Whats taking you so long!!!
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I usually just post pictures of the music school in Seattle, or from Dueling piano shows and the occasional cool link to a video game 
My facebook address is:
http://facebook.com/chrismarx85
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This is Part 2 of a 2 part lesson. In both videos, we’ve been working on learning the piano solo that Ray plays during the introduction of his song. In part 2, we cover measures 5-12 of a blues introduction.
5/2/2010 - Audio Update: Some people mentioned they couldn’t find a recording of the song anywhere, so I added an audio recording of the part that we’re trying to learn lower on the page.
5/3/2010 - Notation Update: I took a quick snapshot of my handwritten notes while transcribing it. Its at the bottom of the page as well!
5/5/2010 - Update: So I feel pretty silly. Ray doesn’t actually play piano or sing on this track!!! Its on an album called more from ray… but was only tied in because it was in the movie "RAY" see the comments for more details! I just assumed it was Ray Charles because the mp3 said "Ray Charles" under the artist name… but it was all for record company marketing!!! ARgh..
WARNING: This is an advanced lesson! It will take some time to learn even one of the patterns! You’ll have to pause it and rewind many times!
Just so you don’t feel like you’re the only one, know that I spent about 8-10 hours pausing and rewinding the notes on Ray Charles’ CD to write down and then learn it and record it. Part 1 also took me a really long time as well… just to learn 30 seconds of music!!! But now I can use those techniques anywhere in my playing. Especially when I play the blues… If that feels daunting, just watch it for fun and know that a bunch of and quick easy lessons are coming in a few days!
Piano is a journey and you start with taking small steps! Practice for little bits at a time and over your lifetime, you will have gone on quite the adventure
EVERYDAY I HAVE THE BLUES - PART 1
Everyday I Have The Blues - PDF HANDOUT
Everyday I Have The Blues - AUDIO (introduction only)
He adds a couple chords in there to make it just a little bit more fancy! The following chords would be considered "extra" embellishment on a basic blues progression: The Eb7 in measure 2 is fairly common but could be considered an embellishment. Try it and see how it sounds!
Then how ray charles plays measures 7 & 8 is just crazy using these chords: C7, F7 Bb7 Ab7 G7. You’ll have to watch the video above to see the exact execution on the piano.
Watch the video for a lot of cool licks! All of them are based on this scale below: The Bb Blues scale. If you’re not sure where to start, just play the notes below with the fingerings that have been written in. The notes in the chord are Bb Db Eb E F Ab Bb. The faster you can get with that scale, the better your improvising will sound. If you have never learned a blues scale before, Bb might not be the best one to start with, try starting with the C blues scale or the A blues scale.
Update 5/3: Just for reference I wanted to add the notes I had scribbled out. I don’t have time to put it into a digital notation because I don’t think people will learn this by reading it. I think the best way to learn bits and pieces of this solo is by watching the youtube video and listening to the audio recording.
You don’t have to practice a huge amount to see fast results. If you look back over a whole week you’ll be amazed at what you’ve learned. But just like at the gym, don’t measure muscles each day after you work out… you won’t see results. Measure your weight or muscles every couple weeks. (Same with piano - measure your progress on songs every couple weeks).
The goal is to build a strong habit, there is a spanish proverb that says habits start off like cobwebs and grow into cables. *The Power Of Less - Page 147. You want to create good practice habits… so here are some guidelines I’ve learned from reading a great book called The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life
Start small and easy. focus only on building one habit for 30 days. if you stop get back on. make your habit the most important thing for that day. don’t schedule it at a time that will have other commitments encroaching on it. evenings are bad because you’ll cancel your practice time for social engagements. you want to build a habit of practicing, not build a habit of NOT practicing.
I’ve added a picture of my fridge below. It has my practice goal on it with 30 circles. Each day I practice enough to meet my goal, I fill in one of the 30 circles. As soon as the whole page is filled up I’m buying myself a reward! Filling in the circles is a lot of incentive in itself, but to complete the entire page of 30 really helps give me the initial push I need to build a new habit of practicing… or whatever I want to make a habit of in my life. My previous goal was for exercise.
So its a little more than half way through February. A great time to check in on the new years resolutions that you wrote down and see how you’re doing with them. Wait.. you didn’t write them down?!? Thats step #1! Do it right now. This applies to everything, not just piano.
One of my goals is to practice piano more so I changed my desktop background to just remind me of my practice goal. I’ve made one for you right here that says "10 minutes a day, 3 days a week"
The important thing is to practice just a little bit each day…start off with something simple that you can do for 3 days a week 5 minutes a day… add a little more time each week until you get to a solid practice goal like 15-30min/day 5 days a week.
Don’t set your initial goal too high… Its much harder to maintain practicing or exercising for an hour a day if you’re coming from a cold start of not practicing at all. You have to train your mind and body to get used to the new routine first.
Michael buble is the perfect thing play on valentines day. but wait, valentines day was yesterday! thats ok. presidents day can be just as romantic… besides, you shouldn’t need an excuse to play a song for that special someone of yours and this song will make anyone feel loved. Bonus points if you play and sing it! Have a great presidents day!
Let me know if you want to see the chords for this!
