Left-hand shells for Blues in F

Lesson on Shell Blues in F

Introduction

The next piece, Shell Blues, is a blues in F. Rather than using tritones or rootless chords in the left hand, we're going to explore a new type of left hand called a shell.

Understanding Shell Chords

• When you play an ordinary F7 chord down low, it sounds too muddy and dense.
• By removing the middle two notes, you're left with the root and the seventh, which sounds much better.
• This simplification is what we refer to as a shell chord.

Historical Context

This style of left hand was a favorite of pianists like:

• Thelonious Monk
• Bud Powell
• Horace Silver

Other pianists from the bebop revolution in the late 1940s and 50s also embraced this technique. It remains popular today. Just check out Monk's tune, Blue Monk, for instance; shell chords work very well with it.

Melody of Shell Blues

The melody of Shell Blues actually avoids the blues scale and focuses more on the notes of the chords. It incorporates quite a bit of the B3 pentatonic scale that we explored in the last lesson.

Important Variation

One difference you'll notice is in the second bar where we move to B flat for just one bar. This represents a four chord in the second bar, which is a common variation on the usual 12-bar sequence, going from F7 to B flat 7.

Playing with Shells

With a shell, you essentially have to jump between notes. They are not placed next to each other, as with the tritones.

• For example:
  • C will be up high
  • B flat will be in the lower position

Quick Change

Remember that the B flat will only appear in bar two. This is referred to as a quick change. So if someone says, "Let's play a blues in F with a quick change," they mean to include a B flat chord in bar two.