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What do you suggest for learning to play the Blues? I have a Basic Blues Keyboard book with a cd. I also have a book of scales, chords, arpeggios. Is there anything essential that I need?
Thanks

I dont know exactly what level of achievement you're at. I'm at level "fairly hopeless", and working towards grade "not too crap", having gained a distinction in Grade "utterly crap", as awarded by my family.
Three years ago I went out and bought Tim Richards book "improvising blues piano" and have worked my way through the vast majority of it (all the bits I like on the CD)over 3 years. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I've also got "The Ultimate Blues Collection" (with a silver grey cover). I suspect that for a complete beginner this would be too difficult and end up gathering dust.
If you can find a teacher who is also interested in Blues I think you'd find that invaluable - you'd learn quicker, probably practice harder, because a good teacher will constantly set achievable goals to motivate you and you will pick up more than you could from a book, as well as having a sympathetic ear when you're finding those cross rhythms and coordination too difficult.
Everyone always says listen, listen, listen to bands, radio CDs & other recordings...but how much time have you got?
My apologies if you're already a highly accomplished pianist but I get the imression you're where I was 3 years ago
Good luck

Tim Richards is good for all the basics - I've lent my copy to someone who finds it very useful.

A suggestion for someone to listen to is Chris Stainton. He appears on numerous albums, but I particularly recommend Clapton's "From the Cradle" as he manages to use just about every known blues cliché.

nick

wombat thanks for the laughs this early in the morning. I've been playing for a little over a year now.I've gone through 3 teachers so far and now I'm just doing my thing. The teacher I just had loves the blues but said I neededd to know my scales, chords yatta....so with him I was just taking a professor longhair sheetmusic to him and we'd spend an hour on that. I listen to the blues all the time and I watch live bands but I still can't sit in front of the piano and bust out some blues...there must be a formula.

"but said I neededd to know my scales, chords yatta"

Find another teacher! You only need to know one scale and three or four basic chords to get started. Jeesh. These old-school teachers really get my goat.

If you really want to make rapid progress, find a teacher who wants to get you started playing blues from the get-go. They should be able to show you how to play a simple blues tune at the first session.

Keytops

That is such a huge question I did not post right away because I didn't know where to begin. Then I read your second post about playing Professor Longhair and listening to blues all the time. That is essential for you to understand what you are trying to play, after all, there are so many styles and ideas in the broad term "blues"

For some concrete advice...2 books. One is John Brimhall's Dance Rhythms book. I know it's obscure but it has about 20 pages of blues and boogie styles with exercises to go with. It outlines some basic structure of blues/rock/boogie songs and gets you started with many different left hand patterns. As you know, many piano blues songs are based around a left-hand "backbeat" This book is full of that stuff. Second book...from Cherry Lane Pub. "Blues Riffs for the Piano". This is primarily for development of right hand stuff. It has a CD, and lots of examples of commonly-heard riffs...including Prof. Longhair's styles. It is a pretty advanced book, but you sound as if this is what you are seeking. Plus it starts with the easier stuff and gets harder as it goes. You can also use the cd to really let your ear hear what you are trying to do...so many crushed notes, grace notes, sliding notes, that musical notation makes it seem like it is harder than it really is. Prof. Longhair is one of my favorites.

Listening is crucial. Now that it is getting towards Christmas, why don't you take the melody to a Christmas tune and play a blues style in your LH? So many of these tunes are just blues and jazz turnarounds anyway. Try "Jingle-bell Rock", "Winter Wonderland", "Oh Christmas Tree", or whatever you want. You'll be the hit of the party and it's a good way to avoid doing dishes!

Wombat66

I base my blues playing on the St Louis Blues, as it is often heard in other blues, as the theme. I find it hard to explain as I'm a pianist that has always played by ear (70 years!)and the blues is very easy to improvise. The feeling is in the ear/brain and subconscious mind, try and copy the blues theme from cds of your favourite artists.

Composing in blues is fascinating and never ends, either until your wife busrts in and tells you dinner's ready or you fall asleep. Just when your in your own world,

Enjoy and practice as you will never regret it.

Alan

I think scales are very valid, especialy once you get beyond a certain point. The kid I'm helping with "jazz" has some basic technical problems that stop him playing what he wants to play. So it's back to basics, including all the major and minor scales and variations on Hannon - but not so as to learn the scales, just to get the fingers doing what they need to do AND at the same time do it consistently and under full control.

Scales etc are great for this.

"Scales etc are great for this."

Absolutely. But...

"especialy once you get beyond a certain point"

That's the key point. To insist that a student have all the scales and chords memorized before even beginning on the Blues, Jazz, or whatever is completely ridiculous! :-/

Hobie, thanks for the information. I thought I was the only one who has heard of 'Fess'.
I searched for Dance Rhythms and had no success, is it under a diferent name?
Thanks again

Keytops...I'll get the complete name tomorrow for you, it's at my studio. I think it's something like "John Brimhall's Complete book of Dance Rhythms" but I'll get all the info to you tomorrow. Professor Longhair!! What an amazing player. He had such a great feel and all of those rolled chord, triplet figures, lightning fast and so funky!! I love it!

Clint Eastwood did a whole TV program (on uk TV) about blues and it was over 1 hour long. He interviewed many famous blues players.Jay McShan for one. They had a piano there and it was like a master class. I do not know wether it's available in some form.

Anybody like Ray Charles' style ? he also has done a TV broadcast quite recently. Used a keyboard mostly.

Blues is a wide ranging style isn't it?

Alan

swingal, I have that on dvd!
Hobie, thanks again. I just finished reading a book on DR.JOHN. He used to hang out and jam with Fess. He definately seemed like an interesting person -wish I could have met him. You know he couldnt read sheet music to save his live, funny, it seems to be that way for all the greats. Are you familular with Dr. John? Im trying to figure out Quarter Parrish.

I'll offer my insight.

I've been playing the blues a little bit over the last few years. I've sat in at blues clubs (an excellent way to learn by the way) and have gotten decent feedback.

The first thing to do is internalize the 12 bar blues progression. 95 % of all blues songs use this same chord progression. Im7(4) IVm7(2) Im7(2) Vm7 IVm7 Im7(2) You hear it everywhere if you listen for it. It's very prevalent in rock (Tush-ZZ Top, Rock'n Roll-Led Zepplin, HoundDawg-Elvis), Country (Folsom Prison Blue-Johny Cash, God Blessed Texas-Little Texas) and Jazz (All Blues, Blue Bossa, Freddie the FreeLoader). Listen for it and count along and lock into it whnever you hear it. I suspect that this chord progression is primal to the human species. Once you feel it you'll always know exactly where you are in the progression.

The other big thing is the blues scale. It is 1, flat 3, 4, flat 5, 5, and flat 7. So for C it is C, E flat, F, G flat, G, and B flat. Stick to these notes primarily when soloing and you'll sound like one blue dude/dudette.

Hopefully this helps and was not too basic.

http://boomboom.dork.com

I agree with boomboom. Once you have got the key scales and progressions under your fingers, improvising blues is quite easy.

Personally I prefer to play blues on the electric guitar, mainly because tonal variation is a great deal more varied with string bending and other techniques which are not available to pianists.

Good luck

Adrian

Wow,its really dificult getting both hands to do diferent things. It s funny, with fur elise or fever it's easy for my hands to do two diferent things(single notes). But it seems dificult to keep a steady beat with my left hand while playing a melody in my right.HAAAA!
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

Like this:
C C C C
F F C C
G F C C

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I I

BTW, BoomBoom, "Blue Bossa" is not a blues tune.

I think the only thing that's 'essential' is a love of the genre and a pair of good ears. It's an improvisational genre and so can be challenging to folks with a classical background who are more used to having a score as a roadmap. I just started by picking up interesting licks off of records by ear. These licks will form the 'words' of your improvisations. Then start stringing them together into phrases using the blues scale some of the other posters have provided . You'll like some of the phrases and absolutely abhor others. Don't worry - it's all part of the process. If you're lucky (or start to do it real lot) you'll stumble on phrases and licks of your own and that's when the fun starts. I've found that inntroducing other influences (scalar and chromatic things from classical etc.) and jamming with other people (esp. guitar players who really started this whole thing) hastens the whole process TREMENDOUSLY. That and beer.

i have an offer to sit in with a band but im just nervous and not confadent(dang,I think I spelled that wrong) in my playing. Plus people make me nervous but I want to play and sing too.

Learn your blues scale, if you are going to play with guitar players make sure you have E and A blues scales, its the only keys they know (lol)

Learn your 12 bar progression, then...

cheat on your girlfriend, she'll leave you, get drunk, get arrested, wake up drunk and hungover, etc

then you'll be ready