Playing keyboard bass lines lefthand technique for keyboards kindle edition by valerio, john. With over 2 hours of audio and video, this course is equal to 6 months of powerful instruction. The function of a bass player in the jazz combo is to work with the piano player and drummer to provide both a harmonic and rhythmic stability for the tune. Forget about the right until the left hand pattern. Pattern piano and keyboard complete bundle download. Left hand piano patterns made of broken chords you can use. Fingers 1 and 5 should be kept off accidentals whenever possible. Music theory academy how to read music ebook link image. Heres the famous hal leonard beginning bass method, with all instructions, illustrations and photos specially aimed at the left handed player. Using your left hand, start in the middle of the keyboard. Easy rhythm pattern for accompanying yourself or friend.
Without searching for the e or g note, just press down your number 3 finger and then your number 1 finger. In one sense, it must have been easy for early jazz pianists to figure out what to do with their left hand. Learn piano chords complete overview with pictures of all kinds of piano chords. The left hand on the piano chords arpeggios and bass. Download the ultimate guide to piano patterns to make exploring these patterns in your studio that much easier, ive created a download of the most common patterns that students should know. Playing keyboard bass lines left hand technique for keyboards kindle edition by valerio, john. If youre looking for a few easy, versatile patterns to use in your left hand that will really help fill out your playing, these three will help you out a lot. Ten standard left hand patterns for piano sheet music piano. Common bass patterns studybass fundamentals one studybass. Since all patterns are notated and fingered, it could also be used to strengthen bass clef reading because we all know the struggle. Jul 21, 2014 one keyboard dedicated for piano sounds and the other keyboard dedicated for bass guitar sounds. How to play a rolling left hand bass pentecostal piano.
Walking bass on the piano can be one of the coolest things ever. This is another example in which the fifth and the seventh of the chord dominate. A lot of wanttobe pianists struggle to learn the basics of piano playing. Apr 7, 2014 i have so many of you who track me down after watching my original post on the ten standard left hand patterns for piano explained asking for the pdf file that another reader was gracious enough to. With your left hand put the number 5 finger on the c. Pop piano pro left hand patterns and styles page 2 pattern 3.
Playing piano with your left hand, too your left hand plays a supporting role when youre at the piano. Move finger 1 to the left, and below the other fingers just when your finger 5. If you plan to play music with others, you need to know what notes to play. This means that much less time is devoted to reading the bass clef.
Piano fingering for the left hand is similar to right hand fingering, as indicated in these basic rules. For the sake of completeness, most of these left hand applications are integrated with sample right hand parts that validate the efficacy and concrete application of the left hand figures. Numerous styles of jazz piano are taught, including. One of the left hand accompaniment style that is commonly used among classical musicians is the alberti bass. It has been my experience that when i have to play a bass line in my left, i am usually required to play piano in my right. People ask me all the time on youtube what are you playing with your left hand. Now that you have a lot of the basics down, todd hobin will teach you how to add in some left hand accompaniment to improve the sound. The best left hand pattern for piano by zachevans if youre looking for a way to add some extra beauty and sensitivity to your piano playing, i think that youre going to love this left hand pattern. Traditional old style piano lessons require you to play the melody in the right hand and chords in the left. By learning to play the piano using the powerful technique of rhythmic patterns, youll unleash your creative potential as a. I think i would have been better served by buying a book on jazz. Free ebooks and ebooks to a small cost if you want to support the site. Boogie woogie chord progressions fingering suggestions 60 left hand bass patterns. This isnt an allencompassing resource, as a resource that.
Walking a bass line with the left hand is a skill every jazz, rock, and pop pianist should know. Keeping the left hand as just octaves means you dont have to really worry about coordinating precise finger movements with the right hand. Here are a few excellent and professionalsounding left hand patterns that you can apply to just about any song you come across. An easy way to start doing that is to simply play a chord progression with simple octaves in the bass. Then he switches to the f chord, and so he plays f, a, c, d twice, then switches back to the c chord. There are three chord patterns that come up frequently. Tutorial for hand independence in blues piano youtube. Jazz piano the left hand the steinway library of piano. This exegesis is presented in partial fulfilment of degree of master of arts performing arts western australian academy of performing arts edith cowan university faculty of education and arts. Stylegroove usesf e e l main patte rn s imp le v ariat io n s single notes, blocked chords the simples t lh pat ter n is just sing le not es or chords. A good idea for teaching bass and treble clefs to piano studentsthis will come in very handy.
The piano lessons show you how to improve your left hand piano playing by using 121 left hand piano patterns with each pattern demonstrated in detail with popular songs. One of the most userfriendly left hand patterns is the arpeggio. But even though it doesnt often get to play the melody, your left hand adds some crucial bass. In this style, the left hand characteristically plays a fourbeat pulse with a single bass note on the first and third beats, and a chord on the second and fourth beats. There is a bit of variance, but only the c, f, and g chords are. In fact, one of the guys i play with recently asked me how walking bass. This gives the impression of a real bass player if the left hand is used correctly. In some popular music bands, keyboard instruments are used to play the bass line. Left hand walking bass learn how to play jazz bass lines on the piano. The first in a series of books that aim to be a resource of material for the boogie woogie pianist. What are some common or standard left hand patterns in classical music that a pianist must be familiar with. It is one thing to know chords, but it is another thing altogether to know what to do with them. Your pinky will find the two alternating bass notes because theyre always the same. I would have liked to see more examples of playing bass and comping chords with the right hand.
All of the patterns are played in the key of c, progressing from the c chord, to the f chord, to the g chord, back to the c chord. This pdf will be a big help to many jazz pianists and other instrumentalists who want to get better at voicing chords in their left hand. In the previous lessons in this course, we have explored the harmony of the minor blues progression. Playing keyboard bass lines lefthand technique for. Sep 26, 2010 as you play these patterns with left hand, try to give them swing or groove stressing the upbeats as indicated. Playing root position chords in the right hand can go a long way. Learn how to play piano chords, notes, scales, proper. Muchneeded guide to playing the bass side of the accordion.
It adds another level to the song, and makes it sound that much better. The method teaches the notes and rhythms to famous riffs and classic songs, and presents both fingerstyle and pick technique. Encyclopedia of lefthand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Its like a freight train, both in its trainlike rhythm and in its power to drive the song forward. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or keyboard.
The piano lessons show you how to improve your left hand piano playing by using 121 left hand piano patterns and styles with each pattern demonstrated in detail with popular songs. Left hand playing made easy the better way to learn piano. If you play solo, you are mostly playing the chords with your left hand and the. These are all simpletoplay note patterns and apply in a lot of musical situations.
This is the video for my ebook on how to play rockpop ballad piano accompaniments. Pop ballad accompaniment styles for piano and keyboard youtube. Apr 18, 20 10 standard left hand patterns for piano explained great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or keyboard for dummies updted 72415 left hand piano patterns used to support ri. The wonderful thing about it is that walking a basic bass line is not all. Left hand funk bass technique on the piano excercises. How to play left hand accompaniment patterns on the piano. I dont have much to say about this other than it is a really good book for those interested in a compilation of piano patterns. We can also see that the rhythm follows a repeated pattern of 2 quarter notes crotchets followed.
The lines played with the left hand of the piano are often fairly similar to the type of rhythm work played on the bass or bass guitar. In ascending order, c g e g c, then back to g for 34 time. What is generally played with the left hand while improvising. Play the notes c4b3a3g3f3 using the current finger placement. In this piano tutorial, i show you a seriously funky left hand groove.
The left hand plays a few bass notes then 2 chords a major and d major. Thats exactly why left hand patterns are so important and why i created a download especially to help teachers explore this with students. The best left hand pattern for piano best piano tips. Play piano with your left hand music theory academy. Many musicians will search for the most realistic bass sound that they can find in their keyboard and then run the sound into a real bass guitar amplifier. Even experienced pianists are often much slower at reading bass clef notes even though you can learn to read piano sheet faster. This seemingly impossible old style is like ragtime on steroids, and pushes jazz pianists to the limit. With sixty left hand bass lines to master, all including downloadable audio examples. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book, youre left to your own resources to supply an interestingsounding bass line. Many players could benefit from having this reference sheet, which has most of the chords jazz musicians are likely to encounter. So, comping bass lines is very much a two handed exercise the way i most often encounter it. Before using this guide, pleas e r ef er to my not es a t ti mtopham. But usually, these are for accompanying a singer and not for playing a song on piano. How to do left hand chords on the piano easily our pastimes.
Jul 31, 2012 there is a fantastic video on youtube that ken larkin of. In this lesson well take a look at scale style and intervalic bass lines, and even mix them up a bit. Hand independence tutorial to free your piano improvisation. Progressive exercises guide towards mastering bass chord patterns. Selfaccompaniment and improvisation in solo jazz piano. The best left hand pattern for piano the secret sauce duration. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your own resources to supply an interestingsounding bass line. The complete guide to mastering left hand bass chord patterns. Each of these patterns is versatile applicable to both 34 and 44. Among all the professional dueling piano players i play with, we all use a very small set of left hand bass patterns to get the job done. Mar 15, 2016 this pdf will be a big help to many jazz pianists and other instrumentalists who want to get better at voicing chords in their left hand.
Just play piano left hand accompaniment making music magazine. Left hand patterns for accompaniment piano world piano. In organ trios a hammond organ player performs the bass lines using the organs bass pedal board. Playing left hand bass lines on piano piano player world. This is to accompany playing melodyimprovisation in the right hand. The basic role of a pianist especially in a band situation, is to provide accompaniment to melodies produced either by the voice or an instrument. Free jazz improvisation pdf downloads improv pathways.
Left hand patterns are a really popular way of starting to develop your handstogether improvisation skills on the piano or keyboard. This book was created to help piano students of all ages and skill levels learn how to improvise and arrange music of their own. You may get 15 patterns or so and then they want you to buy more. Practiceled investigations of assimilation, ostinatos and hand splitting david dower. One of the most important things you can learn as a piano player is an assortment of left hand accompaniment patterns. The rhythm parts are sometimes created by playing left hand bass lines on piano.
I would approach this situation by playing the chords with my right hand and playing mostly the bass line with my left hand. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading playing keyboard bass lines lefthand technique for keyboards. Beginner piano lesson 2 in beginner piano lesson 1 we had an introduction to the piano, looked. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz online jazz handbook welcome to the bass chapter of the thelonious monk institute of jazzs online jazz handbook. The easiest lefthand accompaniment is chords, whether you play them as. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or. Most beginners learn to read the treble clef first, as in piano music the right hand often plays the melody. My new book, 100 left hand patterns every piano player should. As a result, the right hand is forever obligated to plunk out the melody while the left hand must carry the bulk of the chords.
The patterns include solid rock styles, slow rock styles, alberti bass styles, rhythmic octave fifth styles, rhythmic 10th styles, tango styles and more. The complete guide to mastering left hand basschord patterns. Jul 12, 2017 the left hand can be a little tricky for most piano players. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Pared down to its essence, this is a stream of notes in a constant rhythm, most usually 4 quarters per measure in 44 played in octaves, or the same pattern split into 8 8th notes. Once you have some basic rules down, youll be able to make bass lines over any chord progression. We then introduced the pentatonic scale, the blues scale, and modal scales that can be used to improvise over the chord changes. Add lefthand accompaniment patterns on the piano to vary.
Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. Those who already play the piano or keyboard from written sheet music, but would like to break away and play by ear. Piano players usually are required to play both a rhythm line and melody in many songs. Mar 14, 2014 traditionally it is some form of what is called a walking bass. Bass arpeggios are a great resource for both practicing finger exercises as well as learning the fundamental components of chords every practice routine should include some kind of incorporation of finger exercise both for developing dexterity and finger independence as well as understanding chords from a fundamental perspective and how they relate to one another musically. Playing keyboard bass lines lefthand technique for keyboards. Slap basic patterns, part 1 jaime introduces the thumb slap and offers some excercises to perfect it. In this tutorial, youll learn the 5 left hand chord patterns used by every gospel pianist youve made it to the advanced level. One major problem that they have is that they cant play the piano by ear. Sep 26, 2010 a walking bass is a bass accompaniment consisting of notes of equal value, usually quarter notes. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of lefthand accompaniment patterns. The idea of this lesson block is to give you a beginning understanding of what notes bass players choose and why. Jun 02, 2015 learn how your left hand bass can profoundly alter the chords you play.
When you play piano, your left hand usually plays a single bass note on the root of the chord. One of the most userfriendly lefthand patterns is the arpeggio. When i took piano lessons as a kid, my piano teachers taught me to read the music set before me, and that was about all. Walking bass lines are used in blues gospel, country, rock, ska, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, latin, and many other musical genres. Piano and keyboard students who are brand new to music. The left hand can be a little tricky for most piano players. The left hand alternates a low bass, frequently played in tenths, with close position midrange chords, while the right hand provides melody, syncopations, lines, and runs.
Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of piano players like the mention of stride piano. Scales and melodies are fine material for the left hand, but they arent leftys main gig. A lot of people think i continue reading the best left hand pattern psh. It adds another important step on your way to learning piano, and you can see in the video how imperative left hand rhythm can be. It is a bass line that you can use over chords minor 1 and minor 4.
For the beginner, the first chapters assume no knowledge of the instrument and teach how to play simple accompaniment patterns. With these old techniques, there is a limit to how full your arrangements. There will be lots of video demonstrations to show you how to play octave bass and octave drum in your left hand. Rather, on the piano, your left hand begs to be playing accompaniment patterns while your right hand noodles around with a melody or some chords. Mar 09, 2008 10 standard left hand patterns for piano. Because once you have the pattern down in your left hand your right hand can improvise melody freely. Everything is well explained and there are plenty of musical exampleexercises, and it covers a wide range of material. The video zooms in directly on the hands, and youll be able to see each hand movement and finger placement. If you played jazz piano in the 20s, the default lh technique was stride. Lefthand ostinato patterns and why theyre perfect for. Just play piano left hand rhythm making music magazine. The accompaniment, chords, arpeggios, the bass line and the improvisation with the left hand of the pianist.
Piano left hand bass a lesson and tutorial youtube. In beginner piano lesson 1 we had an introduction to the piano, looked at how to find middle c 2 black notes, etc, learned how to read some basic music in treble clef and you played your first piece using your right hand in this lesson we are going to. Lesson 7 left hand rhythm todd hobin demonstrates how to play with left hand rhythm. Notice the right hand melody does not begin until late in the. Edward left hand ostinato patterns and why theyre perfect for piano improvisation left hand ostinato patterns and why theyre perfect for piano.
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