Minor Basses
Lesson time: (3min 2sec)
Basses in a minor key, featuring a boogie-style 'Caravan' by Duke Ellington
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Play Authentic Boogie-Woogie Piano
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Exploring Boogie in the Minor
So obviously, all the basses we've done so far have been in the major.
Perhaps you could have a total change up and play a boogie in the minor, which you don't hear very often at all.
Rare Occurrences
There's a kind of...
There's a great version of Summertime by Joe Sullivan, actually, which he does in the minor. It goes into a sort of walking bass in the middle, but it's rare you hear it.
I guess it's because it's originally sort of good-time, up-tempo music, you know, played for dancing, and the minor key maybe wasn't used so much for that.
Bass in Thirds
So yeah, let's take this bass in thirds.
Just move that third down to the minor, and then we've got a bass in the minor.
Then on the 4, maybe the 5 stays major, because we're in C minor. So you've got that movement.
A Little Digression
That's just a little digression for you if you wanted to work out a boogie in the minor.
I do an arrangement of Caravan where I play. It's got this kind of, I guess, sort of eastern feel bass line that goes like that, which is essentially going between D flat over C and C.
Additional Ideas
Maybe you know the tune.
Then I've got the bass in the minor there on the F minor.
There's another little idea for that kind of bass that's rocking between the little finger and the other fingers.
Tons of bass ideas!
We're going to look at some more in the next video.
About the instructor
Paddy Milner is recognised as one of the leading blues piano players in the world - he is currently keyboard player of choice for Sir Tom Jones, following several years with the late, great Jack Bruce - but he is also a superb original songwriter and a distinctive singer. Just read the praise from the likes of Dave Brubeck below! His playing was featured on the soundtrack for the hit 2019 film 'Rocketman'. He has twice won the award for Best Keyboard Player in the British Blues Awards, and he holds a long-standing residency as a founder member of the Ronnie Scott's Blues Explosion at the world-renowned Ronnie Scott's club. His current group LONDONOLA plays homegrown British music with a strong dose of New Orleans spirit, and his collaborative group JAWBONE goes from strength to strength following the release of their self-titled debut album. "I love it... there's a guy who can really play the piano" - Dave Brubeck "I highly recommend it. Somehow things start to feel much better!" - Jack Bruce "The best blues piano player in Europe..." - Blues Access, USA "Impressive & original" - The Times "Dazzling" - The Independent Across his courses, Paddy breaks down authentic blues shuffle, slow blues, boogie-woogie, rock 'n' roll and New Orleans piano - right down to three classic boogie-woogie songs - so you can learn these styles from one of the very best in the business. read more