Practice the 'A' section with Tom

Music Lesson

Right Hand and Left Hand Practice

"You've got the right hand, you've got the left hand. We just need to put it together. But before we do that, you practice the right hand. I'll play the left hand part for you."

Counting In

"Here we go. You ready? Don't forget, you've got the pickup on three."

• So I'll count:
  1, a 2, a 1, 2, 3.
  "Da da da da."
• You ready?
  1, 2, a 1, 2, three.
  "Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da."
• And again.

"Okay, great. Now, of course, you can keep going over that bit. Get it practiced, get the right hand ingrained."

Boogie Woogie Trick

"One of my favorite tricks. Now, of course, this is some swing, but I love playing boogie woogie."

• How to Learn Boogie Woogie:
  • One of my favorite tricks on how to learn boogie woogie or anything, or how to drill any sort of pattern. This is honestly true, and I still do this.
  • If I'm learning a new pattern with my left hand, I want to get my left hand as the machine, the whole thing that drives the performance.
  • I sit there and practice.

Multi-Tasking While Practicing

"Just as a side note, if I'm practicing something like this, all I want to be doing is focusing on what my right hand's doing."

• When I'm at home, I sit with my phone, flicking through Instagram.
• My brain is on this, and I'm thinking, "What's going on here?"
• But I'm drilling the left hand at the same time, trying to see what's going on in the world.

"It's a great way of focusing on that, but you're drilling the left hand to become the machine."

Independent Hand Practice

"So, that's basically what I'm saying: you need to try and get the two hands working independently so you can focus on some improvisation a bit later with your right hand."

Putting It Together

"I'll play the right hand now and you play the left hand, okay? Don't forget we're starting on G. Four bars of G. We'll take this nice and slow."

• Counting for Combining Hands:
  • 1, A, 2, A.
  • 1, 2, 3.
  • And again.

"Okay, now we'll put the two hands together, so do this at your own speed. I'll play it for you now so you can hear what it sounds like. Take this as slow as you need. And then, of course, over time, we can build it up to speed."

Final Count

"Here we go."
One, a, two, a one, two, three.