Just thought i'd see if there are any other members/pianists in Ireland? Ive been playing just under a year and seem to have the basics down. Trying to schedule practice time is my only obstacle really. Work and young kids are the main obstacles although i wouldnt give up the kids. (or would I?)
Anyway I have just received Arthurs book and slowly working through it. Keep up the good work
I'm in Seattle. Agreed that finding practice time is always a challenge. I'm between jobs right now, so it's a bit easier. My kids are grown--don't have that obstacle at least.
Thanks Liam and Paul! I'm in New York City... Perhaps as this site grows we will find others in Ireland who are learning boogie woogie and you can connect! Thank you for putting in the practice to learn this tradition and keep this music alive!
Hi, I'm in the Netherlands and just as Liam I play keyboard since one year and yesterday I received Arthur's book. The basics are a little bit well known now, only the right-left hand independance is still very difficult. But boogie woogie has stolen my hearth and I keep going on.
Ton
T vdB That's great! Let me know if you have any questions. Hand independence comes from getting the left hand to do it's job on "autopilot". This takes much repetition... hundreds or thousands of times playing the pattern over and over. You can try playing the left hand while reading a book, or watching tv. Go through the motions until your hand knows its part no matter what else is going on. :-)
T vdB - Try recording a really slow bass line, maybe for a minute or two. Then play back and add the right hand in. I found that once i was able to get the timing for different right hand licks it was very difficult to forget it.
Hi! I’m new (well, rather old actually), from Texas, and just getting this site figured out. Will be back later to chat.
Welcome!
Hey guys! I'm new here and from Massachusetts (western). I recently found some helpful things in my progress. It looks like I can add an upload or a video...so when I can...I'll try to put something on. The thing is to keep trying. One thing I found helpful is: keep a keyboard in places that you frequent. Keep a set of headphones handy. Get to a keyboard or piano...even if it's for a couple pf minutes. One more thing. If you can play it in C or G...play it in all the other 8 keys (two are enharmonic). Thank you for your December 30th comment Arthur. Hello everyone! P.S. I've been a professional saxman for more than 35 years. Now I'm crazy about the keys.
hello all.. I'm in New Jersey, USA. I agree, practice time is always a struggle. I find that setting a definitive goal, even if a couple of measures, makes me focus on a goal (however small) and feel better about getting something under my fingers. Seems like the more I can do that , the better I feel and practice time seems to "show up" a little easier, even if only a few minutes at a time.
Good luck and stick with it!
Welcome everyone! Great suggestions and comments about practicing. Short, focused practices done regularly throughout the day better than extended "weekend warrior" type approaches because you are training your muscle memory, not cramming for a math exam. :-)
Hi, I'm in Brazil.
First of all, excuse me for my English because this is not my native language.
With a lot of focus I have achieved some independence in the hands satisfactorily, but still far from being master.
I received Arthur's book recently, although I first met him on YouTube, learned some licks, and then bought the book.
I have suffered more with the walking bass, I still transfer a lot of tension to the hands, but I have been working on it.
I'd like an Arthur tip about how to handle the nervousness of playing in public. In my case, even playing piano for people close to me (friends), they all keep their eyes on my hands and I start to tense and soon my hands begin to stiffen and the nervousness takes care of me. How to stay calm and secure when you are the center of attention?
It sounds funny, and it really is. But it is difficult to overcome this. :)
Hi Fabio, I'm sorry I did not see this post earlier! I think that one of the best ways to over come a fear (in general) is by familiarity with the situation. This means, even though you are afraid of performing for people, you force yourself to do it. Start small, with maybe just performing for your pets, or in front of your camera while you record video. Then perform for friends in informal settings. Then try to perform in more public situations. If you have an opportunity to perform, I would say face it head on and force yourself to do it. Don't shy away from performing if that is something you want to be able to do.
I remember they first time I got on stage, I was so nervous that my hands were tingling. But I played what I knew how to play and then got off stage. Next time was not so bad. And then the next time was better, and so on. Also I was fortunate to be surrounded by encouraging people until I built up my confidence level. That also makes a difference. If your friends give you encouragement after you play, then that will help to make you want to play more. Good luck!
By the way, I reposted your question under "Stage Fright" in the Performance Issues forum topic. Please reply to this over there if you want to reply :-)
Hi guys. Im from germany. im located in Hamburg
I am from Australia and retired so have plenty of time to practice.
I use Chord Pad from desktopmetronome to practice my left hand as it has many
accompaniment tracks and find it a great aid.
Hello from Dublin Ireland, blown away by the quality of this sight.
I keep looking for the catch!
Thank you Alan! The catch is that I don't have time to update this site and add more lessons regularly...
sorry site!
Hello from Drummondville, Canada .....Thank you Arthur to give me the taste to learn how to play piano !
Hello from Jakarta-Indonesia..
Anyway,thank you for your efforts in building this site and community
Thank you @pepsonn! Welcome to the site. As far as I know the book is not available for digital download.. but I could be wrong. Hal Leonard does the publishing on that so actually I have little to do with the distribution.
Hello from Florida! Any other ladies here?! So glad I ran across this website and got the book and really appreciate having a process to build some skills. Working on the hand independence on more complex left hand patterns. Challenging!!! Learned classically as a child until I gave up the painstaking process of translating my fingers note by note to the keyboard via sheet music. Not sure if this is common, but I never got a natural rhythm going until I started learning boogie woogie. :)
Hi guy, I'm located in Italy, Rome, just bought the book and waiting for it's delivery, thank you for the great resurce Artuhr!
Thank you Dario! I have also responded to your post about Flowkey. Thanks for learning boogie and using this site!