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

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.

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."

Sophia

Haha that's adorable!!! How appropriate.... 🤠

WieWaldi

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

Never have seen it in Germany, before. At least not that I can remember. But I must admit, his face looks familiar. Dunno where this comes from... 🙄
.

Nightowl My fifth stage is "I am done and make a mediocre recording...

Nah - you do a better job than you give yourself credit for. Your recording isn't just mediocre - it is exceptional mediocre! ^{<ducking away before a flying piano from the UK hits me>}

Nightowl Er... you need to amend your post WieWie,

Okay, okay, okay. Got it. Let me amend my post:

I have only 3 stages:

...... ....0% = not even started
..... .....5% = I totally suck
.........10% = I suck a bit less
.........20% = I can play it veeery slooooowly with a lot of errors
.........90% = I am done and make a 100% perfect recording

hebele

My lesson 6 is sounding like this now:

I was relatively happy about it but then I've watched @Sophia's lesson 6 again. Big mistake 😂. Her LF has this funky staccato which sounds better I think. If I have enough blues motivation tomorrow, I will try that.

Nightowl

hebele It's coming along nicely. Once you're happy with the basics it might sound good if you add some swing to this piece.

WieWaldi

hebele Her LF has this funky staccato which sounds better I think.

Actually, you forgot to swing.
I really advise you to not only work with the sheet music. Make use of Christians videos. Take your time to rewatch his video from time to time and compare with your own playing. As long as you don't have a real world teacher, this is one of the best replacement options you can ever think of.

And yes, LH a bit staccato sounds better than legato. (I learned this by watching Sophia's videos, too. Hers always sounded better than mine 😭.) But the difference between yours and Sophia's is 90% swing, only 10% staccato LH.

hebele

Nightowl yes, at the beginning I was trying to swing the new LH pattern carefully. Then I think somehow I've lost it 😭.

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