(Slow) Blues repertoire and tips

[countrymath]

Hello everyone!

I finally decided to learn the blues, and I'm starting by watching the David Bennet Cohen's video series. Although these videos are a great resource for learning, I feel that I learn a lot more if I pick blues songs by ear, but I'm having trouble finding the specifically kind of music that I want to learn

So, I wanna now if someone can list me some songs like the examples I'm listing bellow, and I'm also accepting any kind of tips like books or other video lessons.

Chuck Leavell - Evening Train

Chuck Leavell - Losing Hand

No Later On - Ann Rabson

One for the highway - James Booker

Junkers Blues - Willy Deville

[j_tour]

The way "blues" piano is learned is the same way "classical" piano is learned -- find something you want to play, and if you get stuck, either ask someone how to play it or watch them play it.

ETA that was a little harsh.  I happen to have spent a lot of time learning James Booker/Dr. John/Allen Toussaint's styles, and I see the tune off the ..... album with "Classified" on it in your links.

I actually don't play that one, but from his solo album with the "Black Minute Waltz" on it, I got a good bit of mileage from learning his version of "Goodnight Irene."

I did write out his solo a long time ago, but I'm unlikely to be able to find it.  It's in Db, and Dr. John in one of his videos from Homespun gives the basic arrangement -- the solo from the record is just a classic "grab and smash" Little Richard-type rock piano thing, done with impeccable timing.  

There's a video somewhere -- I don't know if it's on youtube -- of Booker backing up....Margie Evans on a few tunes.  He's wearing his cape and stuff, but doing impeccable, just straight-up accompaniment.  

Yeah, so, as much fun as it is to play "Memories of Professor Longhair" or "Louisiana Lullaby" or "Put Out the Light" or "King of the Road," all in a kind of low-key bravura style, it's important to not forgot to put your foot down and just play like the studio cats once in a while.

In the same vein, all the piano parts from Dr. John's *Gumbo* album were good for me, and very much in the same style -- likewise, I did write out things like "Stagger Lee" and the Huey Smith Medley, and when I was sixteen or so about twenty-four-five years ago that was how I learned "Tipitina" first.

There's some Hal Leonard books -- one on James Booker, and one called something like "New Orleans Piano Players."  FWI recall, they seem meticulous, but like any transcriptions, they should be done by hand.  Maybe good for reference.  The ones in the James Booker volume "Put Out the Light" and"Pixie" are good set pieces that are nice to have written out -- obviously, anybody can figure them out pretty easily, but having them in a nice printed score is kind of neat, since they're not really heavily improvised pieces.  

EEETA I sold the "New Orleans Piano" book quite a while ago, but the other one in there, besides Dr. John's "Tipitina" off *Gumbo* (twenty-five years later, I STILL remember writing that out with my spidery, little kid handwriting -- I wish I had that book then!), I remember the transcription of "Big Chief" as being either off not a very good recording or not a good representation of how it's played.  One of the Dr. John Homespun tapes gives the idea much more clearly -- and it is a tune every rock/blues piano player knows, or at least knows enough to fake it, in my experience.

For Otis Spann, I don't know of any good transcriptions.  You just have to do it by ear -- the library of congress record, the albums with Buddy Guy, and the albums with Robt Lockwood Jr. are essentials.

And then there's Ray Charles.  Again, by ear.  Everyone "needs" to know "Rockhouse," "Hallelujah I Love Her So" "I Gotta Woman" "Sweet Sixteen Bars" and "Drown in My Own Tears" at a minimum.  Yes, believe it or not, but the only times I've had someone a a public jam call a Ray Charles tune has been "Drown in my Own Tears" and "What I Say."  By guitarists.  Yes, that's right, electric guitarists, the mortal enemy of all blues/rock keyboardists.  So, that's either a reason to know those tunes, or not, depending on your attitude (FTR, my favorite collaborators for live playing are a very good guitarist and one of the top drummers in my town -- no surprise, they are both very busy.  I'd rather do without than not have them -- and note the absence of bassist among my short list of essential collaborators.) The C&W tunes, as well, from the albums, are IME the standard references for those tunes in blues/rock circles.

Yeah, it's a lot, maybe, but you really got to just dig in and make it a part of your life.  At least until you get your thirst quenched.

EETA

I also see you have Chuck Leavell on there.  He, like Ian Stewart, is one of my main influences in rock piano.

His solo piano album is great, as is all his playing on the records.

I think I wrote out his solo on "Southbound" at one point and maybe some others.

Yeah, so the point is, I and probably lots of people can give lots of advice -- at least I am very familiar with at least Chuck Leavell and James Booker among your list -- but I'm not sure what advice to give beyond (a) grab a pencil and paper (b) listen to the record (c) write it (d) repeat.

EEETA

So, to sum it up, you have:
(i) New Orleans, represented by James Booker, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Professor Longhair
(ii) Chicago, represented by Otis Spann
(iii) R&B/soul/pop-gospel, represented by Ray Charles
(iv) boogie-woogie/rock-and-roll/all-of-the-above, represented by the Rolling Stones/Chuck Leavell/Ian Stewart

That's really about it, but there's a lot of overlap, especially in the New Orleans, which has elements from ragtime/Jelly Roll/latin, and in the boogie/rock, which is also a little bit of everything (see Chuck Leavell, Bill Payne, and everybody else).

EEEETA

Most of my private students come in and are like "I want to learn this Billy Preston lick" or "How do you do that rolling Dr. John RH thing," so it's pretty well-defined material, and indeed there are little tricks I and I'm sure lots of people have, like keeping fingers 1 and 5 in the RH on the dominant octave as a kind of anchor, and, obviously, the LH patterns, and little tips about performing with bands.

I don't know how much the youtube videos can give all that -- there are good ones for sure.  The Dr. John original Homespun videos (originally cassette tapes) were good, and I still play a lot of the tunes from that.  FWIW a good amount of the material in there is in the outtakes from the "Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack" and "The Brightest Smile In Town" records -- stuff like the solo piano version of "Louisiana Lullaby" and the Bb meditations on the eight-bar blues a la "Key to the Highway."

I believe a pretty good partial transcription of "Saints" from one of those albums was in a "Piano and Keyboard Magazine" from the 1990s.  Could be useful to look at, but, again, once you have some experience, it's not too hard to just figure out by ear what he's doing.

I also recommend just playing by ear Mac's pop tunes from his big album, like "Right Place, Wrong Time," "Such a Night," and so forth -- just basic repertoire, and like Ray Charles, everybody knows those tunes, or at least should be able to follow along by ear.

[countrymath]

The way "blues" piano is learned is the same way "classical" piano is learned -- find something you want to play, and if you get stuck, either ask someone how to play it or watch them play it.

ETA that was a little harsh.  I happen to have spent a lot of time learning James Booker/Dr. John/Allen Toussaint's styles, and I see the tune off the ..... album with "Classified" on it in your links.

I actually don't play that one, but from his solo album with the "Black Minute Waltz" on it, I got a good bit of mileage from learning his version of "Goodnight Irene."

I did write out his solo a long time ago, but I'm unlikely to be able to find it.  It's in Db, and Dr. John in one of his videos from Homespun gives the basic arrangement -- the solo from the record is just a classic "grab and smash" Little Richard-type rock piano thing, done with impeccable timing.  

There's a video somewhere -- I don't know if it's on youtube -- of Booker backing up....Margie Evans on a few tunes.  He's wearing his cape and stuff, but doing impeccable, just straight-up accompaniment.  

Yeah, so, as much fun as it is to play "Memories of Professor Longhair" or "Louisiana Lullaby" or "Put Out the Light" or "King of the Road," all in a kind of low-key bravura style, it's important to not forgot to put your foot down and just play like the studio cats once in a while.

In the same vein, all the piano parts from Dr. John's *Gumbo* album were good for me, and very much in the same style -- likewise, I did write out things like "Stagger Lee" and the Huey Smith Medley, and when I was sixteen or so about twenty-four-five years ago that was how I learned "Tipitina" first.

There's some Hal Leonard books -- one on James Booker, and one called something like "New Orleans Piano Players."  FWI recall, they seem meticulous, but like any transcriptions, they should be done by hand.  Maybe good for reference.  The ones in the James Booker volume "Put Out the Light" and"Pixie" are good set pieces that are nice to have written out -- obviously, anybody can figure them out pretty easily, but having them in a nice printed score is kind of neat, since they're not really heavily improvised pieces.  

EEETA I sold the "New Orleans Piano" book quite a while ago, but the other one in there, besides Dr. John's "Tipitina" off *Gumbo* (twenty-five years later, I STILL remember writing that out with my spidery, little kid handwriting -- I wish I had that book then!), I remember the transcription of "Big Chief" as being either off not a very good recording or not a good representation of how it's played.  One of the Dr. John Homespun tapes gives the idea much more clearly -- and it is a tune every rock/blues piano player knows, or at least knows enough to fake it, in my experience.

For Otis Spann, I don't know of any good transcriptions.  You just have to do it by ear -- the library of congress record, the albums with Buddy Guy, and the albums with Robt Lockwood Jr. are essentials.

And then there's Ray Charles.  Again, by ear.  Everyone "needs" to know "Rockhouse," "Hallelujah I Love Her So" "I Gotta Woman" "Sweet Sixteen Bars" and "Drown in My Own Tears" at a minimum.  Yes, believe it or not, but the only times I've had someone a a public jam call a Ray Charles tune has been "Drown in my Own Tears" and "What I Say."  By guitarists.  Yes, that's right, electric guitarists, the mortal enemy of all blues/rock keyboardists.  So, that's either a reason to know those tunes, or not, depending on your attitude (FTR, my favorite collaborators for live playing are a very good guitarist and one of the top drummers in my town -- no surprise, they are both very busy.  I'd rather do without than not have them -- and note the absence of bassist among my short list of essential collaborators.) The C&W tunes, as well, from the albums, are IME the standard references for those tunes in blues/rock circles.

Yeah, it's a lot, maybe, but you really got to just dig in and make it a part of your life.  At least until you get your thirst quenched.

EETA

I also see you have Chuck Leavell on there.  He, like Ian Stewart, is one of my main influences in rock piano.

His solo piano album is great, as is all his playing on the records.

I think I wrote out his solo on "Southbound" at one point and maybe some others.

Yeah, so the point is, I and probably lots of people can give lots of advice -- at least I am very familiar with at least Chuck Leavell and James Booker among your list -- but I'm not sure what advice to give beyond (a) grab a pencil and paper (b) listen to the record (c) write it (d) repeat.

EEETA

So, to sum it up, you have:
(i) New Orleans, represented by James Booker, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Professor Longhair
(ii) Chicago, represented by Otis Spann
(iii) R&B/soul/pop-gospel, represented by Ray Charles
(iv) boogie-woogie/rock-and-roll/all-of-the-above, represented by the Rolling Stones/Chuck Leavell/Ian Stewart

That's really about it, but there's a lot of overlap, especially in the New Orleans, which has elements from ragtime/Jelly Roll/latin, and in the boogie/rock, which is also a little bit of everything (see Chuck Leavell, Bill Payne, and everybody else).

EEEETA

Most of my private students come in and are like "I want to learn this Billy Preston lick" or "How do you do that rolling Dr. John RH thing," so it's pretty well-defined material, and indeed there are little tricks I and I'm sure lots of people have, like keeping fingers 1 and 5 in the RH on the dominant octave as a kind of anchor, and, obviously, the LH patterns, and little tips about performing with bands.

I don't know how much the youtube videos can give all that -- there are good ones for sure.  The Dr. John original Homespun videos (originally cassette tapes) were good, and I still play a lot of the tunes from that.  FWIW a good amount of the material in there is in the outtakes from the "Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack" and "The Brightest Smile In Town" records -- stuff like the solo piano version of "Louisiana Lullaby" and the Bb meditations on the eight-bar blues a la "Key to the Highway."

I believe a pretty good partial transcription of "Saints" from one of those albums was in a "Piano and Keyboard Magazine" from the 1990s.  Could be useful to look at, but, again, once you have some experience, it's not too hard to just figure out by ear what he's doing.

I also recommend just playing by ear Mac's pop tunes from his big album, like "Right Place, Wrong Time," "Such a Night," and so forth -- just basic repertoire, and like Ray Charles, everybody knows those tunes, or at least should be able to follow along by ear.

Thanks for all your tips! They're of great value for me. I'm really frustrated because I fell kinda stuck on my learning

[dcstudio]

Learn it by ear. If you are heavily trained already your technical prowess will help immediately to propel you forward.  Learning  the blues means mastering the common forms, progressions, and rhythmic elements of that genre. Learning a series of hal leonard arrangements  will not make you a blues player. It's best to think of it as something "easy" to do and begin improvising your own blues over a standard 12 bar form. Watch tutorials that examine a favorite player's riffs and practice those. Listen to other instruments and figure out their tricks too. Sometimes it's easier if you aren't trying to figure out what the pianist is doing.

[j_tour]

Thanks for all your tips! They're of great value for me. I'm really frustrated because I fell kinda stuck on my learning

Well, I'm impressed you managed to wade through everything!  My grandfather was a French-Canadian, so I tend to not shut up once I start talking.

dcstudio really summed it all up as a general strategy -- you, like so many others, including me, will likely fail to notate a live performance of Otis Spann.  IMHO, it doesn't really make sense on paper, his style of playing, and I've been an obsessive transcriber of jazz solos for years.  He's kind of the ultimate wild man of blues piano, IMHO. The notes are all there, and you sure can copy his style to some extent, if you want, but it's extremely difficult to write down.

But, you can always just fake it.

Blues/rock/New Orleans/all that is really just a big kettle of different influences -- I happen to think there's some value in learning specific "parts" for tunes off the record, even if it's only to satisfy one's own curiosity, but it really does all come back down to planet earth, out of the ether of analysis, when it's morning/late night and you just say to yourself, "hey, here's a key, and here's a minor blues/chicago blues/boogie/whatever tune, so let's just play that."  You'll really be well on your way when you're changing the chords or voicings subtly whenever you want, modulating whenever you feel like it, making up medleys of different tunes you haven't thought of in years, and putting the somewhat-cliched "standard-professional" intro/tag endings/codas just for fun to tie it all together.  And you'll be a seasoned pro when you can do all that with your band and "tell" your bassist and guitarist without words what's next.  Or, in the more usual scenario, follow what the leader of someone else's band is doing, whether by ear or looking at the bassist's fretboard, or whatever system works for you.

It's not rocket science, but it does take experience and confidence that whatever you want to play, you can execute it, however that might be.

I do think some goals are in order, though:  be able to play any blues in any key (everyone gets a pass on B-natural and F-sharp, but anyone can still play in those, even if it's not their favorite).

Know some real blues "tunes," that aren't strictly 8 or 12 or 16 bar regular blues.  At least you'll be able to hang in a jam, if they're well-known tunes (like, say,"Born Under a Bad Sign," or "She Caught the Katy" or whatever else -- I won't scare you off by mentioning that, in those situations, you have to at least be able to follow some really cheesy pop tunes, and play them in the "blues style," but that's more a different topic) and, if you need a more structured tune to play for some reason, like an audition, or if someone asks you to "play a song" at a party, you'll have something you can fool around on that won't sound like just noodling around.  Or at least know some hackneyed ways to put just some regular blues solo in a kind of structure, with an introduction and a tag ending -- trust me, people really do cue to those little predictable things.  I guess it's basic psychology, but it takes almost no effort and gets you a million listener points with the audience to put that little extra framing bits in.

Study what other people did.  Make it your own, or just go your own way, or become one of those guys/girls who plays transcriptions -- whatever you feel like, it doesn't matter -- but knowledge of the traditions is a good thing for everybody,IMHO.