How To Play Blues Piano A Simplified Formula
May 25th, 2011
Blues is an American freestyle art form. There are no specific rules on how to play blues piano, nor are there many songs written in notation. However, the secret to becoming accomplished in the genre is in the left hand.
Ok, all you right handed people out there just let out a groan. The reason people think it is hard is because piano teachers make you learn chords on the left hand and melody on the right hand. The probably also teach you to chord or arpeggios behind a singer. Then you are told if you can’t play by music it is just wrong.
Formal training can be a block in the mind of a musician when you are required to think out of the box. Making both hands work in moving patterns at the same time is a little unorthodox, therefore considered taboo. This simplified formula will help to coordinate both hands in a particular fashion.
Start with placing your fifth finger or your little finger on C, two octaves below middle C. This C is sometimes called C2 because it is the second C from the left. Now produce an arpeggio or a five, three, one, with the left hand, playing C, G, and B flat. Arpeggios are played one note at a time.
Now do it backwards so you are walking downward in tone. This means the first note is a B flat and the last is the C. Practice it until it is fluid and smooth. Once you have mastered this arpeggio you are ready to move on and add a right hand part.
For just a minute stay with the left hand and learn this series of chords in this order: C minor, E flat major, F, G flat minor, G major and B flat major. Practice until they are like butter to play. Now learn the same progression on the right hand. When you can perform this series quickly and smoothly on both hands, you are ready to progress to the next level. Blues players call this progression a one, flat three, flat five, flat seven and an eight or a one.
Minor scales are the key in this genre of music. Create a C minor scale, now add a G flat between the F and G. Skip the A, play the B flat and the octave C. You now have a blues C minor scale. It is a slightly different mode than a normal minor scale. Here is a nice little ditty or lead lick using this modified scale. Play C, D sharp, F, F sharp, and G. Do it forward and back until it flows easily.
Now put the left and right hand together. Start with the arpeggio on the left and chords on the right. Play one chord with one arpeggio and practice. Now perform the chords with the left hand and the lead with the right. Listen to get the lead in a place where it sounds good with the chords. After you can do both of these segments easily, do them together. Learn to switch chording hands with no break between. Once you get the above exercise down then try the arpeggios on the left hand while doing the lead with the right.
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