Blues Piano & Improvisation in the "Slow Blues" Style | Arthur Bird | Skillshare
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Blues Piano & Improvisation in the "Slow Blues" Style

teacher avatar Arthur Bird, Piano Teacher & Session Player

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Blues Piano & Improvisation in the Slow Blues Style

      2:51

    • 2.

      Minor Blues Scale in C

      3:06

    • 3.

      A Quick Improv

      4:00

    • 4.

      Slow Blues in C - Basic Left Hand Chords

      4:27

    • 5.

      Minor Blues Exercise - Triplet Eighths (Basic Left Hand Chords)

      3:43

    • 6.

      Minor Blues Exercise - Triplet 8ths Exercise with Backing Track

      3:34

    • 7.

      A Quick Tip on Playing Along to Tracks

      1:26

    • 8.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung Eighths (Simple LH Chords)

      5:31

    • 9.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung 8ths (Simple Left Hand Chords)

      5:30

    • 10.

      Minor Blues Exercise Swung Eighths with Backing Track

      2:32

    • 11.

      Thoughts on Practice

      1:04

    • 12.

      Mixing Up the Rhythms & Improvising

      4:03

    • 13.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Alternating Rhythms (Basic Left Hand Chords)

      3:36

    • 14.

      Using the Sustain Pedal

      1:43

    • 15.

      Jumping Left Hand Pattern

      4:48

    • 16.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise with Jumping Left Hand - Triplet Eighths

      3:29

    • 17.

      Easy Left Hand Version (Without the Jumps)

      2:15

    • 18.

      Minor Blues Exercise Triplet Eighths (Simplified Left Hand Pattern)

      2:02

    • 19.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung Eighths with Jumping Left Hand

      1:53

    • 20.

      Minor Blues Exercise Swung Eighths Simplified Left Hand

      1:46

    • 21.

      A Quick Improv - Swung & Triplet Rhythms Over Left Hand Jumping Pattern

      5:55

    • 22.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet Eighths (Without the Left Hand Jumps)

      2:02

    • 23.

      Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet 16ths (Simplified Left Hand)

      2:00

    • 24.

      Rocking 3rds Riff in C (from the 5)

      5:57

    • 25.

      Crushed/Slide Notes

      2:13

    • 26.

      Octave Harmony

      4:10

    • 27.

      Octave Harmony - Swung 8ths Exercise

      4:00

    • 28.

      Octave Harmony - Swung 8ths Exercise (Simplified Left Hand)

      2:30

    • 29.

      What You've Learnt So Far - Etude/Practice Piece

      4:04

    • 30.

      Building the Improv

      3:01

    • 31.

      Slow Blues - Chromatic Transitions & Turnaround

      6:10

    • 32.

      Left Hand Pattern With Chromatic Transitions & Turnaround Walk Up

      2:46

    • 33.

      Turnaround Walk Up in Left Hand (Simple Version)

      2:08

    • 34.

      Syncopated Rhythms

      3:19

    • 35.

      Slow Blues Lick 1

      3:38

    • 36.

      Slow Blues Lick 2

      2:20

    • 37.

      Slow Blues Licks 1 & 2 Practice Piece - Etude 2

      7:58

    • 38.

      Chromatic 3rds with Octaves Turnaround

      7:14

    • 39.

      Chromatic 3rds Turnaround - Easier Variation

      3:21

    • 40.

      C7 Tremelo Chord Finish

      1:42

    • 41.

      Blues Licks 1 & 2 Etude 2 (with Chromatic 3rds Octave Turnaround)

      4:38

    • 42.

      Progressing in Blues - Etude 3

      8:52

    • 43.

      Alternating Swung & Triplet Exercise (With Left Hand Chromatic Transitions)

      4:46

    • 44.

      Octave Harmony Triplet Rhythms Exercise

      6:35

    • 45.

      Major Blues Scale

      2:25

    • 46.

      Practice Improv Play Along with the Major Blues Scale

      5:48

    • 47.

      Major Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet 8ths

      5:05

    • 48.

      Major Blues Scale Exercise - Swung 8ths

      4:38

    • 49.

      Improvisation Mixing the Major & Minor Blues Scales

      1:46

    • 50.

      A Classic Blues Chords Rocking Riff

      7:02

    • 51.

      Classic Blues Chords Rocking Riff Over Left Hand

      3:50

    • 52.

      Classic Blues Rocking Riff - Playing Around With the Rhythms & Order of the Patterns

      3:14

    • 53.

      Integrating the Classic Rocking Riffs Into Your Improvising

      4:52

    • 54.

      Slow Blues Lick 3

      4:11

    • 55.

      Slow Blues Lick 3 with Left Hand

      2:32

    • 56.

      Slow Blues Lick 4

      5:56

    • 57.

      Slow Blues Lick 5

      3:43

    • 58.

      Slow Blues Lick 5 Extended

      2:12

    • 59.

      Blues Licks 1-5 in Practice - Etude 4

      7:07

    • 60.

      Its Improv Time

      3:57

    • 61.

      A Few Tips on Improvising with Scales

      1:23

    • 62.

      Slow Blues Lick 6

      3:53

    • 63.

      Slow Blues Lick 7

      5:36

    • 64.

      Slow Blues Lick 7 with Left Hand

      3:44

    • 65.

      Tremelo 3rds

      3:26

    • 66.

      Octave Blues Scale Solos in Right Hand

      3:31

    • 67.

      The Slow Blues Cruise - Etude 5

      11:35

    • 68.

      The Slow Blues Cruise - Etude 5 - Part 2

      9:45

    • 69.

      The Slow Blues Cruise - Full Piece Played Slowly (Practice Reference)

      3:41

    • 70.

      Putting Everything Together

      2:45

    • 71.

      A Short Intro on the Dominant 5th

      1:52

    • 72.

      Play Along Practice Improv - 45bpm

      3:40

    • 73.

      Final Play Along Improv Practice - 60bpm

      2:15

    • 74.

      It's Over to You

      0:31

    • 75.

      Alternate 8 Bar Blues - Applying Your New Skills

      5:13

    • 76.

      Alternate Progression - The 8 Bar Blues

      5:42

    • 77.

      Closing Thoughts

      1:07

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About This Class

Take your blues piano playing to the next level with this course on blues piano and improvisation in the slow blues style! Beginning with a basic slow blues progression, it methodically builds your skills all the way to being able to freely improvise impressive blues piano. Throughout you’ll accumulate a wealth of licks, riffs and techniques that will have you creating blues sounds in a way that you’ve always wanted to!

Systematic Approach - The strength of the course comes from the systematic approach to implementing of every aspect or skill, with exercises that enable you to easily integrate your new abilities fluently into your improvisations.

Practice Pieces - It’s important to have the opportunity to put your new skills into practice. Which is why there are also specially designed blues pieces that incorporate every you’re learning as you progress, culminating in a final blues tune that shows off everything you’ve learnt in the course.

50+ Sheet Music Downloads – Everything in the course has been notated for those that can read music, with over 50 PDF downloads available!

Music Reading Ability Not Essential – You don’t need to be able to read music notation to take this course. Every scale, lick, riff, technique, exercise and practice piece is broken down and talked through during the video lessons by the instructor, for students that prefer to copy and play by ear. The tutorials include highlighted keyboard graphics, and the notation within the videos also include the note names (inside the note heads) for anyone that may find it useful.

Backing Track Downloads – So you can have even more fun whilst learning and playing the blues, the course also has backing tracks so you can play along to a blues band sound in the comfort of your own home.

Bonus eBook – Everyone learns differently, which is why as an added bonus the course includes an eBook that you can download and print off, to further enhance the learning process.

Not For Complete Beginners - This course is not for beginners and assumes some previous knowledge on the piano, although it is still suitable for pianists that may be early on in their piano learning journey, because it starts with a gentle approach, and methodically builds to advanced levels as you move through.

START TODAY - So if you want to have fun improvising smooth blues piano right off the top of your head, then join in and start playing today!

Meet Your Teacher

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Arthur Bird

Piano Teacher & Session Player

Teacher

Hi, I'm Arthur and I've been playing the piano for 20 years. After achieving Grade 8 with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, I started touring as a session player in theatre shows all over the United Kingdom. As well as this I have lots of experience in recording studios, and with bands have played music all over the world, from the UK, Europe, USA and even Australia. I've been teaching piano for 10 years now, and am an approved tutor with the City of York Arts Council.

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Level: Intermediate

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Transcripts

1. Blues Piano & Improvisation in the Slow Blues Style: Hi, I'm Arthur Bird, the best selling online piano instructor. And I've been fortunate enough to have over 20,000 pupils enrolled in my classes worldwide. And in this course, you will learn how to improvise blues piano, specifically in the slow blues style. In it, I'll take you from a basic slow blues progression and methodically build your skills all the way up to being able to freely improvise impressive blues piano, giving you a huge array of blues techniques that will ignite you're improvising, including lifts, risks, turnarounds, jumping base patterns, tremor, lows, octave harmony, and much more. You may have already tried to learn from videos on YouTube. But there, you'll often learn an individual lick or riff without being shown a way to fluently integrated into your improvising. Which is why this course has plenty of exercises that incorporate your new skills throughout giving you full control over each riff, Nick, scale, or technique. On top of this, there are especially designed blues pieces that integrate what you're learning as you progress, giving you the opportunity to put your new abilities into practice within great sounding blues tunes. Everything in the cost has been fully notated. For those of you that prefer to read sheet music with over 50 downloads available, however, you don't need to be able to read sheet music in order to enjoy this course. Because all of the lessons have a highlighted keyboard graphic for those of you that prefer to copy and play by ear. In addition, any notation within the video lessons include the note names inside the note heads. For those of you that would find it useful. I understand that everyone learns differently. And so to further enhance your learning experience. Because also comes with an added bonus, which is an e-book that you can print off and follow along with to supplement the video tutorials. And finally, to make the learning process even more fun. The exercises and practice pieces come with backing tracks. So you can play along with a blues band sound in the comfort of your own home. So if you want to have fun improvising smooth blues piano off the top of your head. Then sign up and get started today. 2. Minor Blues Scale in C: Alright, let's dive straight in. We're going to be working in the key of C. So let's start off with the C minor blue scale. You already know this, please feel free to skip this lecture. But if not, here's how to play it. So it starts off on C, E-flat, F, F sharp, G, B-flat, and then octave c above. The fingering I'd like you to do is focus first on the scene. Second on the E-flat, third on the F, falls on the F sharp, then some Antonioni on the G. Then the second thing on the B flat, and then third, see above. And that is a fingering for just one octave. It change at the top. If you're going up again, just start off like that. So practice that first octave just to get you to the notes and the fingering. And then on the way down, just making sure that you go off with your fourth finger onto the F sharp. You took your hand in a second on the E-flat, C. So that's one octave. Practice that until they get control of it. And then if you go up another octave, you just need to slightly adjust the fingering when you get to the octave above. So we're gonna go 1234 from underneath on the B-flat. And then if you're going to go up another octave, rather than put your third finger down on the sea there, you're gonna go underneath. The fingering is exactly the same. 234 twist on the on the top. If you go up again, you could just go from underneath and carry on with the same fingering. So let's just get to there, to there. Then third on the top because we're going to go to Octave for the moment. That you're going to go back down, making sure your fourth is over the top. F sharp, three on the left. I think it's important to go over the two and then thumb underneath the cheek. So just practice that. The other top with a sharp fall. Okay? So I'd like you to practice the two octaves of C minor blues like this. So practice that until you feel really comfortable with those notes and the correct fingering. And then in the next lesson, we're going to put it straight into practice. 3. A Quick Improv: For those of you that have already taken my beginner's blues costs, you will be comfortable with playing the blues in the key of G. We're going to get stuck into the slow blues that I showed you at the start of this section. But before we do, I thought it would be nice to have a quick go at improvising with the minor blue scale in the key of C that you've just learned, or you may well have already known it. And it will be interesting to see if you can transfer over some of the skills that you already learned, already know particularly the rhythms. Now, don't worry if you haven't taken my beginner's course. This is just a quick bit of fun. And I'm not going to go into huge detail right now. I'm just going to throw you into the deep end and see what happens. But if you don't fancy it, you can move on to the next lecture. So if you fancy having a quick go using the Minor Blues scale in the key of C. All I want you to do is play around with the notes and the rhythms and the right hand over the top of, for single notes in the left. These are C, B flat, a, a flat. And notice I started below middle C here. Okay? So all the way to do is play around with the scale. C minor blues, playing around with notes, changing the order of them, and then those fall notice in the left hand. And it can be pretty free. For example, if you start off with a colon response where you play a left-hand sum of the nerves? Yeah. I was just playing around is quite free. So if you don't feel too comfortable with the scale just yet, you can maybe try that colon response. Left-hand players, but not as far nuts. Right hand doodles around. And then if you want to be a bit stricter with it, you can try paying it with four beats. It's going 12341234123123. I'm going to improvise. Okay, So I wasn't doing anything too complicated. Purely single dots in the right hand, playing around with the rhythms and those four left-hand notes. So have a go at that and see what happens. It's just simply start playing around with a C minor blue scale straightaway before we start digging into this slow blues style. If you want, you can also add an octave into the left hand to make it a bit more powerful. Also, if you're improvising around those far left-hand notes and your fancy just one extra tweak to the sound. Can add in a G in the left hand or a G7 call. Yeah. Like this. 4. Slow Blues in C - Basic Left Hand Chords: Now you've had a play around with the minor blue scale in C. It's time to start learning these slow blues style I showed you at the start. To do this, we're going to be using a classic 12 bar blues form. Here's how to play the basic cards in the left hand. So here are the cards in the left hand. As you can see, it's in the key of C. I'll just quickly go over the full structure of the 12 bar blues we're using. So it starts off with one bow and the sea. Then it goes up to the far card and the F, and then back down for 2 bar on the sea. And then it goes up to 2 bar and the F back to 2 bar and the C. And then one on the G, one of the f, and then one of the sea, and then it finishes off with a turnaround on the G. And as you can see, we're working with four beats per bar. So these are just the basic cards. The left hand is going to get more advanced. So the first card is a C seven. So the full C7 is this. But I've taken out the fifth there, the G, so it's just a B-flat. The F7 called normally would be this. I've done is I've inverted it and also taken out the five as well. So it's gonna be the E-flat and it's just been inverted there. Then the only the card is the G7. Again, normally it would be just play simply there, but I've taken out the five again, an inverted it for the F score below. So the three cards that you need to practice now, C7, F7 plate here, E flat, and then the G, which is their GP. And as far as fingering goes, I would do 531 from C7, the F7, slide the thumb down to the a. You're too is already over the F, and your third is very close to the E flat, so it's going to add that to that. Then it can easily slide back to the CSF. Then for the G7, I need to do is slide is thumb up to the B and 2.3 go to the G. So practice those cards with that fingering and want to use to it and you feel comfortable moving between them smoothly, then you can try play the full left-hand progression. So there's four beats per bar on each card has been played once per be, like this, 1233, and so on with the counting. And then you can repeat to the start if you want. So practice this until he can play smoothly without stopping between the chord changes. 5. Minor Blues Exercise - Triplet Eighths (Basic Left Hand Chords): Hopefully you've had fun learning those cards and can play that left-hand progression nice and smoothly. Now it's time to take your two per step and introduce the Minor Blues scale into the right hand. This exercise that you're about to learn will help with coordination. Also eventually make improvising with the blues scale much easier. We're going to start off using triplets with the right hand. If you don't know already, a triplet is when you play three notes in this same time as two. So in this case, a normal quarter notes or crotchets is split into two eighths or quavers. A triplet makes it so there are three eighths or quavers played for every one quarter note. The right hand, C minor blue scale is going to be going up and down by two octaves using that triplet rhythm like this. 12 312-312-3123 chip chip, chip chip. So practice that C minor blue scale in your right hand with that triplet rhythm 1234 chip, chip, chip, chip. Then we add the left hand, which creates this really cool sounding exercise. So if I just show you an example of the timing of the first bar, and then you should be able to get the idea from that. Is, the left hand is playing on the first of every three beats in your right like this, 123123 or can you see that the right-hand groups of three and the left hand is playing on the wall, 12 312-312-3123. And if you want to just count the main beat, it would be 123. Then that idea just carries on throughout that whole left-hand pattern. And your right hand is just going up and down two octaves, starting middle, C, finishing up here. So I'm now going to show you the full exercise with a ram scale of the top of the left-hand chord progression. Let's go. And then you can go around and repeat if you want. I'll finish on the C. So practice that until the complete without stops between bars and hesitations, you may have to start off slowly at first, but then you can gradually build up the tempo as you get more control. 6. Minor Blues Exercise - Triplet 8ths Exercise with Backing Track: Hopefully you've got it to the point where you can play that exercise comfortably. And now you can have a go at playing along with a backing track, which is great because it turns what is essentially just an exercise into playing along with a band. Well, almost with the bump, it just sounds cool and it's more fun. Another benefit is that it will help you to play along with an even tempo. So what I've done, I've done two version to the backing track. One slower version, which is at 50 beats per minute, and then a slightly faster 170 beats per minute. So if you feel like you need to start off slightly slower, you can try it using the slower version first. These backing tracks just run through the 12th bars, want so there's no repeats. So you can go through the 12th bars and then just finish on the C code. Just as a reference point. I'm now going to play through the exercise with the backing tracks. First of all, the slower one, and then the one at 70 bpm. And there will be eight clicks before it starts to give you some chance to get ready. Alright, so that was a slower version. Feel free to download the track and have a go at that. And now I'm going to show you that same exercise, but with the slightly faster backing track, which is at 70 bpm. They go sounds cooler without backing track, doesn't it? So have a go yourself, and I hope you have fun while you're doing it. 7. A Quick Tip on Playing Along to Tracks: This is just a quick tip on playing along two tracks. So if you are now at the point where you are wanting to improvise along with the backing tracks. And if playing along to tracks is new to you, at first, it may seem a little bit tricky because obviously the trap just keeps on playing. So if you feel like you're stumbling are getting left behind. My advice is to just stop and listen and to try and hop back in where you can. Sometimes I've seen people when playing along to tracks to try and catch up with the track if they've missed something I stumbled, are paused. But like I said, the best approach is to pause, listen, and then dropped back in where you can. And I'll just show you a very quick example so you know exactly what I mean. Okay, so I'm just going to pretend to get left behind. And then I'm going to miss the left-hand August 2, 34 and back. Can you hear how I listened past and found my place? Yeah. Can you hear that? I didn't try and catch up. I just paused, listened, and dropped back in. You don't have to wait as long as that or you can wait long if you want. I just wanted to suggest that approach. If playing along with tracks is new to you. 8. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung Eighths (Simple LH Chords): Another great rhythm used all the time in blues is the swirl rhythm or a swung eighth rhythm. Again, you may already know this, but if not, the swirl rhythm turned a straight 1.2 and 3.4 count into a shuffle like this. 1.2 and 3.4 and 1.2 and 3.4. What is essentially happening is, remember, when I talked about triplets being, each main beat is split into thirds. Well, the swirl rhythm, it's just playing on the one and the three of those thirds. Like this. One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three. Except the counter like this, 1.2 and 3.4. If you're counting with a one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three. That's all that's happening with a strong rhythm, 1.2 and 3.4. It's like along and then a sharp beat. Now we're just going to play the minor blue scale in C with that rhythm. Though. For the purposes of this exercise that you're doing, we're not going to play on the first beat of each bar in the right hand. We're going to come in on the end after the one like this, 12 and 3.4. So you can hear that I'm coming in on the end after the 11 and 2.3, and then that continues. So each time you're going to go up and down the blues scale to optimize again. But you just go to not play it on the first beat of each bar. So I'll just show you two octaves. The right hand. Show you what I mean. 1, 2, and 3 and 4 and 1. 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 and 1, 2, 3 and 4. So feel free to practice that right hand with that rhythm and accounting on its own first. Then you try that over the top of the left-hand chord progression. This is what it sounds like. And then you can repeat that round if you want or you can finish on the C. So some of you might just be able to read the music there and go straight ahead with exercise or playing it by ear the same. You may just be able to pick it up quite quickly if you're already aware with these rhythms and stuff, for those of you that need a little bit more help, just to go through it a bit slower. So your left hand place the first card on its own of each bar, and then your right hand follows up at this one. Together are the main beats, 1.3, and then it continues to fall back down. Notice something with the right-hand finger in there all the way down. It might help. Is when you come in down from the top here, stopped your third finger, that it's easy to come down. And then it just continues with that same pattern. And 3.4. Together. Together. Together. Yeah. Right? Right together, right together, right, left, right together, right together, right together. Right. Hopefully you've got the idea now. So practice that as usual so you can play it nice and smoothly without stopping. 9. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung 8ths (Simple Left Hand Chords): Another great rhythm used all the time in blues is the swirl rhythm or a swung eighth rhythm. Again, you may already know this, but if not, the swirl rhythm turned a straight 1.2 and 3.4 count into a shuffle like this. 1.2 and 3.4 and 1.2 and 3.4. What is essentially happening is, remember, when I talked about triplets being, each main beat is split into thirds. Well, the swirl rhythm is just playing on the one. And the three of those thirds. Like this. One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three. Except the counter like this, 1.2 and 3.4. If you're counting with a one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three. Want to say? That's all that's happening with a strong rhythm, 1.2 and 3.4. It's like along and then a sharp beat. Now we're just going to play the minor blue scale in C with that rhythm. Though. For the purposes of this exercise that you're doing, we're not going to play on the first beat of each bar in the right hand. We're going to come in on the end after the wall, like this, 1.2 and 3.4. So you can hear that I'm coming in on the end after the 11 and 2.3 and then that continue. So each time you're gonna go up and down the blues scale to optimize again. But you just go to not play on the first beat of each bar. So I'll just show you two octaves with the right hand to show you what I mean. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1. 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2, and 3, and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. So feel free to practice that right hand with that rhythm, the counting on its own first. And then you play that over the top of the left-hand chord progression. This is what it sounds like. And then you can repeat background if you want, I can finish on the C. So some of you might just be able to read the music there. Go straight ahead with the exercise or playing it by ear the same. You may just be able to pick up quite quickly if you're already aware of these rhythms and stuff, for those of you that need a little bit more help just to go through it a bit slower. So you left on place if first card on its own of each bar, and then your right hand follows up at this one. And then it's together. The main beats. So this 12.3. And then it continues. Free, fall, back down. And notice something with the finger in there all the way down. It might help. Is when you're coming down from the top here, stopped your third finger and that it's easy to come down. Then it just continues with that same pattern. Three. Band together. Together. Together. Yeah. Right? Right together, right together. Right, left, right together, right together, right together, right? Together. Hopefully you've got the idea now. So practice that as usual so you can play it nice and smoothly without stopping. 10. Minor Blues Exercise Swung Eighths with Backing Track: Just like you did with the triplet exercise. You can also play this exercise along with those two backing tracks. And so you've got a reference point, and so you know what you're aiming for. I am now going to play it through along with those two backing tracks, starting off with the slower version. Now here it is with the backing track at 70 bpm. 11. Thoughts on Practice: If you're early on in your piano learning journey, can I suggest making sure you have full control over each specific lick, riff or technique before moving on. And by this, I mean, being able to play it smoothly and comfortably without any parties or hesitations. In some cases, this may mean particular practice over a few days or even longer. This is to give your fingers and hands a chance to build up the strength and technique in order to play the particular part in question, which will in turn make the learning process more comfortable as the difficulty level increases throughout the course. On top of this, if you can memorize what I'm teaching you, this will make it much easier when it comes to improvising. This is because when improvising, you don't want to be thinking too hard about which particular lick or riff to play are how to play it. You want to be able to play in the moment. So getting them to the point where you can play them at the drop of a hat will make a big difference and make it improvising much more fluent and enjoyable. 12. Mixing Up the Rhythms & Improvising: Light you will have found out if you took my beginner's costs with just that one scale and those two rhythms, you can actually do quite a lot, for example. So all we're doing there was playing around with those two rhythm to triplet and this room using the C minor blue scale on top of the left hand progression. Just by moving between those two rhythms and playing around with the notes in this scale. You've actually have a lot to work with. So I'd like you now to have a go at playing around with those two rhythms using that C minor blue scale over this chord progression. And again, this is just quite free. It's just so you can start exploring. So it doesn't matter if there's any mistakes or anything. If we want obviously at different levels. So some of you might find it nice and easy to get stuck into that straightaway. So those of you that don't feel comfortable enough to improvise straightaway over that left and progression to the four beats per bar. Your right hand doing its own thing. Just an approach you could use is with that call and response technique I talked about were left and play something and your right hand answers. So what you could do, instead of using the four beats per bar, your left hand could just play one of one card and then your right-hand answers. And it doesn't have to be extra strict with the timing either. For example, you could do this. So that's one approach you can use. But of course, if you feel comfortable enough, you can go straight away with the left hand playing far beats per bar. Once you've done that, we're going to take it to the next level and introduce some jumps into the left hand. Just to comment on improvising with a scale in your right hand if you need it, that is so, but I'd see people that may be relatively new to improvising. What they tend to do that tend to go up and down and constantly try and play new nuts. But don't be scared to repeat notes and use the same area of the piano over and over again. For example, you can play circles. If you like the sound of that, you could repeat that bad assembly. The rhythm we've been working on those two rhythms, tried to sort of pick and choose between the rhythm. It's almost like singing with the piano, like this triple. That's where I was moving in between them. And I wasn't just doing a full bar triplets and a full bar of swim hours of mixing and matching. So try to do that if you can. 13. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Alternating Rhythms (Basic Left Hand Chords): Some of you may need a little bit more help getting used to switching between these two rhythms that we've been working on, the swung rhythms and the triplets. So if you do, here is an exercise to help. The way this exercise works is the left hand is exactly what we've been doing. The right hand, It's alternating between the swung rhythm and then the triplet. And they alternate every 2 bar. So it starts off with a swung rhythm for 2 bar, then triplets for two. Now notice you going down and up here, there's twice as many notes. Then also notice you don't go all the way to the top. See there you stop at the end of that bow and the B flat. And then it goes back to swirl. On the left 2 bar. It's going to change again. Repeat this seat at the bottom there. Again, you don't go all the way down to the end of that bar. Then the G, and then back to swell, still swell, and then triplets. And finally, I decided at the end of this, rather than doing triplets for the last two is going to be one each triplet on the way down and then Swan the way out. Yeah, the last 2 bar. You've got triplets on the sea. Then swirl on the gene. Then if you want, you can repeat the exercise as many times as you want until you feel you've got used to it. But if you want to finish it, you simply go from the last G card. Then finishing up. Yeah. So I'm now going to play the whole thing. So you can see altogether without any stops. 14. Using the Sustain Pedal: I always think that adding the sustain pedal TO playing improve the sound when necessary, especially in this slow blues style that we're working on. So if you've got a sustained pedal, when you can try and include it, you may already be familiar with using the sustain pedal. But if not, a good approach, is to use the left-hand card to guide when you're resetting it. So in this case, for instance, the first card is a C, so you're going to play, and then they're going to hold this sustained pedal down. Then the next card is an F, So you'd play, and then you reset it just after you play that card. And then just going back to see, see a play and then reset it. So you're basically using the left-hand cards to know when to change the sustain pedal, auto reset the sustain pedal. You can use it more often if you want, e.g. if you're playing and you're doing some solo in resetting throughout the bar. Reset. So that's up to you if you want to do it more often. And that might be the case if you're doing lots of notes, because if you're playing lots of notes, we'll merge them all together, make them sustain. So if you're doing lots of notes, you may want to reset it in the middle of the bar, but that's up to you for the moment. As I said, a good approach would be to use a left hand card to know when to reset the sustain pedal. 15. Jumping Left Hand Pattern: Now let's take it up a notch and start adding some variety in the left hand. And depending on your playing ability, this may mean some good practice separately because it involves some jumps if you are finding it too tricky. Especially when we start adding the right hand. I'm going to include a simpler version for those of you that would prefer it. So first of all, I'm just going to show you the new left-hand part, but I'm also going to add some right-hand improv on top so you can hear the direction that we're going to be moving. You can hear the fire that's building up here. I was only improvising with a C minor blue scale in the right hand. But as soon as I added this left-hand jumps in. Can you hear the change suddenly? It steps up and towns a lot more advanced, doesn't it? So the left hand, it's the same pattern, the same cards, but the changes that the root of the card there, the root is the C on that C7 chord is just going to go down a full octave. Yeah. It's far as that. Now. It's this. Yeah. And then you play the top path of the card three times to pay the root. And then he'd play the third and the flat 73 times. The next card was the F, which was there before. So all we're gonna do is move it down an octave. So you've got this wrong. Three for the C and the F there. And finally the G1, same thing before you played it like that. Now we're going to take the gene octave that. So first of all, practice just their new moves. It's the jumps which some of you might find a little bit challenging. So it may just have to put some extra practice into these jumps. If jumping up and down in the left arm, isn't it? Yeah. So I'm just going to play the full left-hand part now. But with this new jumping pattern, I think sustained pedal. It helps you because it holds the ribs, alternates to the rest of the card. Sometimes five and then 123. The fingering comes to the top. And that's it. So it's important to get this so you can play it easily and without any stops. And also, if you come from memory, if you do, it will make it much, much easier when we start adding the right hand. And also for when we start including passing notes into the left-hand, which we will get onto as we progress into the cars. So practice this again and again until it becomes second nature. And you can do it smoothly and easily. 16. Minor Blues Scale Exercise with Jumping Left Hand - Triplet Eighths: So you can get used to playing this left-hand jumping technique along with your right hand. We're going to take the triplet eighths exercise you did a few lectures ago and apply the new left-hand pattern. This is what it sounds like. As you've just seen. All this is, is that New Left and jumping pattern that you've just been doing with the triplet minor scale in the right-hand. Same manner, please exercise. But that New Left hand. I just do a couple of hours slowly so you can see what's going on, but you should be able to just apply that if you've practiced the left-hand separately. So as you can see, just making sure the left hand is going down to the octave below each time. Just going through that triplet exercise with the jumping left-hand pattern. So practice this until they can play it smoothly. Then you can have a go at playing along to the backing track, which I think sounds really cool. So you can hear what it sounds like with the backing track. Also see you've got a reference point would be paying it nice and slowly. I'm going to play it now with that backing track at 50 beats per minute. So the slower one. Here we go. 17. Easy Left Hand Version (Without the Jumps): If any of you are finding those big left-hand jumps, a little bit too tricky for the moment. Here is the easier left-hand version, which has been modified so that there aren't any jumps. And it still sounds good. All I've done here is taken the left-hand roots of each card, which was the C, F, and G, and the father played down there. All I've done is taken them and move them up an octave. So before you are playing the cola, that leads do is break up. Now you'd go to three. Then here you just play the F. Yeah, you got it. And on the G1, I actually just kept that one the same because I thought it didn't work quite as well. The sound of it. So I just kept it as the card from the original left-hand corner, the first land. That's all you're doing rarely, the left hand is just been moved up an octave. So you play the root. This plethora it now so you can see it. I think it can sustain pedal helps hold the roots underneath. So basically rocking the boat. Here on the G, just the fill color as you did originally. And finally on the G, again, G7. So if you're going down this route using this slightly easier left-hand practice that until you can play it nice and smoothly. 18. Minor Blues Exercise Triplet Eighths (Simplified Left Hand Pattern): Here is the same exercise, but with the simpler left-hand for those of you that might find the bigger jumps too challenging at the moment. So all it is is the Minor Blues scale in the right hand using the triplets going up and down, two octaves. Along with that left-hand pattern where the root is an octave higher, so you don't have the victims. Yeah. Then it's just a case of putting them together. All it is, is that triplet eighth exercise that we did right at the start of this section. But with this slightly simplified, broken pattern in the left-hand. I'll just show you it with both hands. Nice and slow. You can repeat as many times as you want, but I just showed it once there. And then finishing on the C at the end. And of course, you can play that one along with the backing track as well. 19. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Swung Eighths with Jumping Left Hand: So you can get more and more comfortable playing this left-hand jumping pattern. You can also apply it to the Minor Blues exercise with the swung eighth rhythm in the right hand. And learning these exercises will make it much easier when you start improvising and having full control over these left and jumps with their right hand. Playing over the top will also make it easier when we start introducing different licks, rifts, and other blues techniques. So when you did this blues exercise before you were playing like this with the cards, are going to do now is add that jumping left-hand pattern underneath this. Then you can repeat, I can finish. So have a go at that. Try and get full control of it without any stops. And then you can move on to the next lecture. 20. Minor Blues Exercise Swung Eighths Simplified Left Hand: For the moment you are choosing to use the simplified left-hand without the jumps. Here's that same Minor Blues exercise, but with this one-eighths with the simplified left hand. So the original exercise was just using the card. So this should be a nice, simple tweak it. All you're doing is playing the same exercise for the left hand is going without broken CAR pattern. Yeah. So I'm just going to play it together. Hopefully it shouldn't find it too difficult too. Move over to this version. They go from letting that. And I'll see you in the next lecture. 21. A Quick Improv - Swung & Triplet Rhythms Over Left Hand Jumping Pattern: Just to keep on easing you into improvising in this slope loose style, I'd like you to have a quick go at using what you've learned so far. So have a play around with the minor blue scale in the right hand, using the swung rhythms. And the triplets. On top of either the left and the jumping pattern. Or the one which is simplified, the big drops below. So I'm just going to play around only using what you've learned so far. So let's see what happens. So all I'm doing there, can you see moving between a small rhythms and the triplets? The right hand over the top of that left hand jumping pattern. But I wasn't always playing a full bar of either their swim or the triplet rhythms. I was sometimes joining halfway through it. Watch this. Can you hear that? And I'll do the same thing. You cannot count 12343. It's that swim with them over the top of the left hand. But I was just picking and choosing when I was joining in. So you don't always have to be playing. That's what creates nice sound and rhythms and cool sounding rhythms is picking and choosing when you're playing. For example, a few times I was doing this rhythm where I was playing that triplet with them. But I wasn't coming in on the one. Listen to this triplet rhythm. But coming in on the second of the triplet, listen to this trip. And then I went swirl the end. That trip. And that's, It's all about playing with the different rhythms over the top of the left hand. So with that in mind, you can also have a go at moving between the triplet and the thrill with them within one line of melody and your right hand. I'm going to start off with the swing. Swing. So that there was plenty of examples of me moving from the swung to the triplet within the same line. But also you don't always have to be playing. For example, it can be lots of gaps in the garden, then the gap triplet. There's some space again. He's got sound cool down then. If it does feel really difficult at the moment, improvising over the top of the left-hand. Remember, you can keep it super simple. For example, what you could do is just take a small section of the scaling your right hand and just focused on the left-hand jumps and the rhythms in your right color. I'm just going to take four notes in the right hand. Now what I'm gonna do is play around with the rhythms. I'm not going to choose lots of different nerves for the parts of the scale. So watch this. You see that? Always an option. So sounds cool. There's another approach you can use at the moment if you find it tricky, doing too much. Moving around in the right with the left hand jumps are just the left-hand broken pattern. Just start off using three or four notes of the scale in your right hand and try to focus on playing with those different rhythms. 22. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet Eighths (Without the Left Hand Jumps): Here is the same exercise, but with the simpler left-hand for those of you that might find the bigger jumps too challenging at the moment. So all it is is the Minor Blues scale in the right hand using the triplets going up and down, two octaves. Along with that left-hand button where the root is an octave higher, so you don't have the victims. Yeah. And then it's just a case of putting them together. All it is, is that triplet eighth exercise that we did right at the start of this section. But with this slightly simplified, broken pattern in the left-hand. I'll just show you it with both hands. Nice and slow. You can repeat as many times as you want, but I just showed it once there. And then finishing on the C at the end. And of course, you can play that one along with the backing track as well. 23. Minor Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet 16ths (Simplified Left Hand) : Here is the 16th triplet exercise, but with the simpler left hand without the jumps. So all you're doing is playing six notes of the Minor Blues scale in your right hand, but over the left-hand, simpler pattern like this, 123456123456123456123456. Again, yes, it takes you from the bottom up to the top two octaves and back down again. And that was one full bar. So practice the right hand so you can play speed. And then you can apply that to octaves up and down to the simpler pattern in the left-hand. If that's the choice you're using at the moment, here is the full exercise with both hands. 24. Rocking 3rds Riff in C (from the 5): So we started off with the Minor Blues scale in the right hand. I'd like to balance that minus sound with a great sounding riff that you can use. It's based around the classic blues riff, except it's rocking from the fifth of the chord. Here's what it sounds like. I'll play it with the left hand as well so you can hear what it sounds like along with some of the minor blues scale. So you can hit a nice contrast. Sounds cool, doesn't it? And as you can see, it's still using these thirds on top. So here's how to play it. It starts off up here. So middle C is here, above, and then the G above that. And then your third is going to play the D sharp. And it's gonna be crushed like this. So it's quite fast. So really what's happening is your third is crushing from the D-sharp E-flat, depending on what you want to call it. And it's gonna go like this. Crushing differed. But then you five is played at the same time. Yeah, I'll slow it down. And then once you've done that, thumb is going to play the G below. That's what I mean by it's rocking from the fifth of the chord because the C code there, 12345. So it's going from the 35 here. Thumb goes below. Then you have three fives is going to stretch up to the a. Then you're going to bring your three-five back down onto the E-flat and the g. First bit. Yeah. Then here, you third thing is going to slide from the E-flat to the d. So this is not a crochet is a slide that so it's slower. Notice your five, its health and the G like this. And then it finishes on the sea. So you can either finish with your thumb or your second finger up to you. If you're finished with your second finger, it means that if you want to repeat the riff is easier with just some free below. So plentiful thing here, so it's crushed. And then if, if it goes up, down again, E-flat G, slides 5 is held above. Then finishing on the C. You can practice that nice and slowly and then you can speed it up. You need to make sure that you stick with this swung rhythm like this. 123.4. So start off by practicing that riff in your right hand. And then once you've got control of it, it's just a question of adding it over the top of the left hand. And I'm gonna be showing you using the jumping left-hand pattern that we've been working on. So here it is with both hands, nice and slow. So it starts on the one together. And then your thumb goes to the GI in-between. Then together again on the two. Then your three-five on E-flat G in-between. Then together here at your third is going to slapped onto the anion. Right. C is in-between again. Your left hand players on the phone. I'm going to play a bit faster now with a certain rhythm. And then once with the timing, 12.3. Okay, so that is it with both hands. So have a go with this. And it might be a good idea just to start off playing over the top of just the C card in the left hand. So don't worry about playing the different jumps with their left arm to the F and the G, etc. Just stay on the sea card like this. So practice that with both hands. Make sure you get full control of it because then it'll be much easier to integrate into your improvising. In the next lecture, I'll quickly show you how to play it. On the F card. I'd also the G chord. 25. Crushed/Slide Notes: Let's add some crushed or slide notes into the mix. So if you've just learned there were some crush notes, but we're just going to have a quick look at them so you can start improvising using them as well. Of course, if you're already very familiar with using crush notes, feel free to skip, but for the moment, let's continue. So they're generally played using semitones or half-steps and played very quickly like this. You can pretty much slide from any notes you want, as long as you finish on a note from the scale that you're playing. For example, if we're using the scale of the C minor blues, you could slide from notes outside of it and move into it with a semitone, a half-step. You see, use a C-sharp than two. So it does work. But quite often people slide from the flattened fifth, which in this case would be the G flat, F sharp. So you could slide from there. Oh, cut off people's slide from the third. So they could slide from the E-flat to the E natural. And you'll see that in the common blues riff. So when you are playing from a black to a white key, I would suggest using the same thing as it sounds smoother. But if you're sliding up to a black sheet, you'll have to use two different fingers. So have a go at playing some slide notes with this, see monopolies and see what you can come up with. 26. Octave Harmony: Adding an octave harmony TO scales can really live and up you're playing. And it's used all the time by blues musicians, e.g. so as you could see then, I was adding octave, harmony, minor blue scale. And all of a sudden, it, That's not really stylish sound that you'll recognize from all sorts of different boost tracks. So you can either repeat the seat at the bottom of the scale. Add the octave c above, like this. You may have to slightly adjust the fingering to what you've already learned in order to do either of these. So if you're doing it below, I would suggest maybe just doing the first four notes of the scale. So you go through the minor blue scale and each time you move up, you repeat the sea underneath. That's quite nice thing to be able to just quickly add in underneath there like this. You can add that in anywhere really. But if you want it to go all the way up the scale with the sea underneath, you have to adjust. And usually five. From the GI, they have to go up to the B flat. Five again. If you're adding the octave above, you have to again adjust the fingering. If already done. I would suggest this fingering, 51525 to 5353 gain and 54. And then you can just go back down. The same fingering, type, 3535252. I'll just go through that. On the octave. You can play these octave harmonies. Anywhere on the piano, you could play it down here. I could play it up here. So practice this scale with the octave harmonies until you feel comfortable. And you've got used to the fingering. Because when you've got used to it, you can then start to play around with it and integrate it into improvising. You don't always have to go up and down. You can change the order of the notes and play around with the rhythms. Added a crescendo underneath. Mixing up. Then you can play around and just well. In the next lecture, we'll go over an exercise that will help me to integrate the octave harmony of the 12th bar blues in the left hand. 27. Octave Harmony - Swung 8ths Exercise: Alright, now let's integrate that. So you can get used to playing the octave harmony along with the left-hand pattern. So I put together another exercise for you to learn. This is what it sounds like. And I'm also going to play along with a backing track. Here we go. Okay, so that's what it sounds like. Nice, right? So the right hand is basically the C minor blues using the octave harmony. And it just goes from a C E-flat, F, F sharp to the G, doesn't go up to the B-flat. The fingering is like I suggested in the previous lecture. So you're gonna go to 52 and then three. And then three that again, five above on the C each time. And then the timing is 1.2 and 3.4. So with that strong harmony, then that would repeat itself 1.2 and 3.4. And then just goes down again using the same nodes, 1.2 and 34, and 1.2 and 3.4. So that's the right hand. It just goes to up, then two down. And then that just repeats itself over the top of the left-hand slow blues pattern that we've been using. And then as far as putting them together, the left-hand stats on the one, and then the right hand comes in on the end that this one and 2.3. And then the next bar, one and 2.3. And see that then the way down said rhythm. And two. And 3.4 and 1.2 and 3.4 will continue 12.3 and speeding up slightly once the g. But then as usual, you can repeat that exercise round when you're doing it. Or you can just finish on the sea. 28. Octave Harmony - Swung 8ths Exercise (Simplified Left Hand): Here is the same exercise, but with the slightly easier left-hand, which is without the jumps. For those of you that are using this approach, the right-hand lick is the same, but it's just on top of the left hand. Without the jumps. Yeah. So together, I'm just going to show you a couple of bars together. Then I play the full thing. Starts on the left. The right hand follows on the end, 1234123. And you see that then it just continues 12341234. So that's the basic premise. That's what happened in there. Your right hand is play that riff over the top of the left hand. So try and get used to that nice and slowly than it can build up the speed. I'm just going to clear it now all the way through from start to finish. And I'm also going to play along with the backing track. 29. What You've Learnt So Far - Etude/Practice Piece: So far, you've learned quite a few different techniques. And it's all building on this slow 12 bar blues pattern in the left hand. So what I've done is I've put together a short, a 2D, which is a musical composition designed to help you to practice certain skills or techniques on the piano. And there will be more of these attitudes throughout the course, getting more advanced as you progress. This is the first one and it's pretty straightforward really, is combining all the exercises you've done so far. So it's just alternating between the different techniques you've learned. This is what it sounds like. Alright, so that's what it sounds like. Nice, right? All it's doing is alternating between either the octave harmony, the rocking first riff, and the Minor Blues scale rhythms every 2 bar. So it's a nice, simple way to combine everything you've learned so far. It sounds like a nice blues piece as well. Again, it's an exercise so you can repeat round and round if you want to go for it. But I just played it wants through the 12-bar blues, just that if you did want to break free of this pattern of alternating between two and just go straight into improvising using everything we've done. Feel free to do that. We will look a bit more of that in the next lesson, but this is a bit more structured for those of you that need it. So let's look at it. This won't take long to go through because if you've been following the course, you should already be able to play. All of this is just a question of putting the different parts together. So it starts off with the octave harmony lick that you just did in the previous lecture. For 2 bar. And then the rocking third riff. And then it's the Minor Blues scale, but with a swung rhythm. For the next 2 bar. Then the octave harmony lift again, but coming down the next 2 bar. And then for the next 2 bar It's triplet eighths with the C minor blue scale. So starting from the top, bottom to top again, petition on the B-flat. And then finally, here, the octave harmony. Going down. Then here it just a slight changes to break it up. It goes back to the rocking thirds risks. So it's not a repeat of the same one. Rocking thirds ref. And then if you want, you can repeat that round again as many times as you want until it's comfortable and smooth to play. Then when you want to finish it, you can just finish on a C7 chord. And of course the phone, you can also try playing that along with the backing tracks. 30. Building the Improv: Now, I'd like you to have a go at improvising with what you've learned so far. This includes the Minor Blues scale in C with the swung rhythms, the triplet eighths. Then the triplet 16th, which were twice as quick. The crush nuts, the octave harmony, and then the rocking thirds. So have a play around to see if you can include all that. Now some of you may find this more challenging than others. If it feels too tricky to move fluidly between the different rhythms and techniques at the moment. One thing which may help is just being able to focus on what you're dealing with a right hand. So what I've done is I've included the backing track with this lecture, which is playing through the 12 bar blues four times. And it's got some piano in there as well. So all you need to do is just focus on the different techniques and rhythms in your right hand. And that is also something which I want you to think about as well. If you can try and break out of just using the same line, just going up and down with the exact rhythm per bar. If you can try and play around with the rhythms and the orders of the notes as well. Syncopation really does add a lot to improvising. Syncopation, meaning playing off of the beat. For example, you could use that swim with them, but just playing on the off 1234. And that's just a short example. I am going to include a lecture which will focus more on playing around with rhythms. But if you can, right now, Just have a go, just so you can see what I mean. I'm now going to do a quick improvisation myself, and I'll include everything we've looked at so far. Here we go. 31. Slow Blues - Chromatic Transitions & Turnaround: To add some variety to the left hand, you can add some passing notes and also a turnaround using a walk. Here's what they sound like. Skin here, those little dots between the normal pattern. Again, yeah. Some awesome and up, walk up. Then he can go round again. Fish in the sea. So there's a couple of new techniques and your left hand there, which adds some real variety. I wasn't doing too much and my right hand there, I just wanted you to be able to hear what the new left hand technique sounds lame. So to include this technique in your plane, what you do is before you hit the root of the next card, play a note, a semitone, or half-step above or below to where you are going to. For instance, if you are on the C chord and this four beats on the last beat of that bar, you either play an E or an F sharp because you're moving to the right. So you're going to play a semitone below the semitone, up both the f as a transition to the, select this 123, the fourth beat, you're going to play a. And then it can be bound to the F car. Yeah. The alternate would be given to the F sharp or G flat. So if we're going to move from an F down to a C, We're going to transition to this C root here. So you can either play a, B on the fourth b, then moved to the C. Yeah. Oh, go from the C sharp or D flat. C. So if you're moving from an F Codd, so 123, would it be first B, C. C caught that? Yeah. The alternate again, it would be from the F, C sharp or D flat. That down to the sea ribs. Yeah. Let's just do one bar. So if you are going from a C to a G, So our choices are either read it from the F sharp or G flat on the fourth beat, or moving from a to a G. So if we go like that, yeah, I can see 123 go from above. Sometimes what you might do is you might do to transition or two semitones. So for example, on the sea, you could do this. Again, technically, you could then go the other way if you wanted to. You could go 123. Well, yeah. So using half-step semitones is transitioned to the next card is a great technique to be able to use for the turnaround at the end, turnaround meaning a link which takes you back to the start of the 12 bars. You can do a walk. It's called a walk-up, simply because you walk up the notes to the next card. The last bar of the 12 is on the G, and the start of the 12 bars is a C. So if you're on a G, You can walk up through the notes, G, a, B-Flat, Fabio. Then you can route to the c. So let's just take you from the sea before. So you'd go 1231. Yeah, background to the root of this C. But then what we can do is we can add an octave and use the swinger written. And it sounds like this. Yeah, sounds cool, doesn't it? So what I did there showed you the simple one from the G here. So a middle C is here, octave below, and then there, why did I drop the whole G it down another octave? Then I played octaves. But with that swung rhythm using those notes, G, a, B flat, B natural at this. Yeah, 1231. So what I want you to do is learn a specific left-hand using both of these techniques, then we can start building on top of that left hand as well. 32. Left Hand Pattern With Chromatic Transitions & Turnaround Walk Up: So the left hand you're going to learn now is this starts off on the C here. Then you're gonna go to the E. Yeah. I then move up to the f. That down to the C-Sharp. The fourth beat of the bar are then back to the sea. Then say it again. Then we move into the f card. So we're going to go to the F sharp and then down to the F to say, but again, the transition on the C-Sharp, C, C again. And here we're gonna do to transition. So we're gonna go shop. Then up to the j, i, then the G flat. Now that the app, just a novel CBA, they're not turned around to fall back around to the wall. So I'm now just going to play that full left-hand part once more, nice and smoothly fire. So practice this left hand. So again, you can play it smoothly without stops in-between the transitions. And if possible, from memory. 33. Turnaround Walk Up in Left Hand (Simple Version): I'm going to continue teaching this slower blue section using the jumping left-hand version. Although if you still find it too challenging to do as you progress through the next lectures, all you need to do is replace them or advanced left-hand with this simpler version here. This simpler version also has a walk-up turnaround with single nodes. So here we have just the same simplified left-hand that you've been doing. If you've been using this simpler approach. But with this walk-up on the 12th bar, like this, G, a B-flat, B-natural, and then back to the background, to the start of the 12th bars. So I'm just going to play it once through, but hopefully that looks pretty straightforward for you. Here we go. So like I said, I'm going to continue the rest of this section using the jumping left-hand version, this one. But if you do find it too challenging whilst we're adding all the extra skills and techniques, then feel free to just use this simplified left-hand version instead. 34. Syncopated Rhythms: In the previous lecture, I mentioned syncopation and how we can use it to create more interesting rhythms. Now, syncopation is when you are playing off of the main, be, the main beat being, for instance, 1234. So off of the beat would be in-between those beats. So 1234. So technically that is a syncopated rhythm because you're playing off of the main beat. So when you're improvising rhythms, if you start to explore using syncopation, it really can create more interesting rhythms and it can really start to explore. But most importantly, it's also used a lot in this blues style that we're learning. So some of you may just be able to pick up and improvise these syncopated rhythm straight away. But for those of you that need a bit more encouragement, something you can do is just practice playing off the beat. For example, we're gonna be using the swung rhythm, 1234. But just practice playing off the beat with this C minor blues that we're using at the moment. For instance, 12341234. You see, so you can straight away start doing syncopated rhythms, but then you can start to not play on every single offbeat, but combine this syncopated rhythm with the other rhythms that you've been doing. For instance, 1234123134123. You see that I was just mixing up the different rhythms with those syncopated off base. I'm just going to add a simple left-hand that's still a few more, 1234233323123. So have a go at that. Try exploring these off beat rhythms. If you wanted to recreate what I was just doing then for this exercise in the left hand, I was just doing four beats per bar with the notes C, E flat, F sharp, or G flat. Then I was just using the syncopated rhythms combined with the other ones in the right hand, 12341233. So have a go and explore these syncopated rhythms. 35. Slow Blues Lick 1: I'm going to give you another small practice piece that I put together so that you can practice these new left-hand chromatic transitions as well as the walker. But first, I'm going to teach you a couple of blues licks that you can use. Here is the first. Sounds cool, doesn't it? It's got some octave, harmony, crush nuts, as well as the use of syncopation. So it starts off middle C here, up an octave and then onto the F sharp, the C above, with a third of your fifth. Then you're going to crush from the F sharp to the CI, this. I'll play it slower. Yeah. And then you're gonna go down with your second finger onto the F, again playing the seat above. Then your thumb is gonna go to the sea below. And then you're gonna go to on the E-flat again, see above. Then your thumb down to the sea. That's the first half. Timing wise. Like I said, it's using syncopation. The first notes come on the end after the wall, not this one. And then on the second bit here, you've got a triplet with them, but you don't play on the first part of the triplet. So with a trip per lit, you're gonna go like this, trip, trip per one. And then the two and the five and the E-flat and C is on the three. Then the C comes on the end and fall like this. One. Trip 3.4. What's my slightly slower one? And 3.4. And that's it. Then the second half of the lift is pretty much the same except it doesn't go down to this C at the end. Like this. The timing is the same as well. One and 3.4. The same except it doesn't go down to the sea, like I just said. So I'm gonna play the full lift enough for you. Then once more with the counting 3.4 and 1.3 and 4.1 and 3.4. Okay, so practice that and if you can't memorize it. And then in the next lecture, I've got another link for you to learn. 36. Slow Blues Lick 2: This one is incorporating the rocking thirds risks that you've already learned. But with just a bit on the end. Here's what it sounds like. So like I said, it's incorporating that rocking third riff. Starts off the same. But before you went like that and finish that. But here, when it comes to the third and the fifth and the F and the G, you can slide it third up to the e, but then it goes into a triplet with them, with your third on the E, second on the sea. On the G. Then triplet rhythm carries on third of the top, onto the second on the D sharp or E flat. And then your thumb is going to come under fire. On the E natural. Then it's going to hold, and then your phi is going to play the seat belt. So that new part is doing this. And also if you can when you do the first 321 there on the ECG, if you can hold the G above like this. That'll be nice. Then. So altogether, you've got this. Then with the timing, one trip. And that's it. So practice that until you've got it in their bag. And then we're going to use those two links in the attitude, which also includes the chromatic passing notes. And octave woke up in the left-hand, which sounds cool. You'll hear it in the next lecture. 37. Slow Blues Licks 1 & 2 Practice Piece - Etude 2: So here's that practice piece that I mentioned. And the main aim for it being a way for you to practice the left-hand chromatic transitions, as well as the octave walk-up turnaround. First of all, I'll play it to you so you can hear what it sounds like. And I'm also going to play it along with a backing track. There we are. So let's take a look. You should have already learned the separate parts. It's just a question of putting them together. Then if we take a look at the right-hand, it pretty much alternates between the blues lick one and the blues lick two. Except for the last four bars where it just plays the blues lick one twice through. Now let's take a look at combining the right-hand blues licks with the left-hand jumping pattern. So it starts off with the left hand on the one, and then the right-hand pairs on the end. Then the left-hand pleasant or to the right hand is playing the triplet. So trim. And then together on the three. And then the thumb Kim's in on the end. And then the left hand goes to the E on the phone, like this, one, trip and fall. And that's the first bar. And then the second bar. The left-hand players on the one again, one trick. That three. And the same rhythm, the first part and the right hand, except again, you're not coming down to the sea. Those two-pass together. 134134. Okay, That's the first to pass. The next two bars. You've got the blues lick to the right. It starts together 12. And then here, trip, trip together on the 1234. Again, 121234. So that's the timing. Then it's just a question of playing those right hand licks of the correct place in the left hand. I'm going to continue. So then it moves on to the F bar, and it's back to the blues lick 11313, down to the C-sharp. And then back to the sea card with the blues lick to the right, 13. Your left hand is going to jump down to the F, then the F sharp, and then go on to the G bar here. Back to the blues lick one here, 1234, left hand, and the G-flat continues onto the F bar 13. And then here, it doesn't go to the loosely to hear like we've been alternating, it stays on another blue one. And your right hand, left hand side is C 13. And then on the 12th bar, It's got that walking pattern for the turnaround. And then it's the right-hand is the second half of the blues lick. Well, so putting them together, left hand is on the wall. Well, then together on the left hand moves on its own, on the two and it's triplet, trip. See that trip. And then again on the three together, three. And I get on the 12th bar, one Tripp, three. And so now I'm just going to play the full piece nice and slowly. So you've got something to refer to. That allowance account while some play. Well, 3131, 3231313123131, and done 31313. Then you can repeat back round and flat as many times as you want. I can just finish on a C. It's up to you. I hope you have fun practicing that one. I think it's a nice pizza learn. And it'll help you get full control over that left and pattern. And if you do get full control of it, it may also be nice to play along with the backing tracks. 38. Chromatic 3rds with Octaves Turnaround: So as you can hear, the slope blue sound we're creating is really starting to come together. Now let's introduce a great sounding turn-around. This is what it sounds like. Alright, so that's what you're going to be learning now. It's really cool when you can throw that in as a turnaround at the end of the 12 bar. It's also sounds quite cool, uses an introduction. But anyway, first of all, let's look at the basic cards behind this. Because if you understand the basic cards behind it, then you can create variations of it. So first of all, it starts off with a seed, and then it's a C7. Then it's a C diminished. Then we've got an F minus six. And it will have a C in the bass, C, F minus six year inverted. And then back to the C column, C major. So what you can do is with those card, you can invert them and you can break them up, like I said, to create different versions, because this is quite a common turnaround. You'll probably recognize that the vibe, and there's lots of different variations you can do to learn the specific one that I showed you just before. This is how you play it. So starting off with the right-hand middle C is here, and it starts off on the C above. You're going to play that with your fifth. And they're going to come down the middle seat and then backup. And then you're going to take you to your second finger here. But on the D-Sharp, and then your third on the G. And then you're going to crush or slider second onto the E Like this. Yeah. Nice and slow. Then you're going to go back up to the CBA and then to the middle. See, that first part is, and then you're going to go with it again. Second and third finger to the left by a half step to D sharp, F sharp. Then you're going to go back up to the C, and then again, thumb down to the middle C. And then you're going to take your first film and then U2 on the D and the F. And then it's back up to the seat and back down again. Now, you might be able to see what's going on here. I've called this turnaround the chromatic thirds with octaves turnaround in C. The reason is because in the middle of it there, you've got the in the G, and then you've got the D-Sharp, that df. So that's just going down by chromatic, their half-steps. And then again, you've got another just chromatic set there onto the d and the f with octave Cs in-between. That also might help you to memorize it. So that's the first half and the right hand. The second half, you can move your hand down. Third finger is gonna be on the D sharp and the fifth and the G above. Then you're going to slide again onto the IV. And then you're gonna go second finger of the sea. Foam is gonna go down to the chief below that. And then you're going to go with it too. And your five of the F sharp, and then the D-Sharp. And then you're going to just go down a half step to the left, to the end. And the d. So the second half. Then it just as far as timing goes, it's merely all triplets apart from the last, which is back to the swirl. So all of it is drip, drip, drip. That's the right-hand part. The left-hand doesn't come in on the first beat, but the second beat, you're gonna go fifth on the C below middle C and the B flat. And then the seeds hands underneath and the right hand, again, it's just gonna be going down by chromatic x, that it's playing two on top each time, B-flat twice, twice, twice. And then the same touchy. And then you're going to go down to the left of your hand. Second finger on the F-sharp down here. And your thumb is gonna go up to the G. And then it's gonna go a full octave lower there. And then straight back up. A second part of the left hand is the left hand is pretty much all swore. 1.2 and 34 and 1.2 and 3.4. And then together nicely slow, fast the ball. And then just on that second part there, when it come to this part, that you might have to lift your left thumb up because your right hand takes over it. You see that? Then what smart I'm just going to count through 123,123.4. So that turnaround sounds really cool when you get full fluency I've read. So if you can practice that until he can play it from memory. And if it does feel a bit tricky for those of you that want an alternative, I'm going to show you a slightly easier version in the next lecture. 39. Chromatic 3rds Turnaround - Easier Variation: Here is a slightly easier version of that chromatic third turnaround for those of you that would prefer it. This is what it sounds like. So here's how to play it. Your right hand starts with a, C and a, and then it goes up to the df, and then the D sharp, F sharp, and then goes to the GI price. And then the E flat and B flat. And then the, again twice. And then they see an E. So we'll just finish it off in a second. But again, this is the reason why it's called the chromatic thirds because it's moving in half or chromatids. Here. Can you see that? Then to finish off, they just played this C, and then it goes down over the top to the F sharp, D sharp with the tyranny of five. Then the F and the D with you. So many fights. The right-hand path altogether, it's this tiny wise. It's pretty much all using the swung rhythm part of the first beat, which is just a triplet. 3123. The left hand is nice and simple. Again, it's moving in half-steps or chromatic, the B-flat. And then it just an a, then a flat. And then, and then it finishes off with a F-sharp down here and energy. So it's just adding them together. Right hand starts with a triplet on its own. Yeah. And then what xbar with the timing? 123234. So that there is another variation of the chromatic third turnaround. So that as we progress through this section, if I use a more advanced turnaround, feel free to replace it with this version. If you want to. 40. C7 Tremelo Chord Finish: Okay, So this is just a quick one for you. At the moment, we've been developing these skills and techniques so far. And the progression has been with the turnaround on the 12th bar, which takes you back to the stat. Sometimes I've been saying, if you want to finish just end on a C7, here's just a quick technique that you can use while you're finishing cards, which is a tremolo card on the C7. They sound like this. So I'll just go from the last four bars of the 12th on the G. So that is a tremolo car there. But all I'm doing is I'm playing the root in the left. And then the C7 card, I'm breaking up, I'm playing the third E. And then I'll play the seven, which is the B flat. But I'm rocking on that. That's slowed down a lot faster. Yeah. What you do is you can hit it with the card first of all, and then you follow up with a tremolo. So that is a technique you can use on your cards at the end, the C7 tremolo card. 41. Blues Licks 1 & 2 Etude 2 (with Chromatic 3rds Octave Turnaround): Let's put those turnaround into practice. And to do this, we're going to include them in the blues licks one and to practice piece that you've just learned, which was the second attitude. And all you need to do is play it exactly the same. But when you get to the 11th, 12th bar, you're going to play the turnaround. So you can either choose the chromatic third octave turnaround or the slightly simplified one. Whichever one you prefer. I'm going to play the chromatic third octave turnaround. And also just to say, when I showed you it just before the right-hand started on its own there. But I'm going to include a low C on the first beat like this. Yeah, You don't have to do that, but if you want, That's what I'm going to be doing. Yeah, and so on. So you can include that low C if you want. Now, I'll just quickly show you how that fits in. I'll take it from the ninth bar, which was on the G chord. And in the practice piece you would just playing the blue one here in the right. Here we go. Then the F bar. Then here is where the turnaround fits in. Then you'd go back around to the star and so on. So that's how it fits in. If you've already learned that achieved properly. And also the turnaround, it's just a question of fitting the turnaround on the 11th, 12th bar. And just quickly, for those of you that are choosing to play this slightly easier turnaround. Here's how it fits in as well. From a G chord again on the ninth bar and hearing. And then again you could go back to the star and so on. So that's how it fits in. And just one other thing, I'm also going to include that tremolo C7 chord that we've just looked at as well. So what I'm going to do, I'm going to play the whole practice piece. And because we're playing this turnaround, I'm going to play you at twice. Because the turnaround is going to take you back to the start. Then the second time through, I'm still going to play the octave turnaround. I'm going to keep it the same. But when I get to the 12th bar, I'm going to play one extra bar just to finish on a C7 chord. But I'm also going to include that tremolo seven at the end. Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to just play it through so you can hear what it sounds like. Alright, have fun with that. And in the next lecture we're going to build on this even more. 42. Progressing in Blues - Etude 3: Like I said, we're now going to build on that practice piece that you've just been playing. So what we're going to do is instead of playing the chromatic third turnaround on the 11th, 12th bar, we're going to use it as an introduction to the 12th bars. And then we're going to play the 12th bars twice through. And then on the second group of 12 bars, it's going to be played on the 11th and 12th bath. It will make sense when I show you where we're basically taking the blues licks wanted to achieve. But we're playing around with it with that in mind to add some variety, rather than just alternating between the two blues licks. Every time we're going to include some of the minor Blues runs and techniques you've already learned as well. This is designed to help you to get used to jumping between the different techniques and eventually lead you into improvising full pieces all on your own. So I'm going to show you how it all fits together. But first, I'm going to play you it so you can hear what it sounds like. And I'm also going to play along with a track. Okay, so that's what it sounds like now. I'll just walk you through it. So it starts off with the octave turnaround lick. And like I said, it's a turnaround, but it also sounds good as an introduction. So it starts off with this turnaround, but of course you can replace it with the simpler one if you want. This bit is the same as the one to a 2D. Please let one on the right hand, left hand with the transitions. Here, we're going to go into the C minor blues, swung eighths, two octaves. Back to the blues lick one. Then here, the blue is linked to in the riot. Then here on the G, the 11th bar, we're going to go to the C Minor Blues triplet eighth. So the trip, trip down to then here, the left hand is just going to stay the same as the person you've previously learned. And then it's gonna do the optic cup. And the right hand if you want, you can just use a blues lick one or two. But here I've just included something different just for a bit of extra variety. Here's what it sounds like on its own. Yeah. So just to slow that down, Let's go into the E events. Yeah. Then you fall off, is you're gonna go to the G, going to crush from the F sharp to the third E-flat. Then you're going to do the third on the F sharp to the G with a C above that. Then you're going to play B-flat. Just play the first part for that and I'll finish it off. Yeah. And then to finish it off again, it's just using the same amount of blues here. You're going to crush from the F sharp to the f again with your third, then second on the E-flat, and then some on the sea. That's two bars on the C bar and then the G bar at the end of that 12th. So I'm just going to flip what smart but with the timing. So you've got 1231234. Again, we've got some nice syncopation. The end there are 1234. Then I'll show you that part with both hands. 123 to three. And just to draw your attention to something. So it starts here on the 123. The right hand comes in on the end after the three and then it's together on the file. Yeah. The case That's the end of the first 12 files. Let's say 12. We're not including the introduction in that 12th. Then you go to the star. So the C minor, here's the two triplet. Okay, then this is going to bring it to an end. Now, you're just gonna go round to the second time here. It's the chromatic third turnaround lake. But I'm going to play the last seat at the start of it as well. Another fourth bit there. You can leave it empty. I'm going to play an F and a C. And then I'm going to play a C7, which is going to be, if I'm saying, then I'm going to play that C7 terminal car like this. To finish. Three. If you want anything, just plunk the end on a C as well. So that's how you fit it altogether. So work through that nice and slow. So you can get the transition smooth and comfortable and then you can gradually speed it up. Then eventually you can play along with the tracks. First of all, play it perhaps with a slower one. And then when you can do that, you can always try it with a one at 70 bpm as well. So feel free to download the two backing tracks that go with this piece of music as well. 43. Alternating Swung & Triplet Exercise (With Left Hand Chromatic Transitions): This lecture is extra curricular really, along with learning specific licks, risks, and techniques, a big part of this course is giving you the skills to be able to improvise. And so with that in mind, to give you the ability to improvise with a minor blue scale over those chromatic transitions. And the walk-up turnaround. Here is an exercise which alternates between the triplet and thrilled aids in the right hand. This is what it sounds like. Alright, so that's what it sounds like. And hopefully it shouldn't be too tricky because like all the things in this class we're building up to it. You've already learned the left-hand pattern with the chromatic transitions and the octave walk-up. And you've already done the right-hand minor scale with those rhythms as well. So it's just a question of putting it together, unlike in the previous exercise earlier in the course, this one is just alternating between the swung rhythm and then the triplet rhythm. And it's just moving up and down again, two octaves from middle C to TCS above. You may just be able to play it straight away. But for those of you that need a bit more help, I'm going to walk through it slowly for you. So like I said, it starts off with the swollen with them. So right hand starting on the end after the wall. Well, okay, and then we're on to the triplet from here, repeating the talk. Then going back up again. Okay, that takes the B-flat. And then you don't play the C yet. You play the left-hand of the F, the swung rhythm. Okay, and then went back to the triplet. So we're repeating the seat, the bottom here. The left hand. Thus transitions. Then you go down to the G bar and you're left on the ninth bar, right-handed swell. Still swell. On the F bar. Then triplets again. Welcome to the left hand. The k. Then you can repeat background or you can stop it and finish on Etsy. But just to take another look at that last bar there. So your right hand to play the triplets. The left hand is playing the octave walk-up, but he played together. Think about it in three. So your right hand is going 123123123123. The left hand is playing on the wall and the three with each octave, 12312312, 123. And then together 123123123123. And that's how we put that last part together. And then yeah. Okay. So I just said that is an extra curricular exercise that you can learn, but it will definitely help you to get used to playing the mandible East Hill in your right hand over the top of the left and jumps when the chromatic transitions, which will mean that eventually you'll be able to easily improvise over the top of it. 44. Octave Harmony Triplet Rhythms Exercise: You've already done an octave harmony exercise with swung rhythms. Now, I'd like you to have a go at doing them with triplet rhythms and be able to play up to harmony with triplet rhythms can add a really great sound too. You're improvising, for example. So these octave triplets, so a little bit faster. You play all the way up to the B-flat and back down like this. And because of that, it requires using the fourth, fifth fingers at the same time at speed. So it may feel a bit tricky on top. And some of you might require a bit of practice to get the strength up at the top there. So first of all, practice going through the C minor blue scale with the octave harmony on top. B flat as well. This time, you can use the same fingering, except you need too far from the B-flat there. I don't want you to get used to it in the right hand. You can play it over the top of the left-hand pattern, along with the extra transition notes and the walk-up turnaround. And we added, turned into a great sounding exercise. Here it is. So it may sound a little bit repetitive, but it's really about technique. It's getting you to build up the strength and stamina and your right hand playing that octave harmony. So then eventually you'll be able to fluidly improvise along with that octave harmony. And then of course, also been able to get the coordination to play on top of that left hand jumping pattern. With the transitions are the octave walk on the right hand, this is the same all the way through. It's just a question of making sure you're playing it in the right place. So as I said, it's using the triplet rhythm. But you're not going to play it on the first beat of the bar, but then you're going to plan the rest of the triplets like this. 1234. If I count the triplets, it may be clearer. Trip, trip Perla. Can you hear that? Triple? Let triple, let, triple, let triple. So basically play with every triplet beat apartment the first. Then it's just a question of putting it together. So you're left on his painting on the wall and then your right hand starts after that. So like this trip trip. Trip. And it just carries on. The left, starts with time on it. Once you've got the coordination salted for one bar, because you've already let the left hand. You should be able to play the whole thing quite easily. The only power which may feel different rhythmically is the 12th bar because of the walker pattern. If you just take a quick look at this, when you put this part together, the left hand is swung and the right hand is triplets. But the swung rhythm is playing on the one on the three of a triplet with them, 123123123123. So putting them together, the first P, You just playing on the wall and the three together like this. 12312323123. So that's the best way to think about that bar. Your hand to play together on the first and the third of the triplet, except the first b on the left on its own, 123123123123. Now I'm just going to play it through once, nice and slowly. So you've got something for a reference. Wow. 45. Major Blues Scale: Using the major blues scale as a contrast against the Minor Blues scale when improvising, it makes a really big difference to the sound that you can create. Especially over the top of this slow blues chord progression, e.g. yes. It also is a short example of the contrast between the major and the minor blues. And when you combine them, Sounds great. So these are the notes, the C Major Blues. We've got the C, D, E-flat, E, G, a, and then C. Here we go again. And fingering. You can kind of play around with it, but I would suggest starting off with the 1231234. And then the same back down, 321321. If you're gonna go up another octave, you can go 1231231. Yeah, and then you can carry on for the top. And that's that, it's reasonably simple. Practice that C major blues scale until you know the notice and the fingering perfectly and from memory. And in the next lecture, I've got another exercise that will help you to get used to playing it over the top of the left-hand pattern we're working with in order to give you the skills so you can improvise with it. 46. Practice Improv Play Along with the Major Blues Scale: Hopefully now you feel comfortable playing the major blues scale over the top of that left hand jumping pattern. Let's try moving away from the structure of those exercises and have a go at improvising with a major blue scale in the right hand. So if you can try to move away from just going up and down the scale, you can go around in circles. And you can play around with the rhythm. That's one of the most important things. Mixing up those swung rhythms and the triplet rhythms, as well as if he can playing around with the rhythms even more. And also, I know that at this point in the course, you've learned lots of other risks, skills and techniques. But for the moment, just focus on using the blue scale in your right hand, just so you can really get control over it in improvising, e.g. it's just playing around the rhythms here. I was actually playing in the sum, nice to passion and so on. So that was just a little example of what you'd have a go at improvising with major blue scale. Some of you might be able to straightaway start improvising with that new scale. But for those of you that need it, this next part is up to you. So you can focus on this new scale. I'm going to play the left-hand pattern. And I'd like you to start off playing around with a major blue scale over the top. So if you feel confident enough to try straightaway with both hands for this is just a way for you to introduce it more gently. And I'm also going to play along with the backing track. And so you've got plenty of opportunities to play around with this scale in your right hand. We're going to go through the 12th bar form four times, All-in-all. So have a play around and see what you can come up with. Let's go. 47. Major Blues Scale Exercise - Triplet 8ths: So that you can become comfortable playing this scale over the jumping left-hand pattern. Here is the blue scale exercise with the triplet rhythms you did earlier with the eight dots are quavers, except with the major blue scale instead in the right hand. And I'm going to show you what it sounds like along with a backing track. So as you can see there, it's the same as the triplet exercise. You're alert with a minor scale, except with the major scale in the right hand. So if you've already learned it properly, it shouldn't take you too much practice to get this under control as well. So the left hand is the same, the jumping pattern with a chromatic transition. And at the end I used to walk up, but I just did it one time through the finish on the C at the end. If you are using any of the simpler left hand, of course, you can do that instead. It's just the right hand, which we just need to apply the major blues scale. So this exercise is just using two octaves again from Missy, Cs above. But going through the major blues scale like this, far the top. And hopefully you've already practiced that in the previous lecture. So it's just a question of putting it together. So there's three notes of the major blues scale and you're right if everyone in your left. So now I'm just going to walk you through it nice and slowly for those of you that need it. But some of you might just be able to do this straightaway. So it starts off here, underneath and then onto the F bar, right? That's coming together there. And then back on the same. It's just the same. Your right hand. Done here. Together. The transition and then onto the F bar, X bar transpose again, and then back to the C. Now to transitions here under the ninth power with the G in the left, to the app. And then finally C bar, and then the walker. And then again, with that, walk down the 12th bar, you've got the triplet rhythm and you're right, but your left hand is doing the swirl. See your left hand is playing on the wall and the three, if that triplet at this, 123123123123 and then on the sea. So again, this is an exercise that's just going to give you the ability to be able to improvise that major blue scale over the top of that left hand pattern. So practice it until you complete smoothly without any stops, nice and slowly first, and then you can gradually speed it up. And of course you can try playing along with the backing tracks as well. 48. Major Blues Scale Exercise - Swung 8ths: Here is the same exercise, but with the swung rhythm applied to the major blue scale. And again, I'll show you what it sounds like along with the backing track. Okay. Again, you already know all these parts. The left-hand button, the right-hand scale, and you're already familiar with the rhythm. So it's just a question of putting them together. So like with the other swung eighths exercise, using the minor scale when you're putting together your left hand stops on its own and then your right hand follows this one. And let you see that. And then it just carries on like that. One thing I will say is just to do with the fingering, which I think will make it easier. Start on your warm. But then rather than coming underneath, if you go too far and then you flip on the repeated, see. Yeah. And then on the way down, 321321 here, flip stretch too far from the repeated. See again, just make it easier, but it's up to you. That's why I just did it. But if you want to stick to the 12312312312344321321 here, 1321321. That might feel a little bit tricky on the way down with this swung rhythm. The here you might want to change it to this 432132. But again, that is just preference with the fingering. So I'm just going to play through it once now, nice and slowly. So you've got something to refer to. So again, your left hand starts, your right hand follows the status of each bar, f bar. Back to see two transitions to the G. By that, Let's see walk-up, finishing on the C. And then just wants on that 12th Barrett again on the backup. You just playing together here. Unlike the triplet bond, but again, not playing on the wall at this one. The left-hand plot down. To finish on the C O, you can repeat it if you want. There you go. Again. This is just an exercise so you can get used to playing those rhythms over the top of the left-hand jumps and everything like that. So get full control of that. And then in the next lecture, we're going to have a look at improvising with this major blue scale. 49. Improvisation Mixing the Major & Minor Blues Scales: Once you've got control over the major blues scale and you feel like you can improvise with it. You can then start to integrate it into the other stuff you've learned so far. In this lecture, I just want you to have a go at improvising with both the minor and the major blues scales. So try mixing between them. If you want, you can add other techniques and risks you've learned so far. But the main focus here is to get used to moving between the minor and the major blues scales in C, for example. So have a go at improvising using both of those scales in your right hand. If you do want to focus just on your right hand, you can go to the previous lecture and use that left-hand practice piece that I did along with that backing track or if you wanted to itself, but again, focused on your right hand. You can just go back to a more basic left hand so you can take out the transitions in your left hand or even you can just go to the basic carbs, which isn't earlier in the class. It's up to you. But have a go and see what happens. 50. A Classic Blues Chords Rocking Riff: Now let's take a look at some classic blues riffs that we can integrate with this slow blues pattern. So a classic blues riff would be something like this. If you took my beginner's costs, you will already be able to play this in the key of G. We can use these classic card patterns over the left hand Blues pattern that we're learning. But we need to use it sparingly because I don't really like the sound of it if we use it all the way through e.g. it sounds okay. But for me it sounds like just a little bit too much. So if you're going to use it, I would suggest utilizing that rocking pattern in improvising, but as I said, sparingly to make it sound more effective. And especially sounds good If you play around with the rhythms bar as well, e.g. and so on. So you get the idea of using it here and there. And it's just a nice change to the stuff we've been doing so far over the top of this left hand. So if you don't know them already, I'm going to take you through this rocking pattern over the C chord, the F chord, and a G chord. So first of all, in C. So you can put it anywhere on the piano. I'm going to show you up here one octave above middle C. So it starts off with their thumb on the sea. Then you're gonna put your two on the D-Sharp and then you're three on the CI, but your two is going to slide up to the E like this. So this may feel familiar with the other stuff we've been doing as well. Similar to the rocking from the fifth. But instead the hump position is different from the start to see that it's going to rock to the sea again. And then you're gonna go too far up to the F, and then back down to the sea. Then you can go up to the F sharp with your two. Then you're going to crush from F sharp onto the gene, the B slot down and then back down, then back down to the F and the a, and then back down to the sea again. So the C is coming in-between each time, which is why it's the rocking pattern because you keep rocking back to the sea to show you that full thing. Then that would be 1 bar, then it could carry on round again, if you will. So practice that over the sea card until you feel comfortable with it. And then you can move on to this form, which is f. Again, you can play this anywhere. But I'm going to show up here. So the F here, it's the same pattern but just from the f. So you're going to slide your second finger from the G-sharp to the a with a CBO like this. And then a 2.4 on the fret of the D. Then you're going to go be natural here. That's gonna be the crescendo onto the sea. A decent on top. Yet might have to push your hand into the piano in order to fifth finger to reach that E-flat above their head, back down to the B flat. There. Dave, the tuned for that full secrets, that is. Then if you repeat that as many times as you want, once you've got control of it. Like I said, don't use it all the time over the left-hand. You'll use it sparingly, but yeah, repeat that until you've got full control of it. Then finally, in G. So if the same person again, it's the rocking pattern, rocking back down to the root of the card each time, thumb on the G. Then you're going to do the same thing. This time is second finger is going to be on this A-Sharp here are the flat. Then you're going to slide again onto the B above with a d on top. Yeah. Rocking back down. It's tied to in the fall of acidity. But Delta G, Then the second thing is going to crush or the C-sharp. But then your three five's going to play the D and the F. Yeah. Then you're gonna go back down to the C and E for full secrets. That is. So practice that of the cloud of G as well until they complete it nice and smoothly. Of course, you can play them on any octave as well. So practice these patents until you are so comfortable with them that you can play around with the rhythms and the oldest of the third as well. And by that I mean, I was just showing you the pattern from the bottom, middle, to the top. But when you feel comfortable your bill to play around with the order of that pattern as well. So once you've got control of all that, in the next lecture, we'll take a look at integrating those major blues cards over the top of the slow blues that we've been working on. 51. Classic Blues Chords Rocking Riff Over Left Hand: Hopefully you've got control of those classic blues riffs in the right hand. Now let's take a look at playing them over the top of that left hand pattern. So first of all, we start off by applying that basic rhythm in the right hand over the left. And then once you've got full control of those paths, we'll take a look at playing around with the rhythms and also the order of the notes in the right-hand pattern, which will make the sound much more exciting. But first, let's get the foundation. So the first one playing over the sea, the right hand starts at the end of a bar. So it starts on the end after the fall. If accounting. And then it comes together on the wall like this, 4.1, 2.3. And so as you can see from that, it's the C that's playing on its own in between the main beats. So it comes together on the main beats, 1.2 and 3.0. So that's how you play that with both hands. If are you just to get used to that, try repeating that over the sea card. So don't worry about the 12th power farm. Just repeat the C bar and one, and 2.3 and 4.3. And so you can play that as many times as you want until you got full control of it. And then we'll take a quick look at the F. This is the same, the same rhythm. So if you've looked the right hand and you already know the left, it should be nice and straightforward. If film is playing on the end, the end of the previous bar. So you're going to go and then it's together on the wall. So 123.4. So that's how we put that together. I just play a couple of times faster so you can see it free. So again, when practicing that one, you can just stay on the F Codd for as long as you want until you got full control of it. And then the one over the G chord, it's the same thing. So g is playing in between. So it starts on the and on the previous path. So then together on the wall, gone to gray. And again, you can just practice that over the D card just to get used to it. Green. Green. And all of these, like I said in the previous lecture, you can move the octave down if you want, higher up. So right now, I want you to get full control over all three of those classic rocking rifts in the C, F, and G chords. Along with the left hand, it's really important that you've got full control of it. Because then when you do, you can play around with the rhythms and the order of those rifts, which like I said at the start of this lecture, makes it sound much more exciting. And we'd be looking at that in the next lecture. 52. Classic Blues Rocking Riff - Playing Around With the Rhythms & Order of the Patterns: Now I'd like you to have a go at playing around with the rhythms as well as the order of the pattern in your right hand. And what I mean by that is, at the moment we've been keeping it nice and simple. But you can start to play around with the order, the rhythms. So can you see what I was doing that I wasn't just going straight up and down. Not always go into the C in between. And sometimes go up to the top again. Uneven playing around with the rhythms as well. Little triplet there. So this will take some experimenting. Again, I would advise, is perhaps staying on the sea car just to have a go rarely, just to play around. Just so you can focus on playing around with it. You can also try some syncopation. Can't remember syncopation being in-between the main beat, 1.2 and 3,231.2. Can you see that I was going in-between the beat 1234123. Yeah. So you can try that. All of the different worlds on the f and the g, mixing up the order of those thirds and playing around with the rhythms. And remember, you can also try to include some triplets seeking throw them in anywhere. Triple, let, triple, let in-between the swell and as well as syncopation, which really well. So right now, work through all three of those cold riffs until you feel comfortable playing around with the rhythms, as well as mixing up the order of the patterns in the right-hand. 53. Integrating the Classic Rocking Riffs Into Your Improvising: Hopefully by now you've got full control over those classic blues rocking rifts. And you're also comfortable with playing around with the order of the pattern as well as the rhythms. Now I'd like you to have a go at including some of those rocking rifts in you're improvising and seeing if you can integrate them with some of the other techniques and riffs we've been looking at, e.g. so those were just a few examples of me integrating the rocking riff pattern in a minute. Some of the other techniques we've been learning. Now, some of you may just be able to integrate these riffs straightaway into your improvising, whereas others may need a bit more health. Let's take a closer look. So there's a few things you can do just to get used to this. One thing you can do is just keep it nice and simple. Jumping from one riff technique or scale to another. So not doing it quite as mixed like firewalls, e.g. you could start off with a nice simple rocking riff and then leave a gap. And then a scale maybe. But then if you go to another rocking riff, but maybe changed the pattern of a gap and on to another technique you've learned like so Chris knows. And then if you go to another rocking pattern, but maybe play with the rhythm like one of those triplets. Then a scale. Then the walking pattern. That's leaving lots of gaps in your right hand. So you've got time to think. If there's any of you that are still struggling to integrate these riffs into your improvising. You may find it useful, just focusing on the right hand on it. So what I'm going to do now is play through the 12th power form two times. So you can focus on trying to integrate those rifts in your right hand over the top. And if you need more practice, you can always rewind and go over this again. Let's go. Well, then 234. 54. Slow Blues Lick 3: By this point you've learned plenty of scales, rifts, and techniques to draw for monopolies plane. I'd next like to teach you some more blues licks that you can integrate into your improvisations. Here is the next one, and it's got two variations. Here is the first one. The variation. Okay, so that's what they sound like. They're really nice to be able to slip into your improvisations. It's based on the minor blue scale, and it's also using the octave harmony technique that we've also looked at. So it starts up here. So middle C is down here, up an octave. And then it starts on the third. Here are the F sharp, D five on a, C above that. Then your third is going to slide on to the G. That. And then your fourth is going to play the B flat there whilst holding the C above with your fifth I, then you're going to go back down to the G with your third, but then you're going to repeat this, see that? Okay. Then for the rest of the U5 is going to be playing an octave harmony on top. The next part goes second finger of the f with a C on top. Then second finger on the E-flat, again with stay on top, and then an octave c. Then it repeats the same three notes underneath, but it crushes from the F-sharp onto the F with the third. So the E-flat. Then, welcome to the first part of the lip goes that it just finishes with a second on E-flat, C above again. Then you film comes down to the sea. So the full lit goes high then for the timing is mainly using triplet eighths, which is the most common triplet with them we've been using in this course so far. Except the first part there on the slide. It's not actually a crush. It's using 16th notes, so it's twice the speed is, as you've been doing this triplet. If the triplets going triple, let, triple, let triple pattern, that can hear that. So that's just double the speed there. And then the rest of it is just triplets trip, trip. Except this last two notes here, which just goes onto the swirl, swirl. It goes one and trip, trip two and 3.4. And then for the variation, it's exactly the same. Except for the end. You're going to crush from the E flat to the natural or slight variation altogether. Yeah, So just go into the major third of the C code there at the end. So practice that right hand until they got full control of it. And even better if you can memorize it, then I'm just going to show you how to play it over the left hand. 55. Slow Blues Lick 3 with Left Hand: So just in the interest of keeping things simple so that you can focus on learning this. Refund your right hand. We're going to take out the left-hand transitions and we're just going to stay on the sea as well. So we're just going to repeat the pattern in the left. So it starts off with a C on the one. Then it comes in with the lip together here. And it's going then that's the first triplet, that next one tread. And then again trend. And then the next part on the swirl and you're right. That's it. I'll just repeat it again bit more smoothly without me speaking. Well, then the variation is the same except the change at the end. Left-hand stats, one trip. That then yeah. That's it. That's how you put them together. And then that makes it quite a nice little piece there if you just repeat that over a couple of times. So I'm just going to play through it twice so you can help. It sounds like and so you've got something to refer to. The variation. They'll pay to get the variation. So practice that at your own speed until it got full control of it. And then in the next lecture, we're going to add to your arsenal of blues licks and learn at another 56. Slow Blues Lick 4: This next link sounds really cool when played over the four chord, which in the cube C is the F, because it's crushing up to the flat seven. This is what it sounds like. I'm going to dive straight in on the fifth part of the 12th, which is on the F. Can you hear that nice tension in the lake? And it sounds really nice when you contrast that by moving into the major blues scale after. So here's how to play it. It's based around the F7 chord in your right hand. So the F7 is this, but it's inverted, but to here. And then you're going to take out the root. So the F there, the left hand is going to be playing underneath. So that's the shape in your right hand. The notes. So it starts off some indices here, an octave above. And your second finger is going to play the D and U5 and the a, but it's going to crush from the D to the E-flat at this whilst playing the a above? Slower. Yeah. Then you go into play a C with your thumb. And then you can go to your tuning five and the D and the a, back down to the sea. Then you're going to go back up to the D, the a, and back down to the sea. That's half of the lake. Then we can repeat that again. And then timing wise, it's triplets. So you're going to start on the crush trip, trip, trip. So that's the lick and you can play as long as you want. But that was just one full bar in your right hand. Just a little bit of help with this one with the approach to how we think about it. Because when I've taught this to some people, they get confused by the way the notes move against the left hand. So we just need to think about it in two groups of six, like this, 123456, and then you repeat that 123456. Then when you add your left hand 123456. So notice when we get to that second triplet, it started on the c456. So some people get confused because they think it's triplets should be starting with this. Yeah, but it's like a rhythmic disposition is starting going then down. And then you start seeing again on another group down. So hopefully that makes sense and helps you to understand the way the light is moving. Yeah, so practice it nice and slowly when you're doing it. First of all, your right hand on its own, and then you can add that left hand n. Then, like I said, it sounds quite nice when you move into the major blues scale and see. So here's just a chart for bars that you can practice this lifting your right hand. But it also moves into the C major blue scale, which might be something your tutor do when you're improvising. So it starts off with one full bar of this lec. So 123. Then it carries on the three beats of it, 123. Then on the fourth beat here, you're going to move into the sea, made two blues. And then it goes to the C bar. You can just do 2 min of the C major blue, so that the CI left-hand carries on. From the second bar. Again. It goes 123. Then C major blues to the CEJ. Yeah. So this is something you can just repeat as many times as you want just to get full control over that lifting your right hand. So I'm just going to play it through two times. Just see it's got something to refer to. What's going on today. 57. Slow Blues Lick 5: Depending on your current level of playing ability. This next lec may require some extra practice because it's pretty fast, but the contrast in speed sounds really cool when you throw it in. Amongst the other stuff we've been learning so far. This is what it sounds like. So that's what it sounds like. Now, let's take a look. It's pretty much just a group of notes from the C minor blue scale repeated. So it's more to do with being able to play those notes that speed. But first of all, let's see where they are. So middle C here, up an octave and up an octave again, in this position, you can play it lower down, but I think it sounds better higher up. So the Minor Blues scale is this, as you already know. And it's just taking the F sharp, F, B flat, and C, those fall notes and then repeating them. Okay. So it's just going like this. Yeah. But then it's just knowing how many times to repeat them. Then there is a lot of notes at the end which takes you out of that pattern. But we'll get to that in a moment. So just knowing how many times to play those formulas. So the note length are actually 30-second notes or demi, semiquavers. It's pretty fast. So I think the best way to count these notes is to group them into false. So if one group is this format, then you repeat that three times for one full beat in the left, like this, 123. So those three groups of four make one full between the left, like this, 123. And then you carry on in the left, your right hand repeats 123 and then another full beat. So 123. So that's the first three bits of that bar then counting in the groups in the right hand, 123-12-3123. Yeah. Then the last beat of that bar, the right-hand, just go through the C Minor Blues, but from the F. So F, D flat, C over the top with your second on the B-flat, thumb underneath on the G, Then over-the-top, far from the F sharp. Like this. The timing wise, those notes or 16th notes or semiquavers. So you can either go, it might be easier to go one and 2.3 and count that triplet beat there like that. So that is the full lip there. I'll play it all together with that counting 12, 312-312-3123. Yeah. So you can practice that nice and slowly, making sure you're counting those groups of notes correctly and build up the speed. Then when you get to that F-sharp there, like I said, you can then move into any kind of improvising that you want. But just so you've got something set to practice here, I'm just going to give you something to lead it into. 58. Slow Blues Lick 5 Extended: So your left arm is going to move into the f bar here. This small practice PCMH. Your right hand is just going to carry on from that line there, just into the rest of the C minor blues. So f, B-flat, E-flat, F, and then just timing trip. Okay, so just back to normal eighth notes that are quavers. Then with your left hand they're going to go. So just leading from that last line that can you go. So then this full lit with the extra part on the end, because like this, and I'll play it slightly slower. So that's something you can practice and eventually you can throw that into improvising and then just play it once more a bit faster. But with the counting 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, and 3. And then you can repeat that as many times as you want. So do that and then gradually build up the speed. Like I say, technique wise, it may be tricky depending on your current level of ability. So it may take quite a few practices over days or even weeks in order to get that up to a decent speed. But for those of you that have funny, too difficult playing it this fast at the moment. Don't worry, you can always skip this lec for the moment and come back to it when you've built it more strength and stamina. But using this as an exercise when you warm up will help. 59. Blues Licks 1-5 in Practice - Etude 4: Now let's put all of those blues licks into practice. The aim and improvising is to be able to just drop the blues licks in as and when. But what I've done for you is I've put together another practice piece volume that incorporates all of them, just so you can get full control over playing them. And when combined, they make a really nice sounding blues piece. Here It tastes. Okay, so that's what it sounds like. The first thing I will say is that if you're one of those that found that blues lick five at the top, the first row, a bit too fast. Feel free to replace it with another blues lick. For instance, you could just throw in the blues like one again instead. Okay, so let's take a look at it. And like I said, this is just putting into practice all of these blues licks you've learned. So if you've been following the cost properly, you should know all of this is just a question of playing the blues licks in the correct place. So the left hand is using the jumping pattern and the transitions. But of course, if you want to simplify it slightly, you can take out those chromatic transitions. And it can simplify even more if you want by taking out the jumps are playing this simple curves. But now let's just walk through it. So it starts off with the blues lick one. So the left starts and the right follows. Okay, and then here, when it goes back to the sea, it goes to the police three, which is the one with the ultimate ended that. So it starts off with that here. Okay? And then when it comes to this f here on the fifth bar, it goes to the police, for which was this one. But what I've done is I've shortened that lick and then I've gone into their major blue scale. So just quickly play out what it does in the right hand. So it goes. Okay, so what it's doing is it's taking the first group of six from that blues like for, like this, 123456. And then it's taken another 3123. And then that's when it goes into the major blues scale. Some underneath and then swim. If I just take the main beats, 12341 and 2.3. And notice that it also plays an E underneath that top see, which creates a nice harmony. Yeah. So when you add the left-hand there, it's going, yeah. So that's the fifth and sixth bar on the F. And then it goes down to the sea. And here it's going into that blue slick five. So the high will appear, right? Like I said, you can replace this with another blues lick if you're finding this too tricky. Okay? So this is the same as what you've just learned, except when it comes out of the liquid at the end, it stays on the sea rather than coming up to the F in the left hand, like this. And eventually it speed it up. Okay? And then on the ninth bar here, the G bar, you can go to the blues lick three this time. So the variation where it goes at the end here. Okay? Then finally, on the 11th bar here, gonna go back to the sea cart. And then the right hand is going to play the blues, it to like this. And then you're going to finish on the C here. There's gonna be no turnaround. It just 12,000 altogether. For this. He left. I was going to play one more of these left hand cards up there. And then your right hand is just going to freely improvise on the minor or major blue scale. Then you can just plunk a C to finish it. So that's how those blues licks fit over the top of the left-hand pattern. Like I said, you've already learned all of those blues licks. So hopefully it shouldn't be too tricky, just fitting them into the right place. I did mention that on that seventh bar with the blues lick five, the first one, you can replace it with another blue is lit. So hopefully you won't find that too tricky. Once you've got control of it. Feel free to try and play along with the backing track as well, which is quite fun. And feel free to rewind this video to the start, where you can hear me play this practice piece in full with that backing track. 60. Its Improv Time: Now it's time to have a go at improvising with what you've learned so far. Some of you may be able to just play around and integrate the scales with the different licks, riffs, and techniques. But for those of you that need a bit more guidance, it may be an idea to just start off by alternating between the different licks and techniques like how they practice pieces were put together by this, I mean changing between them every bar or every 2 bar. So keeping them defined and separate in the right hand. Once you feel comfortable alternating between them like that, then you can start to intertwine them more and play around and not be a strict. So for the moment, as you go through the progression, try alternating between the major and minor blues scales, the different blues licks and riffs, as well as adding crush notes and octave harmony if you can, e.g. you could start off with the Minor Blues scale. Then you could go on to the blues lick too. Here. You could do some major blue scale on the F bar here. Then back down to this C here. You could do the players like 33k. You see what I'm doing here? I'm just alternating between the different things we've learned so far. So onto the G bar here, you could do the classic blues rocking riff. Then down to this F bar here, you could do some octave harmony. Then down to the sea here. You could do some more of this rocking or if maybe then maybe some more minor blues on this turnaround. So can you see that I was just picking and choosing between the different licks and risks, et cetera, that we've learned in the right hand. So when you first start off trying this, It's okay to rest between the bars to give yourself time to think about what you don't want to do next. The more you do it, the more fluent you will become a recording of the different techniques. Another approach you can use so that you can get used to playing around with the right hand, is to bring up one of the backing tracks from earlier. So you can just improvise with your right hand on its own. This way, you can focus on moving between the different scales and licks, et cetera. Then when you get more used to it, you can add the left hand back in. And don't forget to play around with the rhythms and to make use of syncopation as well, if you can. But one thing I will say is that as much as I can try to give you advice about approaches to improvising, it really does come down to you playing around at the piano and figuring things out yourself. By this point, you've got plenty of tools to work with. So you just need to try them out and see what you can come up with. And it's absolutely fine to make mistakes when improvising. If anything, mistakes are good because it means you're playing out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself. And what you'll find is eventually you'll get into grooves and you'll start to move between everything much more fluently. 61. A Few Tips on Improvising with Scales: Quite often, when I teach improvisation, I find that some students can get stuck into the habit of just playing up and down the scales. So don't be afraid to stay in the same area of the piano and play around more with dividends, instead of always moving up and down, e.g. So just then there was only playing for different notes and I was more focusing on playing around with the rhythms and the audit of the notes. What's it just going up and down that minor blue scale. You can use the scales to create little melodies and emphasize them with repetition like this. And like I've mentioned in other parts of the course, you can also choose a group of notes and repeat them in a circle which has a good effect. Those are just a few points to keep in mind when you're improvising with these skills that you've learned. 62. Slow Blues Lick 6: I've got two more blues licks that I wanted to teach you. The next one is using the classic rocking third patterns. It's just using triplet rhythms. But because the way the notes are moving, it sounds like a rhythmic disposition. It sounds really effective the way the notes are moving against the left hand. This is what it sounds like. Alright, so that's what it sounds like. Let's look into it. Like I said, is based around that classic rocking third pattern. Yeah. But it's just playing around with that pattern and then moving back into the C minor blues. So it starts off with that first part of the classic rocking third riff with your second finger on the E flat, G. And it slides onto the e with your two fingers to the sea to fall on the F and a thumb back down onto the seat. And then you're going to do another one of these crushes from the E-flat to the E and the G on top. But then here's where the pattern changes. Because straight up here to the S and the a student go down to the film that then you're going to go to the top of that pattern we did before, to the G and the B flat with a crush on the F sharp. And then back down to the FDA. Then second finger goes from E-flat to the E. Okay, so I'll just take that first part. Okay. That's where it takes you to. Then just goes thumb down to the sea. The top to the B-flat, from underneath to the G. And then you're going to just play the G and the C together. And that's the end of the right hand. Lick them. So that last part is, it's all triplets apart from the last Jian. Same. It's just you can hold the foot, lift your right hand. And just one tip here just to do with your hand position. So you want to be playing quite high up into the piano there. Can you see you start off on this part here. You want to be pushing your hand in. You don't want to be doing a twist to try and get your fifth finger to reach that B flat. So you want to be pushing your hand into the piano there. Come back that at the end. And then putting it together. Just nice and slow. You can just practice this over the left-hand see bars. Yeah. So because of the triplets, you just playing the left hand on the first of every triplet. That trend? Yeah. And then you can repeat that as many times as you want until you got full control of it. 63. Slow Blues Lick 7: If you have taken my beginner's costs, you may recognize part of this lick, except it's been extended even more. It makes use of the octave harmonies and I think sounds really cool when played along with this slow blues style. Here we go. Okay, so let's do it. So it starts off an octave above middle C and also begins with an octave c like that. Then you're going to be using an octave harmony above whilst playing an E flat with the two, natural, with your warm F. And then F sharp with a two-by-three. So to do that. But then your third on the G. Again, like I said, see above on every one of those far that goes. Okay. And then your thumb goes back down to the c. So that's the first half of that first bar. Then the next half of that bar goes to on the F5 and the C, rocking back down to the sea. And then you're gonna go second finger on the E flat, you're going to slide up to the E or crush. Then if thumb's gonna go to the sea over the top with your two and the B flat, then thumb underneath onto the G. The first half of that lick goes like this. And the timing is just all triplet eighth step. Then we move on to the next half. So you've just done this film on the C to B flat thumb on the G. Then you're going to take your 13 and you get to play that scene that G at the same time. Then two on the b-flat, similar G. Then you're gonna go over the top of the third, but then you're going to keep your five above. And they're going to crush from the F sharp is the third onto the f like this. Yeah. Like that. Okay. And then to the E-flat, then some to the sea. And then here you've got another Krishna up with your third from the F sharp to the G whilst playing the C above. Yeah. Then the fourth and your fifth on the B-flat and the C. And then you've got another crush from the F sharp to the G again with this see on top. There is. And then you're going to crush again from the F sharp to the F-Natural, would you see on top? And then you're gonna go second on the E-flat. Then thumb on the scene. So that part there is. And then it finishes on the E-flat and C above. Swung rhythm that finishing on the C on itself. So that last part there is, one thing I will say is that part that it feels tricky. Playing all those crush notes at speeds. Feel free to take them out or whichever ones you want. If you got that. It's up to you. The last half of the Lick altogether is this. Those are all triplet eighths as well there, apart from the last bit which is swung, going, they're all going. Drip, drip, drip. So just play that lick altogether. So you can see it as a whole. 64. Slow Blues Lick 7 with Left Hand: And then adding the left hand, we're going to do about the see that one pound the F. And then we're gonna go back to the sea. So with this one, it's important to know that the right hand starts on the last half beat of the previous bar. It's going like this. Then together with the EPA and the C. Let me go to the F and the left now. To the senior left. Yeah. Timing wise likely said it's mainly triplets apart from the start and right at the end, which is swirl. So it's 3-4 and three triplets. Trip, trip. So then if you want to practice this lake, this is quite a nice little exercise here. You can repeat these 4 bar over until you can get full control. So if you're doing that, then you need to do is play this C at the end of this bar here should go 12 and 3.4. And then you jump in from the triplet part again. Trip, trip. Trip. One small. You can see that. Well. Two and 3.4. Yeah. Yeah. So well, so you can even try practicing this lift repeatedly over the 12th bars, e.g. yeah. I'm gonna go to the F now. The chain. Yeah. So that's just something you can do as extra curricular if you want. But that's a nice extended lick that you can throw in there. And it'll sound really impressive and effective when you do. 65. Tremelo 3rds: Another common technique you'll hear blues players use is a tremolo. And you've already done a tremolo in that C7 ending carpeted. Can use this within your improvising as well. So a tremolo on the piano is quickly rocking backwards and forwards between notes in a card or just an interval of two notes. A good one to use. It's tremolo thirds, which sound like this. So that technique might sound familiar to you. And to do them, like I said, it's just rocking backwards and forwards between two nodes. So if we take the C code and we're going to take one of the third. So we'll take the e to the t. And it's just rocking backwards and forwards like that, but you're going to speed it up. So you may want to use fingers that feel nice and strong. So 2413. Yeah. But it's just a question of getting it nice and even then speeding it up. Then you can add the left-hand side. Then it could maybe go down. Yeah. You can start off nice and simple. Once you get used to that, then you can start to explore other thirds. So when you choosing these thirds, a nice approach is to use the first from the classic rocking third riff like this. Can you see that gives you plenty of first that you've already learned. So now you can have a go adding tremolo to those thirds in those rocking patterns you've already learned. But then there's another thing which I think sounds quite nice as well. So within these rocking patterns, you've got these Krishna, It's haven't yet. What sounds quite nice if you're doing this tremolo third technique, if you slide from those notes that from the D-sharp E-flat here. I then go into a tremolo like this here that are from the F1 here. So that's another nice way to move into those terminal third, using the crush notes you've already learned from that rocking pattern. Just on that same subject. You may have to adjust some of the fingering just so you can get to the stronger fingers because it might feel difficult rocking quickly from the third to the fifth there. So you might want to adjust it. So you're moving T2 and your father. So that's a nice technique that you can use. The tremolo thirds. Practice that until you get control of it, and then you can incorporate it into your improvising. 66. Octave Blues Scale Solos in Right Hand: One of the final techniques I wanted to show you is soloing and improvising with the blue scales using octaves, e.g. so it's really effective on Tom's powerful and strong When you come in with it and can really bring out your melodic lines. So have a go at play up and down both the major and minor blues scales. Using up tips. When you're doing it helps to kind of lock your hand into position with your first and your fifth. So you kind of create an action, a slight luck in your hand, which will help, especially when you start to speed up. Then once you start to get used to playing those scales, using up tips, you can just start to introduce the left. One thing you can do to help with this is go back over some of the exercises we did with the scales. Just double them up, e.g. the swimmer octaves with the minor blues, and so on. And it can do that with the triplet exercises as well. And also the same thing with the major scale versions as well. And that will just help you to get full control over playing those scales as uptick in your right hand, which will then in turn make it so you can sell an improvised with them. One other thing you might want to include, and you may have noticed that I was doing, was adding those tremor lows, but with the octaves. Yeah, we sound really cool when you just throw them in every now and again. It's just the same technique as I showed you with the tremolo thirds, but with the octaves. So have a go at that as well. 67. The Slow Blues Cruise - Etude 5: Like with the previous practice pieces, in order to get full control over the different licks and risks, et cetera. It helps to put them into practice within a piece of music, rather than just learning detached licks and expecting to be able to easily integrate them into your improvising. So I've put together a final attitude for you. And I've tried to incorporate most of the licks, riffs, and techniques that you've learned. Hopefully it will feel relatively straightforward for you. Because like I said, you've already learned all of these skills. So this attitude, it's really just an expansion from the other ones you've done. Another bonus is that learning this will give you a finished piece that will show off all of the skills you've learned in this course. So first of all, I'm going to play it for you along with a backing track. Okay, so I hope you like the sound of that. Now, I'll show you how to play it. Like I said, it's an expansion from the other practice pieces you've done already. So you'll find that you can already play parts of it. And then the other parts. It's just a question of playing the licks if already learned in the right places, as well as risks and other techniques, you've learned the cost as well. So what we'll do now is I'll walk you through it slowly. And if there's any parts that need me to go into a bit more detail, e.g. if there's a certain technique that you've learned, but using new nuts, I'll do that as well. What I'm showing you this, if it feels like I'm going through it too fast for you, remember, you can pause it and rewind any parts you want to watch them again. The structure of the piece is 2 bar as an introduction, and then it just goes through the 12th bar blues form, two times through. Okay, let's go. So it starts off with the chromatic third turnaround lick, which lack of said also sounds good as an introduction as well. So here we go. The first of the 12th bars here, it's going to use the blues lick one. And then the left hand is just the same blues pattern with the jumps that we've been doing previously as well. Then it goes to the blues lick three in the right hand. Left hand is just the same kit onto this F bar here. It's the blue slip fault in the right hand. Here. I've added in a tremolo. So if you can just try and rock backwards and forwards between the indices. Dust it too much. This yeah, I just played the card and then I just did afterwards. Yeah, I came onto this next bar here. We've got the major blues scale. So this is just using the major blues scale to link up to another riff. The notes I started on an E-flat up here, would you fall off? And then you're going to slide to the natural. Second on the see, some on the G of the third. Second to the E-flat, slide, up to the E. That down to the sea, back up to the a. This is just using that swung rhythm. So I'll play with the left. The E-flat starts before the end of the last bar. On together on the E. Yeah. Then the next bar here, it's gonna go 35 on the G and the B flat. Just using that rocking thirds riff. But just to pass that. Then together. Your left hand, then it's gonna go transition from the Shang. We're going to use another part of the rocking third trip, but on the G chord, the first part of it, It's the right-hand t is gonna go here. Rather than go in like crushing from his second tier 35. You can slide for a second like that. On the fall. The reason is because then you can add on another tremolo. And I think it's easy to travel with the second four fingers. And you said just preference though. So just that right-hand part that on that g bar. Then with the left hand transition here, this bar here, we're just gonna do it into the Hall of Harmony, but we're gonna go down. It's not minor blue scale. Then backup. It's just using a triplet with them. They're not playing on the wall. But the next part of the triplet, 123. Yeah. With the left hand 13k. And then this next part here, which is the 11th of that 12, just say 13 on the music, but it's because we've got an introduction of two. But as far as the 12th bias goes, on this 11th, 12th on the C chord, it's going to use the dyslexics. But with the left hand. The left hand here is just going to do the octave walk upon the G. Okay, so at the end of it there, you've got an octave, B-flat octave, octave. So that bar play together. 1234. That right hand octave part there is coming in on the top B-flat in your left. You've got the low. Okay. So that's the end of the first 12 bar. That right-hand part there is actually leading into the next group of 12 h. But before we look at that, I'm just going to play through the first part for you now, nice and slowly so you can see how it fits together. No. Okay, so that's the first 12 bar along with the introduction. It may be a good idea to get full control over this first part. And then in the next lecture, I'll show you how to play the second part. 68. The Slow Blues Cruise - Etude 5 - Part 2: It's good to carry on using the octave scale technique to the F sharp. But then you're going to do another tremolo on the octaves. So it's going to go up to tremolo on the F sharp. Then it's going to go G, B-flat, C. So I'll just play that whole octave part there. So timing wise there. It's placed the octave tremolo on the first beat. And then, but it goes to the G that's on a triplet, but the second part of a triplet, so trip three. But this 3.43. And then you've already done this run here at the end of the blues lick far. I've not put that first part in this piece here, but I've taken the last part of that blues lick. Remember that? Just through the Minor Blues scale there. So it's a bit of detail that, but I think it needed it. So I'll just play that whole part there but with the left hand. So I'll just go from the end of the previous lec. Okay, that's it. Onto the F bar with that link. Okay, We're going to carry out onto the C bar here, which is just using the loose leaf three b in there at hand. Which is the alternate part here at the end. Here is using the major blues scale. Okay? So just to the major blues scale. But you're not playing on the first triplet, their trip. Trip. Then you're going to put your first finger and your right hand onto the d. And then it's going to use another rocking thirds riff. Okay? And then you're going to slide on to the a 35 and the C E-flat, back down to the thumb on the left, too far on the B-flat D. Then you're going to get your third and your second on the C and the a flat. Then you're going to hold the seat belt slide or this or that. If firm is gonna go down to the F, the top with all the to the underneath of the thumb on the sea like this. With the left hand, which is on the F bar, transition C-sharp, and your left hand goes to f bars altogether. That it's just the blues lick to which you've already learned. Alternate ending though we're gonna do another tremolo. Rather than just go to the same holding it. You're gonna go do another tremolo. K. Then you're going to do the extended leg, this blues licks seven here, which you've just learned a few lectures ago. The top of the left hand, she called and then the app. Sounds cool, doesn't it? Still want small k when we go to the C bar here? And here, we're going to use the chromatic third turnaround. But we're just going to the first part of it. Just play a C rather. Go ahead. Just going to press C and a senior left. Lossy there. And then it goes into the liquid. Already know what she did at the start as well. Okay. So we can finish that rather than using it, turn it around into another 12 bar where she can if you want. But we're going to finish it here. So on the fourth beat of that bar, you're going to go F and C. Then you're going to finish on a C7 layer like this. Then you can do the tremolo, tremolo and the left as well. Then it can also freely classic blues style that maybe plunk to finish off in the end as well. Okay, So hopefully that all made sense like I did with the first 12 bar. So you can see how those seconds 12 bar all fit together. And you've got a reference point. If you're learning by copying what I'm doing, rather than reading the sheet music. I'm going to play through it nice and slowly. But I'm going to join in from the 12th bar, the first part, because we've got that leading here. Okay? So I'm gonna go from the octave walk-up turnaround here on the G bar from the previous 12. Nice and slowly. Okay, So that is the second part of that slow blues, Cruz, which pretty much incorporates everything that you've learned at some point in the course. I really hope you have fun learning this like usual. Start off slowly into the complex without pauses and hesitations between the bars are between any tricky licks and stuff. When you've got control of it. There are two backing tracks. You can play along to. One being slightly slower so you can get used to it. And then the other 65 BPM, which was the tempo I was using when I showed you the full piece with the backing track in the previous lecture. And for those of you that find it useful when learning. In the next lecture, I'm going to play you the full piece, nice and slowly. See I've got something to refer to. 69. The Slow Blues Cruise - Full Piece Played Slowly (Practice Reference): Here is the slow blues crews. As you'd fall, pled nice and slowly all the way through. For those of you that need it as a reference point for learning. 70. Putting Everything Together: Now it's time for you to have a go at combining everything that you've learned together. So try alternating between the different licks and riffs. Try chopping and changing between the major blues scale, the Minor Blues scale. Try including the octave World Cup in the left hand. The turnarounds, the octave harmony, crush notes. All that jazz, or should I say blues, but yes, have a go at improvising with it all. So what I'm going to do is improvised a couple of rounds of the 12th bars to give you some examples of how you can incorporate the skills that you've learned in this course. I'll identify the different techniques I'm using up above on the screen. So you can see exactly what I'm doing. And I'm only going to be using skills and techniques that you've learned in this course. Let's go. Wow. 71. A Short Intro on the Dominant 5th: This is just a very short lesson to give you a nice quick intro that you can use. So quite often, we've been using this chromatic thirdly, because an intro, which is also used for turnaround. Yeah. But you don't want to be doing that every single time. Of course, you can just dive straight into the 12th bars on the first, say. Yeah. But here's a very quick way that you can ease your way into that first of the 12th bars. And it's this. Yeah, that's all it is. F. F sharp, G was the octave in both hands, and then he left. I'm just going to bounce down to the timing wise. It's just using swung eighths, 1.2, 3.4. Then you can go straight into improvising 12 h. After that, you can easily use this in any key that you're playing in by simply go into the dominant columns to the fifth from the root. I just climbing up to it. So if you're in the key of D, yeah, just climb from the a and then just go and so on. So that's it, a super quick intro that you can use. Wow. 72. Play Along Practice Improv - 45bpm: For those of you that might need a bit of extra help incorporating all these different techniques into improvising. You can start by just focusing on what you're doing in your right hand. I'd like you to have a go at playing along with me. I'll play the left-hand part along with the backing track. You can have a go at improvising on top. And this is just so you can get used to making different choices while you're playing. And also getting used to the idea of sometimes thinking ahead whilst you're playing. So you know what you're going to do when you're coming up to the next bar. We'll start off with a slower tempo. So you've got more time to think. Then afterwards, we'll speed it up a touch. So this is at fault to five BPM and we're going to count in with 2 bar are far. Before we begin. We're going to go through the 12th bar form two times. Okay, I hope you had fun playing along with that and that you managed to create some nice sounding improvisations if you're finding this useful in the next lecture. So you can get used to improvising and making choices in your right hand at a faster pace. I'm going to do the same again. But 60 BPM. 73. Final Play Along Improv Practice - 60bpm: Okay, so we're going to do the same thing again, but a faster speed of 60 BPM. You improvise in the right hand, and I'm going to be paying the left-hand along with a backing track. So I've got accounting counting of 2 bar and then it's going twice through the 12th, please. Let's go. 74. It's Over to You: If you felt comfortable doing that. Now I'd like you to have a go at improvising with both hands. And if you can try to incorporate as much as what we've done in two you're playing. You may want to have a go without the backing tracks to start off with. Just to give you a bit more flexibility as you're improvising. But either way, just have fun. And if you do make any mistakes, it doesn't matter. It's live music. So once you've done it, it's in the past. Just keep going and enjoy yourself. 75. Alternate 8 Bar Blues - Applying Your New Skills: Once you've got control over the left-hand chord progression, you can try including the various licks and riffs and other techniques you've already learned in the course. E.g. let's just say you wanted to try doing the blues lick one over the first 2 bar. So the blues lick bond was 12341234, a case your left hand. The first 2 bar are 12341234. So just together, 123123. Sweet works, isn't it? Let's keep going. So let's try that blue thick far this one, which worked well over the F car, didn't it? So here's an F Codd on that third bar. Okay, So let's try it. 1234. Sounds good. Let's keep going. Yeah, sounds great, doesn't it? Then you can maybe try some of the scales here. So let's go down to the C code. In the left. We're going to play some C Minor Blues. And onto the G and your left. Maybe some sea manager blues. You see how that's working? Okay, so maybe let's do another round and let's maybe try to blues lick two, which was this. Okay, 1234. Let's try on the first bar then. Three. Nice. Maybe let's try some of the octave harmony. Go up again. So you can see how it works. It's not something else in that. So maybe here Let's try doing the blue C3a, which was this. Yeah. So that was started on the second beat. So we'll start on that seventh bar, or the 123123. Yeah, let's just do one more round so you can see how these different licks fit in. Maybe let's try doing six on this first one here. Nice. Let's maybe just some octave scales. Some traveler. Well, so if we go here, let's maybe try some circles, which was that kind of thing. But triplet eighth may seem a bit slow at this tenth pope be 123. So let's double those up. So it's twice as fast in the right hand. 123. Oh, yeah, sounds alright. Then let's go onto the gene, the left. Let's maybe try doing some of the classic rocking third riff. I then go on to the seventh power. Wish to see what you could do here, you could always throw it the chromatic third turnaround. Let this run. Yeah, let's throw that in there on the last 2 bar. So you could put a C card, then you can just throw it in that. That'll work. So I'm just gonna go from the fifth bar so you can see how you can lead into that. You've got 12332303. Finish it then, but you could again use that as a turnaround as well. So as you can see, all the techniques and licks and stuff fit with this left-hand chord progression. So I want you to have a go at that and see if you can incorporate them. And just have fun improvising on top of a different left-hand progression. And then also just wanted you to see how we can use the skills you've learned in different scenarios. 76. Alternate Progression - The 8 Bar Blues: I wanted to include a, another blues chord pattern to show you how easy it is to apply the licks, rifts, and techniques you've learned to other progressions. Here it is. So it's in the same key. And you've already done all the hard work learning all of the skills, scales and techniques, and the right hand, while you need to do is learn the left-hand progression. So here's how to play the chords. So this progression is an eight bar blues form. So there's 8 bar and then it goes back around again. And the pattern is C7, E7, and F7, F sharp diminished seven, and then C, G7. And then within that seventh bar, you've got a C and then an F. And then the eighth by you've got a C and a turnaround on the G. I just take you through how to play those cards. So the first card is a C7, and I was playing it one octave below middle C. And then an a B flat, the 531. I'm not playing the G. And it's four beats per bar and each card is played twice per bar. So 1234, okay, that's the first card. The next card is the E7. And again, it's the same person at the moment. So as paying a G-sharp and then D was taking out the fifth twice. And then the F7 do the same thing as taking out the fifth. So E-flat. Yeah. And then here, F sharp diminished seven. So an F sharp, normally it's not that F sharp minor. To make it a diminished, you can omit the C-Sharp, go in to the sea, bring it in, see natural. And then I'm going to add the E flat on top, which is the minor seven interval on top. F-sharp minor. Okay, so the first 4 bar, or C7, you seven. F7, sharp diminished seven. Okay, so the last 4 bar, we've got another C bar. I was playing it like this without the C. So it's like a rootless chord that you're playing in the key of C and the right-hand. It works. Yeah. See that? Than a G7, I was just playing it here, inverted. So D and F, G, and the next bar. And then on the seventh bar, I was just playing a C chord. Nice, easy. Tried there. And then you've got two cards in this bar. So you've got C, and then you're gonna go up to the f inversion, second inversion there. So CFA, not order. Then the file of the eight is the sea again. And again in that bar we're going to play two cards, going to go down to a G7 pledged g and f. So that bars, okay. So there's 4 bar that are 1234, 1234, 1234, 1234. In that example, I just played it twice through. You can play it as many times as you want. And then whenever you finish it, don't go down to the turnaround G7 chord there because that would be your background to another round of eight. So you can just finish on a C card without going down to the G. So I'm just now going to play the progression two times through so you know exactly what to practice. And so you've got something to refer to. 77. Closing Thoughts: You've finished. I really hope you've enjoyed this course is just one chapter in a series of blues classes that are designed to not only help you to play specific types of blues, but also enable you to freely improvise in those styles as well. You may have noticed that we stuck with the key of C in this course. This is because it's a great key to build a strong foundation from and makes it much easier when it comes to transposing your skills into other keys. The next installment is on New Orleans blues piano in the key of F. In it you'll learn how to play in the New Orleans style, influenced by some of the greats. But I'll also show you how you can transpose this skills you've already learned into other keys as well. This way, you'll be able to incorporate them into each new blue style. I didn't turn elevate your development into becoming a great all-round blues pianist. Thanks again for interestingly with your musical education. Again, I really hope you liked it. That's it for now. Goodbye.