Learning blues piano

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roel
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The Blues scale is a good place to start, but I think Roel is beyond that.

Look at the key of A. The blues scale is A, C, D, Eb (the flat 5) E and G. When you play this scale over an A7 chord you can use the notes that are not in the scale, but are in the chord (C#). When you change to the IV7 (D7) you can use the same scale, but you want to throw in the F# (Major 3rd of D7). Do the same thing with the V7 (E7) chord and you've got it going on. These notes stand out a lot and that's why it's good to use them. They really let you hear the sound of the chord.

You can resolve to any note in the chord, the tonic, the 3rd, the 5th, the 7th or even the 9th or the 6th if you want. Each one "feels" differant. Some sound sweet, others sound bitter. Once you get a handle on that, it''s time to start playing with dissonance and that's where the really cool stuff is.

It may sound a little funny to your ears at first if you don't have the harmony there to back you up, but it works.
 
See, but I know most of this stuff, I'm studying jazzpiano on my own... This is just a small part of it, but when I play something bluesy, it sounds jazzy bluesy. I want it to sound basic bluesy. Guess figuring out some CD's is the way to go.
Or if I can hook me up with jazzpiano lessons at the conservatory (if it fits the teachers schedule...) I can ask him where to start.
 
Well, blues players tend to find something and ride it for all it's worth. Whereas jazz seems to be a little more busy, to me anyway.
 
Jazz(piano)players tend NOT to play the root and fifth, and play everything else because it sounds cooler and more like: "wow, look what that guy does. He must be way good, cause I don't get it." :) While bluesplayers are just playing the root, together with exchanging the fifth and sixth the entire song. I'm exagerating, but this is the idea I guess. I wanna play less and make it sound good. But I guess I wanna show off too, so I wanna play those fancy chords and stuff. That's my dilemma. Shoot me. :(
 
If you're studying Chopin, check out this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/102-3072446-0771322?v=glance&s=books


I know this thread is about the blues but I think there are elements of playing that span all genres. And I definitely think there are things to learn from Chopin that apply. Most noteably the use of tension and resolution and thematic development. Chopin has some pretty involved explorations of tension in most of his music and the final resolution in that piece you're studying hits you like a train. The way he revisits his themes and develops them into something more interesting each time around is also something that every improviser could learn from.

So imo, there is actually quite a bit to be learned about playing the blues from the study of Chopin alone.

Then again, you could always just play along with anything that Ray Charles recorded and have a lot of fun at the same time :).

btw, have you checked out Thelonius Monk yet?
 
erichenryus said:
btw, have you checked out Thelonius Monk yet?
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Jup, I did... Good stuff.

Maybe I should get those Ray Charles CD's out of my closet again too... Good idea...
 
what i'd say, one mint julep, makin' whoopee

you could write a book on Ray's performance in those three alone.

i've also heard about a million variations on the first bar of the head in Blue Monk, and it never gets old!
 
There is nothing wrong with those fancy chords, but, blues is almost always 7th or 9th chords and sometimes 6th chords and that's about as fancy as it gets. But, those are great sounding chords!
 
Damn gtr players...

Back to the gtr forum firebird...shooo....


Anyway, the best advice about playing blues piano is go out and buy a few pinetop perkins cd's. He's the best. Period. He was the one in Johnny Lee Hookers band in the soul food Cafe scene in the blues brothers, he played for Muddy Waters, then his own band. Listen to what he does, get the feel for it. A lot people who get called blues keyboard players are really more jazz players. Pinetop is the real deal. You want inspiration, go there first, not Ray Charles.

Chords are less important than runs, at least IMHO. When you have two gtr players playing all those chords, it just gets muddy when the keys are playin them, so I do a lot of fills.

left hand bassline stuff is important as well.

Most of what I play involves the blues scale.

I learned to play by playing along to old old blues songs. I would get songs by LIghtning hopkins and sonney terry and brownie mcghee that didnt have piano parts to them already(usually just acoustic gtr and harp, and then I could play along with them. I didnt know what a blues scale was, I just picked it up by playing what sounded right behind them. Later I found out what I was playing was blues scale.

Personally, I try to remember that piano is a percussion instrument, and I play it accordingly.
 
... Good thing you do Roel !!! I was about to ask same question. How to start playing blues. I keep looking in this thread. Hey, how about Chuck Leavel ? and someone named Rob sumthin' ? Tell me if you know. I just forget his name but I got his cassette (the cover's gone... :mad: ). All blues genre covered there. Great reference.
 
Bdgr said:
Anyway, the best advice about playing blues piano is go out and buy a few pinetop perkins cd's. He's the best. Period.
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I'm going to go out and get me some of those cd's. Thanks for the tip! I notice he's got a few on Amazon. Any that stand out above the rest?
 
excuse me,i got frustrated and jumped right to my reply without reading page 2,but you should really get specific when you say "blues playing" !!!!tom waits is not blues piano,although i have heard him do a good piano representation,that is not blues,tom waits is an original.(although his voice tends to go towards howling wolf with captain beefhart,but hey ,i am not looking to argue ,or look like i am pedantic,but that first page got me riled up!!!!blues piano would be pinetop perkins,memphis slim,charles brown(who ray charles admits to getting much influence from)even lots of old ray charles,that is the real deal,with blues piano.i might be wrong and maybe you like to read notation,BUT....blues is a feeling and from what i have learned is to listen to the old original cats that created it,listening helps playing more than anything when it comes to soul and blues(rock and roll and funk etc. etc.)i concur chopin,beethoven,mozart to name a few amazing composers,you need to read the charts,but with blues,from down home,to old time stride,it is a feeling and cannot be written out(well,i guess you could notate it,but you cannot notate feeling)i grew up playing chopin as well,but the minute i heard rock and roll boogie woogie blues,i knew it was something that needed to be picked up through pain ,misery and the ears.i know someone wrote as a reply to say check out the monk,well.that is jazz, more specifically be bop,although he wrote songs called monk's blues (with a traditional 1,4,5, as the backing chords)but that is soooooo far removed from the blues.(as beautiful and melodic as it is,and how much i love monk has no reflection on my opinionn on the blues)anyway.I KNOW I SPOKE OUT OF STEP AND REPLIED WITHOUT HEARING ALL THE OTHER RESPONSES TO YOUR QUESTION<AND FORGIVE ME, I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A FREAKIN SNOB, BUT......WATCH OUT WITH LABLES THESE DAYS<WHEN YOU SAY BLUES PIANO, REMEBER THERE IS A WEALTH OF BLUES PIANO THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TOM WAITS(i like him and respect him,that is just not blues,some people will argue with me and say that stevie ray vaughn is blues as well,but blues comes from slavery,and the whole experience,modern rockers can emulate it but it is not the same thing,oh you all can disagree with me now)sorry, i got off track.AND I KNOW THAT MOST PEOPLE THAT SUSCRIBE TO THIS FORUM HAVE THE MOST EXTREME WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE(i rely on all y'all's opinion almost daily)BUT I GOT SO WORKED UP HEARING THAT NOT ONE PERSON POINTED OUT THAT THERE IS OTHER BLUES OUT THERE(other than the aforementioned)AND THERE IS A WAY TO FEEL IT AND HEAR IT,ASIDE FROM READING IT ( iwill not knock tablature and notation)but,alas,excuse me,i am a jaded bitter mutha f*cka,i am so opinionated that i respond without listening,it might be that i pretend to have the blues,and drink much whiskey(the downside of drinking and reading this forum)but please,when you say blues piano,keep yourself in check and know that blues comes from ray charles not frank sinatra,albert king,not stevie ray vaughn,muddy waters,not allman bros.elmore james not george thorogood.I APOLOGIZE<THAT WAS MY 2 CENTS right there!!!!!
 
whoops,i just read the page 2 in this forum and it makes me look like a real asshole,sorry folks,i knew y'all knew,but i got so impatient reading all that stuff i just flew off the handle!!!!
 
Yeahyeah... :rolleyes:

Hehe. I know. I got good old blues cd's too. (How bad does that sound, good old blues cd's.) I was just kindof into tom waits, and he's got this bluesy feel in his stuff. But I found the Tom Waits secret chord progression. Hehe. I'm really lazy, it's kindof basic stuff, some secondairy dominants, I found it in half an hour really. But if I had a book, that had probably saved me 10 minutes of hard work. :D

I'll figure out that blues thing too. I'm gonna look for those cd's. I hate playing basslicks in my left hand though. Too tiring, and my left wrist is fucked up... Bah!
 
mojovoodoo said:
whoops,i just read the page 2 in this forum and it makes me look like a real asshole,sorry folks,i knew y'all knew,but i got so impatient reading all that stuff i just flew off the handle!!!!
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Not a problem, Mojovoodoo, just try the decaf next time....

http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/what.is.blues.html
describes who is and is not blues pretty well...

And I disagree, some of the stuff Stevie Ray Vaughn did was blues

Buddy Guy and Albert King both though he was, and thought very highly of him. If thats not an expert opinion, I don't know what is.

You dont have to have dark skin to be a blues player, hell, Johnny Winter played in Muddy's band....and you dont get more white than an albino
 
Roel said:



I'll figure out that blues thing too. I'm gonna look for those cd's. I hate playing basslicks in my left hand though. Too tiring, and my left wrist is fucked up... Bah!
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Yeah, the left hand thing is not my strong point either. Pinetops style of playing has been described as doing horn parts with his right hand....I dont entirely agree with that, but it occupies the same musical space. That may be why I get so frustrated working with horns, they fill in the same gaps that I normally play in.
 
i promise not to reply to a forum while i am drunk.......promise,it wasn't decaf,it was whiskey and wine with a little cheap beer thrown in it.and i apologize for goin way the f*ck off,when i drink ,i get sloppy and pissed off.ummmm...but i think you misunderstood me,or i did not even embellish,yes a lot of people(all races, color disregarded)can play the blues(actually muddy's last interview in rolling stone mentions this)so yeah,s.r.v.,eric clapton,and all other white cats (and other multi racial peoples)certainly do an amazing job at "playing" the blues,it's just when it comes to singing (screaming,howling,etc,etc)the blues that i don't think these folks can match the originals.BUT....mind you,this is my opinion(and once again i am sitting here spoutting off at the mouth)blues(for me,i repeat, for me)is about the lyrics and the emotion conveyed through the "on the verge of tears" styles of the old ,old, old originals,when it comes to singing the blues,i would rather hear percy mayfield, otis rush,even buddy guy when he used ta scream when he was with junior wells,the vocals with the instrumentation,makes the entire experience.so yes,i agree s.r.v.,definitely johnny winter(muddy claimed that was his "son")can play the blues but when listening to blues,it is nice to hear the original thing,done with more emotion.(like elmore doin"the sky is cryin' versus s.r.v.)another note...blah blah blah,on albert kings" live blues power album, he does say that the blues sees no color,everyone has the blues.and i agree.and now i am just talking outta my ass!!!

folks i am soooooooooo sorry for getting way off of the subject and sounding like some self righteous asshole.i apologize. i just needed to add the one more useless point and opinion(being that i am not as drunk as last night)

alas none of what i have written has anything to do with blues piano playing,thus i am of no help.
 
mojovoodoo said:
i promise not to reply to a forum while i am drunk.......promise,it wasn't decaf,it was whiskey and wine with a little cheap beer thrown in it.and i apologize for goin way the f*ck off,when i drink ,i get sloppy and pissed off.ummmm...but i think you misunderstood me,or i did not even embellish,yes a lot of people(all races, color disregarded)can play the blues(actually muddy's last interview in rolling stone mentions this)so yeah,s.r.v.,eric clapton,and all other white cats (and other multi racial peoples)certainly do an amazing job at "playing" the blues,it's just when it comes to singing (screaming,howling,etc,etc)the blues that i don't think these folks can match the originals.BUT....mind you,this is my opinion(and once again i am sitting here spoutting off at the mouth)blues(for me,i repeat, for me)is about the lyrics and the emotion conveyed through the "on the verge of tears" styles of the old ,old, old originals,when it comes to singing the blues,i would rather hear percy mayfield, otis rush,even buddy guy when he used ta scream when he was with junior wells,the vocals with the instrumentation,makes the entire experience.so yes,i agree s.r.v.,definitely johnny winter(muddy claimed that was his "son")can play the blues but when listening to blues,it is nice to hear the original thing,done with more emotion.(like elmore doin"the sky is cryin' versus s.r.v.)another note...blah blah blah,on albert kings" live blues power album, he does say that the blues sees no color,everyone has the blues.and i agree.and now i am just talking outta my ass!!!

folks i am soooooooooo sorry for getting way off of the subject and sounding like some self righteous asshole.i apologize. i just needed to add the one more useless point and opinion(being that i am not as drunk as last night)

alas none of what i have written has anything to do with blues piano playing,thus i am of no help.
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I know what you mean. The emotion in Robert Johnsons ecordings, or Son House, or in Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee isnt touched by most of todays stuff. I was listning to a live recording of Hoodoo man by Buddy Guy and Junior wells the other day, and the feeling you get, even though the lyrics dont say all that much. And I personally prefer the originals of the sky is crying, and texas flood as well.
 
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