Easy Blues Piano Music for Beginners

Easy Blues Piano Music for Beginners – Start playing blues piano today with these easy, authentic pieces.

What is the blues?

The blues is a style of music that originated in African American communities in the Deep South of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term “blues” refers to both the musical genre and the emotions that are felt when listening to this type of music.

The blues evolved out of work songs, spirituals, and folk music. The most important influences on the early blues were ragtime, marching band music, and Western swing. The blues has been a major influence on jazz, rock & roll, country music, rhythm & blues, and pop music.

The 12-bar blues

The 12-bar blues is a 12-bar musical form that was created by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. It is one of the simplest and most popular forms of blues music. The 12-bar blues is usually played in 4/4 time (sometimes called “common time”) with a moderate tempo. The form is based on the I-IV-V chord progression, which you can hear in many popular songs, such as “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding, “Sweet Home Chicago” by Robert Johnson, and “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley.

If you’re new to the 12-bar blues, don’t worry – it’s actually very simple. In this lesson, we’ll go over the basic form and chord progression of the 12-bar blues, and then we’ll learn a simple left-hand pattern that you can use to play it.

The blues scale

The blues scale is a pentatonic minor scale with added chromaticism, prepared by adding a ♭5th degree to a minor pentatonic scale. For example, in C minor pentatonic, we have the notes C–E♭–F–G♭–B♭. By adding an A♭ to this, we create the C minor blues scale: C–E♭–F–G♭–A♭–B♭.

The blues scale can be used over any chord progression built on the I, IV and V chords of any key. In the key of C, these chords are:

I – C
IV – F
V – G

So, in the key of C, a typical chord progression using the blues scale might look like this:

|C – – – |F – – – |G – – – |C – – – |

Basic blues chords

To get started playing blues piano, you need to learn some basic chords. The most important chords in blues are the three major chords, A, B and C, and the Minor chords, A minor (sometimes written as Am), D minor (sometimes written as Dm) and E minor (sometimes EMinor). You can play these chords in any order, but the most common order is A, B, C, Dm, Em.

Once you know these basic chords, you can start to add some embellishments to your playing. One of the most common embellishments is the blues run. A blues run is a series of notes that you play in quick succession. The most common blues run is the 12-bar blues run. To play this run, start on the root note (the note that gives the chord its name) and play up the scale to the fifth note. Then, play back down the scale to the root note. For example, if you were playing a C chord, you would start on C and play up to G. Then you would play back down to C. You can use this same pattern for any of the other chords in a 12-bar blues progression.

Another common embellishment is called a trill. To trill a note, you simply alternate between two notes quickly. For example, if you were playing an A chord, you could trill between A and B. Trills are a great way to add interest to your playing and can really make your music stand out.

Of course, these are just a few of the many embellishments that you can add to your playing. As you become more comfortable with the blues piano sound, you’ll start to experiment with different techniques and find which ones work best for you.

Easy blues piano songs for beginners

There are a few easy blues piano songs for beginners that can help you get started playing the blues. “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin, “Sweet Home Chicago” by Robert Johnson, and “Hound Dog” by Willie Dixon are all great songs to start with. If you’re looking for something a little more challenging, try learning “Stormy Monday” by T-Bone Walker or “All Blues” by Miles Davis. With a little practice, you’ll be playing the blues like a pro in no time!