LiveMusic Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 The boogie woogie style of music... Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, for example. I have a keyboard and am learning to play it but I'm not that good yet. How hard would you say boogie woogie style is to learn? I have a friend who is awesome. He's all over the keyboard. This cat can play. It would take years to get that good. But "passable"... how hard would you rate it to get there in this style of piano playing? For one thing, seems it has a very active left hand. That might be a challenge. And any tips? Books or lessons of some sort? > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 Originally posted by LiveMusic: The boogie woogie style of music... Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, for example. I have a keyboard and am learning to play it but I'm not that good yet. How hard would you say boogie woogie style is to learn? I have a friend who is awesome. He's all over the keyboard. This cat can play. It would take years to get that good. But "passable"... how hard would you rate it to get there in this style of piano playing? For one thing, seems it has a very active left hand. That might be a challenge. And any tips? Books or lessons of some sort? The key is the left hand. Learn the basic patterns until you can do it in your sleep! Stride left hand is harder, especially if you do it in the style of James Booker, who you should listen to. Its important to learn this music by listening rather than from notes. Go down your local Music store and pick up some cd's of traditional Americain Piano playing. A couple of samplers are: "Piano Blues, the essential" from Classic Blues. "A celebration of great blues piano" from St Clair Entertainment "Keep it Rollin" from Rounder Heritage "Blues Piano Greats" on Delta Music. This will introduce you to a wider variety of players. If you realy want to get in to it, Centrum at Port Townsend has a weeks long blues workshop once a year - in late July this year - with an excellent piano stream for beginning players, often run by Annie Wooden (aka Annieville Blues) Centrum There was a list of useful books for American styles in general in another thread. Get these. They will give you the basic bass lines. The only book I have that is specifically boogie-woogie is not very good so I am not going to recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbyjoe Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 duke, you from louisiana? "my name is jerry lee lewis i come from louisiana, gonna do you a little boogie on this yellow piana" last year i did numerous jeryy lee lewis tribute shows. being from a classical and rock/pop background, this 50's style was indeed very different. but to be honest i found the music side of it quite simple - just blues, a lot of I-IV-V and 12 bar blues. byrdman said a good thing about the l.h. something jerry lee lewis did, well had, was a really fast hand. even though i've been trained to licentiate level, i could not do all of the fast stuff he played. i don't know how he hasn't destroyed his nerves by playing so hard over the years. a lot of really fast triplets in the right hand and in the lh, lots of fast shuffle rhythms, that can wear your hands out. when i performed, i still did his solos etc as per the particular recording, but if there was a tricky rhythm, i would just stick to something simple, only because i was doing more of an acting performance than a technical replecation of him. (yes i did sit on the piano and kick it etc!!!) this is the book you need. it shows you a wide range of rock and roll playing, but has a bit about JLL which helped me. a lot of JLL's records are quite cheap. most popular songs are: - great balls of fire - whole lot of shakin' - crazy arms - high school confidential - you win again - fools like me - lewis boogie that was my standard set, plus minus a few. if you are really serious about playing his stuff, learn about him www.jllewis.com wild bloke he was. it may be hard to find out what the l.h. is doing on some of the recordings, but once you get the patterns you should be right. hope this helps. pray for peace, kendall "Consider how much coffee you're drinking - it's probably not enough." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted January 12, 2002 Author Share Posted January 12, 2002 Thank you Byrdman and Kendall! And thanks for your offer, Kendall in your email. I'll check into getting these. I found a couple of books that have CDs with them that might be worthwhile. I guess I won't know unless I buy them. But having a CD to play along with, that might be helpful. They are in the FastForward series by MusicRoom.com : Boogie Woogie Piano (with Bill Worrall) Real Blues Keyboard (with Jeff Hammer) What fun music this style is! If you wanna make a crowd of people at a private party happy, play this style of music and the old 50s bluesy stuff. I can't tell you how often I've seen this through my friend who plays so well. The boogie woogie style brings on the smiles! People love it. All ages. I've seen my friend sit down at a piano at a hotel or something and within minutes, he's got a big crowd of people jukin' and jivin'. There's a guy that comes through here some named Jason D. Williams. Looks like Jerry Lee, acts like him and can tear it up. And we have a local musician that can really play it. I am mesmerized by his left hand. He pounds hell out of it. That would take a LONG time to master. I can read music... slowly... and can pick stuff out by ear. I'm a guitar player, trying to learn piano. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Originally posted by LiveMusic: Thank you Byrdman and Kendall! And thanks for your offer, Kendall in your email. I'll check into getting these. I found a couple of books that have CDs with them that might be worthwhile. I guess I won't know unless I buy them. But having a CD to play along with, that might be helpful. They are in the FastForward series by MusicRoom.com : Boogie Woogie Piano (with Bill Worrall) Real Blues Keyboard (with Jeff Hammer) Those CDs can be real useful. Some texts with CDs I have are "Mastering" and "Intermediate" Blues Keyboard from Alfred Publishing, "Improvising Blues Piano" by Martin Mann (this is Jazz blues oriented but he does some Boogie-Woogie and other basic forms) This is worth having for the encouragement the author gives the student. (Like - this is hard, don't think you are a klutz just because you can't immediately do it - it will come if you practice!) I found a fun one the other week purely by chance - How to play Reggae Keyboard by Jimmy Heart (Hal Leonard). I can now play reggae in the right hand and boogie in the left! This is not such a dreadful thing to do - if you get some really early Barrelhouse piano recordings you can hear people doing something prototypical along these lines. A stand-out text you should get for the niche you are into (no CD sadly) is Improvising Rock Piano by Jeffrey Gutcheon. (Amsco) It covers many styles, but you will find it useful. One important tip when playing a regular boogie bass - the regular G G A A G G A A C C C C C C C C thing. The rythm is da-DA;da-DA;da-DA;da-DA. If you come from a background of European music and you just see the written notes its very easy to play it as DA,da-DA,da-DA,da-DA In other words, the short note at the end of each beat is NOT a preparation of the following beat (what's the technical term for that - there must be one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbyjoe Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 byrdman, you have a good eye and ear - i have Gutcheon's book and recommended it to duke. i actually learned heaps from it - very good book. pray for peace and new rigs , kendall "Consider how much coffee you're drinking - it's probably not enough." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudeep Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 can i ask a question as to how you guys use these piano tutor books? i have quite a few of these "100 riff" sort of books,in all styles, and while they are good and sounds good playing the riffs written out...i find it hard to adapt them into my own playing any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbyjoe Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 sudeep, hmmmm - good point. i suppose you've just gotta find the right music to play it in. i really don't know how to teach/say how to learn improvisation, maybe byrdman can suggest some stuff. though if it doesn't come naturally, you can still be tops at it. there are books that will actually teach you to improvise. when i was in allan's in sydney last year i noticed they had lots of stuff like that. maybe it's just that bris vegas doesn't have heaps. where you from there? north shore area? good to see another aussie here. pray for peace, kendall "Consider how much coffee you're drinking - it's probably not enough." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudeep Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 gday Jimbyjoe, thanks for the advice. One of my biggest hobbies lately has been to BUY keyboard instruction books!!! I have to control myself when i go to Alans or Dymocks!!! I live in Sydney (West Pennant Hills), playing in a few cover bands there, actually studied keys at the australian institute of music for a little while as well. But now I have a non-music job again and unfortunately work has had me living in Bathurst for 6 months. Which is a real bitch cos i had to quit the band. Though I still drag my faithful XP-80 and it sits in my hotel room with me all the time!! Hopefully will be back in Sydney gigging again, to be honest i think im a better player after spending 6 months just getting back to basics (actually working through Mark Harrisons Pop piano book!) see ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-sharp Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 Boogie-woogie is featured on the blues piano pack, which I have as part of the contemporary keyboardist pack. It shows every note that's being played during the boogie-woogie songs. I wish I could show it you, but to see an example, go to pg music's website (pgmusic.com), and look for the video download of the "latin pianist". Download it. Now envision that exact same layout featuring "boogie-woogie." It'll make your learning a snap(buying the blues pianist software). a-sharp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-sharp Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 Boogie-woogie is featured on the blues piano pack, which I have as part of the contemporary keyboardist pack. It shows every note that's being played during the boogie-woogie songs. I wish I could show it you, but to see an example, go to pg music's website (pgmusic.com), and look for the video download of the "latin pianist". Download it. Now envision that exact same layout featuring "boogie-woogie." It'll make your learning a snap(buying the blues pianist software). a-sharp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris c Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 I've got the Blues Pianist also (along with the jazz pianist, and the new orleans pianist) and although I havne't worked with it a whole lot, I really like it. It covers most if not all blues piano styles, including boogie woogie. It really helps me to hear the music played, becuase its really hard to notate "swing" it seems, and just reading the notes I often don't get a good sense of the feel of a lick. Being able to slow things down helps a lot, too. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Z. Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 You've gotten some really good suggestions... I don't know about the books and courses that were suggested (although they sound good!), but what I would recommend is practicing the blues scale, particularly in the LEFT hand, and then working with the standard "bumble boogie"-type bass line: A-A(octave up) C-D-D#-E-E(octave down)-E(octave back up). Work on this in every key (and be able to do a standard I-IV-V progression with it) and you've got it made! Sounds confusing the way I wrote it, but it's really pretty simple. Just takes some time. And the point about swing is really important...as always, it's not what you play, it's HOW you play it, and it's gotta swing! BTW, if you really want to hear a player with a great Boogie feel, catch my buddy Wade Preston here in LA sometime. He's amazing! Best, lz www.lauriez.com www.lauriez.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Z. Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 You've gotten some really good suggestions... I don't know about the books and courses that were suggested (although they sound good!), but what I would recommend is practicing the blues scale, particularly in the LEFT hand, and then working with the standard "bumble boogie"-type bass line: A-A(octave up) C-D-D#-E-E(octave down)-E(octave back up). Work on this in every key (and be able to do a standard I-IV-V progression with it) and you've got it made! Sounds confusing the way I wrote it, but it's really pretty simple. Just takes some time. And the point about swing is really important...as always, it's not what you play, it's HOW you play it, and it's gotta swing! BTW, if you really want to hear a player with a great Boogie feel, catch my buddy Wade Preston here in LA sometime. He's amazing! Best, lz www.lauriez.com www.lauriez.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Strzepa Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 I'll second (or third?) the recommendation of the blues pianist pak from PGmusic. Very good playing and the software makes it easy to learn although I admit I haven't worked with it a whole lot yet. One other suggestion that I don't think was mentioned yet: Listen to Dr. John play boogie (and other stuff too). Two cd's on Clean Cuts are worth getting: "The Brightest Smile in Town" and "Dr. John plays Mac Rebennac". IMO these are a couple of the greatest blues/boogie piano records of all time. I'm wishing he'd record more solo piano/vocal stuff...does anyone know if he has lately? -Chet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted January 23, 2002 Author Share Posted January 23, 2002 Originally posted by a-sharp: Boogie-woogie is featured on the blues piano pack, which I have as part of the contemporary keyboardist pack. It shows every note that's being played during the boogie-woogie songs. I wish I could show it you, but to see an example, go to pg music's website (pgmusic.com), and look for the video download of the "latin pianist". Download it. Now envision that exact same layout featuring "boogie-woogie." It'll make your learning a snap(buying the blues pianist software). a-sharp Sounds good but sorry, I don't fully comprehend. "It shows every note that's being played..." Where does it show it? I mean, is this showing on your computer screen or your keyboard display? I don't know very much about gear. I have a Yamaha PSR740 and I have a computer. Can I buy what you are talking about and make it work? If not, what would I need? Sorry for my ignorance about gear. I mean, I'm like a rookie in this midi stuff, if that's what it is. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Strzepa Posted January 23, 2002 Share Posted January 23, 2002 Go to www.pgmusic.com and you can download a video demo of the blues pianist pak. Basically, you can see the notes via sheet music displayed on the screen or an actual keyboard displayed on the screen. As a note is pressed, the correspondeing key lights up on the keyboard display. In the case of the sheet music display, you can see the notation light up as it's being played. -Chet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-sharp Posted January 23, 2002 Share Posted January 23, 2002 I second what Chet said. The blues pianist pak can be used without any type of MIDI knowledge. All you need is your keyboard and a computer. Besides seeing what is actually being played, you can slow it down, speed it up, go forward or backward however many meausres you want, and turn the volume up on selected instruments (if the whole band is playing along). The blues pak comes in volume 1 and 2. I personally like the jazz blues. . .the chops those players are exercising are awesome! Hope this helps, a-sharp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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