School of Boogie

Hi Mark, that's a fair question. The counting and visual representation used in the video is more true to reality and how it sounds when you play it. Sheet music is, at best, a rough guide. It takes for granted that the reader knows how to interpret the rhythms given the "feel" of the song. If you'll notice at the top of almost every transcription in the book it says "swing" and then gives the eighth note interpretation as a triplet derivative. Sheet music was not created with a swing eighth note in mind, so when using the interpretation of a swing rhythm, there is usually a little marking like this at the beginning of the piece so that the eighth notes don't need to be written as triplets (as that would be quite cumbersome). Hope this helps? If you need more clarification let me know. Short answer is: that's just how you write it, but the way I explain it in the video is how you play it.

Hi Mark, great question! I think a few of your "5"s were meant to be "1"s...? I would do either way, or maybe switch between if my fingers needed a break. 5-1-3-1-2-1-2-1, or 5-1-5-1-3-1-2-1 But full disclosure... I don't use this one in my own playing. And, bottom line: there is no correct fingering so use whatever is most comfortable for you :-)

Jeff this is great! I like the way you develop your motif through the different styles and tempos in this piece. It was a really cool way to incorporate stuff you learned from my lessons with your own creative expression. Bravo!!

Hi Jeff, thank you for writing! The reason the variations are not written transposed into F and G is primarily because i feel that learning to transpose things is an absolutely essential skill to eventually being able to play this music freely and creatively. Therefore I am kind of 'forcing' the student to figure out how to transpose them to F and G. Don't be scared though, it's not really that tough because C F and G are all fairly similar in terms of chord shapes and fingering used. If you know the major scales of C F and G that will greatly help too. Transposing was something that I had to figure out for myself and I feel that I greatly benefited from that exercise. If you are really stuck on it and have no idea how to transpose we can always do a private lesson to get you on your way. Otherwise you may be able to find some things about it on youtube. Actually that's probably a good idea for another video for me to make as well. Give it a shot on your own and let me know if you want to connect. Thanks!

Thanks for asking about this boogiejohn, and thanks for chiming in kor! Don't get too caught up on starting or stopping note of the gliss. I just start on F because that's the note my thumb was already playing. Doesn't matter where you stop, unless you hear that you want it longer or shorter in duration. If you have a controller keyboard without the heavy action of a piano, then light pressure should be fine. BUT, keep in mind you're beginning a new technique and applying pressure to your thumbnail in a new way. So, yes, it may hurt or feel bruised at first. That's normal. Give it about 3 weeks of doing it every day (10-20 reps/day) and see if it still hurts at that time. If so, maybe a different technique would be better. You can also experiment with creating different ways of using your hand/fingers/palm to perform the gliss. There is no traditional "correct" way to do this as far as I know. You might discover a technique that doesn't hurt so much. As kor said, each keyboard / piano is different. Some pianos have extremely sharp key edges and so I prefer using my nails so it doesn't cut my skin. Some keyboards have soft round key edges and I can use the side of my index finger and it won't cut the skin.

Hey Alejandro! thanks for writing. Lick #7 is a scale from which many common melodies and licks are derived. It is not a lick in and of itself. Take the variations and examples I give as starting places and learn them by practicing over and over. By the time they become automatic I think you will be able to recognize the sound of those combinations when you hear other people use them and it will be easier for you to figure them out. I wouldnt stress about improvising your own licks from the scale notes at this time because you are still learning them. The ability to improvise with something usually comes only after your fingers have memorized some patterns to start with. So I suggest starting by memorizing the variations and licks I make from the scale in the book. Also, licks 4 and 5 come from notes in the major blues scale (lick 7). if You still need more help we can do a private lesson at any time! I teach people of all skill levels so you don’t need to wait until you reach a certain level. Hope this helps!

Hi Marty, you are correct! In keys where the major third is a black note, there is no way to pull off a similar effect of "bending the notes" unless you use two fingers. In D I use my 2nd finger on F, and my 3rd finger on F# if I want to get that same sound. This means my 5th finger would have to play the A on top and then move to the B for the second part of the lick. Hope that helps ;-)

Thanks for sharing Pietro! Sounds good and I like the improv section! As for a next step... I might try playing along with the "check your progress" sections in the AFter Hours course, or even just with the full video on youtube where i play the whole song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zei65-cyvYM) and try to keep up with the timing of the chord changes. You don't need to match the exact notes I play at all, just keep track of your left hand changing to the different chord changes at the same time. Playing along with recordings can really be helpful for internalizing the chord change timing and it's something I used to do A LOT back in the day when I was first learning. Keep up the great work!

Hi Bebe! There is a chapter in the book "How to Play Boogie Woogie Piano" about how to play the lick. It is after the 8 licks I believe. I don't have the book in front of me so I can't tell you a page number. Also you can check this video I made about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5KmbpkhqqM) and there is separate sheet music that accompanies that particular video that can be found in the bookstore here on School of Boogie (https://www.schoolofboogie.com/store) . It's called "6 ways to play the lick". Hope this helps!

Joel, this is very cool actually. How did you find a midi file in the 90s with no context (title, artist, etc) ?? It sounds like someone is playing a Chuck Berry song with hints of the style of Amos Milburn, but with no left hand boogie bass pattern. Lots of lick #1 and Lick #6 sounds in there. Very cool thanks for sharing!

Joel, this is an excellent observation and one that, I'm sure, everyone will eventually encounter at some point in their playing career. You are tackling it correctly by adjusting the tempo of the bass to fit the "normal tempo" of the melody. Another thing to consider is that not every "boogie" or "blues" LH pattern is as busy as others. One strategy to use is to start with a more sparse LH pattern, like 1/4 note walking, the stride style "oom-pah" rhythm, or even the "Yancey bass", and then progress to an 8-to-the-bar boogie feel later on to give the song some direction and climax. Just something to keep in mind as an option. Keep up the good work and feel free to post an example of you playing in the "feedback" section of the forum.

Satoru, there is a question on here asking to share your practice routine. If you don't mind, can you reply to it and share some tips on how you practiced? I think other people might learn from it too (only if you have time, of course). Thanks!

exactly! you got it.

Thanks for this question Scooter! You are not alone in being confused by this. To say that a blues song is "In the key of..." is somewhat deceptive. That information only tells you what the I chord is (and therefore what the IV and V chords are as well). A blues song in the key of G means that the I chord is G, the IV is C, and the V is D. That's it. Each of those chord changes assumes a new key signature. So, when you play on the I chord (G7) you will use notes of a G major scale with a flatted 7th (F natural) - so essentially you are playing a C major scale. This is known as a mixolydian mode (playing a C major scale from G to G instead of starting on C and going to the next C). When you go to the IV chord, you will be playing in C7 (or F major scale). When you go to the V chord, you will be playing in D7 (or G major scale). The "Minor Blues scale" (what many people simply call the "blues scale") is only used for melodic content, NOT harmonic content. It doesn't really belong to any of the chords and therefore can be used over all of them. Therefore, the G minor blues scale can be used to play over G7, C7, or D7, with varying degrees of tension. It does not contain the major third of any of those chords, and so you cannot tell which chord change you are playing simply by listening to the scale. this is why i always advise students to learn licks and chords first, THEN worry about using the blues scale. Because it works over all the changes, it can be tempting to overuse it, which is tiresome to listen to.. the licks and chords all contain the important chord tones of each chord change (like the major 3rd) and thus make it sound like you are playing the changes - and they provide relief from the minor blues scale sound when mixed with it. As I am writing this I am realizing that these are simple concepts but surprisingly difficult to spell out clearly through text! I will try to address this at the next Office Hours (#21) on Sunday. Great question though!

I learned songs first directly from my teachers. But after about 6 months I started learning things on my own by listening to cassette tapes and CD recordings from old records. Yes, there is a classic song (published in 1922?) by George and Hersal Thomas called "The Fives". Many people have recorded it and i think there are many versions posted on youtube. I think you can also find sheet music if you google it.

Testing here

good work Neil

Thank you both for writing. I am certainly not the authority on sheet music (because I myself do not use it) but I am hoping some others may chime in now that the forum is working again. In general, try to find older transcriptions, like from the 1930s or 1940s. I would tend to trust those more because they were created during a time when boogie was the pop music, and many more people were buying sheet music. For After Hours, it's interesting that you ask because so many people have been asking recently that I think I am going to make some tutorials about it. There is a good possibility that there will be some sheet music as well. Sorry I can't be of more help in this department.

Hi and thanks for writing in with this. I don't recognize this sheet music ... are you sure it's mine? Please tell me the name of the song or lesson that this came from and maybe I can be of further assistance. It seems like whoever wrote that meant Bb-B-C since the first one should be a Bb if you are in F. But again, that doesn't look like any bass pattern that I have ever used.. so I'm not sure that it came from one of my lessons.

testing the forum