Lesson Goal: To internalize some killer Blues Piano Endings… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Basic music reading skills… basic scale, chord, and chord progression theory… basic technique… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.
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Study, Practice, & Performance Tips
- Never play mindlessly and mechanically. Always aspire to play musically.
- Your goal is not to merely memorize these, but to study and practice them until you internalize them using all four musical intelligences: ears, intellect, eyes, and muscles.
- Every time you practice something, you are programming your brain. So always play accurately.
- Practice with a Click Track or a Rhythm Track. Doing so will give you immediate feedback on any rhythmic misconceptions or places where your timing gets sloppy.
- Record Yourself. Always. Listen to the playback immediately. And ask yourself: Is that what you intended to play?”
- If anything feels tense or awkward, stop immediately and experiment with alternative fingerings or choreography.
- Play this in other keys you expect to play in. By the way, once you see the patterns (which is guaranteed if you know your scales and chords) finding the notes in other keys will be a piece of cake!
- If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, realize that anything can and will be mastered if you slow things down or break things down to small enough pieces.
- All of this might sound like a lot of work, but it’s not nearly as much as you think. Because even though it takes time to talk about all these things, in practice they can all be done simultaneously!
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Blues Piano Ending #1
This blues piano ending features contrary motion with lots of chromaticism… to be played in the final two bars to make a crisp and clear exit…
Pattern Recognition…
- Left Hand = 1-3-4-#4-5-6-7-1
- Right Hand = Pinky Point on the 1 + 1-b7-6-b6-5-b3-3-1
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Blues Piano Ending #2
A triplet variation of Ending #1…
Pattern Recognition…
- Left Hand = 1-3-4-#4-5-b7-7-1
- Right Hand = Pinky Point on the 1 + 1-b7-6-b6-5-b7-7-1
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Blues Piano Ending #3
Playing with a pinky-point drone note on top really fattens up the sound!
Don’t forget to swing the eighth notes!
Pattern Recognition…
- Left Hand = 1-3-4-#4-5-4-b3-1
- Right Hand = Pinky Point on the 1 + 1-3-4-#4-5-4-b3-1
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Blues Piano Ending #4
An old school ending copped from “Take the A Train”…
Don’t forget to swing the eight notes!
Pattern Recognition…
- Unison in both hands: 1-3-4-#4-5-6-5-1
- Followed by a Dominant7,#9 stinger!
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Blues Piano Ending #5
This one outlines a 6 chord with a chromatic approach to the tonic…
Don’t forget to swing the eight notes!
Pattern Recognition…
- Unison in both hands: 1-6-5-3-1-b7-7-1
- Followed by a stinger in octaves!
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Blues Piano Ending #6
A classic b5-b3 lick with a tasty chromatic side slip into the tonic…
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Blues Piano Ending #7
There’s nothing subtle about this big fat juicy exit…
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Blues Piano Ending #8
Another old-school bread and butter ending to add to your bag…
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Blues Piano Ending #9
Another old-school closer you’ve probably heard before…
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Blues Piano Ending #10
Descending minor pentatonic scale with a low stinger…
Don’t forget to shuffle the eighth notes!
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back to… Blues Piano Lessons