Johnnie Johnson Blues Run

pianoblog — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:45:10 +0000

Blues Piano Licks

Here’s a blues run in G going to the C7 chord.

Practice this once a day until you get it. Then move it to other keys you are familiar with.

Blues Piano Course for Beginners

pianoblog — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:39:28 +0000

Playing the the blues on piano is fun and keeps your listeners on there toes. Even the simplest of blues songs will have your audience listening. I have created a blues beginners course using a beginners level blues song to teach the basics of the blues in the very first blues piano lesson.

Here’s a few videos form
the first months blues lesson:

I’ve broken down the lessons in sections so they are very easy to learn, and these blues licks and bass line rhythms can be used in any blues song. The great thing about playing the blues piano is if you have a party or a jam session you can use these same blues rhythms to play along and add some blues licks when it;s your turn play a lead.

Check it out!

Join Now and Start Playing the Blues

This membership shows you step by step how to Play Blues Piano.You can start playing the Blues Piano today. This membership will “cut your time in half”.

You’ll see first hand as I walk you
through the process

Downloadable Instant Access $6.95

2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by All Ornamental, Inc.

Get Your Blues
Online Membership Now
NO-Monthly Fees

How to Read Music

pianoblog — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:00:02 +0000

learning how to read music can be easier than you think, here is a excerpt from my
Beginners Gospel Piano Course that will be available soon.

First things first …. here’s a quick refreshers course on reading music. Here’s your first music lesson, open up these PDF files and review or learn material.

Click here to open in a new window PDF Lesson

Click here to open in a new window the PDF Lesson Answers

Note Values

Whole Note = 4 beats
Half Note = 2 beats
Quarter Note = 1 beat
Eight Note = 1/2 beat

Sixteenth Notes = 4 per quarter note or 4 per one beat
Eight Notes = 2 per one beat
Dotted Half Note = 3 beats. The (dot) increases the value of the half not by half
2 + 1 = 3 beats

Rest Value

Whole Note Rest = 4 beat rest
Half Note Rest = 2 beat rest
Quarter Note Rest = 1 beat rest
Eight Note Rest = 1/2 beat rest

Accidentals

Sharp is built on the black keys and moves the note or tone UP a half step
Flat is built on the black keys and moves the note or tone DOWN a half step
Natural sign brings the note back to its normal state.

I plan on having a “How to Count Music” Course for beginners.

Join the forum discussion on this post

How to Play Gospel in the Piano

pianoblog — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:23:18 +0000

How to play gospel piano using traditional choir books at church. About 7 seven years ago I took over playing gospel piano at our church. The pastors wife was getting older and started having a hard time playing. I noticed it and offered to re-learn how to read music and play out of the hymn books.

I quickly realized that I needed more time unless I could find a short cut. So I ask (her) our piano player how can you play all the songs in this song book, it has almost 500 songs. She told me “I only read the melody line and create my own bass line”.

I soon discovered that if you know what key your in, most of the chord changes are going to happen around the same time. In just about every song it will be the same. So I learned 3 songs for the following weekend to play and then I learn around 20 more just to have fresh material.

It worked, I’m sure there are many people out there that would like to play in there church so I am putting together a “Beginner Gospel Series” for piano players. It should be ready soon if you are interested you can email me and let me know to notify you as soon as I’m finished producing all the DVD’s, or book mark this page for the release date.

Now Available … Gospel Piano for Beginners is a online membership with videos on how to play traditional gospel piano. New 3 DVD Series Only $12.95

Join Now and Start Playing Gospel Piano

How to play gospel piano from sheet music

Learn Gospel Piano 3 DVD Series for Beginners

1) What a Friend We Have in Jesus DVD
2) Nothing But the Blood of Jesus DVD
3) Just a Closer Walk with Thee DVD

2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by All Ornamental, Inc.

Gospel Music is Fun to Play!

pianoblog — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:35:03 +0000

After 20 years of not playing the piano for any other reason that just because it’s fun. I finally found a home as our church needed a piano player ASAP. So I stepped up and learned three songs the first week and then I keep added to the list as fast as I could. I learned around 20 songs in three weeks. So here’s a example of how I learned to play transitional gospel music from the music studies that I learned when I was a kid.

The idea was to get as many tunes together as fast as I could to keep playing new material each week for our church. Here’s how I did it and you can too. Open the first file #1 to see if you can play the song without any help. If you have trouble with the timing open #2.

If you have trouble with reading the notes open #3. If your just starting out playing the piano or it has been awhile since you have read any music just open all three. You can be a gospel piano player.

(These PDF files will open in a new window)

#1- “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” #2- “What a Friend We Have in Jesus“ with “Timing” .

#3- “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” with notes “Named”

Watch this video.

How to Play the Blues Piano

pianoblog — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:17:41 +0000

Playing the blues piano is easy once you know how. The blues form is usually a I, IV, V in the scale that you are playing in. If you are playing the blues in the key of C then the I, IV, V will be. C , F and G. The C scale has these notes in it.

Here’s a more visual example. If the code in your post or page looks like
this then this text would be hidden from all unpaid subscribers
(registered or not).

C, D, E F, G, A, B, C so the I, IV, V would be (C) for the I chord, (F) for the IV chord and (G) for the V chord.

The nice thing about using roman numerals is that you can use the I, IV, V form in any scale. Here’s an example of very easy blues song below.

Join Now and Start Playing the Blues

$6.95 for your instant download-able DVD
Join Now

Let me know what you think of the video and what else you would like to see on this blog!