Lesson video

Hello, welcome to today's lesson entitled "Boogie-woogie." My name is Mr. Norris and today we're gonna be building on some of our knowledge about blues to hone in on the very specific style of blues pattern called boogie-woogie.

So let's get started.

Our outcome for today's lesson is I can perform a boogie-woogie pattern on the piano.

Some key words.

Firstly, we've got boogie-woogie, and this is an upbeat style of blues music and the name of the piano accompaniment pattern used in boogie-woogie.

Tremolo.

This is alternating between two notes rapidly, and it sounds like a trembling effect.

That's what the word means in Italian.

And finally, staccato.

And this is when the notes are played in a short, detached way.

So the first part of today's lesson is looking at boogie-woogie.

Boogie-woogie is one of many derivatives of blues music.

That means it came out of blues music.

Although it follows some of the same conventions as traditional blues, it also has its own distinctive features.

In a second you're gonna pause my video and have a listen to this example.

I'd like you to try and pick out what is the main instrument, what is the tempo, and how does it make you feel? What's the sort of mood that it creates? So you can pause my video and have a listen now.

(no audio) Let's reflect on that then.

So the music is quite upbeat, it's quite a fast tempo, and there's a strong pulse with driving rhythm.

So it really feels quite energetic, doesn't it? The piano is the main instrument, and that's a really key aspect of boogie-woogie.

And the music is suitable for dancing.

It's designed to get people moving, give people a sense of energy and movement.

So as we said, boogie-woogie is upbeat, it's energetic, and it was originally about encouraging people to dance, which contrasts with most other blues music, which was more melancholic and focused on conveying emotion.

So if we think about traditional blues, typically it's quite a laid-back tempo, and it's more focused on the subject matter rather than the feeling of getting people to dance.

Boogie-woogie is based around a distinctive and very repetitive bass pattern played on the piano, and this is known as the boogie-woogie pattern.

It often follows the 12-bar blues structure as a lot of boogie-woogie does.

And like more recent dance music, it uses a strong pulse, it has driving rhythms, and an upbeat tempo.

And these features combined on what helped to make it really suitable for dancing to.

So boogie-woogie developed in dance halls and bars in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

And these are all, you can see on that map there, some of the southern states in the United States.

And this is also the area, the Deep South is what it's known as, where the blues originated from as well, where it has really deep roots in the African American communities in that part of the country.

And in these venues, in the dance halls and the bars, the piano had become the main instrument that was used.

Boogie-woogie was strongly connected with railroad work.

So for a long time there was a huge amount of work went into building the rail network across the United States which was a massive sprawling country.

And so a lot of people were involved in that industry of building the railroads.

And many of the early blues piano players were labourers working nearby on train lines.

The boogie-woogie pattern sounds similar to a moving train.

We'll have a listen to it in a second.

So let's check your understanding.

Which two boogie-woogie features encourage dancing? An upbeat tempo, use of a piano, strong pulse and driving rhythms, or the 12-bar blues chord sequence? I'll give you a few seconds to choose two.

(no audio) And the correct answers here then are an upbeat tempo, and the strong pulse and driving rhythms. These are the features that really help to make it suitable for dancing, to encourage people to move.

Similar to traditional blues, the musical style and ideas of boogie-woogie were developing in the years after the American Civil War, which was in the 1860s.

However, it didn't become part of popular culture until the early 1900s.

So it developed over a long period of time and didn't become popular more broadly until the 1900s when the Great Migration spread the music to northern states and cities, like Chicago.

That's when a huge amount of the population from the Deep South, in particular large chunks of the African American community, started migrating to other parts of the United States in search of economic opportunities.

The first official recording of some boogie-woogie was Clarence "Pinetop" Smith's "Pinetop Boogie-Woogie," which was in 1929.

And we're gonna listen to that now.

And as we're listening to it, I'd like you to try and identify what aspects of the piano pattern do you think sound like a train, or imitate the sounds of a train? Let's have a listen now.

(scratchy upbeat piano music) (scratchy upbeat piano music continues) Okay, as you can hear, that's quite an old recording there, that's going back almost 100 years.

And hopefully you managed to pick out a few features that are reminiscent of a train.

Let's have a look at what some of those are.

So you might have mentioned the repeated quaver pattern that sounds like the chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga of a train.

So it's that really repetitive rhythm.

You might have mentioned the tremolos.

That's the fast alternating notes at the start that sound a little bit like some train noises you might hear, like bells.

There's the repetition of the pattern, and the constant movement, which is the sort of rise and fall of the pattern, which gives a sense of movement of motion.

And then finally, the really rhythmic low notes sound mechanical, you know, it could be parts of the engine that are rotating.

So all those features combined are reminiscent of the sound of a train.

Now Ladyva is a Swiss-born singer, pianist and composer, and she's known for her piano playing mostly, which is particularly in the boogie-woogie style.

We're gonna listen to a recording of hers in a second, which is called "Boogie Woogie Stomp." And I'd like you to listen and try and pick out what happens in the right-hand piano part, which is the higher pitched part, and what role is the left-hand part playing? That's the lower pitched part.

So you pause my video, and try and pick out what those two parts are doing now.

(no audio) Let's get into that then.

So it starts with tremolos in the right hand.

That's those really fast alternating notes.

The right hand plays a riff that sounds improvised.

So there's this sort of repeating pattern that's got sort of improvised style to it, even though it's probably not improvised.

Towards the end, the right hand starts playing some chords.

And the left hand is playing the accompaniment to all of this.

And what the left hand is playing there is the boogie-woogie pattern.

That's that pattern that we can hear there, that we will explore more a little bit later.

Boogie-woogie is, as you can probably hear, a great demonstration of the versatility of the piano because it plays the roles of lots of different instruments.

You know, it fills the role of the guitar playing the chords, playing the riff, it's got the bass part, and it also creates the sort of rhythmic drive of the drum kit.

And that's why it was such a popular style at the time, because a single player in a salon, in a musical hall in the Deep South of the United States could sit down at a piano and sort of recreate the effect of multiple musicians playing together.

The right hand often plays melodic riffs and chords, and the left hand is playing the accompaniment.

That's that boogie-woogie pattern.

So I'd like you now to suggest three features of the boogie-woogie piano pattern that sound like a train.

You can pause my video while you try and think of some.

(no audio) So you might have picked up on some of these.

Tremolos, which are those fast alternating notes which simulate bell sounds or train sounds.

The repeated quaver pattern which recreates the sort of chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga on the train.

The low-pitched repeated pattern that sounds quite mechanical, it sounds like some of the engine.

And then the repetition and the constant movement rise and fall, which creates a sense of motion.

So that feeling of something moving, something happening.

Which three of the following refer to boogie-woogie? It uses improvised riffs in the right hand.

The core pattern is often based on the 12-bar blues.

The piano is the only instrument used, or it uses a repetitive or low-pitched pattern.

Pause my video just while you choose three.

(no audio) Okay and the correct three here then would be, it uses improvised riffs in the right hand, chord pattern is often based on the 12-bar blues, and it uses a repetitive or low-pitched pattern.

Traditionally the piano is central instrument of it, but it's not always the only instrument that is.

Task A.

You're gonna listen to this clip of some boogie-woogie First I'd like you to describe what's happening in the right hand of the piano.

Then describe two musical features that make it sound like a train.

Question three is, what typical blues chord sequence is the piece based on? Question four, why is the music suitable for encouraging people to dance? So you can pause my video now, have a listen to that clip, and give these questions your best shot.

(no audio) Let's go through these then.

So question one, in the right hand of the piano, we've got a tremolo at the start, some improvised riffs, repeated ideas, chords, and syncopation.

Those are some of the things you might have mentioned.

Two musical features that sound like a train.

Now you might have mentioned the repeated quaver pattern, the low-pitched and repeated rise and fall pattern, or the tremolo.

The typical blues chord sequence is the 12-bar blues.

And it's suitable for encouraging people to dance because it's upbeat and energetic, and it has a strong pulse and driving rhythms. So well done if you picked up on some of those points there.

Now we're gonna focus on playing the boogie-woogie.

The boogie-woogie accompaniment pattern is played in the left hand of the piano.

It plays the root note of the code while the 5th note alternates with the 6th.

You can see there the root note, that C in this example, stays the same at the bottom, but the upper note changes each beat.

And if we have a look there, there is our C chord with the root being C, the 5th being G.

And then if you look at the 6th note, that's gonna be A.

So it's changing between G and A at the top.

Let's now watch this video that shows us how to play this pattern.

<v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> (upbeat piano music) <v ->Now you'll have noticed</v> that it doesn't use any syncopation.

It's all on beat notes, but it still has a groove and a sort of sense of rhythmic drive and energy.

What do you think it is that gives it that? I'll give you a few seconds just to have a think.

(no audio) So you might have thought some of these features.

It's got an upbeat tempo, and that gives it some rhythmic drive and energy.

It's got a constant repeating rhythm.

It uses staccato notes, detached notes, which gives it, you know, energy and lightness.

And the top note is moving up and down, which creates a sense of movement as well.

So playing the notes staccato with an upbeat tempo, using these features helps to create the typical boogie-woogie groove.

The pattern is gonna shift to match each chord in the 12-bar blues chords.

And each bar has four crotchet notes.

So if we see there, our first chord is based on C and G.

Our second chord, our F chord, is based on F and C.

That's the root and the 5th and the F chord.

And when it says G as the chord, we're gonna be using G and D, that's the root and 5th of that chord.

So we're gonna be moving the pattern around based on the chords of the 12-bar blues, but obviously we're only playing two notes at a time now instead of three.

Let's watch this video that shows us how to do that.

<v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

Bar one.

</v> (upbeat piano music) Bar two.

(upbeat piano music) Bar three.

(upbeat piano music) Bar four.

(upbeat piano music) Bar five.

(upbeat piano music) Bar six.

(upbeat piano music) Bar seven.

(upbeat piano music) Bar eight.

(upbeat piano music) Bar nine.

(upbeat piano music) Bar 10.

(upbeat piano music) Bar 11.

(upbeat piano music) Bar 12.

(upbeat piano music) <v Norris>Let's check your understanding.

</v> Which pattern is the correct boogie-woogie pattern? Here's option A.

<v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> (upbeat piano music) <v Norris>Option B.

</v> <v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> (upbeat piano music) <v Norris>Option C.

</v> <v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> (upbeat piano music) <v Norris>So I'll give you a few seconds</v> to finish your answer.

(no audio) And the correct answer there then was option A.

That was this one.

<v Instructor>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> (upbeat piano music) <v ->So well done if you picked up on that.

</v> Which note of the chord moves up and back down? Is the root, the third, or the fifth? I'll give you a few seconds to have a quick think.

(no audio) And the correct answer then is the fifth.

So it's the top note of a normal triad chord that moves up and back down.

Task B.

You're gonna practise the boogie-woogie pattern and here's some success criteria.

You use the left hand.

Using the little finger, that's your pinky, on the lowest note, and your thumb on the top note that moves.

The lowest note is the root note of each chord.

And the top note starts on the 5th, then rises to the 6th.

So it's alternating between the 5th and the 6th of each chord.

Each bar has four crotchet notes.

You play the notes staccato, so nice and short.

And you change chords to follow the 12-bar blues chord sequence.

So moving between the different positions, base that pattern on those different chords of C, F, and G.

Make sure you keep a steady pulse and practise slowly to begin with and gradually you'll be able to speed up as you get better at it.

And here are our chords.

So we've got the 12-bar blues on the right-hand side there.

And then we've got the different versions of the chords for C, F, and G.

Remember, you need to alternate that top note moving between the 5th and the 6th.

So you can pause my video now and give this task your best shot.

(no audio) Let's move on to the second part of this task.

And here we're going to watch a performance and I like you to identify, how does this match the success criteria? Let's have a look.

(upbeat piano music) So just while finishing your answer, you can pause my video.

(no audio) And here are some of the things you might have picked up on.

The pattern is played correctly with the root note at the bottom, and 5th, and the 6th alternating at the top.

And it does follow the chords of the 12-bar blues, so it correctly moves to C, F and G at the right time.

And it's played to a steady and consistent pulse.

However, it could have been improved by playing notes a bit more staccato, that's a bit more typical of boogie-woogie.

So well done if you picked up on some of those points.

We've done part of the lesson, looking at boogie-woogie with the chords.

We can also add the 12-bar blues chords in the right hand.

So we've got that boogie-woogie pattern in the left hand, and we can now make it a little bit more complicated by adding those chords in the right hand.

They can be semibreve chords or they could use a syncopated rhythm.

So there's options as to how we play those chords.

Let's see what the semibreve chords would look like.

(upbeat piano music) And now let's see what the syncopated chords would look like.

(upbeat piano music) So let's put both parts together.

First practise playing the chord with the right hand, and the boogie-woogie pattern in the left hand.

Practise moving both hands from one chord to another.

So practise getting your hands in position and moving them just statically between C and F, C and G, and F and G.

And C to G is the biggest jump.

So that's one that you probably need to practise the most.

Let's just have a look at what this might look like.

(no audio) Once you've done that, play it slowly in the full 12-bar blues sequence at first, and work up to a faster tempo.

So start slow going through the whole 12 bars, changing to C, F, and G at the correct time.

And then gradually speed it up once you start to feel confident with it.

Make sure that each cord lasts for four beats.

So that's four notes, four crotchets of the boogie-woogie pattern.

Or you can try the extended syncopated version or make up a rhythm for the right hand chord to make it slightly more complex and interesting.

Let's check your understanding.

What type of note is the boogie-woogie pattern based on? Is it quavers, crotchets, minims, or semibreves? I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer is crotchets.

Remember that left hand boogie-woogie pattern is based on repeated crotchets.

So for this task practise performing the boogie-woogie pattern, and the 12-bar blues chords together.

The success criteria is as follows, the boogie-woogie and the chords start together on beat 1 of the bar, so they need to start exactly the same time on beat 1.

Both parts follow the 12-bar blues chord sequence, so changing to C, F, and G following that pattern.

You practise slowly at first, but you build to a faster tempo.

You play staccato notes in the boogie-woogie part, and if you're in a pair, one person can play the boogie-woogie, and one person plays the chords, and use a count-in to start together.

So 1, 2, 3, 4, then come in at the same time.

You might also have tried creating your own rhythm for the right-hand chords.

Instead of just holding semibreves, you might try a more complex syncopated rhythm.

So pause my video, give this task your best shot.

Good luck.

(no audio) Let's move on to the final part of today's lesson.

And here we're gonna watch a performance of the boogie-woogie pattern with the chords in the right hand.

I'd like you to identify how does this match the success criteria? Let's have a look.

(upbeat piano music) (upbeat piano music continues) So pause my video while you're just quickly finishing your answer.

And here are some of the things you might have said.

Chords and patterns start together on beat one of each bar, and they change together at the right time.

The chord sequence is played accurately, so the change to C, change to F and change to G at the correct time with both hands together.

And the tempo is consistent, but it's quite slow.

And remember boogie-woogie is generally quite upbeat.

So what this performer could do is just practise it a bit more to get a bit more familiar and confident with it, and then gradually speed up to a more lively, upbeat tempo.

Well done if you picked up on some of those points.

Let's summarise today's lesson.

Boogie-woogie is an upbeat and energetic style of blues music that encourages people to dance.

The piano is the key instrument in boogie-woogie.

It's also a blues piano accompaniment pattern, which is said to sound like a train.

So boogie-woogie is both a style and this accompaniment pattern as well.

This is due to the repetition, the constant movement, and tremolos that mimic train sounds.

So all these features are reminiscent of a train.

And it's also often played staccato.

And we've learned today to play the boogie-woogie pattern with the 12-bar blues chords.

So thank you very much for taking part in today's lesson.

I hope that's been a really insightful, interesting lesson where you've explored something new and I hope you've really got stuck into that practical task there as well.

I look forward to seeing you in another lesson, thank you.