First in Frank’s HUGE collection of killer blues piano licks to add to your bag… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…
Blues Piano Lick 001 (in the Key of C)
Two-bars long, kicks off with a yummy grace note on the “1&” beat, outlines a descending C Minor Blues Scale, and caps things off with a syncopation and lots of space…
Listen to Frank demonstrate one way to play this (using a double chop left hand at 110 bpm)…
Blues Piano Lick 001 Fingering Suggestion
Notice that there’s a kind of triangle formed with your thumb, index, and middle finger on Do-Me-Fa and a similar triangle formed with your thumb, index, and middle finger on So-Te-Do…
Technique & Interpretation Tips
- Don’t just play symbols and don’t just think the time. Sing this out loud and play it like you’re singing it! (ref: Musical Mind).
- Play the grace note and target notes with a single impulse, not as two separate events.
Blues Lick 001 (Your Homework)
Use what you know about form, meter, scales, chords, chord progressions, chord voicings, and left hand patterns to play these etudes in other keys you expect to play in and see what you discover.
Special Note from Frank: If there’s interest, I’d be happy to write this out in a few other keys.
Study & Practice Reminders
- You’re singing the Solfege or scatting aloud in order to internalize the sound-feelings, right?
- You practice with a metronome or rhythm track in order to instill good time, right?
- You record yourself, listen to the playback immediately, self evaluate, and respond accordingly, right?
The Open Secret…
The key to getting good isn’t “talent”; it’s the discipline to study and practice the right things the right way. (See: productive study & practice habits).
more like this… Blues Piano Licks