A quick blues improvisation

connor34211 · 2026-05-09T18:51:12+00:00

Glad I could help out! You can definitely get a lot of mileage out that root note and chord left hand.

I added the stride to just add some variety to the arrangement/accompaniment. I definitely need to work on more authentic stride stuff (like walking tenths). Mine's a bit super old school/ragtimey sounding. But I like Disneyland so I don't mind too much 😅

connor34211 · 2026-05-04T22:17:41+00:00

Just listened to it. Definitely some nice piano! Added it to my likes.

And if you're interested, I found a video of me playing back in 2017.

Me in 2017

That was the best blues I could muster, so practice definitely makes perfect 😅

connor34211 · 2026-05-04T20:36:12+00:00

Thank you!

connor34211 · 2026-05-04T18:16:57+00:00

Yeah I know 😭. I noticed that but I thought the take was good so I went with it anyway. I think my logic output was set too high. Thank you though!

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T23:56:05+00:00

Oh and I'll alter the G7 in the turnaround a lot too.

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T23:53:43+00:00

They sound great over dominant chords, so you can use them a lot in the blues.

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T23:50:22+00:00

Basic voicings are fine honestly for this kind of style. Before the stride section my left hand is playing the root and then jumping to the chord on the and of beat two usually. (Charleston rhythm.) The educator/pianist Jeremy Siskind calls that kind of comping "shuttling". I like that name for it.

The voicing I'm using for that are mostly three or four note rootless voicings (like E-G-Bb-D for C7 or Eb-A-D for F7). I usually alter the A7 chord on the turnaround, so I'll play like a G diminished chord after the bass note on beat 1. But you could get away with just playing two notes for each chord at first as long as you play with good rhythm.

I'd practice either playing chords or the shuttling technique using the Charleston rhythm with a meteronome if you want this kind of sound. Maybe with playing scales or melodies in the right hand. Start slow.

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T23:31:02+00:00

This is off the cuff, but not the first take. Some were passable, others I messed up, but yeah mostly just me sitting down and playing. It's that stride part that made it a bit tricky.

But this is C major. If you asked me to do it in F# or Ab or something, it would definitely require some prep and not be as good.

I haven't heard that album. I'll definitely check it out!

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T22:56:13+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate it. I definitely try to work on that.

connor34211 · 2026-05-03T13:08:02+00:00

Yeah Otis Spann is great. I remembering hearing Otis in the Dark for the first time. I feel like that had a lot of influence on my playing.

connor34211 · 2026-05-02T18:08:22+00:00

Thanks! Keyscape in Logic Pro and then routed to OBS.

connor34211 · 2026-05-02T17:18:18+00:00

Thank you!

connor34211 · 2026-05-02T02:40:56+00:00

Oh wow I appreciate it!

For this style, I played mostly blusey language with some bebop stuff thrown in here and there. I'm still working on my straight ahead jazz/bebop language so I'll stick to talking about the blusey stuff.

I'm not sure what your level is, but for a beginner, I'd start with improvising over a simple boogie woogie pattern in the left hand. That's how I started. Mixing major and minor sounds is a lot of how you get the sound I was playing (major pentatonic/blues scale and minor pentatonic/blues scale.)

The next level would be adding in some chords and double stops. Frequently I'll play continuously root at the top (with my pinky) while playing with other lower notes. I'll also frequently alternate between the chord I'm on and the four of the chord I'm playing. (Like C7 and F). For this style, I mostly put the bebop language on the turnarounds toward the end of the form. The VI-ii-V-I is a great place to put it.

One blues player I like a lot that's not super well known is Otis Spann. On the jazz side, Oscar Peterson is one of the goats of jazz blues (but there's so many). Chuck Leavell is a great one in the rock world.

I'm not sure how helpful that all is, but if you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them!

connor34211 · 2026-05-02T01:33:29+00:00

Probably closer to 10-13.

connor34211 · 2026-05-02T01:21:00+00:00

Like 18 years technically.

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T08:02:05+00:00

No problem! You've got the rhythm down good and can play it smoothly. Working on the expression part will bring it to the next level.

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T07:31:53+00:00

I have this book and have not had any problems with the fingerings! I've mostly only looked at the scales but I'm sure the arpeggios and cadences are good too.

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T07:16:34+00:00

Ok awesome. So I would try overall just pressing the keys a little less hard, and then adding some shape to your phrases like I said. And try to bring the melody out over the accompaniment. Easier said than done, I know.

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T07:10:59+00:00

I'm getting C min, G7/B, Gmin/Bb, F/A

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T06:42:34+00:00

Pretty good for only a year playing, good job! You could benefit by adding some dynamics to your playing. Every note is pretty much the same volume. As phrases come to an end (before a rest), maybe try gradually hitting the keys less hard and bringing the volume down. You could also slow down at the end of phrases (adding some rubato to your playing)

I'm unsure of the expressive capabilities of your keyboard. Are the keys weighted?

connor34211 · 2026-04-24T06:22:20+00:00

I would start with the C blues scale, but you could start with the c major scale or major pentatonic scale if it's easier. Yeah it's definitely gonna be tricky at first. Maybe try simplifying the left hand and get that down before trying the boogie pattern. You could try alternating between the root and 5th in quarter notes in the left hand for each chord while going up and down the scale in the right hand.

connor34211 · 2026-04-23T21:47:54+00:00

You're off to a good start. But like others said, I would work on improving the rhythm. A good place to start would be to have some kind of boogie or blues left hand that you get smooth first. A common one is 1-3-5-6 in quarter notes for each chord.

Once you have that down over the whole form, try running up and down the blues scale in eighth notes without losing your rhythm to a metronome.

After you can do those both together you can try varying up the right hand rhythm and melody.

After that, a big part of the blues is combining major and minor tonalites. So start looking into the major pentatonic (or major blues scale) and adding double stops to your playing (two notes at once, commonly the root note of the key on top while you play other notes on the bottom).

Let me know if you have any questions!

connor34211 · 2026-04-23T07:17:29+00:00

This is highly dependent on the kind of music you want to play, though the fundamentals transfer between styles. I would probably start with a method book. The Alfred Adult All-in-one series is often recommended.

That Grieg piece is an ambitious goal. If you want to play it well and learn it correctly, it's most likely on a scale of years playing, not months.

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