Recommended Fingering for Blues Scale

Recommended Fingering for Blues Scale

Right hand        C (1)    Eb(2)   F(3)    Gb(4)     G(1)    Bb(3)    C(4)

For 2 or more octaves use the following fingering:

up = 123413 123413 123413 

down = 431432 131432 131432 

These three piano styles (rock, blues, and boogies) have a few common characteristics. We will cover one feature this time.

They all use the blues scale.

What exactly is the blues scale?

We all know there are 12 major and 12 minor scales. The way to form them is by using the formula:

whole    whole    half    whole   whole   whole   half steps

The blues scale is different from the traditional scale.

Blocked 5ths and 6ths Bass Patterns

C

CG / CA / CG / CA

F

FC / FD / FC / FD

G

GD / GE / GD / GE

Here I am playing Beach Buggy Blues from a very long time ago!

Walking Bass Line

C

C, E, G, A (single bass notes)

F

F, A, C, D

G

G, B, D, E

Extended Walking Bass Line

C

C, E, G, A (ascending) Bb, A, G, E (descending)

F

F, A, C, D (ascending) Eb, D, C, A (descending)

G

G, B, D, E (ascending) F, E, D, B (descending)

A former piano student playing the acoustic piano.

Previous Posts on the Blues:

Beach Buggy Blues

Bittersweet Blues

Don't Want To Leave You Blues

How To Play Clarinet Blues

out-with-blues-scale-in-with-mixolydian

Surfin' for Dem Blues

Trems and Fills

Another great resource to add to your library, Salsa101 Do you like to play Salsa music?

All the best,

-- LadyD



"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Related articles

• The History of Seventh Chords (ladydpiano.blogspot.com)
• Piano By Ear Chart (pianodiana.blogspot.com)
• Creating An Intro by Champ Champagne (ladydpiano.blogspot.com)
• I'm Just A Lucky So And So by Duke Ellington (pianodiana.blogspot.com)

Learn To Play Latin Jazz

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

So many free resources on how to play latin jazz!

Chord Charts - Mike Prigodich
 http://www.mikeprigodich.com/chord-charts

Latin Sheet Music
http://www.latinsheetmusic.com/latinjazz.html

Free Jazz Sheet Music Links
http://www.freesheetmusic.net/Jazz1.html

 One of my favorite songs to play is the Girl from Ipanema. I enjoy Diana Krall's arrangement and so many others. Are you familiar with the song? I would love to hear from you on your experiences of practicing latin jazz.

Chords to Girl From Ipanema:

FMaj9 - FACEG

Gb7b5 - GbBbCE

F6 - FACD

G9 - GBDFA

Gm7 - GBbDF

C7 - CEGBb

FMaj7 - FACE

Gb7 - GbBbDbE

G13 - G/FACE

GbMaj7 - GbBbDbF

B7 - BEbGbA

Gbm9 - GbADbEAb

D9 - DGbACE

Eb9 - EbGBbDbF

Am7 - ACEG

D7 - DF#AC

G7 - GBDF

Gb9 - GbBbDbEAb

Latin Jazz Tutorials:

Latin Jazz Salsa Style Gospel Chords

  

http://GospelMusicians.com 

Piano man teaching on how to end Latin jazz style songs. Learn gospel chords jazz chords and so much more!!

Am-Dm-G-E-Am

 

 www.anointedmusicians.org
http://www.latinjazznet.com

Here's one more tutorial on Blue Bossa Latin Groove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D63odAop0kg

And more piano tutorials:
http://www.drjassmusic.com/

Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you enjoy your stay at LadyD Piano.

Warmest Regards,
LadyD

Related articles by Zemanta

• How To Play Blues Scale Licks (pianodiana.blogspot.com)
• What Is A Key Signature? (pianodiana.blogspot.com)

Salsa Piano By Ear

Salsa music is very difficult to play for many of us!!! Why??? This is what I share w/ my students:

In music the unit of time is called a 'bar'. Each bar of music is made of 4 beats. In salsa, most phrases (both in music and in dancing) cover blocks of 2 bars, which means 8 beats.
Strong and weak beats. In musical terminology the odd beats (n1 n3 n5 n7) are called strong beats. The even beats are called weak beats. This distinction is important.

Music Accents. The accents are notes (or beats) which are louder than the others. The distribution of the accents is one of the factors which determines the rhythm of a piece of music. Here is the most important difference between 'western' pop music and Cuban music (from which salsa originates.)

In most pop music strong beats and accents coincide. Here the hands mark the accents in the music. Notice how the hands fall on the 'odd' beats. This is why it easy to 'find the beat' in western pop music.

In many styles of music with African roots the rhythm structure is more complicated. In swing for example (notice the hand clapping), the accents coincide with the 'even' beats and this is even clearer in reggae, one of the many forms of Caribbean music. In musical terms this is called syncopation. In Cuba the rhythm structure is even more complicated. It is based on the clave, and on other percussion instruments which interleave with one another marking both the odd and the even beats. This generates the 'Cuban' feel, and is one of the factors which makes it challenging for a 'westerner's ear' to 'find the beat' in salsa.

http://zone.hearandplay.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=22616

But thanks to so many music resources, like salsa dvds, YouTube Salsa videos, Salsa Music Books, it's becoming easier to play and feel that Latin beat, even if you're Greek! Here's an example of playing in the minor keys that give that Latin Jazz sound by JC, latinpianist:
"How To Play Salsa" Piano Tutorial Part 2



I think this is a pretty cool video- Salsa Piano 102 by richpata! Thanks for giving us the chords! Love the beat!



Learn salsa piano guaje with video, sheet music and backing track at one of my favorite sites,

http://pianologist.com/2007/09/16/learn-how-to-play-salsa-piano-guaje

Another awesome site for full written piano montuno parts
and exercises with typical latin breaks:

http://www.salsapiano.privat.t-online.de

Now, Jermaine Griggs, founder of HearandPlay.com, has posted an exciting new release, Salsa Piano By Ear Keyboard Lesson Samples by Jeff. Interested in hot tips to add to your Salsa Piano playing? Sign up and view some
great clips! New!! Play Salsa Piano

Salsa Piano By Ear Keyboard Lesson Sample of Jeff's Playing




Salsa Piano 101 - Learn The Secrets To Playing Salsa by Ear!



Salsa Playing Has Never Been So Easy!



Salsa Piano 101 - Take Your Salsa Paying To The Next Level!



Salsa Piano 101 - Salsa, Salsa, and More Salsa... WOW!




http://www.LadyDpiano.com