Blues piano licks and riffs

In this article, I am going to show you two different Blues piano shuffle licks & riffs
that are fun and easy to play. Make sure you click on each sound file to hear the lick
played. Do you like the sound of the Blues? So do I. That’s why I created the new Play
Blues Piano Series. Blues Piano Lick #1 Before trying to read this lick, make sure that
you listen to the audio file (right below the lick) to hear how it should sound. Even
though the lick and left-hand are written out as eighth notes, they are really played with
a triplet feel. It is common to write swung eighth notes as “regular” eighth notes rather
than triplets. Take a look at example 1. Ex. 1

Do
you see how much more difficult it is to read example 1 than lick #1? It’s unnecessary
most of the time to write swung eighth notes like this. Instead, just notate that the eighth
notes should be swung by using a style marking. In the case of example 2, the style
marking is Medium Shuffle. Well, medium is going to be right around 120bpm and
shuffle means that the rhythm is a shuffle, triplet feel. BUT, notice how much easier it is
to read lick #1? I also want you to notice the tiny F# in the beginning of the lick. This is
called a grace note. It should be played quickly and usually with the same finger of the
note that you are going to. So the next note is G, played with your middle finger, so use
your 3rd finger on the grace note. Lick #1 Medium Shuffle
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Blues Piano Lick #2 Lick #2 is a C minor pentatonic scale played in triplets. However,
there is something interesting about how this lick is formed (besides just being triplets).
Let’s start by just taking a quick peek at lick #2 and listening to it. Lick #2 Medium
Shuffle

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Alright, so you hear the triplets right? But did you hear how the triplets were divided
into four note groupings? In example 2, I’ve separated the groupings with boxes. This
is creates a very cool sound because it’s triplets, but it’s triplets accenting a note other
than the first triplet. The “top” note of each four-note grouping will produce a natural
accent. Notice how the accent is on the first triplet in beat one, the second triplet in beat
two and the third triplet in beat three? This is an example of phrasing a rhythm.
Example #2

Remember, even though the left hand is written as eighth notes, they are still played
with a triplet feel. This means the first eighth note will “line up” with the first triplet and
the second eighth note will line up with the THIRD triplet, NOT the second triplet. See
example 3. Example #3