Music Lesson: Mastering Left Hand Patterns

Introduction to the Left Hand Patterns

Right, let's look at the engine room, the left hand patterns that I was using in the tune I recorded. The one I was using for most of the piece is basically this:
it's pretty simple.

• It's a bit of an embellishment of C on the C and D.

The Importance of the Left Hand

Yeah, I mean, the left hand is so, so important in boogie woogie and blues. It really is kind of the engine room, the meat and potatoes, whatever other analogy you want to think of, kind of fulfilling the role of the bass player and the drummer in a band, for example.

The main thing:

• It's got to be solid.
• It's got to be super solid.
• You've got to be able to do it without thinking.
• You've got to be able to do it with your eyes shut.
• You've got to be able to do it while reading a paper,
  as long as it's not the Daily Sport or something like that!

So, just get that left hand as solid as possible.

Practice Tips

The way to do that is simply to:

• Practice around 12 bars with a metronome, just round and round.
• Make sure the chord changes happen without hesitation and then back again.

Practice around that 12 bar until it's totally fluent.
You should be able to do it while having a conversation or reading a book or something.

1. Start at the fastest tempo that's comfortable for you,
2. However slow that might be, and work up.

Variations of the Left Hand

Let's look at some little variations of that left hand. You could, for example, add a little passing note, in that kind of thing. You'll notice when I play it, I don't always play all the notes all the time.

• I might go... which is fine.
• The main thing, the most important thing, is whether it swings, whether it's got some feel, whether it's got some groove.

Listening and Interaction

So have a listen to the way piano players play on records.

• Listen to the way they interact with the drums.
• Notice how swung the left hand is.

Is it quite a dotted thing?
Like this: which sometimes happens, especially in kind of boogie woogie things.

You might find that:

• The piano player is playing it quite swung,
  you know, like that,
• But the drummer's kind of playing it quite straight.

By "straight," I mean that kind of thing.
Often, you'll find that it's that mixture of the two that gives the whole music a real swing.

• The drummer might be playing quite straight,
• and the piano player's swinging it,
• and the guitar player's swinging it.

This mixture really sets up that little tension that drives the music forward.

Example Bass Line

Another bass line I was using there towards the end of the piece was this one, which is actually the bass line from Meade "Lux" Lewis's classic Honky Tonk Train Blues.

If you don't know it, do check it out. It's a great piece and has its own vibe.

• On the G, it's based on a second inversion chord.
• For the C, it's a second inversion C chord.
• When it goes up to the D, it goes from D7 to a kind of D6.

So if you hear it in context, it will be something like this:
So I was, yeah, sort of playing around with a bit of a honky tonk, drain blues type thing in the right hand there.

Practice in Different Keys

So there you go. That's a neat little left hand that you can chuck into a shuffle blues like this.

• This is a good one to try working out in different keys as well.
• For example, you might want to try it on a 12 bar in C.
  • When it goes up to the F, it's that.
  • When it goes to the G, try doing that in as many different keys as possible.

Tenths from Albert Ammons

Now, the other left hand I chucked in there was one based on tenths, which is actually from an Albert Ammons tune called Suitcase Blues.

Again, a great piece of music.

• It's basically that.
• So it's a variation of that basic thing but adding the 10th on top, which stays.

The middle note is what's moving, so just moving in parallel down there.

1. On the C, it's got the 10th.
2. Those two stay where they are.
3. Then it moves from the 5th to the 6th to the 7th.

Harmonic Movement

What I'm doing there is again just moving by tenths.
So harmonically, it's going from G to sort of A minor to a kind of G over B or B minor to B flat diminished to a second inversion five chord, which is the D7:

• So that whole little bit would be:

So then doing a little run up to the five, which is a little more involved.

Essentially, it's kind of like the Stormy Monday chord sequence there, if you know that tune.

If you don't, check it out!

Conclusion

So the harmony there is sort of second inversion, five chord going to root position, then going to V I.
In context, it's a little more involved.

Final Thoughts:
So, we're getting into some slightly more involved left hand there, which is much more of a kind of New Orleans thing with those tenths and leading notes.

• Do check that out.
• Rewind the video if you need.
• You can pause the video if you need to work it out, and in fact, I'll jot that down in a PDF as well so you've got the music for it.

So there you go, there are the three main left hands that I'm using in that recording.
Get to grips with them. Get them solid. Get them groovy.

Yeah, we'll look at some other stuff!