Blues and Rock Keyboard Techniques

A vital aspect to understanding and performing great American music like R&B, gospel, and contemporary rock and pop is to first learn the foundation of this music, which lies in the roots styles of blues and early rock. Blues and Rock Keyboard Techniques will help you to develop the fundamental skills necessary to perform stylistically accurate keyboard techniques in the blues/rock idiom, in solo and group settings. Each week you'll practice a progressive series of techniques at the keyboard designed to improve your time feel, hand strength, and vocabulary. After building up your knowledge of theory, accompaniment ability, and phrasing foundations, the course explores the licks, techniques, patterns, and improvisation styles associated with shuffles, New Orleans piano, rock and roll and modern rock piano, and solo blues piano. By the end of this course you will have a strong foundation in the theory and harmonic concepts common to blues/rock styles, and the skills to take your music in whatever path you may follow.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• recognize great performances and important pianists in blues/rock styles
• perform authentic blues/rock accompaniment at the piano in the Texas shuffle, Chicago shuffle, rock and roll, New Orleans, and modern rock styles
• perform authentic blues/rock licks and use them to improvise well-phrased solos
• perform blues/rock techniques in a solo piano performance setting and in a band setting

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