The five-finger position in thirds

Lesson 4: Exploring the Key of D

In this fourth lesson, we're going to stay in the key of D and learn a new left hand technique, as well as a new right hand technique, which I call the Blue Third and Sixth Combination.

Understanding the Blue Third

Now, do you know what a blue third is in D?

• A blue third is the minor third, which is F.
• The sixth, which you also know, is B.

These two notes together are not in the chord of D or D7, and that creates tension which we're going to resolve.

Here's how to resolve:

• Fingering:
  • Thumb on the blue third (F)
  • Second finger on F sharp

When we do this in G, the blue third of G is B flat, and the sixth is E, resolving to the chord or downwards.

You can either resolve to:

• The third and the root, or
• The third and the fifth.

Importance of Fingering

Again, the two and four fingering is really important; otherwise, we won't be able to play this smoothly.

Playing with Barrel House

We're going to play this first with a Barrel House in D.

I recommend learning everything with a barrel house left hand when you first learn something new.

Here's a Slow Blues in D with the Barrel House:

• The last phrase that I played contains another version of the famous lick.
• Notice the D triad in the middle.
  • Make sure you finger that with the thumb on the bottom.
• Then we fall onto the third of the chord in the next bar with a little bit of syncopation, and I put the blue third and sixth in front of that.

Breaking it Down

Break that down into its components and make sure the fingering is smooth. Once you can play it with the Barrel House, you can try it with this left hand, which is a kind of variation on the Yancey left hand we learned in part one.

This will also be done on G and A as well.