Beginners blues/boogie/rock discussion

Sophia · 2024-05-29T17:17:55+00:00

I have always been fascinated by boogie woogie, but of course I am limited by my very limited piano skills 😃 However now that I'm in the second Alfred book,...

WieWaldi

There are no tricks. Just repeat until it sounds satisfiying and until it is in your muscle memory. You need to build up the muscle memory for every possible finger pair, when you need it. But it will get always a bit easier than before. The power* slides are indeed way more difficult than the regular down slides. But I can calm you down, until now he used it only two times in total.
* I don't know why I call it power slide - probably he used the name in the later lesson; don't remeber which one. But I reckon, it was a different finger pair.

Sophia

Thanks! He did say later that you can just play all three simultaneously, so maybe I'll try that at first. It's the hardest lick of all three, so my guess it would be a few days to finish the lesson was a too overly positive. Probably closer to another week - but I'm fine with that because it will allow me to say a lovely beginner a bit longer still 😃

WieWaldi

Lesson Six of Easy Blues Piano Course
Quick Five Blues
Four Choruses
Three Pages
Recorded for Recital Two
At least One hickup

Sophia

Wait, what? Let me remind you:

WieWaldi Only one thing: Don't you dare to post a third time in a row before!!!!! 👺This feels humiliating. 😖

With that out of the way 🤐, I could listen with an open mind twice in a row 🤩:

Wow, lovely!!!! It's starting to sound like real music... very very very nice WieWaldi! You deserve that fedora hat! Also I love how you played with the tempo: slowing down at appropriate times, little breaks that build tension, smooth transitions... your hard work is starting to pay off. Well done! Every time you submit a lesson I am even happier I started this same course, because it always gives me incentive to keep on going 🙂

WieWaldi

Thank you for your kind words. This one was way way way more fun than last lesson: Hanon.
And it was actually not that hard, lot of repeating patterns, just with a little variations. Intro and turnaround were familiar. And come on - the bassline! We can do this while sleeping.

Sophia Wait, what? Let me remind you:

WieWaldi Only one thing: Don't you dare to post a third time in a row before!!!!! 👺This feels humiliating. 😖

Oops

Sophia Every time you submit a lesson I am even happier I started this same course, because it always gives me incentive to keep on going 🙂

This is great to hear. But don't forget Alfred and Gale! They are teaching you the fundamentals you could probably miss out on the Blues lessons. Pedaling for instance. Or playing with dynamics. Understanding 7th chords in major, minor, diminished, augmented, half-diminished, flat five and then there are the 9th and 11th and all the inversions on top.

Btw, A Classy Rag sounds really nice. I would try to learn, but I don't have the sheet music.

Sophia

WieWaldi But don't forget Alfred and Gale! They are teaching you the fundamentals you could probably miss out on the Blues lessons. Pedaling for instance. Or playing with dynamics. Understanding 7th chords in major, minor, diminished, augmented, half-diminished, flat five and then there are the 9th and 11th and all the inversions on top.

Nod nod, yes. I know. Eat your horrible vegetables before the ice cream. I hear you!

Sophia

Ok, I'm a little ashamed to submit this lesson. I forgot to set the piano to a more echo-y setting, so the sound is very, very dull. I like the simplified boogie left hand, but I HATE the harmonies overal. It didn't help that every time my husband heard me practice, he wrinkled his nose and said "I don't like this piece" and then I had to explain it's not a piece, it's a means to an end that will hopefully lead somewhere, someday 🤫 And lastly, I completely fumbed on the ending. We were supposed to go smoothly into the MOAT (as Christian said, we should wake up at 3am by now and play it smoothly immediately after. Yes, he used a ruder example).

And finally, as if I haven't complained enough just yet.... when is Christian going to teach us proper endings? So far, every exercise just stops after the 12th chord, boom. I tried to come up with a finishing chord, and my first try sounded horrible, so I quickly changed it to two other notes. But that is just me fumbling. I want to learn a smooth and suave ending, one that befits a complete piece (or even a boring exercise).

But I have had enough of this lesson and want to move on to number 12 😬 So, reluctantly, here it is, lesson 11!
No 🤠 for me just yet!

WieWaldi

You got this new left hand rocking. 👏For now, this is the most advanced LH and if I remember correctly there is no LH getting more complicated than that, not in the lovely beginners course. Okay, a few chord progressions for slow Blues will replace the LH-patterns later on. They are not that easy as well. But you can play them slower. As additional exercise, you can apply this Boogie left hand with earlier lessons licks. I did, and it was quite hard to be honest. But I think it helped me getting better hand independence.
About the MOAT, you just need to replace the last two C-bars without hesitation. No gap, no pause and it works as an ending.

Sophia When is Christian going to teach us proper endings?

Easy Blues Piano course lesson 2 - at the very end of it.

TC3

Sophia And finally, as if I haven't complained enough just yet.... when is Christian going to teach us proper endings?

Most of the turnarounds also work as endings, just play a C chord. Example from an early lesson:

I can make a little recording of me playing this (and others) later if you like.

Sophia

Yes please!!! Thank you 😃 Up to now my exercises just... end... nothing more. I'd love to get that a little more smooth even at my level 😃

TC3

Sophia Cool, will do. I need to see if I can set my cellphone up at the over the top angle that Christian uses ...

WieWaldi

TC3 Sophia Cool, will do. I need to see if I can set my cellphone up at the over the top angle that Christian uses ...

Very good idea. Here is my take of using a turnaround as ending:
(and a real ending, okay better, but the turnaround works quite good, too)

TC3

OK, hopefully you'll find a bit of use from this:

Beginning Blues Turnaround / Ending

Sophia

Awesome awesome awesome thank you guys!!!!!!!!!! That's GREAT, I love those chords and progressions!! VERY helpful 😃 I will take that as lesson #11.5 and see if I can implement at least one of those endings into #12 🙂

Soon I'll have to change my avatar... I'm too far into blues now 😁 Maybe when I graduate from lovely beginner...

P S. I'm so jealous of your ability to talk and sing while playing!

TC3

Sophia Excellent, looking forward to hearing your implementations!

BTW, Rowlf is my favorite pianist. 😃

TC3

Just in the interests of making a meaningful contribution to this thread ...

I'm working through a neat book, Sitting In: Blues Piano. Unlike a lot of other blues books that focus on solo playing, this one leans more on how to play in a group. The lesson I'm working on now is a jump blues / early rock 'n' roll tunes that makes good use of this pattern:

The LH is quite comfy but the RH is quite the workout! They aren't even asking for that fast a tempo (98 BPM), though I'd love to play it faster (maybe 120 bpm). I'm trying really hard to play the RH without battering my poor fingers to death ... Relaxation is the key, but it sure is hard to do with something like this.

Sophia

Very nice! I have also started lesson 12 (I took a break from blues yesterday). So now I also really listened to your videos, instead of just saying ahhh 😃

WieWaldi, That was some very impressive playing! Yes, I know we can play that humpty dumpty left hand in our dreams now, but still. I will study your ending in more detail, because that's a lick Christian hasn't covered yet, believe it or not 😃

TC: I really love the "more and more spice". The first ending (C chord) I said "oh, yeah, I could think that up, it's boring enough" (NOT SAYING YOU WERE BORING! I'm saying I am lol). Then you added the "spice it up a little" (C7) and was so much nicer, but still a LITTLE bland. Then spicing up some more - "that's more like it!!!" (C9).

Of course then you went into the half steps and the sustain pedal and that's where I started drooling... now we're talking! Such exciting sounding combinations!

Again, thank you both so much much for taking the time to record those - it'll be awesome to finish my dull exercises with an actual exciting finish, rather than just lifting my hands "done" 🥰

TC3

Sophia Quite welcome!!! 😊😊😊

WieWaldi

Sophia I will study your ending in more detail, because that's a lick Christian hasn't covered yet, believe it or not 😃

The first ending (turnaround) is something you already know.
The second one is in Easy Blues Piano lesson 2. Wait for it.

I wanted just to demonstrate, the turnarounds work very well as ending. Just play them in time without hesitating and slow down while playing it.

Sophia

Well, I started lesson 12 for real now... it's so smooth, I like it! I also just now found out that he sent me the wrong book... I thought I purchased the bundle of his entire course... and I did. But instead of book 3, he sent me book 1, 2 and Easy Licks in C. I don't mind, I'll just buy volume 3 separately. WieWaldi, is this the course you are following?

The link to his playlist doesn't work so I just want to make sure. Then I'll get that as well 🙂

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