Playing Piano Songs Using Swing Bass

Swing bass is a style which provides not only the chords of the song, but also creates a rhythm.

Good morning. This is Duane. We’ve been doing a series called “How to Color Without Crayons on the Piano.” In other words, how to make our songs colorful. When I teach a song, I’m not really teaching the song itself. I’m teaching transferable concepts that will apply to lots and lots of different songs. Last time we talked about form in the song “Ain’t She Sweet.” But there’s form in every song, so if you haven’t reviewed that, be sure and do that first because it’s important. When you learn the form of a song, you can learn it faster and remember it better. We said that in “Ain’t She Sweet,” there’s eight measures. Then it turns around and then it does it again. Another eight measures. Then we said there’s a bridge which is eight measures. Then the final eight measures, which is just like the first eight measures. By learning eight measures, you’ve really learned three-quarters of the song, haven’t you? That puts you way ahead.

That’s called musical form. Every song has some kind of musical form. You just need to figure out what it is and then apply it. Now the second thing I’d like to teach you about “Ain’t She Sweet” is what my left hand is doing. This is called swing bass. Watch my left hand. You know why it’s called swing bass? Sure, because my arm swings back and forth. Low note, chord. Now you have to know what the chords are, but in a fake book or even a printed sheet it usually tells what the chords are. You can figure it out. The first chord is E flat, so I’d hit a low E flat. Then I’d come up and play some form of the E flat chord. I’m playing an E flat 6th. It doesn’t matter what inversion I play it in. I could do it there or there or wherever I want. In any case, as I play that low E flat I push my pedal down and only let it up as I play the chord. It hooks that low note to the chord, doesn’t it?

The next chord is E diminished 7th, so I hit a low E and then the E diminished 7th. The next chord is F minor 7th so I hit a low F, pushing the pedal down and keeping it down until I play the chord, then letting it up. Then the next chord is B flat 7th. Again, E flat, E diminished 7th, F minor 7th, F, B flat 7th, E flat, G, C 7th, F 7th, B flat 7th, E flat. Then it repeats [singing 03:19]. That’s what the swing bass is. You swing back and forth between a low note and a chord. If I were just learning that I would practice hands alone. I’d just do the left hand until I got the feeling of swinging back and forth. Now at first you’re probably going to have to look down at your hands, but in time you can be doing something else and you can pretty well find those notes because of the muscle memory in your left hand.

That’s it for swing bass. Tomorrow we’ll take the right hand. In the right hand I want to show you how to break up chords in the right hand under the melody. For example, I do this. Lots of ways to do it, but that’s one way I do it. I’ll cover that tomorrow. Then the next session after that will be the bridge. That’s an entirely different style. When you get to the bridge of a song you want to make it contrasted with the theme of the song. You have not only a different sound but you have a different style going on too. That’s it for today. If you enjoy these little piano tips, come on over to playpiano.com and sign up for our whole series of tips. I hope to see you there. Bye bye for now.

***For lots more good stuff on piano playing come on over to my website at https://www.playpiano.com and sign up for our free piano tips – “Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions!”

Here’s a great little book on chords and chord progressions on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chords-Chord-Progressions-Exciting-ebook/dp/B0076OUGDE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404158669&sr=1-1&keywords=piano+chords+duane+shinn

Here is the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ-kQlIvQ0I&feature=youtu.be

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