Hi Arthur, Is the order of your list of courses on your site the optimal order to do them, or do you advice me an other order? I have no experience in playing boogie.
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T vdB
Dec 28, 2017
Order of courses
Order of courses
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Great Question! Yes, I have been meaning to make several "suggested" coursework outlines... And I WILL get to it eventually. If you are totally new, do the "Basics" class first. Then learn "Lick #1" (only Part I). When you get that then move on to "Lick #2" (only Part I). Then go to the "Turnarounds" section and learn a turnaround. Begin playing Licks 1 and 2 in a 12 bar blues connected by a turnaround. Then learn Part I of all 8 licks. Then I think you can try learning some songs, or parts of songs you like, by ear. You may also want to do 1 or 2 private lessons with me at this point so that I can check your progress and make sure you're on track.
Then start learning Part II for all the licks.
Hope this helps you get started! I think spending about 1 week on each lick is normal... if you can get them under your fingers faster then that's fine too. Good luck!
Arthur's book explains most of this and comes with code so you can logon to the music book web site and listen to how to songs are played which usually helps me a lot when learning from other song books. It's a very comprehensive music instruction book for Boogie Woogie.
I have the book. It's fantastic, and I find the fingerings very useful.
just brought the book, best purchase i have made in years.
As for the order of courses concerning the eight licks I found it most helpful to master Lick #1 Part II Variation 4 (using the 7th) before attempting Lick #3 Part II Variation 3. I found the latter mentioned lick to be difficult because this was the first time triplets were involved in the pickup notes leading to the chord change. If you’re too fast or slow with these triplet pick up notes it makes for a rough transition between the I , IV and V chord.
So far I’ve spent 6 days x 4hrs a day attempting to match that Lick #3 variation with the 13 left hand bass patterns that I’m using for practice. Only 9 of them are smooth so far with that Lick #3 variation. I found that lick to be the first truly difficult test of triplet skill, for me at least.
Thanks for sharing that Joseph! I'm sure others will find it helpful as well. Man, you are practicing 13 different left hand patterns!? Holy moly!! Good for you!
Should you move on to another lick as soon as you can play it with ease, or would you recommend a certain tempo as well?
Hi Pascal, you can move on whenever you like. Often I would learn a few things at once and get really good at one thing while the other things slowly made progress and got up to speed. It's really self-paced..
There is another thread where someone asked this exact question... you can read all of our answers there too https://www.schoolofboogie.com/forum/piano-technique/when-should-i-move-on-how-can-i-know-that-i-can-move-to-the-next-step-could-you-explain-that-based-on-the-first-exercise-for-beginners
Also, I started a new section in the forum (accessed from the forum main page) where people can post videos of themselves playing something they need help with. Then I can give you suggestions "publicly" and others can learn from the experience as well. So far no one has posted any videos ... LOL You could be the first!
Thanks! I'm still experimenting with the basics but I will definitely post in that new section when I will face problems as I progress. And thanks for your contribution to music and boogie woogie, your site and book are amazing resources!
Thanks Pascal! Keep up the good work.