Hi, I have been following one of your videos on YouTube for some months and been practicing. I have everything pretty much but my timing is really off and I can't get that 'boogie' timing that you have. I can play at the same speed but when I play it its all a bit of a jumble. Hard to explain without showing you but are there any exercises you recommend to improve time?
Many thanks
Alex, YES. The metronome is your greatest friend. After playing this music for 30 years, I still love practicing with the metronome. This reminds me I need to make a video about how to practice with the metronome. Also, you can try playing along to recordings, using their band/ drummer as the metronome. I recommend Champion Jack Dupree's album "Blues from the Gutter". There are 4 songs in C on there, two of which are slow blues and perfect for using as backing tracks: "Can't Kick the Habit" and "Evil Woman Blues".
Thanks for the pointer to the Champion Jack Dupree slow blues songs in C. They are in my iTunes and I am listening to Evil Woman as I write this.
I bought your book last week because it seemed like the best one for me, and only later found all this (your site, etc.) almost by accident. Exactly what I need right now.
I am looking forward to the history of boogie woogie that is coming.
Amazing thank you!! I do have a metronome on my piano but don't know how to set it to the right time that I' working so if you do do a video about this I would really appreciate it! Thank you once again
Thank you Alex I will make a video. In general though, set the metronome at whatever slow tempo that you can manage for a starting place. Then work it up gradually over the next days/weeks to the desired speed. The tempo you should use at any given point in your training is totally an individual thing. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
Brilliant! Looking forward to seeing the video! FYI the left hand I am struggling is from this video (boogie left hand) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsCiyPHI3kI. I've got the notes and even the speed but when I play it just sounds messy (not in proper time). Hope this makes some kind of sense!
The best advice I can give would be to play it slow and use your ear and concentration to point out what you need to do to clean it up. The rhythm should be 1/8th notes. Make sure you are playing all 1/8th notes (maybe start with straight 1/8ths and then switch to swing). Also make sure your non-playing fingers are not accidentally hitting other keys. Work on 1 note at a time if you have to in order to get everything sounding precise. Hope that helps!