Lesson: Sad Blues in F

In this lesson, we're going to look at a piece called Sad Blues, also in the key of F. This encapsulates a really common figure in blues piano that you'll find in jazz as well. I call it the expanded five finger position.

Expanded Five Finger Position

• Rather than just playing the first five notes of the scale, we're going to include those chromatic notes which you've seen before:
  • The flat three
  • The flat five

These notes will be played ahead of the third and fifth. To incorporate this into our five finger position, we need to finger it slightly differently, starting with these two fingers:

• Fingering: 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5

Be careful to use the suggested fingers. If you don't, you'll be jumping from one note to the next with the same finger, which is never a good plan. If you want to play legato, you might also want to practice it fast.

Practice Tips

• Check that the notes are going down together.
  • Avoid:
    • Sounds like this: staggered notes.
  • Aim for:
    • Clean, synchronized notes.

Playing in B Flat

On B flat, use the same fingering. In fact, that little phrase in B flat is part of a famous jazz tune called Blue Monk Blues in B flat. You've probably all heard it.

• Note: We're not going to play that tune in this part, but it is included in the book and uses the same expanded five finger position.

Left Hand Technique

Let's start with the left hand using Barrel House:

• Song: Sad Blues
• Reminder: Be careful with those triplets. This is where the fingering will be really crucial to playing accurately.

Choosing Your Feel

You could play this in straight eights rather than the swing feel I was just using; in which case, that bit might be easier. It might go like this:

• Looping Example:
  • 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  • 1, 2, 3.

These are pickups, right? Each idea is played before the bar leading to the new chord.

• Count Example:
  • And three.
  • Sorry. And four.
  • And one, two, three and four.
  • And one.

Decide whether you're going to play this piece in straight eights or in triplet feel. It will work either way!