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Bluesiest Piano Riff

Jordan Leibel  /  Styles  /  UPDATED Jan 13, 2023

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This blues riff is so simple, so sweet and so bluesy. The beautiful thing about a riff like this is that once you’ve mastered it you can build out on the core concept to turn it into sophisticated sounding blues solos.

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Let’s learn this riff in the key of A minor. If you place your right hand in the shape of an Am7th chord you will be set up for all the notes you will need! This riff is based off of thirds. All you need to do is play  E/G to D/F# to C/E and then back up to D/F# and finally land on C/E. That’s it! Once you’ve got that mastered, you can add in the left hand using a simple root note bass or using the blues bassline that Jordan demonstrates in the lesson. The riff works over top of the 1, 4, and 5 of the blues progression making it the perfect beginners blues riff because you don’t have to move your right hand around once you’ve established your main positioning.

Watch the lesson.  Try the riff in the key taught and then challenge yourself to explore it in a variety of keys!

Enjoy!


Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.

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