with you because you are invading his sonic territory.

I wanted to counter the idea that the attention to LH/RH balance is as important in R&R and blues as it is in classical. It's not. Also, I get the impression that iamanders is a beginner so might be looking for a guiding principle rather than a list of exceptions which prove the rule.

But to address the points you raise. If I'm playing the kind of sturdy blues groove that works the LH - I suspect that's what the OP has in mind - I'm definitely not going to be playing it mf against a forte RH and sonic territory is rarely stolen in ensemble playing because of the vast difference in timbre between the instruments. There's no shortage of YT examples which bear that out, where - on paper at least - the piano LH and bass could be said to be 'fighting' but in fact work just fine. True, if I'm playing that LH raggedly then I would expect complaints and not just from the bass player.

Blues is a vast genre and I've no doubt you can point to examples where the LH is deliberately quieter than the RH but as a general rule, and for a beginner, I wouldn't pay heed. To put it another way; a pianist in this genre who's worth listening to never lost a gig by playing even-handed.


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