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,...

Sophia

Haha I saw it too. He seems ashamed of his humour but honestly, that’s partly what makes me come back to his course every time. He makes learning so much fun! That and the fact he is a great teacher, period.

But I guess a little reorganization won’t hurt - I hope he does the same with his sheet music <hint hint> 😸

hebele

I should give an update here. My lesson 6 is going slow. Because I found distractions 😁. I discovered some software to generate backing tracks with chords. It became my fancy blues metronome now. Sounds like below. But beware; it has me playing LH from lesson 6 AND "doodling" C5 with RH (index finger). Yes, just one key! With the hope that it will help with improvisation:

WieWaldi

hebele That's a start. Next place your hand at five notes of the blues scale. E.g:

C E_b F F# G

and repeat what you did. Use one finger only and later try to add another finger. And then one more and so on.

Btw: what software did you use for the backing track?
sounds cool 👍

WieWaldi

hebele I should give an update here. My lesson 6 is going slow.

Don't worry - my lesson is going slow, too.
And Sophia is in lesson 5, the one that took me ages to learn. Guess she will stay there for some time, too.

But there is always a catch with annoyingly talented people: she might ignite the afterburner again and bam:
....Lesson 5
........+ Beale Street Blues,
............+ something from Chopin or Beethoven

Let me remember - lesson 5.... nah - that takes some time...
Especially the 2/5 figure isn't that easy.

Sophia I am only 0.0003 steps ahead of you when it comes to improvisation

You are the biggest sandbagger out there.

hebele

WieWaldi thanks. I plan to increase numbers of keys in this practice. Also try elements from Christian's lessons in a similar way. Because I was approaching the lessons same as method book pieces, "learn and move on". It will finish quickly that way (for my timeframes, not BBK nor Sophia quick) but won't help with improvisation.

That software was JJazzLab with a VST from Steinberg. I haven't tried but heard that iRealPro (for mac and mobile) has similar functionality.

Sophia

Congrats on discovering the One Note Samba! Well done! That was one of my favourite lessons, I loved that LH pattern. I agree that this is an excellent way to start with hand independence. Funny enough I was going to suggest gradually adding some notes of the blues scale, but WieWie beat me to it. Perhaps not all notes immediately, but just C and E_b, randomly.

I am only 0.0003 steps ahead of you when it comes to improvisation, but I found that my ears quickly tell me which combinations sound groovy, and which to avoid. So sometimes you may find that E_b is not a great sound for the chord, but then you can slide it quickly to E. That way you will find your own unique sound quickly - I can't wait to hear the next iteration of your skills!

I also enjoy this background sound a lot! Sounds very rich!

Sophia

WieWaldi You are the biggest sandbagger out there.

At least you didn't call me a ~~pool~~ piano shark... 😋

I haven't started lesson 5 yet... I hate Hanon. I didn't like that lesson when you played it... so. I'm postponing it as long as I can get away with 😝

WieWaldi

Sophia Okay. Actually, it isn't Hanon. It says long lines and I made them very boringly long over several octaves, because you can play them basically infinite. (If your keyboard doesn't run out of keys)

I thought, this way I'll get more out of the lesson.

Sophia

Ahhhh!!! Ok then... <honest mode> I didn't like the way you played that - I bet Christian's lesson, as usual, is perfect in every way 😁😁

I may start it next week... hopefully. As much as I as I enjoy the blues lessons, a short break was certainly nice!

WieWaldi

Sophia I didn't like my playing, either 😄. Very unmusical and robotic...
But it was training

Sophia

Pffft. I still haven't started the next lesson.... I will call it "spring holiday" as an excuse

I have been playing every day, but I'm not sure if playing through Alfred 1 counts. Mind you, it gave me a chance to finally learn a few of the skipped pieces. One was... I'm ashamed to admit... Chattanooga Choo Choo. It was the last piece in the book, which at the time was somewhat of a stretch piece. And I was so eager to move on to Alfred 2 that I just skimmed over it. Now it's finally "just my level" - and a great excuse to postpone the regular stuff 😃

WieWaldi

Sophia OMG - youtube algorithm is hilarious. It just presented somthing about Thomas the Tank Engine and I instantly recognized from where I know this... 😂

WieWaldi

Actually I would give your post a like. But I don't.
How do you dare and play Alfred over Christians Blues lessons? Ey?

Edit:
Ok - I just googled that Chattanooga Choo Choo song. Found out it is this famous swing by the Glenn Miller Band. You are excused.

Sophia

Right???? How dare I (almost) skip one of the true classics! But I finally saw the error of my ways, with deep apologies to Mr Miller! 🫣

Sophia

Ok, I finally, finally - FINALLY - started the blues lessons again 😃 The break was nice, but time to get back. Now I remember again why I needed this break. A DOUBLE lesson? As well as an intro of the previous lesson??? What WAS Christian thinking!?!

This lesson sounds like serious work!

Anyway I managed to learn the intro and I will probably add it to the lesson, just like WieWie did. And then get back into shape for the humpty dumpy theme... deja vu!

WieWaldi

Sophia Ok. l'II see your results in the next few days, after you turbo learned it and made a recording.

Mine, one the other hand. will take a while. I am stuck in the beginning of page 3 out of 5.

(It's hard work)

Sophia

Hmm. I'm not sure about the turbo learning. Let's see... the intro.... 23.74% learned. Lick 1.... 4.0003% memorized. Then there is line 2 to 7 to learn. And THEN, when you think oh goodie, it's finished... four ADDITIONAL pages of chord progressions! I might have to cut this double feature in half, because I don't think my poor memory banks will be able to handle everything. Or, should I break down and use sheet music? Decisions, decisions...

WieWaldi

Sophia Or, should I break down and use sheet music?

Why not

WieWaldi

How do you know, you learned 23.74%?
Seriously, I have only 4 stages:

not even started
I totally suck
I suck a bit less
I can play it veeery slooooowly with a lot of errors
I am done and make a 100% perfect recording

Sophia

WieWaldi How do you know, you learned 23.74%?

Oh, the same place where I get all my inspiration... 😅

According to your list, I reached the "I totally suck" stage.

Nightowl

Thomas the Tank Engine has cult status here in the UK - it's great! 😃 Adults appreciate the humour and children love the animation.

WieWaldi Seriously, I have only 4 stages: ... (5) I am done and make a perfect recording

Er... you need to amend your post WieWie, because we all know that you regularly reach the 5th stage listed. 🙂

My fifth stage is "I am done and make a mediocre recording before I detest every measure of the piece."

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