Yannick's Tips and Tricks

[Yannick L]

Hey gang,

Yannick here, co-founder of PWJ.

I'll be sharing some of my insights here as I continue to journey alongside all of you.

My current focus is to improve at blues piano, but these video topics will cover a broad range of topics and ideas for various playing levels.

Keep pursuing the sounds you love!

[Yannick L]

Slow Blues in C Break-Down

In this video I break down some of the blues techniques I've been working on, drawing from various courses. 

Topics covered:

- The 10-lesson blues challenge - great for learning the essential vocabulary, especially slides, turns, and harmonized lines

- The gospel scale - juxtaposing the major and minor tonality for a more interesting sound

- Stock intros and endings - gotta learn those cliches!

- Adding chords to the form - turnaround harmony from the jazz foundation courses

- Jazz lines with enclosures - upper and lower neighbors

I also added some tips on how to practice, encouraging students to work on 2 keys so you don't depend on muscle memory alone. And finally, listening, listening, listening. I have a playlist I play on repeat... Dave Grusin, Beegie Adair, Oscar Peterson, Benny Green, etc. Try to recognize the sounds you hear, and record yourself too.

 

[Jay D]

Thanks Yannick,

I love the way you explain this and also impressed /  inspired by your honest openness that you are also learning and your approach to your learning, when l hear you play l just assume you know everything and can play anything and your soaring somewhere above the clouds,  but actually you are also human! And you plan your practice, breakdown the tasks into smaller steps, and slowly put it together. I have often wondered about playing minor scale over major chords and major scale over minor chords and l’m so glad you bought that up. You should do this more often, just the same, it maybe tempting to always introduce new material but l could watch and listen to you repeat this again and again, maybe over different songs, or structures, or keys, but essentially the same.   Great work - keep it up! And ‘peace’ to you.

[Henryk G]

Hi Yannick,

I found it amazing how Jonny plays some Blues demos. How do you guys move your left hand from one chord to another so quickly?

I know the chords (at this point I stick to C key family alone), but, specially when playing with the both hands, I need deliberately place my fingers on each key, which takes a looooots of time. And making it "initially slow" does not help either, since I this way it is not possible to keep any rhythm. 

When trying to rely on my "muscle memory", I miss the right key 90% of the time.

Any secrets?

Many thanks for your suggestions,

Henryk Gruder

henrygruder@hotmail.com

[Steven H]

Love this summary and tips for courses. 

Yannick, any update on your progress with the slow blues?

[Yannick Lambrecht]

@Henryk GGood question. I think repetitive practice working on jumps can help with this. The key is the transition motion. I used to practice it like a "hot potato" type of game. Play the target note, then fast motion to the next note, pause and play. Back and forth. The key is to mitigate tension.