Begining Blues for Keyboard

8/13/2019 Begining Blues for Keyboard

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/begining-blues-for-keyboard 1/55

TABIIOIO1IffiTIABOUT TH E AUTHOR .. . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . .o. . . . . . . . .o.o. . . . . . .

IN TRODUCTION .. . . . . .o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .o. . . . . . . . . . . .o

cHAFtsfii:ffiH iiffiiiiiiliir;illllii$ii;1ilir,;i*TransposingheTwelveBarBlues .. . .19l '4aking BluesMelodywith Arpeggios ...........0

MordiGros......... .............0Tr ip lets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .llnvert ingriads .. .22nversion xcercises.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

-he LeftHand-Swingor Shuff le eel . . . . . . . . . . .24Working .........24

Meloncholy lue .............26=unkyThunky . . . . . . 27

FunkyThunky .................27Yalor Chords n the MinorBlues . . . . 8

CHAPTER 3-Blues Helodies 30TransposingheTWelve-Bar lues ....3

Drowningn My Blues ................

The MajorPentatonic cale .. . . . . . . . . . . . .2

The Major'sBlues ........3

The Minor Pentatonic cale .. . . . . . . . . . . . .4

The Miner's lues .........5

Dominant th Chords .. . . . . . 6

The BluesScale .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Dcrminant th ChordsandThe BluesScale .. .38

GetTo t.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Combining entatonic cales .. . . . . . . . . . .9

Everything lues 39

Tension ndResolut ion .. . . .40

Lofoyette'slues ............3

Chicago ianoSounds nThe MinorBlues . . .55

Rush'sRoads

Playing ff of Triads

Bendinghe 3rd

TriodB/ues.............

Playingff the DominantTthChord .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Dominont lues .......59

55565657



68

. 69Voice Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

CompingShufflen D .. 7 lThe Beauty f Fi11s. . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Ur$COGmFHYuitorPloyer ..................3 l

CompingWith Octaves ..... 4

Octovion F........... ..........74

Dominant th Chord nvers ions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

VoiceLeading i th Dominant th Chords . . . .76

Hideaway omp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .77

YouConRunButYouCon'tHide......... .........77

ScratchMy BackComp .. . . .78

Ihe Bluestch.......... .....78

Paral le lths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Porollel1ues........ ..........79

Minor 7th Chord Inversions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

TenO'Aock Blues ....... |

CHAPTER 8-lntros, Endings

andTurnarounds 82

Turnarounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Neighbor ing hords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

MoreTurnarounds... . . . . . . . . . . 4

Turning urnaroundsnto Endings

Fol lowinghe Leader.. . . . . . . . . . . .

lntros

CHAPTER 9-Walking Bass and an

Introducion to the Slow Blues 90

WolkingheBlues .......90

Bui ld ingWalk ing ass ine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l

Gett ingFromOne Measureo the Next .. . . . . .92

Pract iceMakingBass ines.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

i i -v- I . . .94

Sod nd Lonely lues ............-.......

95

8587

88

CHAFTE*'r*i*R.VtTi Smf,in$f"

001 ' -

, .

wrack

I

A compact disc is available or this book. This disc can make learning

with this book easier and more enjoyable.This symbol will appear next

to every example that is on the CD. Use the CD to help insure that you

are captur ing the feel of the examples, interpret ing the rhythms

correctln and so on. The track numbers below the symbolscorrespond

directly to the example you want to heaa Track I will help you tune anelectronic keyboard to this CD, Have fun



l t s ime to get the lefthandworking harder. his s a typicalshuffle ass atternusing riplets

in the right hand. t alsouses he tr iplet eel n the left hand, ut instead f beingnotatedas

tr iplets r sshownaseighth oteswith an ndicationhat he eighths reswung. he marking,

Swing ths means hat the first eighthnote of eachbeat s held longer han the second.

lmagine ccentinghe first and hird of three ripleeighthnotes ikeyou did on page2l.

Play hrough he next songwith just your left hand.

Now you are ready o add he right-hand art. The righthand s playinghree riple eighth

notes r ipletsper beat.So, he second ighthnote n the left handcoincides ith the third

eighthnote in the right-handriplet. l f this seems ricky at f i rst,don tworry. Youwil l have

lots of opportunity o practice t throughout his book,and t wi l l becomeeasy.

J=60

Swing ths

Swing Sths

cWORK NG

24 Chapter2-The Twelve-Bar lues



Practice

Here s

Roosevelt The Honeydripper" Sykcs,

born in 1906,wasequallygtftedas a hluespiani.st,

songwriter and singer. Hefreqtrentl-v angw,hileheplayed,but also accompaniedmanygreat blues

vocalists.Roosevelt eganhis career n St.Louisat the

ageof 14, ran away to play in barrelhousesn

Mississippiand Louisianawhen he was 15,and made

hisirst

recordingor Okehrecords n New Yorkat theage of 23. He later spenta greatdeal of time in

Chicago wherehe was an integralpart of the Chicago

bluesscene, nfluencingmanyyoung pianists, espec'ialllt

MemphisSlim. Listen to blues by Roosevelt The

Honeydripper" Sykeson SmithsonianlFolkways

recordingsor some ncredibleplaying, including

examples f the shffie basspattern you ust learned.

this pattern hrough he descendingycleof Sths.

an exercise o take you through six keys:

.= 60SwingSths

c

U

ol-NN

L

UFlF

F

zUIF

UFdl

oU

oFoI

Now play he other six keys o finish he cycleof 5ths:Gb,B, E,A,D and G.

Chapter2-The Twelve-BarBlues 25



Sometimeshe twelve-bar lues s playedn a minor key. Look at what happens hen we

takediatonic riads rom the naturalminor to makea twelve-barblues.

Let'sstart with the keyof A Minor:

The patternof diatonic riads or minor keys s:

. . . oi i i - I i l i v v V I V I I

The "one" chord - i wi l l beA Minor

The"four" chord - iv wi l l be D Minor

The"f ive"chord - v wi l l be E Minor

Here s a minor bluesusing nvers ions f minor r iads. Play he bass inealone i rs t .

ffi MEIANCHoLYLUETrack l l

)= 100Amin i)

P= Piano.Soft.

G

7A

I

B

2

c3

D

4

E

5

F

6

4 3

I

D min iv) Amin (i)

5 ( - D\ J T I

T-iEp

f i {-rt 6

oa

- - - -

4

{\Z5 (r 3

r ) 3 ( tl € >

I O

mf a'1 6€>

a

- -- -

Emin v) Dmin ( iv)

I

Amin ( i )

4 2

\L/ trari# a 6oe €>

-- ( t

2 ' l

26 Chapter2-The Twelve-Bar lues

2 1



This minor blueshas an eighth-note attern n the left handwhich is played n straight

eighths ather than swung.This means hat al l the eighthnotesare of equal ime value.

The result ingeel s more l ike unk or rock.

Remember,he key of C Minor has hree f lat notes:Bb, b ndAb.

Not ice how almostal l of th e melodynotes n th is b luesout l ine he minor r iads. In the

next chapterwe wi l l look at bluesmelodiesn more detai l .Your eft hand s ntroduced o

a new bass ine. l t is comprisedentirelyof roots,but in al ternating ctaves. his ype of

bass ine s very common.

FUNKYTHUNKY f= Forte. oud., = 100

Track 12Strorght ths

Cmin i)

Fmin iv)1 3 5

Cmin i )

G min(v)r 3

Fmin (iv)1

3 5

Cmin i )

1 3 4

t v t r )\\ T-

t- ,

a) 7

ffiffivl

ffiffi zt- -- 1tt?1

Transposehis blues nto the key of A Minor. Start by wri t ing out the

chordprogressionuseRoman umerals). our eft handwil l play he roots

of the chords.Your r ighthandwi l l main ly ut l ine nvers ions f the t r iads.

You'reon your way to playing he blues n twelve keys

27hapter2-The Twelve-BarBlues



A minorblues lways tar tson a minorchord, ut qui teof ten he V chord s major nstead

of minor,and omet imes oth the IV and he V chordsare major .This s he case n the

next blues, h ich uses he same huf f le ass inewe learned n page24. The feel or th is

blues s swingeighths.Both he melodyand he bass ineare swung.

Look out-this blues s in B Minor,one of the saddest eys.

WORRY'NGLUES.= 60

Swing thsBmint 2

mf

Fil BminI

Without th ink ing about i t , you probably not iced that a minor b lueshasa darker , r sadder

sound than a major b lues. D i f ferent musica lsounds evoke di f ferent emot iona l responses

in us. l t ' s impor tant to learn to t rust your ins t inc tsabout sound so you wi l l choose what

you play o convey a feel ing, ather than to fol low a rule.

28 Chapter2-The TWelve-Bar lues



Here'sa major blues or you to learn.

ry#ryHE MAJOR',STUESTrack 14

Chap te r -B lues Me lod ies 33



Justas or everymajorscale here is a relat iveminor scale seepage 3), or everymajor

pentatonic cale here sa relat iveminor pentatonic cale. he root of the relat iveminor

key s a 6th above he root of the major key.

Major Pentatonic Formula: I

C Major Pentatonic: C

A Minor Pentatonic:

Numbering he notesof the minor pentatonic

relative o its root givesus a new formula:

5 l

AC

ACDE G(A)

Let 's f ind the notes of the C Minor Pentatonic:

F G B b

4sb7

2 3 5

DE G

cEbl o 3

ACDEG

lb r45 t l

J=80

The C Minor Pentatonic cale ontains wo bluenotes or the key of C: Eb nd Bb. t also

contains hord tones rom al l hree tr iads used n a C bluesprogression. isten o how

a C blues oundswhen he melody s taken rom the C Minor Pentatonic cale.

@ THEM'NER',STUESTrack 15

SwingSths

c

34 Chapter3-Blues Melodies



StevieRayVaughan came o

prominencen the 1970sand'80s.

He

took soloing with pentatonic scales o

new heights. Listen to his strongly

minor pentatonic lavored playing on

"TexasFlood" (Epic Records).

TWO.OCTAVEINGERINGSORTHE MINORPENTATONICCALES

A Minor PentatonicE Minor Pentatonic

. 2 3 1

_ n

Review the pentatonic scale ormula:

Minor Pentatonic Scale Formula

l b l 4 5 t , 7

,..r9 | 4

D Minor Pentatonic

4 3 2

eI

F Minor Pentatonic

2€>

3 3in

2 LA'

4 3 2

32

l en _

)

3-o-

B Minor Pentatonic

FtlMinor Pentatonic

4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

=g?? t2 | 3 21 3

2 1 4 3 2 1

Gf;Minor Pentatonic

2 3 1 ?3

1 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2

| 2 3 1 2 3 4

)

a5

1 15._o

s t l3 -

e2

aa

??v?j

2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 3

T

ac-

rTr1

ao

c

-m

o--'t

T-m

2o

Major Pentatonic Scale Formula

a 2 3 s 5

| 2 3 | 2 3

B7Minor Pentatonic Df, Mlnor Pentatonic

Chapter3-Blues Melodies 35



So far , the chords we've used to play the blues have been tr iads- three-note chords

containing he root, 3rd and 5th of the scale hey are from.

Now we're going o add one more note to the chords o make hem 7th chords. Let 's

look at the notesof the major scaleagain, nd his t ime,notice everyother note:

We can use every other note of the

scale o bui lda four-notechord:

Tomake C Dominant thchord,orC7,we ower

the major Tthby a halfstep rom B to BfZ).

C E G B O

| 3 5 b7 This s a C7 chord.

Pract ice laying ominant7th chords n root posit ionaround he cycleof 5ths. Play he

root of eachchord in your left hand.

cI D2 E3 F4 G5 A

6 B7

CEGB

l3 57 T h i s i s a C M a j o r T c h o r d .

This exercise etsyou playing ominantchords n your left hand. Beforeyou start,playa

C7 chord with your left handstart ing n C one octavebelowmiddleC on the piano.Now

playC, E and Bb, ut leave ut the G. l t sounds lmostexact ly he same, ut less muddy,"

or c lut tered. P ianoplayershave o be carefu lof p lay ing oo many notes, oo close

together n the lower ranges f the piano.Sometimes ou can eave note out of a chord,

andst i l lget he same ound. n th is exerc ise ou wi l l leave ut the 5th,p lay ing nly he l ,

3 andb7of eachchord.

C7 Br7 Ab7 obtt 172o |

'07

30-

cb l B7 E7(CI

A7 D7€>

G7

.\o l-. ^ ( Da x

>< l , \ ,

r .X. x

Another way to understand ominant

7th chords s to bui ld them from the

major scale n which thei r root is the

5th degree. For example,C is the 5th

degree f F Major.So bui lda C7 chord

by takingevery other note of the F Major

scale tart ingon C.

Posit ion in scale: I

F Major scale: F

C7 chord:

Posit ion in chord:

2

GG

5

2 3 4

GABb

56

CDcI

7 l

EFE

3

3 4...

A 8h...

Bbb7

Chapter3-Blues Melodies5



Here s the C Blues cale:

The Formula: I 13 4 u5 5

I n C : C E o F G ' G

b7

Bb

Sincet inc ludes l l hree bluenotes, the 3,b5andb7, th i ,scalesgoing o provide ou wi th

a lot of greatblues ounds.Someof your favor i te ickswi l l comeout of th isscale, o you

should earn t very wel l in al l welvekeys.

: GHT.HAND INGERINGSORTHE LUES CALEN TWELVE EYS

We can make the minor pentatonic scale bluesier by

keyboard player 's avor i te blue note- thet5.

Thir scale

Since he bluesscale ontains ix notes, achone-octave

f inger ing asei ther wo groups f three ( l -2-3, -2-3)or

a group of two and a group of four (l -2,1-2-3-4). ou can

pract ice lues calesust ikeyou pract icedmajorscales

(see he Pract ice ip on the bottom of page 0).

adding one more note to i t - the

is often called the bluesscole.

Blues Scale Formula:

I b3 4 b5 5 bT

€>€>l 2

i :es Scale E Blues Scale

- 3 uesScale B Blues cale

Ff, BluesScale

Cf, Blues cale3 uesScale

Ab Blues cale: ,es Sca le

Eb Blues cale

3 uesScale




Dominant7th chordscreate ension n a chord progression. et 'sseewhy:

With in the notes of every dominant7 th

chord s an nterval a l led tr i tone,whichs

a n o t h e r n a m e o r a d i m i n i s h e d t h o r

augmented th (adistance f s ix halfsteps).

The interval rom E o Bh s a tritone. Played

together,E and Bbcreate a very unresolved

or tense ound.Yourearwants o hearone

or both of the notesmovesomewhere.Play

E and Bb ogether, hen move eachnote in

by one half-stepo F andA.

A

Look tcTz [."'8'"il ffi)r,ron"

You have ust resolved he very unstable oundof a tr i tone o a stable oundingmaior3rd.

This type of resolut ion s the basisof most harmonicmovement n our culture. Blues

harmony s unique n that it frequentlysbased olelyon dominant hords.The harmonicmove-

ment s romonedominant th chord o anotherand he tritone never ully resolves.

In hisblues,you' l l lay ominant th chords n your ef thand,andmelodiesrom the blues

scale n your r ighthand. n addi t ion o the tensionwi th ineachdominantTth hord,you' l l

f ind some nrerest ing issonancesclashes) etween he chord ones n your left handand

someof the right-handmelodynotes.Welcome o the blues

j =8o t*rr?f

. & ; ^ " i A - F T T f l t Tf f i f f i l - F r I t r r rf f i s c ' w \ r l - l , \ t r r

Track 18

I

ebt4

c75

f,tb

38 Chao te r -B lues Me lod ies



Observewhat happensf we combine l l he notes rom the threedominant th chords n

a C bluesprogressionC7-C, E,G,B ;F7-F,A,C, Eb nd G7-G, B,D,F)andnumber hem

in relat ion o the key:

With the except ion of B, al l of these notes are found in ei ther the C Major Pentatonic

s c a l e C ,D ,E , G,A ) o r t he C M ino r Pen ta ton ic ca le C ,E t ,F ,G, Bb ; .

Bluesmelodies oundgreatwith notes rom both

the majorand minor pentatonic cales ombined.

As you play hrough Everything lues, ot ice which notes are from the maior pentatonic

scale ndwhichare rom the minor pentatonic cale.

@ EvERvrH'NGTUESTrack 19SwingSths

=80 C7 4 52 3

t-tj--'t\i<

I5

I

F7 c7)




Once again,t 's t ime for you to be the composerand experimentwith creatingblues

melodies. In C Blues,here is an accompaniment rovided. f you have he CD that is

avai lableor this book,you'l l be able to pract iceplaying our own bluesalongwith a

rhythm section

Remember, e have alked about three differentscaleshat you can use:

major pentatonicminor pentatonic

blues scale

Choosingotes rom ust one scolecon be os effective s

usingnotes rom combined coles. etyoureor be your guide.

Here are a few other things to think about:

' lmaginehat there are lyr ics.Youare tel l inga story,so

remember o speak n clearsentences.

. Tension s ok. Justbe sure o fol low i t with some resolut ion.

. Repeti t ion nd cal land response re integralparts of the blues.' Less s more. Spacebetween phrasesmakes hem stronger.

W C BLUESTrack 20

/I

Chapter3-Blues Melodies 4 l



Here'sa shuff le n F usinganother ype of shuff lebassl ine.First,play he left handalone

and remember o swing he eighth notes. In your r ight hand, ou' l l be adding r iplets.

Since he bassl ines swung, our left and right handswil l play ogether on the first and

third part of each r iplet.

M CHICAGOTIMETrack 2 |

Swing ths

F73 3

F 73I

5

ebt

[bs,

C7

2 3

c775) 1 3 2

Co *[ugh this bluesand noticewhere the b5(Cbor ah) s beingplayed.

Playeachphrasewith ,

b5

in i t a few t imes oget famil iarwith how it is used.

Transposehis bassl inento the key of C. l t 's easy, ecausehe bassl ine

out l ines ach hord he sameway:R,3 ,5 ,6 , '7 .

Chapter 4-Playing a Shuffle 43



ln bars9 and l0 of ChicogoTimeou played figure hat isvery common n the

resolvingo the 5. This iguresoundsevenbetter when you add he root on

your r ight handthumb nd second ingerwi l l a l ternate etween het5 and 5, whi le your

pinkie epeats he root on toP. Try i t s lowly.

b l ues :heb5,

toP.

22 3 31-)

your r ighthandow play{

the exercise again,but move

Sometimes our favori teblues ickswi l l soundbetter

in the higher anges f the piano. l f , or example, ou

playwith guitarplayers,most of the guitarnoteswi l l

be in a relat ivelyow range. f you play igures n the

low to middle angeof the piano aroundmiddleC)

whi le he guitarplayer s n the same ange' our sound

wi l l get lost ,or i t w i l l add too much clut ter to the

Learn o f ind h is common ick quick lyand easi ly n a l l

taking it through four keys starting with E (a favorite

through he cycleof 5ths.

Swing ths

J - 1

uP one octave.

sound. There wi l l be too much going on in one ran8e.

But, f in the samesituat ion,you play n the upper range

of the keyboard,your sound wi l l come through on the

toP. of course, the gui tar p|ayer might not I ike you

playing omethingabovewhat they are doing,but some-

t imes i t 'svery ef fect ive.Use discret ion. Listen o great '

p layersand then trust Yourears.

twelve keys. Here is an exercise

key of gui tar plaYers) . Cont inue

D7 G7

w J-^ t I l

- -_ , a- 7- -2 2_ a - 2_ a

\\ ----T

-

-d'L-J-J+ + +

- -

- -t--

J J J J

-

- -oa, l t- l l l l l l l

----t---- -

practiceslowlyandstop if you feel atigued. lt takesa little patience o 8et used o playing

these repetit ive iguressmoothly.

44 Chapter4-Playing a Shuffle



FlotFiveShuff leives ou somemore pract icewith your newo5 ick,aswel l asa new bass

l ine pattern.

SwingSths

J=80

C7

5 5

t 2

@ FIATFIVESHUFFLETrack 29

, - 3 - L J J L J - J - J -

G775 )

1 2

F77

, J, ,

3,

Observewhat'shappeningn the lastbar.That l i t t le musical igure, nd he G7 chord, s

cal led turnoround. turnaroundbrings ou back o the beginning f the form so you canplayanother chorusonce hrough he form is usual ly eferred o as one chorus).We'l l

learnmore about urnarounds l i t t le ater n th is book.

You'veheard hem-maybe you'vealreadyplayed hem. lf you haven't, ou undoubtedly

want to. Tremolosn the right hand, ver a niceshuff le roove, re an essentialngredient

in the blues ound.A tremolo s a rapidalternation etween wo notes. Sometimes lues

playerswill call his a roll.

There are a few different notes you can tremolo between hat sound great. We'll start

with the most obvious: he root.

45 Chapter 4-Playing a Shuffle



You can t remo lo be tween he roo t and the b3 o f t he key ove r a lmos t he who le

bluesprogession.

ln the keyof F: Putyour thumbon F, ndyour 2ndor 3rd f ingeronAb.Now rol l your hand

backand orth between he two notes. t mightseemawkwardat f i rst,but i t wi l l become

more naturalas you keepworking at i t . The key is to keepyour hand relaxed. l f this

technique s new to you, be carefulnot to overdo i t in the beginning. t is better to

pract icenew techniquesor a few moments requently,ather han rying o si t down andmaster omething l lat once.

This s how tremolosor ro l lednotesare notated n the wr i t ten music:

Tremoloon F andAb or 5 beats.

The next songwi l l helpyou develop his new echnique.

SwingSths w TREMSANDTLLSTrack 30F7

1-3

ebl

C75

) - ' t

Bbt F7

4 l

2 ?

Not ice what happened n bar 9. That l i t t le F# s an enharmonic respel l ing f theb5(Gb) n

the key of C, which is the chord you are playingover in that bar . Play he Ff , uickly with

the C and s l ide o the G, the 5 in the key of C. Some people ca l l h is acrush oneor agroce

note.We' l l do more of th is in the next few chapters.

Chapter4-Playing a Shuffle 47



In the pre-electr ic ndearlyelectr icdays f the blues, ianistsikeOtis Spannwere playing

unampli f ied ianos n noisyclubsand had to f ind ways of beingheard. This led to the

development f techniqueso makebig sounds. Lickswere frequently layed n the high

ranges f the piano, oteswere remoloedor playedn octaves nddissonant lustersgroups

of notesa majoror minor 2nd apartplayed imultaneously)ere barkedout in the guitar

breaks. hesesounds re st i l lan ntegral art of playinghe style.A good blues eyboardist

needs o know exactlyhow and when to use hem in order to enhancehe music.

w ors'sBtuEswing 8ths

, = 100 E l5

Track 3 |

3

E7

A74 3

B753

E7 B7

The most mportantpart of learninghe blues s istening.t 's ime or you o startshopping

around or your own favori tesoundson recordings.Listen o Otis Spann olo or with

MuddyWaters' incredible and. Checkout MaceoMerriweather, afayette eake,Memphis

Sl im,MeadeLux LewisandJimmyYancey. topyour recordingat the spot that grabsyou

the most and see f you can igureout what sound he pianoplayer s playing. f you don't

a l readyhave many blues recordings,here are some great b lues piano compi lat ions

avai lable hichwi l l giveyou a samplingsee he discographyn the backof this book).You

canalso ind classic lues ecordingsn your l ibrary.

ChapterS-Piano BluesSounds 49



Let's ake a look at what you were playingwhen you playedOtis'sBlues n Page49. Th e

first l inestartsout with a classicOtis Spann oundplayed sa cluster.The notesareAf,,

andD. In relat ion o the keyof E, heseare he b5,thu 5 and he t7-three notesout of the

E Bluescale. n he f i rs t wo bars hey 'replayed sa c luster ,andn the thi rd bar heyare

arpeggiated,hichwe know means layed ne at a t ime. Both of thesewaysof playinghe

b5,5 and b7soundgreatover he bluesprogressionn any key. You shouldknow where

thesenotesare in everykey and be able o grab hem quickly.

$''ira*rrsrrF*4#Ha*n

play he fol lowing our-bar igure n al l welvekeys,moving hrough he keys n ascendingths(or

downwardSths). n your left hand,playhe first basic huff le atternwe learned. n your right

hand play he b5,5 andb7for that key. Experimentwith playing he notes individual ly,s a

repeated luster, r try tr i l l ing hem. Here are a few keys o get you started:

Swing ths

3

32

50 ChapterS-Piano BluesSounds



Undersung ianist

Lafayette Leake played

w,itha host of Chicago

bluesguitaristsand

vocalists n the 1950s

and' 60s nc'ludingOtis

Rush'sand Muddy

Water'smain rival forattentionon the

Chic:ago cene,Howlin'WolJ'Q he ter Burnett .

M IAFAYETTE'STUES

co-iY

.)d

6

co

(,zI

oI-Fn

Ic

Swing8ths

A7Track 39

A7)

E74 3 2 13

53hapterS-Piano BluesSounds



Frequent ly ,minor blueswi l l be a funkyorjazzyblues, i th a whole dif ferent eel rom

a shuf f leor del ta blues. There are blues

tunes,however,hat soundsimi lar o Otis 's

Blues pag"49),except hat the i chord is

minor. n thesecases he form is usual ly,

IV V. Forexample,n he keyof F,he chordsin the progression ould be Fmin,Bo7 nd

This blues s in the style of a very successfulune that left-handed uitaristand vocal ist

Otis Rush ecorded or ChessRecords al ledSoMonyRoods.

ffir Rt/sH'sK: _7

r r v 'r r

Track 40

C7. Since he soundswe've beenworking

on in hischapter ome rom the blues cale,

which smainly he minorpentatonic , they ' l l

work f ine over a blueswi th a r , IY7, Y7

progression. elow s an example f a minor

blues huf f le. t inc ludes ounds ou know,

but puts hem into a slightly ifferent ontext.

RO5

I

A

* A pickup s a note

(or notes) hat occur

before he first full

measure f a piece.wingSthsDSJ 5

1 1 1wl2

x pickup/notes mf

---

tremolo

Fmin

Fmin




In Chapter3,you earnedhatwe canal terb luesmelodieso f i t the chordsas heychange

(page 0). Let 's ake hat conceptone step urther and considerplaying el iberatelyoff

of" eachchord.

Here is a way of playingoff of triads that might be the most frequentlyplayedkeyboard

sound n popu la rmus i c :

I

lf you wanted o analyzet harmonically,ou could say t's a quick I-IV-I Progression ith

che V chord in secondnversion, nd he I chord in root posit ion see he tr iads review

on page15,and he sectionon tr iad inversions n page22). Everychord in the blues s

then treated as a I-IV-I. Alternatively, ou could lust think of it as tension-resolution-

movingaway rom the chord ones and hen comingback.

When we play hese igures ff of tr iads, t 'snice o add he b3asa groce otePrecedinghe

3rd. A gracenote is a quickornamental ote played irect lybefore he mainnote. Some

of us cal l his bendinghe3rd becauset sounds imi lar o a guitarplayerbending note. l t

feelsmore natural n somekeys han n others,depending ponwhere he blacknotesandwhite notes al l underyour f ingers.Here'show it works:

l f the b3i, . blacknote,and he 3 isa white note,as n the keysof C, F or G,you cansimply

sl ideyour 2nd finger rom the b3to the 3.

F

4) - )

I

G4

) - )I

c4)I

2 -

l f the 3

'3 with

Swingthss

is a white note, and the 3

your 2nd f inger and the 3

is a blacknote, t 'sa l i t t le more awkwardTry playinghe

with your 3rd f inger.

5 53 3l 1

5

2 - 3I

You' l l f ind that you gravi tate to cer tain sounds in cer tain keys,and each key wi l l have i ts

own vocabulary for that reason. l t 's a good idea,however, o pract ice eachnew sound in

al l twelve keys. l t helps you to learn the sound real ly wel l -and somet imes you wi l l have

ro p lay n Gbon a gig

i A I nap re r S -P iano B lues ounds



TriodBlues ivesyou some pract icewith the deviceyou just learned.Although t is not

indicatedn he music, o ahead nd ry bendinghe 3rd of each hord. n hiscase, l l he o3s

are blacknotesand all he 3s are white notes, o you can slideyour 2nd finger rom b3to 3.

w IR,ADBrUESTrack 44

2 3

c

fry t. pfay hrough TriodBluesn the key of F. The I wil l be F, he IV will be Bb nd he

V wi l l be C. Bendinghe 3rd for the IV (Bb; hord s a l i t t le r ick ier han t was n C(where he IV is F). Al l the noteswi l l be a perfect4th higher.Try i t , but remember,

bending otes s an aesthetic hoice.Youdon't need o do i t al l he t ime.Sometimes,

you might want to just play he chord cleanly.




In the samewaythat we played ff of triads,we canplay iguresoff of dominant7th chords.

Let's ook againat the figureyou fust playedoff of a triad:

F/C* c

Cx

This is ca l led a s losh chord.

The letter to the left of th e

slash s he nameof the chord.

The let ter to the r ight of the

chord is the name of the note

on the bottom. This is a con-

v e n i e n t w a y t o i n d i c a t e a

chord invers ion, r the Pres-

ence of a non-chord tone in

the bass.

35

FoqTrac-i 4

R,3,5 R,4,6

I

Fsr r -hssvs fc , ,ou oraved+

and

=and

backro

=\ \ 1 , t-r ) J J

Instead f returning o the tr iad (C,E andG),move he note F up a

the noteA ,p a half step o Bb.You are playing he root, 5th and bTth

Try playinghis sequencehat starts rom the top andgoesdown:

c7 F I C

R,5,h7 R,4,6 R,3,5

Now try the same hing start ingwith a G7 chord:

G/G

R,5,b7 R,4,6 R,3,5

With a D7 chord, et 'sstart from the tr iad andgo up to the dominant7th chord:

G/D

whole step o G and

of a C7 chord.

Chap te rS-P iano B lues ounds

R,5,b7

5 8



@ BOOGIE LUESTrack 49

AlmostStrorght ths

C7

Chapter6-A Look at Boogie-Woogie 6 |



Let 's evieweighth-noteeels, sing he melody rom Boogie lues.

You'l lplay he f i rst l ineof the melody hree timeswith your metronomeset to 80.

The f i rst t ime, play he eighthnoresstraight:

5

50

The second ime, play he l ine as you did for a shuff le-swinging the eighth notes in a tr ip let feel :

SwingSths

,=80 c7

7

5

The third t ime, try to play the melody in a feel somewhere between straight eighths and

t r ip le t fee l . Th ink about making he f i rs t note of each pai r ust a l i t t le longer han the second.

Don' t worry i f i t seemsdif f icul t , t th is point you are just t ry ing to increase our understanding

of the di f ferent feels.

AlmostStrorght ths

,=80 c7

8

) L

A boogie-woogieass inehaseither our or eightnotesper bar. t ei theroutl ines he chords

or "walks." In either case t might contain repeatednotes,or notes repeatedan octaveaway.

Look at the bass ineyou ust playedor Boogie lues p"g. 6 ). The noresare simi lar o otherbass inesyou haveplayed, ut the feel s di f ferent.For a shuff le, our left handplayseighthnotes with a tr iplet feel,whi le your right hand either played riplets,or swung he eighths

alongwith your left . In this boogiebass ine,/ou playquarter notes nstead f eighthnores.That leaves he r ight hand ree to play he eighthsnote a l i t t le more evenly.At quicker

rempos, he eighthnoteswi l l soundalmoststraight.

To make this bass ine into an eighth-note l ine in a boogie style,we could add octaves:

62 Chapter5-A Look at Boogie-Woogie



Justas or other bluesstyles, oogie-woogie an be in a maior or

minor key. Here is a minor boogie hat uses he same ype of walking

bass ineyou just played.Since he chordsare minor, he notes n the

bass inecome rom a minor scale.

This une usesminor 7th chords min7).To makea minor 7th

chord, ake he formula or a dominant7th chord

( 1 , 3 , , b 7 ) n d l a t h e 3 r d ( l , b 3 , 5 , b 7 7 .

w soLONG ooGtEAlmostStroight ths

. = 1 2 0 A m i n

Track 55

l b r5b7cE l 5 [ ,7

This is a CminT chord.

C minT

D minT A m i n

Emin D min

turn this walkingboogie

Let's keep the octaves.

root wi l l be a whole step

l ine upsidedown, walkingdown from the root

The chordsare minT chords,so the next note

below he root ( the '7) .

We could also

rather than up.

down from the

A m i n

: :

Amin

D min

6 4 Chapter6-A Look at Boogie-Woogie



fn Boogie roin, our r ight hand providessome forward momentum. Right-hand oogie

parts were often simpleand repeti t ive. The most important part of boogie-woogies

alwayshe rhythm. Play ust he right handpart to Boogie roin everal imes, hen add he

left hand. Play he eighthnoteswith an almoststraight eel.

BOOQER/qlN

AlmostStrorght thsC

MTrack 57

3 ll>

c42 .

65hapter6-A Look at Boogie-Woogie



I t 's t ime to put the two parts together.

SwingSths= 120

@ JtMMv',SOOGIETrack 60

c5

3a

c5

3,

James Edward "Jimmy" Yancey is thought by

many to be the master of boogie-w,oogie,but his

quiet stage demeanor did not lend itselJ'to

stardom, and he did not tour or rec'ord as

proliJtc'ally as his own protogdes. On the

bandstand, J mmy .frequently provided

accompaniment to his w,ife, a vocalist, Estelle

" Mema" Yancey. Despite J mmy Yancey's

subdued natLu'e, is musit'v'as part ofthe hctogie'

woogie L'raze. immyYancey is respected by both

blues and iazz enthusiasts as a master of'his art.

U

46

U=d

s

o

Fdl

o

oFoIc

Chapter6-A Look at Boogie-Woogie 5V



compings a word that comes rom the word "accompaniment ." us ic ians se comP-

ing" as a catch-al l erm for what piano playersor guitar playersplay behinda soloist '

Basical ly,o comp s to play he chords.

When comping, ou dealwi th three elements f music: rhythm,harmonyand melody 'Over the next few pages, e wi l l dealwith knowingwhat chords o play harmony), aving

control over where you want to Put them in the t ime (rhythm)and making he chord

morionsoundgood (melody). f you master our comping ki l ls , ou wi l l make he band

soundgreatand be in demand

Let 's tartwith a simple omping xercise sing riads.Your eft handplays n the first and

third beatsof eachbar,whi le your right handplays n two and our'

J=90 BTUESN GWrack 6 IG;

I, ,

, D A AA A A

\\ t r-\--------

t ?-Tt

Ia

mf--n_-

t?

T --T -

ffi

s.i$4s.itr6} is 111 "**aE{6ii{i'1' '?raq*u4e''i

f Transposehe aboveexercise nto

$ inuers ionssed or the I , [V andV

fu .***,*-*,,*"'*:t 'F lar.:r. rdi ii*,4r'. ;;

the key of F. Determine the

chords.

6 9Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping,Playingn a Band



The triads in the Blues n G (page69) were in certain nversions o creategood voice

leading.Notice how the top note stayed he samewhen you moved rom the I chord to

the IV chord (measure and 5). A lso, he top note of your voic ingsor the whole i rs t

eight barswas the root of the key.You can almost nevergo wrong with the root as he

top note of your chord. Keepinghis idea n mind will helpyou playmore complexchordsand progressions.

ln Compingn D, you wil l use he samepatternof inverted r iads,but your right handwil l

playa dotted-quarter hythm (seepage20).

@ coMPlNGN DTrack 62

J=80 D5)1 l

D5

3I

D

70 Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping,Playingn a Band



Now that you're comfortablewith that rhythm,we're going to make the left handwork a

little harder. Your left hand is going to play he first shufflepattern you learned(page24).

Swing he eighths. nsteadof just counting he beats,hink about playinghe shufflepatter in

your left hand and then adding our right. Your handsshould ine up on the first beat of

every bar and the "and of 2" of every bar.Another way to think of it is that your right hand

plays he secondchord of eachbar togetherwith the fourth note of your left hand.

@ coMPtNG HUFFIE,NTrack 63

J=80

I5

L"t's assumehat our shuffleust became nuPtemPo oogie-woogie

o r rock -and- ro l lune . P lay h rough he sameexerc i se ga in ,

exacdyas wri t ten, but play he eighthnotes almoststraightwith

the metronomeset at 120.

Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping,Playingn a Band 7 |



GuitorPloyers a shuff le n C. There s a melodypart wri t ten for guitar in smal l , ue-sized

notes)so that you get a chance o be the fill-master . f you have he CD that is availableor

this book,you can playalongwith it. Otherwise t might be time for you to start hanging

out with some el low bluesplayers nd working on theseconcepts ogether. Communi-

cat ionwith other musicianss the most importantmusical ki l lyou can have.

Track 54

SwingSths

)- t 08

C7 4)I

b

73hapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band



You don't alwayshave o playal l of the notes n the chords. In fact, f someoneelse s

already omping, r playing very densesolo right in the midrange l ike a guitar player)

you could choose o layout completely, r playsomethingwith a more open sound.

One way to add to the groovewithout cluttering he sonicspace s to playa repeated

rhythmic igure n octaves.

ln Octovio, our right handplaysa rhythm that is typicalof what a horn sectionmight play.

Again, ou wil l have o subdivideo eighthnotes o count the rhythm. Makesure o note

the beatson whichyour right handplays.

SwingSths 3OTOCTAVIA) = 100

Track 65

f la ' (r) & (2 &) 3 (& 4 &) l ( & 2 ) & ( 3 & 4 & )

After you havemasteredOctovio, layhrough it againwith

your

right handone octavehigher han wri t ten. A great hing about he

tradit ion of bluespiano s that you get to use he whole rangeof

the piano. Have un with it.

7 4 Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping,Playingn a Band



Sincemuchof blues armony s based n the soundof dominant th chords,t 's mportant

to be very famil iarwith them in everykey. Good voice eadings something ou'l l always

want o str ive or,and hat means ou need o be able o easi lynvertdominant th chords.

SincedominantTthchordshave our notes, hey have our posit ions.

Let 's ook at a C7 chord:

C7 Root Position C7 lst lnversion C7 2nd lnversion

play hrough he fol lowingexerc ise o fami l iar ize oursel fwi th al l the dominant7th

chord posit ions n al l keys. Somethingo notice:with the excePtionof root posit ion,

you wi l l a lwayshavea whole step between he dominant7th and the root in your

voicing.Try i t with your left hand, oo.

C 7 F 7

C7 3rd Inversion

66

Now cont inue down through the second half of the cycle of 5ths. Don' t forget , gui tar

players ike to play n sharp keys l ikeA and E,so don' t ignore them

Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band 7 5



Now we can use nverteddominant7th chords o comp througha blues n G, us ing

classic hythm that wi l l work over a swingor straighteighth eel. Because e know

sounds ood,we' l l s tar twi th the root (G) ,as he top note of the chord.

There 'sno lef t handpar t wr i t ten here. Somet imes, hen you'recomping n a band, t

soundsoo c lut tered f you playwi th both hands.Focus nlyon your r ighthand or a few

t imes hen, f you wish, ry i t togetherwi th a s imple ef t handshuf f le at tern.

G 75

42I

5

a /

& t l e j 3 i e 4 e ) {e ; ) e]

G775A+21

Let 's ry putt ing he 5th in the top voiceof the f irst chord.The 5th of G7 is D, so

our f i rs t chordwould be G7 in 3rd invers ion.When you move o the CT,your

rop note has o change, ecausehere is no D in C7. Try to make t change s

l i t t le as possib le, ak ing melodicmove rather han a b ig eap.There are two

notes n C7 th at are only a whole s tep rom D (C and E). P ickei therone and

make hat the top note of your C7 chord.

Exper iment nd discover or yoursel fwhat wi l l happenwhen you get to the V

chord,D7. You' l l in d that i f you play he V in ls t invers ion,he top voicewi l l

not have o move-the D is common o both chords I and V).

Crapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band



The fol lowingexample s a compingpattern n

shuff le, ideawoy. he example s in E,which s

the sty le o f gu i tar is t Fredd ieK ing 'sc lass ic

the key of the or ig ina lsong.

M YOUCANRUNBUTYOUCAN'I HIDETrack 68

SwingBths) - i l6 i t

A7 E7

, auA

h h l r l^o'Y fr# bb-E

.5 ilJ { iai' a - -

-

fn You Con Run butYou Con' t Hide, he bass ine is wr i t ten out for your lef t hand. l f youwere on a gig with a bass player, he bass player would play that l ine, and you would not

want to double i t . Ins tead, ou could e i ther p lay noth ing wi th your le f t hand, usu a l lya

safe choice) or the root , 5, 6 shuff le pat tern from page 24.

Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band 7 7



ln Chapter 5, you learnedabout play ing f f of t r iads. You can use this concept or

comping s wel l . The fo l lowingexample s in the sty leof the compingpat tern or the

class ic l im Harpo tune, SuotchMy Bock Not ice the leading-tone n the thi rd eighth

note of eachbar. The tension t causesmakes his a very dist inct ive attern.

Swing ths

F

Track 59

\

)

\i) ,I

)I

Now that you know dominantTth hord nvers ions,weanchangehe tr iad pat tern usta

litt le bit to get anotherclassic ompingpattern hatJimmyYanceyavored alled orollel ths

{the intervalbetween wo notes n the pattern remains hat of a 6th-hence the name).

Let's look again at the ScrotchMy Bock pattern you learned in fhe B/ues tch and see how

we can changea few things to get a paral le l 6ths pat tern:

/ 5 Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band



Porol lel /ues ivesyou a chance o pract ice he most commonly heardway of playing

paral lel ths. In this welve-bar lues,he IV chord appearsn the secondbar, or just onemeasure. his s common n several lues tyles.Next t ime you l isten o a blues ecording,

l is ten or a "quick V" in the second ar.

@$ PAPALLELTUESJ = 8 0 ? .

Swing Sths

F7

Track 70

ebt

ffisffiftffi*@-*n@ka'ftd

$ Transpose orol lelBluesnto the keyof D. l f i t seems ricky to play.playinga D tr iad and f iguringout the ScrotchMy Bock ,

you learned n fhe B/uestch (page78) in D. .start by

Pattern@ffi€#*whi{x,**?4n$*

Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping, lay ingn a Band 79



8

7 |

As you used our-note hords o comp on a dominantTthblues,youmightwant to use

minor 7th chordson a minor b lues.This wi l l be the casemore frequent ly n a funkyor

jazz-style lues,where the harmony s specif ical lyased n minor 7th chords.

Let 's heckout minor 7th chord nvers ions i th a CminTchord:

C minT C minT C minT C minT

Root Posit ion ls t lnvers ion 2nd nversion 3rd lnversion

Play hrough hechords.This ime

up in 5ths.

fo l lowing exercise towe are going around

fami l iar ize oursel fwi th invers ions f minor 7 ththe cycleof 5ths n the opposi te i rect ion,moving

C minT G minT

49

72

D minT A minT

BminT

Cont inueup through he rest of the cyc le.

The voice eading oncepts ou know applywhen

lf , or example, ou wanted o start a minor blues

you would usea AminTchord n ls t invers ion:

Determinewhich nvers ion f DminT

of the iv chord.

you arecomping i th minor 7th chords.

with the root at the top of your voicing,

you would use o keep he noteA as he top note

AminT

80 Chapter7-Rhythm, Comping,Playingn a Band



TenO 'C lock l ues ses nve rs i ons f m ino r 7 th chords . Th i s i s a funky une w i th a

melody, compingpatternand a bass ine pattern hat introduces new rhythm n your

lef t hand. On the CD that is avai lableor th is book,you wi l l hear he gui tarp lay inghe

melody. For some help n coordinat inghe compingand bassparts,see he box at the

bottom of the page.

rEN O'CLOCK LUESryTrack 73r00 AminT

D minZ AminT

EminT D m inT A minT

: n : i t i i r ; 1 i ; i r j , i i t r r l i ; r t l i i i i i i t i ; ; i i l i i i i i i i l i t , : : _ ; ; t r . . : . I . . : : , , : r 1 . : r . r' . : r : r : j 1 I : i , , , t : : ir . r ' l . j : r i i '

To count the rhythms in each hand,subdiv ideeach bar in to e ighth notes.

separatelyunt i l you are comfortable with i t .

When you want to put the two parts together, make a note of

which beats the hands play ogether and which they play apart .

In th is case, our two hands never p lay at the same ime.

iiiii;riiii.: liilirttx:r:iiii?i:,lllli':l:i.i.n itA'l,ii:Elil'li.r.l il :irti?i:tli:$[friti .Si]. li.r"i &:ri'i

Playeachhand

5 l

&

R.H. &@&3@4&

L.H.O& 2 @@ & @ &

Chapter 7-Rhythm, Comping, P lay ing n a Band 8 l



II|IPINOlntrot,nliil$l larnaunlt

you'vealready ot quite a blues

stew going,but there are a few more essentialngredients

needed.Theime hascome o address ne of the most mportantandchal lengingsPects

of bluesplaying-turnoroundsnd endings.

Al l thosedominantTth hords n the bluesprogressionreate ont inuous armonicmo-

t ion becausehey don't soundresolved.So,we need o haveSreat ' ometimes ramatic

endingso wrap up the story.Turnarounds,n the other hand, dd o the forwardmotion'

As with anyaspect f bluespiano,here s a classic ocabularyo learnaswel l as room for

your own design.We'l l start with the basics.

A turnaround sa musicaligureused o lead ou back o the top of the form. A turnaround

usually ndson aV7 chord (a halfcodence)ince he dominantV7 chord eads ack o the tonic'

Someof the compos i t i onsa r l i e r n th i s book nc ludedurna rounds .hey nc ludedaY l

chord in the lastbar of the form,and a repeatsign o indicate return to the top of the

form. Try to f ind hem.

52

trs6TrackT4

531 . '

' \

ffiTrack 75

54

ffiffi\ . /Track 76

BASIC URNAROUNDS

Basswalksup from the

SwingSths"c7

5 4

Basswalksdown fromSwine ths"c7

3rd of the I chord to the root of the V chord'

G 7

the b7of the I chord to the root of the V chord'

G 7

I

We can put these

two hands.

Swing ths C7

two chromoticusingnotes outside the key) approaches ogether with

G7

The word "chromat ic" a lso impl ies movement

sco le a twelve-note sca lewhich inc ludesa l l o f

on the p i a n o ) .

in hal f -step ncrements,as in the chromot ic

the white notes and al l of the black notes

\ .a t

--

It

,1 -\\\

I t-c---

I

( \ --T- O, .

82 Chapter8- lnt ros, Endings ndTurnarounds



To playmore involved urnarounds, ou need o be famil iarwith the neighboring hordsfor the key. Neighboring hords ie a halfstepaway rom the chord you are approaching.Ao7 s a neighbor inghord o G7. Dh7 s a neighbor inghordto C7.

Swing8thsC7

Here is a basic urnaroundyou havealready 55

learned, ut wi th a neighbor inghord used {Mto approachhe V chord:

' .

Play he fol lowingexercise o famil iar ize ourselfwith neighboring hords. Notice thateach inger s movingonlya halfstep.There s no need o moveyour handaway rom thepianoas you move from chord to chord. Justsl ideeach inger o i ts neighboring ote.Remember, l l hal fstepson the pianoare betweena blacknote and a white note,exceptwhere the halfstep s between wo white notes:E to F and B to C.

This exerc ise sesdominant7th chords n ls t invers ion.When th is is masteredtry i tus ing oot posi t ion, nd nvers ion nd3rd invers ion.Pract icet wi th the lef t hand,oo.

eD cl

SwingSths

t C 7 obt C7 t7

56

78

gbl A7

a\ c7

Chap te r - l n t ros , End ingsndTurna rounds 83



Example64 is

Swing8ths

c7

Let 's take the same turnaround and make

SwingSths

C 7 ) . . ? . - " r ,

a turnaround hat inc ludes aral le l rds n the sty leo f J immyYancey.

{

,\

/

I

t

\80 )

/

r

\I

i t into a tr ip let f igure.

A 'G

. J - J - ' J '

Example 6 is the "walk-up" urnaround gain, u t wi th

Swing ths

t he inner v o i c e s i l l e d n .

C7 C7IE F Ff,d iM C/G

Checkout the harmonicmovementn th is urnaround.Going rom the

a \ '7 (C7) o I (F) progression,ven hough his example s in C. This

more importantasyou learndif ferentapproacheso bluesplaying.

I

\ A D 7 5 G 74 4" , )

C7 to the F s ike

ideawi l l become

iffi

8 4 Chapter - lnt ros, Endings ndTurnarounds



Study hese examp les

transpose t to any key.

unt i l you are comfor tab le enoughw i th each urna round o

't "

83

TURNAROUND ISwing8ths

J=80 F7 obl c7

e\ D7

G Gildim D 7 I A B ? 7 A 7

TURNAROUND

SwinsSthsJ =80

G7

#2

Swing ths

D DTIFI

TURNAROUND 3

J=80

Chapter8- lnt ros, Endings ndTurnarounds 85



Endings ave he opposite unctionof turnarounds. nstead f takingus back o the top of

the form, hey take us out. Interest ingly,ou can ransformmany urnaround igures nto

endingsust by endingon a I chord nstead f the V7.

Here's a fami l iar turnaround transformed into an ending:

SwingSthsc/G0 c7 DD7 C7

63l

64

firack 86

This ending approaches he I chord from below:

SwingBths

, n C 7J=80

HARMONY ESSON:

Approaching chordwith

aYl- l l . This s becausen

7ths,but inverted:

B7 C7

chord is a lmost the same hing as p lay ing

and thebIU .hotd have he same 3rds and

i ts upperneighbor ing

anykey, he V7 chord

In the keyof C: The 3rd and 7th of G7 (V7) are B (3rd)

and F (7th).The3rd and 7th of D'7 (II7) are F (3rd) and

Cb, hich s he enharmonic quivalent f B (7th) .

The intervalbetweenDband G is cal leda tr i tone (seepage

7th chords a tritone away from each other share th e38),andany two dominantsame 3rds and 7ths.

'J

' L J - J

86 Chapter8-lntros, Endings ndTurnarounds



Let 'sassume ow that you're n a band, acking p a soloist guitarplayer, inger, armonica

player, tc.). You'l lneed o l istenand fol low the soloist hrough he ending. He or she

mightwant the band o breok omewhere uring he last ew bars.Duringa break, veryone

sropsplaying ut the soloist.The soloistmightplaya fi l l in t ime or mightplaya codenzo*.

ln the f irst case, ou simply eepcounting hrough he barsandplay he lastchord (or twochordsbU7to 17)at the right ime. In the caseof a cadenza,ou need o stoPplaying nd

wait for the soloist 's ue o come back n and end he tune.

* A cadenza is an out-of-t imesolo passage,hich can

be as ongor short as he solo is twishes.

l f you have he CD that is avai lableor

endingwith a break. f you don't have

Swing ths= 8 0 R 7 A ,

this book,playalongwith this example f a shuff le

the CD, ry this at your next iam session.

E77

65

87

In this example,he soloistplays cadenza

with the fermoto4\ , or holdsign,over the

on the bIIZana the final chord. This is shown

last wo chords.

D7 c7 G c7 c7 ci latmzcTtD n\ G7AA

66

FsS88

Chapter - lnt ros, Endings ndTurnarounds 8 :



#lu :il i'i:l*i*+J#;#irl r#it*iffi$$frffi$ffi,

Not every bluesstartswith an introduction, ut manyof them do. As with everyother

aspect of the blues hat we've talked about, here is some standardvocabulary o learn,as

well as some room for creativity.

A commonway o

the end.

SwingSths

J =80 G7

start a blues s o playa four-bar, -IV-I intro with a l i t t le urnaroundat

Nt c7/G2I

l f the songyou'reabout o play ncludes ri f f a short repeated igure hat is the basis or

the song),you rthe solo is tmightplaythat i f fas he ntro. Not icehowwel l he r i f f n bar

F 7

67

.. . .1

89

3 works as an intro.

SwingBths

J =80 G7 F7 c7 t t Ab7 G74Ib

68

"

- . - J

5

Alternatively,n intro might ust focuson the rhythmand set

4

the groove.

Swing8ths

J=80 G7 sI

F75

69n

- - - " ,

ffiffiw\ . , . /9 I

' r 2

ni c7

88 Chapter8- lnt ros, Endings ndTurnarounds



l f you're playing

intro.. ." hen you

Swing ths

G 7

so lo p iano,or you ' re w i th a

can put any of your favor i te

band but the leader

l i c k so r l i n e sover th e

says piano, take the

chord progress ion.

92

7iI

F3,

I

C7

iW#iiffiffiffi;#9""'*'0"'u

ffi*.w#il-+-Ti Pict a shuff le rom

V-IV-I intros. Letother as rhythmic

*x'].]]n.' ' ' '**ii x i:] i ::rn:]*1:'] |tI+ {]9 |+gF s]i;:]| :1 ' t]w4 ]l li i:i ::l*9gssn

nD c7

earl ier n the book and makeuP wo, four-bar

one intro havea melodic ocus, nd make heas possib le.

t

:

P roduce , compose , pe former

Willie Dixon had a career inprofessionalboxing beJore ursuing a

musical career. Dixon led several

bands n Chicagct n the 1940s. The

mostpopular of thesewas The Big

ThreeTrio, with Leonard "Baby Doo"

Castonon piano-a sophisticatedump

blues rio with tight arrangements y

Dixon, often eaturing three-part vocal

harmonies. n the I950sWillie Dixort

producedsessionsor LeonardChess,

wrote tunes br Chessartists like

Muddy Waters,Howlin' Wolf and LittleWalterandplayed in Muddy Waters'

band. As the'50sprogressed,Willie

Dixon rose o greaterfame and had an

incredible nfluenceon the Chicago

scene.WillieDixon c'laims o have

written over 250 songsand has said,"l em the Blues." He certainlyput his

stamp irmly on blues history.

Chap te r - l n t ros , End ingsndTurna rounds 8 9



ffflnReWilfiiilm l lil iltrulafiiun0fielowla

In Chapter 6 you were introduced o the walkingbassl ine.n this chapter, e wi l l look

more closelyat how walking inesare constructed.As a keyboardplayer, ou are doing

one of two things: i ther providing bassl ine r respondingo one. lf you are not playing

the bassl ine ecausehere is a bassplayer, ou need o be hearinghe bass learlyenough

to makegood harmonic nd melodicchoices.A blueswi th a walk ingbassl ine rov ides

manyopportunit ies or choices ecausehere are manydif ferentways o "walk" through

a givenset of chord changes.n addit ion,here wi l l be choices boutwhichchord changes

to play, special lysyou start o slowdown the blues,hus stretching ut the progression.

Playing low blues s a huge opic whichwe wi l l begin o address ere,and hen flesh-out

further in lntermedioteluesKeyboord,here we will look at more complexchord motion,

bassl inesndvoicings, ow to improvise ver hem andhow to play n the styles f several

inf luential lues igures.

PlayWolking heBlues lowly,paying loseattention o the left hand.

W wALKTNGTHEtuEsTrack 93

F7

SlowSwingSths

)= 66c77 3

5

90 Chapter9-Walking Bass nd an Introduction o the Slow Blues



Let 's fook more closely at how the bassl ine or Wolking he Blues s constructed:

l ) Look at the f i rst beat of each bar. In almost every measure, he root of

the chord is playedon the f i rst beat. The only except ions are bars four,

eight and twelve, where the 5th of the chord is played. Not ice that in

each case where the 5th of the chord is played on beat one, the chord

being played s the tonic I and i t is being cont inued for a second bar. l f

you star t your walking bassl ineswith th is kind of skeleton and f i l l in the

blanks,you cannot go too far astray.

C7 c77

7 l

F7

\ ., . L

I V - -

C7

l . l' a -

, - -V - 4 - u

Descendingine Ascend ing ine

G7 F 7 c7

l a l

U.

2) Look at the shape f the l ine. Most barsare ei therascendingthe notes

al l go up the staff , r descendingthe notesal l go down). Whether a

measures ascendingr descendingepends ponwhichoctave ou

choose or each oot when you outl ine he root motion. There are no

hard-and-fastulesaboutwhetheryoushouldwalkup or down rom oneroot

to the next. In the first bar of Wolkingthe lues,the assmighthavewalked

from C down to F rather han up. As always,et your earguide ou.

The notesyou playon beats wo, hree and our of eachbar connect he

roots(or Sths). Most of thesenotescome rom the scaleof the chord.

Others are eading r possingoneswhichare outside he scale ut help

to connect h ings moothly .S ince ou are walk ing, ou wi l l general ly

take smal lsteps ather han arge eaps.However,he most important

th ing s o make he chord changes learand he l inesoundgood, o

there wi l l always e some exceptions.

C7

3)

F77

c7

Chapter9-Walk ing Bass ndan Introduct iono the SlowBlues 9 |

72

E is a chord tone for

andleads ' to

F7

Chromat ic' leading'

or 'pass ing ' ones

Chord tones



There are manyways o get from C7 (I) to

ln Wolking heBlueswe walkedup. We used

would havegotten to F too quickly.

F7 (IV) in four beats:

somechromatic ones because therwisewe

3

C7 F7

An alternativemight be to break up the ascending

wi th in he scale f the C7 chord(FMajor) .

pattern, but st ick to tones that are

c7 F 7

Another way to get from C to F is to walk down.

C 7 F 7

ln the twelve-barprogression,here are three times we stayon C7 for two bars. Thatmeans ightbeats f C7 leadingo ei therF7,G7 or a turnaround.

ln WolkingheBlues, e played he 5th of the chord on beatone of the secondbar,but it

would be OK to play he root (C) again.

C7 G7

):-'- -

tI

5

6

You can change he di rect ion of your walk ing l ine

put a large interval leap in wherever i t seems r ight .

doesn ' t walk in just one d i rect ion,but i t does i ts job

leads o the F7 chord with the note E.

wheneveryou want. You can also

The fourth bar of Wolking he Blues

becauset out l ines C7 chordand t

C7 F7

Look again t the bassl ineor WolkingheBlues. his ime,noticehow beat our of eachbar

leads o beatone of the fol lowingbar. Most of the t ime,but not always,t wi l l soundgood

to approach root from a half-step way.Don't think of it asa rule o fol low.The only rule

is o make t soundgood.

7

92 Chapter9-Walking Bass nd an Introduction o the Slow Blues



In Chapter , you studied iatonic r iads pag" | 5) . As you learned hen, he i i chord s

minor. That is why i t is shown wi th a lower caseRomannumeral .The i i -V-I chord

progressions commonlyused n a slow blues o substi tute or the V-IV-I that normal ly

makesup the last our barsof a twelve-bar lues. n the keyof C, this progression ould

be DminT G7 - C.

The basswalkseasi ly hrough his progression.

D minT G7

Sodand Lonely lues s a sloww blues n G using i i -V- I (Amin7,D7,G7) turnaround.

w sADANDTONELYLTJESTrack 95

c

80

Swing8ths

J=60 c75

a

l-t ,1

C7

5

G7

3

A?7

I

G7

Begining Blues for Keyboard

Documents

Transcript of Begining Blues for Keyboard