Blues Piano Practice Straight-Talk
Blues piano practice straight-talk? What does that mean? Well, in this article you’re in for a little treat. In this article we’re going to reveal some blunt thoughts and tips for playing and practicing the piano – some “straight talk” if you will. As educators, we have a love and fondness for the material we…
Blues Piano Improvisation – Advice and Tips
Blues piano improvisation is an essential skill for a blues piano player. One simple form and yet the blues is played in jazz, rock, pop, country, and, well… the blues. We’re not gonna talk a lot of theory here. Instead we’re gonna offer some practical advice and tips to help you focus on some essential…
Easy Blues Piano Practice
In this article we’ll discuss some easy blues piano practice exercises. These practice exercises will help you get more familiar with the blues form and the individual chords that make up the 12-bar blues structure. As you probably know, the blues form is used in jazz, rock, country, and well… blues music. Generally speaking, the…
3 Ways to Improve Your Blues Playing
In this article we’ll take a look at three specific ways to improve your blues playing. These three tips are presented here in a blues format, but they are equally valid in a jazz setting. After all, the blues form is frequently the template for jazz tunes. And rightfully so because the blues has everything!…
Blues Piano Comping – 7 Do’s and Don’ts
Blues piano comping is the topic of this article, in which we’ll be discussing 10 “do’s and don’ts.” Of course, these 10 tips can easily apply to comping in any genre – blues, jazz, rock, pop, etc. Being able to implement these tips in your playing is usually the difference between inexperienced players and true…
How to Play a Minor Blues – 3 Tips
In this article we’re going to talk about an important but somewhat neglected topic in jazz and rock music – how to play a minor blues. The minor blues form is similar to the major blues form but also has some very important differences. It’s not just simply a matter of changing all the dominant…
5 (Easy) Blues Piano Tricks That You Should Know
We all aspire to be blues and jazz masters at the piano, but there are some easy blues piano tricks that every pianist should know which can instantly give your playing that authentic blues sound. The masters – pianists like Wynton Kelly, Oscar Peterson, Otis Spann, Dr. John, etc. – all knew how to use…
Learn to Play Rootless Chord Voicings
Rootless chord voicings are an essential aspect of jazz and blues playing and usually thought of as an advanced concept. But the most challenging aspect of rootless chord voicings is simply the practice that they require. This is good news because you don’t need to know a lot of theory or a ton of tunes…
Blues Piano Tip – Displacing the Beat
In this article we’ll look at a very important blues piano tip – displacing the beat. Actually, this is not just a blues piano tip but a general piano tip because it can be applied to all types of music, as well as music composition. “Displacing the beat” refers to taking a musical lick or…
How to Play Big Piano Chords
Have you ever listened to the climax of a great bluesy piano solo, when the pianist is playing big piano chords with two hands, and wondered “how is he getting that sound? What is he playing?” In this article we’re going to show you how you can build big piano chords with two hands. But…