About healthy boogie woogie
Hi! I know this is mostly a classical forum, but that's great for my questions. My question is how to adapt classical technique so that we can play a challenging boogie base in the left hand without injury or tiredness in a fast tempo and doing whatever scales or arpeggiation the music calls for in the right. I know this is a kind of a broad topic, and it stems from a swedish musician that said that without all his classical pianotraining he wouldn't be able to play all that boogie woogie without damaging his hands. He said it's all in the touch. But to me that's like asking how to fly a plane and getting the answer "by sitting in the cockpit"?
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Very apt description. Haha! All classical technique can be applied to any type of playing. I learned The Bumble Boogie when I was about 16 and was super frustrated because I couldn’t play as articulately and accurately as I wanted to. I have kept it up all of these years because it’s something my students and children and now my grandchildren love to hear! I love boogie woogie. As I have been playing this song for so many years whilst learning better technique I have been able to adapt my playing and really focus in on what helps it to be more smooth, quick and comfortable. It is the same principles you would transfer to playing anything. Know when and where to relax and where to be firm. I’ve found that having a stretched out hand all of the time hurts because it promotes tension. You have to relax your hand when playing the broken octave and release tension. This results sometimes in having to jump the octave a little but I’ve found I can go more quickly if I’m not tense. Accuracy and articulation is helped by targeting the note and playing with curved fingers, like all three knuckles curved. That helps with control. Follow the note with the body. That means you have to have flexibility in your wrist. It doesn’t mean your body is moving spastically, just indicates where the energy is coming from.
I hope that helps. Good luck with your boogie woogie. Last advice, always play with a metronome. Boogie woogie needs a really solid beat and you may think your inner beat is solid, but it’s not. Use the metronome and your brain will make it solid.
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Hey Kuro Let's not put barriers in music!
I composed a Boogie-Woogie dedicated to Pizza that also contains quotes from Liszt's Studies and the theme of the Neapolitan tarantella! I named It "Pizza slice: not a piece of cake!" and you can listen to it here:
https://youtu.be/hirGAd_neWg?si=v6pA1SA8lH7oY7K1
The base of the left hand in the Boogie-woogie is a Rolling bass of 4 notes that you can alternate as you want. Then you can add other difficulties or repeated notes, always with the swing rhythm!
I suggest Pianote for the Boogie-Woogie and modern piano music at a beginner level!
Ciao!
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Letizia Just listened to your pizza piece!! Adorable! Delightful!
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NANCY M thank you!
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I had the same problem. I played through some stride and it hurt my hand and sounded like an opera singer trying to do country….it’s a different idiom and that has to be respected.
Slow detached practice, touching each note, or octave, letting go and rotating to the next position eventually solved it. Also, recognizing that playing the base mezzopiano is plenty loud enough made it a lot less stressful.
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For reference this is the kind of boogie I'm talking about https://youtu.be/nRFwI5PSAwY?t=276
He's a classically trained pianist, that's extremely famous in Sweden. I've spoken to him and he recommended mostly Hanon and slow practice. In his biography he expands on it a little describing how his classical training helps him from being hurt(it's all about the touch!). And as a matter of fact in his over 50years of playing the piano he's never been hurt. I do know that his piano teacher had some russian influences. I'm just trying to figure out his technique.-
Kuro Key for healthy playing is muscle relaxation, either for boogie-woogie, rock'n'roll or classical music. That's it.
Ciao!
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Letizia Yeah! That's the paradox I'm trying to resolve.
Relaxation vs tension in the right spots! But thank you so much for your thoughts!
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