'Sad Blues' (performance)
Lesson time: (1min 56sec)
Tim Richards performs 'Sad Blues' on piano in a triplet feel with a walking-bass left hand, to watch and play along with using the interactive notation.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Advanced Blues Piano: Ninth Chords & Booker T
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Triplet Feel and Left Hand Techniques
I'm going to play it now in triplet feel again with this new left hand as written, which gives you a walking bass line with the root.
Important Notes:
- Sorry, with the fifth on top and bottom.
- Of course, you should aim to play these right hand ideas with other left hands as well.
For instance:
- The syncopated left hand from Happy Blues.
If you're going to do that, you'll need to be in straight eights.
When it comes to this bit, you won't be able to mix the two styles easily; it's a little bit awkward.
I would go with:
- And, of course, be flexible with these ideas as well.
Use the expanded five-finger position in your improvisations.
Caution:
Just be careful not to hang around on those chromatic notes.
Come to rest on:
- The root and the third, or
- The third and fifth, and you can't go wrong.
About the instructor
Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDaoAs a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end". More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk read more