Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize some tasty Country Piano Two Step Comping Styles… 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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Two Step Comping Pattern #1
A staple of playing country music is this country piano two step comping pattern… applied to a typical country 16 bar song form in two 8 bar sections based on the big three chords in the key of C Major…
Notice the patterns: (1) Left Hand = the root of each chord on beat 1, “the 5″of each chord on beat 2, (2) Right Hand = triads “strummed” on the upbeats, in the middle register, connected using voice leading.
Performance & Technique Tips: (1) Imagine that your left hand is the bass player and your right hand is the rhythm guitar player, (2) Play each bass note with a separate impulse, but don’t attack the keys, (3) Try playing the right hand chords as if you’re brushing the keys as you pull your arm and hand away, (4) Feel and keep the time in mostly in your flowing arms, not your fingers!
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Two Step Comping Pattern #2
This country piano two step comping pattern uses the exact same notes as Pattern #1, but in a more playful broken chord right-hand rhythm… great for medium tempos…
Technique Tip: Play each broken chord the right as a single musical and physical idea, not as two separate events.
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Two Step Comping Pattern #3
This country piano two step comping pattern adds more broken chord interest in the right hand… great at slow tempos where there is lots of time to play in between the bass notes…
Technique & Interpretation: Play the broken chord in the right hand as a single integrate musical and physical impulse, not three separate events.
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Two Step Comping Pattern #4
This country piano two step comping pattern introduces scalewise walk-ups and walk-downs in the bass lines… which create a strong sense of forward motion and anticipation of each chord change…
Performance & Technique: Each walk-up and walk-down should feel like it is heading towards its target note on the down beat and chord change that follows.
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Two Step Comping Pattern #5
This country piano two step comping pattern adds some quintessential country twang…
Notice that the root of each chord is never played in the right hand and that “the 5” of each chord is sustained as “the 2” resolves to “the 3″…
Technique & Interpretation: Play each twang note and its resolution as an integrated musical and physical idea, not two separate notes.
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Two Step Comping Pattern #6
This country piano two step comping pattern is a tasty mix of blues and country that emphasizes the blue notes b3 and b7 on both the I and VI chords…
Hear and feel how the pickups keep the momentum going between each two-bar phrase…
Practice Tip: Start by playing accurately at a slow tempo with a rhythm track.
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Your Homework
Using your knowledge of scales and chords (and your ears, of course) play this country piano swing pattern with a rhythm track in all keys you expect to play in. Suggested keys are those preferred by guitar players: C, G, D, A, and E.
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Practice Reminders
- Always practice with a rhythm track, record yourself, listen to the playback immediately, and ask yourself: Is that what you intended to play?
- If your timing feels off or anything feels tense or awkward, experiment with your choreography until your musical intentions and technique become one.
- Don’t give up. It may take over a hundred attempts before you get it, but you will get it if you use these practice habits and never give up, guaranteed!
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Practice Tracks: Country Two Step Drums
As the name implies, the Country Two-Step Rhythm is all about two-ness–with downbeats on the kick and complemented with yummy stick taps on the upbeats…
Listen to a sample at 80 bpm…
Country Two Step Drums (MP3s)
Downloadable drum tracks for jamming along and tightening up your Country Two Step Rhythm… each long enough to wear you out, tempos ranging from 60 to 100 bpm in 5 bpm increments…
The benefits of playing along with a click track at various tempos cannot be overstated: very slowly at first to have enough time to “think about everything”, then fast enough to be forced to “play without thinking”.
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 60 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 65 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 70 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 75 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 80 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 85 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 90 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 95 bpm…
Play Along Two Step Drums @ 100 bpm…
For a donation to the website (Donations Page) Frank would be happy to send you his entire library of Country Piano Comping Patterns and Drum Tracks produced to date… accessible by a direct link to three sets of downloadable zip files that include high res PDF music scores and full length MP3 drum tracks for the country piano two step, country piano swing, and county piano waltz.
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learn more… Country Piano Lessons
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Great stuff. Thanks Frank
Thanks for the positive feedback, Alex. It’s my pleasure and privilege to share.