Blues Piano Tutorial: How To Play Big Blues Licks

Are you searching for a cool new blues piano tutorial? You’ve come to the right place.

In this lesson you’ll find a free sample from our blues piano DVD, “The Breakthrough Blues Piano Method.” (Free sample video tutorial below)

Update: The Breakthrough Blues Piano Method has been released. You can grab a copy by click right here

How I Went From Blues Piano Failure To A World Touring Pro

18 years ago I met one of my greatest piano mentors, Blues Hall of Fame pianist, Bruce Katz.

Prior to that, I had been trying to teach myself how to play blues piano for years.

Sure I had taught myself a few licks and some of the basics but so much was missing from playing.

When I compared my playing to people like Ray Charles, Otis Spann, Dr. John, and the great jazz blues pianists like Gene Harris & Oscar Peterson I sounded like a rookie.

It was incredibly painful. I hated the way I sounded and I knew I had to do something about it.

So, for 2 years Bruce and I sat together and he revealed many of the secrets that helped transform me from essentially a blues piano failure to a world touring blues pianist.

After studying with Bruce I moved to Chicago, and immediately started gigging 5 nights a week. Within 4 years I was touring nationally.

A few years after that I was:

• Touring internationally (14 different countries in 2 years)
• Appearing on TV (NBC, ABC, & WGN)
• Playing on radio (NPR & WLUP)
• Even playing with Grammy Award Winners (Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, etc.)

My transformation was amazing.

Sure, I put in the work in the practice room, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the things I learned from Bruce.

Learning From A Blues Hall Of Fame Pianist Is Rare

In the 2000’s Bruce was only teaching at the Berklee College of Music. So, very few students had the opportunity to even study with him.

The year after I left Berklee, Bruce got the gig touring with the legendary Greg Allman.

(Yes, the guy who started the Allman Brothers!)

So, with a busy touring schedule he wasn’t available to teach anymore. Period!

Short supply went to no supply!

This was very bad news for blues piano education.

Time To Unlock A Lifetime Of Blues Piano Secrets

Knowing that all those blues piano secrets were now essentially ‘locked away’ just killed me.

So, I knew I had to do something about it. I wanted to share what I had learned with as many people as possible.

So, this summer, I flew Bruce to our studio in Chicago.

Together we created a brand new DVD program to help students learn amazing blues & soul jazz piano…using the same template I used to achieve piano success.

What’s In The Breakthrough Blues Piano Method DVD?

Update: The Breakthrough Blues Piano Method has been released. You can grab a copy by click right here

We’ve received a tons of questions about the program so here’s some of the amazing things you’ll learn in this DVD.

Here’s What You’ll Get Access Inside The DVD

• Over 2 Hours+ Of World Class Blues Piano Secrets Filmed In HD.
• Sheet Music For Hundreds Of Great Blues Piano Licks.
• How To Play Chords Like Your Favorite Blues Artists.
• How To Play Blues Chord Substitutions & Chords Progressions Like Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, & Other Greats Jazzy Blues Artists.
• Helpful Text On Screen For Those Who Like To Learn More By Ear.
• Learn How To Play Power Blues Block Chords.
• An Amazing Formula For Building Fantastic Blues & Jazz Comping Chords.
• How To Mix Soul Jazz Techniques Into Your Blues Playing.
• Pro Blues Jam Tracks & MIDI Files So Practicing Will Be More Fun & Easy.
• How To Play Songs Like Stormy Monday (using the exact chords Bruce played when he toured with the Allman Brothers.) and others.
• A Powerful Collection Of Blues, Jazz, & Gospel Piano Bonuses To Explore
• And So Much More…

We Have Even More Exciting News!

Bruce and I have a long history of live performance and DVD releases. So, we come from the school of thought that a DVD release should be like a party!

So, I’m excited to announce that we’ll be including some amazing bonuses with the program. Gospel bonuses, Allman Brother bonuses, jam track bonuses, MIDI files, and much more.

We’re still approx. 2 weeks away from the release, but we wanted to give you a sample of the program right away and a free blues piano tutorial to start with. That way you could start practicing and learning right now.

Update: The Breakthrough Blues Piano Method has been released. You can grab a copy by click right here

Inside this video you’ll learn an easy but super effective playing concept called “The Drone Note Technique.”

By the way, the licks in this blues piano tutorial and hundreds of other ones are all written out and notated inside the special guides that comes with the DVD.

What’s You’ll Learn Next Week

Next week we’ve got another free sample blues piano tutorial to share with you.

Bruce is going to show you one of my favorite chord tricks you can do to bring an incredible jazzy flavor to a bland blues chord progression.

This is one of those techniques you’ll hear top pros use but very few know how to do it.

Bruce explains it masterfully too in our new sample blues piano tutorial!

Stay tuned and watch the site for the next free sample release.

If you’re on the FJL email list we’ll send the link to the video right to your inbox.

If you have questions about today’s blue piano tutorial sample, the DVD, or anything else please leave a comment below. I read every comment and I’m always happy to help!