Playing the Blues


Practising today I did, as usual, all of the Grade 1 scales and broken chords, a few runs through of the old Poacher, RH, and then went back to the "12 bar blues" I started on during the week. I've pretty much got the LH with it, but it just didn't sound very blue. Bit of googling reveals why, it's in a straightforward piano scale, not the blues scale, which is in the pic here, C minor.

Playing it in a regular piano scale is what makes it sound rather dull. So, now, I'm reminded of what Little Carmine said to Tony Soprano: "You're at the precipice, Tony. Of an enormous crossroads". Maybe I should just forget, for now anyway, about the ABRSM and the grades, and focus on the blues. Because that's what I really want to play. 5-10 years from now, I see myself playing in a bar. I could, theoretically, be able one day to play Chopin's Ballad, say, but my family and friends, whilst undoubtedly impressed, would be listening to it rather dutifully. But Bessie Smith would be a different story, of a Saturday night, with drink taken...

So that's a new departure. Start with the scales and take it from there. 


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