Funkify Your Piano Basslines

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Let’s talk about bass lines.  If you want to accompany yourself as a solo blues player, having some good bass-lines are essential.  Luckily, you can use the pentatonic scale in your left hand to create some great sounding basslines that are easy and versatile to play.  Once you figured out this bass-line, you’ll have something really great to improvise with and build hand independence!  

The only notes that make up this bassline are the root, the dominant 7th, and the octave.  This makes it super easy to transpose into another key or to work with a different set of chords.  To play this over a basic blues progression, all you have to do is take this pattern and move it up to start on the 4th, or the 5th.  You can then use 7th chords or pentatonic scales or what have you to great whatever you like over this chord progression. 

You can use such a simple bassline to strengthen a number of key skills.  You can learn it verbatim in conjunction with your right hand to build hand independence or you can you is as a launch point to start improvising with your LEFT HAND.  Developing bass-line improv instincts will make you a much more dynamic player.  You already know the notes that make up the pentatonic scale, so use them to experiment in your left hand as well as your right.  

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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.