Hello and welcome back, I'm Joseph
Hoffman. Today we're learning how to play
"C Boogie" which is a lot like "D Journey"
that we learned in an earlier lesson. In
this song we'll also be practicing our
counting out loud skills, which is a very
important skill for any musician.
It's a foundation for good rhythm, so
let's practice. Just like we had with "D
Journey" the beats are in groups of four,
so will you tap your thighs with me
while we count out loud, 1 2 3 4 to practice?
Every time we say one is when we tap,
like this, one two three four, now try it
with me, go.
One-two-three-four one-two-three-four
one-two-three-four one-two-three-four.
Ok, let's learn how to play "C Boogie" on
the piano. As you know, now that we know
about piano posture,
we're always going to go through our
piano posture checklist every time
before we play something, so number one,
your bench, make sure it's not too close,
not too far, and that you're at a good
height so your forearms are level with
the floor. Number two your back is tall
and flexible, number three you're
going to check with your arm weight, make
sure your arm is relaxed, and number four,
we're going to have a nice hand and
finger shape. Today we're going to be
using the left hand and we're going to
be playing a C, which you'll remember
from a previous lesson is the note right
before D. D is right inbetween a
group of two black keys. C is the note
just to the left of that right here. Ok, so
we're going to take our left-hand finger
two and just drop on that C. Let's do
that together and count-out 1 2 3 4, always
dropping on beat one. Ready, go 1 2
3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, good. When you
drop you're going to let gravity kind of
just fall, and then you're gonna float up
with your forearm, and then just drop
every time on beat one. Now to make this sound
more cool we're going to add an
accompaniment.
Let me show you what that will sound
like. There's four beats to get ready and
then we start. Here it is, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4,
1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4.
Nice.
Ok, now when you try it with me get
finger two ready.
Remember you're going to keep just
enough firmness in that finger to keep
that shape all the way down to this
knuckle. You want to avoid your finger
buckling backwards like this. Make sure
you keep enough firmness that it stays
in this nice naturally curved shape.
Ok let's try together. Get finger two
ready on C, and you're ready to count.
Here come the four prep beats, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4,
1 2 3 4
Nice, Ok now we're going to bring this
one to the next level, same way we did
with "D Journey" but this time we're gonna
boogie down the piano, so put yourself in
a position that you've got room to do
four C's going down. I'm gonna start on
my middle C, then down to C number two,
number three, number four.
We're going to count four beats on each
one, then we come back and do it one more
time. Let me show you how to do it once.
Here it goes.
1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4.
Mr. Hoffman? Yes, Scuba?
I've been following along with your lesson today
and this counting out loud thing is kind
of getting annoying and it's messing up my playing.
I see.
Can I just not count? It's hard!
Well, hard is good. Huh?
You see, I love watching my students
suffer. Wha ha ha! No, just kidding.
Scuba, I ask you to do hard things
sometimes to build your skills, to
challenge you, to help you get better.
Counting is a very valuable skill that
if you master it's going to come in very
useful in later, more advanced songs you
might want to learn.
Oh, okay. I'll do it. I do want to get better.
Super. If you find it annoying to say it
in full voice it's okay to just whisper
it, but I do want to see your mouth moving.
You got it, Mr. Hoffman! Well, I'm off to go practice.
Bye-bye Scuba. Now remember like before
whenever you're done playing you're
going to float up your forearm and let
your hand go limp. Releasing that tension
is so important to learn to do in piano.
As we get to more advanced songs the
more relaxed you are the faster and more
flexible your fingers are going to be, so
this is a great way to practice this
habit early on.
Now before we try this together press
pause and try, a couple times on your
own, counting out loud
1 2 3 4, moving down the piano, then when
you're ready to try it with me
press play to go on.
All right let's give it a try together, so
finger two on C, and here come the four
prep beats, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4,
1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4,
Nice job. As always you can always
rewind, you can try it again, press pause,
practice on your own.
Keep trying until you feel like you've
mastered it with the great piano posture
that we're looking for. Great job
learning how to play "C Boogie" using
your great piano posture and while
counting out loud. Please remember to
practice all the songs you know every
day using your best piano posture.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Princess?
Yes, Scuba? What exactly is a boogie?
It sounds kind of weird. Boogie. Boogie!
Boogie is a style of blues music played on the
piano with a fast beat.
Boogie! Oh.
It can also just mean to dance,
like, let's boogie. Boogie!
You're so cute, Baby, but you don't even know what you're saying, do you?
Boogie! Cute.
Come on, Princess.
Boogie!