Category: Blues Piano Lessons

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Piano Blues Lick #7: The ‘Flat-Three to Five’

Blues Lick #7: Flat-Three to Five Patterns – From ‘A Study in Blues Piano‘

A video blues tutorial describing a versatile lick pattern for jazz and blues piano.

Hello!

This short jazzy series of chromatic notes, which I call the Flat-3 to 5, is a familiar expression in the Blues. This easy type of lick (you can alter the lick very easily) is heard in a trillion mainstream jazz and blues melodies, as well as in all related music, anything that has even a touch of Blues Inflection.

Which means, you could call this a cliché. 

In the Blues, an improvising (lead) player might belt out a cliché, or ten, to explicitly let listeners know where they are:  “You are in the Blues, thank you very much!”  Any time you venture off into highly original blues territory, a cliché is a great place to come home to!

LESSON #7 – VIDEO TUTORIAL

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Sheet Music: Lick #10 from “A Study in Blues Piano”

More Sheet Music for ‘A Study in Blues Piano’

 

This post is from Kent Smith, creator and instructor for the free video-based course called ‘A Study in Blues Piano‘, which is always available right here on ‘Piano With Kent.’

Good day to all students of jazz and blues improvisation, and to anyone else who’s curious!

Here’s a downloadable PDF file of sheet music covering Blues Piano Lick #10, for optional use with my course “A Study in Blues Piano” (all on this site).

This sheet is part of a supplemental collection I’m putting together, in response to recent requests! Stay tuned for more!

Cheers,

CHECK OUT OUR EXCLUSIVE SHEET MUSIC BELOW!

Continue reading Sheet Music: Lick #10 from “A Study in Blues Piano”

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Jazz/Rock/Blues Soloing Tip: Using the ‘Rock-Bottom Four’ of the Blues Scale

A Powerful Tip for Blues, Jazz, and Rock Improvisers

Good day!

Today’s post is about using the first four notes of a blues scale as a moveable pattern, with many ear-catching possibilities that can fire up your solos in unexpected ways.

This “rock-bottom four” pattern, starting on any given note, can produce a wide variety of bluesy, funky, and jazzy sounds, when used in a context of your careful choosing, guided by your ear as the final judge.

This is a slide show, which is a common format that I use on my Instagram page, @piano_w_kent.

I have discovered that these types of posts seem to work well on my Instagram page, so I’m going to start featuring these here, too.

TODAY’S REMAINING SLIDES:

Continue reading Jazz/Rock/Blues Soloing Tip: Using the ‘Rock-Bottom Four’ of the Blues Scale

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Free Blues Piano Lessons: A Study in Blues Piano – Focusing on Twelve Licks

Welcome to A Study in Blues Piano!

Course Description

This is an in-depth study of twelve blues licks, with extensive left-hand support tips. Each lick/riff is explored in detail, including variations, fingering, playing tips, and supporting music theory.

More than just learning the notes by rote, you will get insight into the patterns, scales, chords and intervals involved, including how to transpose each lick.

As a result, each lick will be mastered as RAW MATERIAL for endless variations, with applications in many musical settings (genres).

Lick #10 of this group is actually more than a lick; rather, it gives you a complete two-handed 12-bar opening groove, including a left-hand pattern to support your licks throughout your soloing.

Sheet Music

Students can download and print optional sheet music for several of the licks. There’s also a sample solo piece with a 12-bar introduction, followed by a 12-bar piano solo that features licks from the class.

  • THIS COURSE IS FREE TO VISITORS WHEN VIEWED HERE ONLY.  HOWEVER, ALL ORIGINAL CONTENT ON PIANOWITHKENT.COM REMAINS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, AUTHORIZED FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND IS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION, UNLESS EXPLICITLY AUTHORIZED, IN WRITING, BY KENT D. SMITH OF PIANOWITHKENT.COM.
  • Piano With Kent is a US Registered Trademark.
  • Thank you for your continued support of free education!

By Kent. D. Smith of Piano with Kent. (c) 2010. (c) 2021.  All rights reserved.

 

THE TWELVE LICK STUDIES

One

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Chord Symbols: add2 or add9? (includes my video on using added ninth to chords)

Hi Everyone!

I recently received a question today (on my YouTube channel), an excellent one, the topic of which is subject to debate.  The question is in response to one of my videos about using add9 chords on piano.  (A link to the video is included below.)

I thought I would share the thread here:

VIEWER: Isn’t the D in Cadd9 supposed to be an octave higher? I guess I’m just confused as to why it isn’t Add2 instead.

Continue reading Chord Symbols: add2 or add9? (includes my video on using added ninth to chords)

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Blues Piano Crash Course #8: Blue Notes & Pitch-Bending

from The Blues Piano Crash Course

Lesson #8  (video)

In this lesson, we master a couple of specific blues piano tricks of the trade.  I’m using the word specific here, because we’re going to use these devices with a goal in mind, a musical effect that is pretty specific.

The “tricks” in this video are focused on emulating those sounds of blues singers and other instruments who can bend their notes (slide or play between pitches).  You’ll learn about “blue notes,” and also pick up a blues-boogie playing technique called the slide-off.

Continue reading Blues Piano Crash Course #8: Blue Notes & Pitch-Bending

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The 7#9 Chord: Possibly the Funkiest Chord Ever

To all you funked-up rocking hip-hopping bluesy jazzy people out there,

Today’s post features an outrageously funky, bluesy chord which is also used in rock, jazz, and many other places.

This blues-based powerhouse is often called the “Purple Haze” chord, made famous by a Jimi Hendrix song of the same name.  You may also hear it called, more generically, a “Hendrix chord.” (Hendrix did in fact use 7#9 chords in several of his major songs.)

First a SLIDE SHOW, then a VIDEO. Enjoy!

Continue reading The 7#9 Chord: Possibly the Funkiest Chord Ever

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Blues Lick #10: Learn to Play a Complete 12-Bar Introduction

Welcome back!

Today’s lesson is more than just a lick…

We have here a two-handed intro section, a great setup for getting any blues jam started. This opening groove covers a full 12-bar cycle, giving your listeners an exciting intro (a.k.a. “head”) which leads nicely into the next 12-bars, where you can begin your right-handed soloing.  Note, you can use the left-hand (bass line) of this groove throughout your entire jam. It’s a simple and powerful bass line that keeps the beat going strong.  But wait, there’s more! This lesson also includes a sample opening for your solo.

VIDEO LESSON Continue reading Blues Lick #10: Learn to Play a Complete 12-Bar Introduction

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Blues Lick #11 “Pentatonic Pads”

 

In this lesson you’ll learn a versatile way to group any “pentatonic” scale into a pair of three-note, three-finger clusters.  Using this three-finger approach makes it easy to play fast and interesting licks, up and down the keyboard.

Continue reading Blues Lick #11 “Pentatonic Pads”