9th Blues in the Key of C

We're going to revisit the 9th in the next piece: 9th Blues in the Key of C.

Left Hand Technique

Rather than play chords like we did in Slow Guitar Blues with the left hand, we're going to revert to barrel house or left hand shuffle.

Right Hand Shape

I'm going to show you a new shape in the right hand. You remember we talked about the formation of a ninth chord building up in thirds from the root.

• Here's a full C9 chord.
• Now, it's not really possible to play that in one hand.

A very common way of playing it is to drop the root and just play the 3, 5, 7, 9. The root isn't going to disappear; it will be in the left hand. If you're playing solo piano, or if you're in a band, it might be the bass player doing that.

Chord Shape

We're going to use this 3, 5, 7, 9 shape with the thumb on the third of the chord (on C with an E flat) and G9 as well, which is all white notes.

• We'll use it as a chord shape.
• We'll also use it melodically with single notes.

And I might put a blue third in as well. This is a contrasting shape, a different approach to playing ninth chords.

You remember in the previous lesson we had the thumb on the fifth and played five finger positions. But now we've got the thumb on the third.

Playing Ninth Blues

So, I'm going to play ninth blues now with a barrel house left hand to start with. That's always a good place to start before you get bogged down with coordination problems.

Chord Usage

Now, a word about these chords that I used both in the turnaround and the ending:

• Ending: We're going to finish on a C9 chord. This time, I've left the fifth out of the right hand and added it to my left hand root.

To memorize this two-handed voicing, think root, 5, 3, 7, 9.

You also need to precede that chord with one a semitone up. It'll take you a while to get those shapes under your fingers because you really can't hesitate, you must be absolutely on the case to play those at the end after this run-up in the bass. So that's the ending, a classic way of playing a blues ending.

Turnaround Approach

We can also use a similar approach in the turnaround, which needs to end on G, the V chord, using the same voicing. We will approach that from AB, again a semitone up.

• The same approach applies, and to avoid a static bar with nothing happening, you should really do a pickup, which is why that's written like that.

Forward Motion

In the second half of the piece, everything in the right hand is ahead of the left hand. I'm using pickups or forward motion, if you like.

• In bar four, my F pickup will actually occur while the left hand is still in C.

That's what I mean by forward motion: you're looking ahead in the right hand; the right hand is leading.