Blog for Norm Zarr piano lessons studio, Portland, Oregon.
503-253-8021
Piano lessons, keyboard lessons, relaxed lessons.
Children and adults, beginners welcome
Reading music, playing by ear, blues improvisation
Popular, classical, blues, jazz, new age
“This Is Such A Blast. I’m Finally Learning What I Wanted, Improvise Blues Piano.” – J. Simmons
“Playing The Blues By Ear Has Always Been My Dream. What Fun.” – Sandra Michaels
“Soon I’ll Be Able To Jam With My Friends”
– D. Baker
Why Blues Piano?
Learning Blues Piano is a great way to expand your piano skills. Blues piano is a great introduction to learning to play by ear, playing jazz, and becoming fluent on the keyboard. Students who acquire basic facility with blues, experience a sense a freedom of being able to play piano with ease and little effort. What makes Blues Piano so much fun? It’s spontaneous, energetic, experimental, imaginative. It’s the most playful type of music.
Students who already play, will discover that learning blues improvisation, will revitalize and energize their playing. It’s a terrific way to learn how to jam along with your friends. Those of you who are complete beginners, will want to spend a few months learning to read music before beginning blues. Once you have basic playing skills, blues is an excellent way to be introduced to new playing techniques.
Along with blues, you might also be interested in working on some extra theory, learning arrange your own music, and writing original music. If you sing, you might want to learn to accompany your voice with chords. Children love to experiment on piano, and blues gives them a way to use their imagination. They take to it immediately and it’s inventive nature.
What Is The Blues?
Blues is truly the original American music. It’s artistic, soulful, and very innovative. The twelve bar blues progression is a structure of chords combined with melodies and improvised. Blues played on the guitar is generally slow and melancholy, and accompanied by vocals. On the piano, blues often has no vocals, and the music is much faster, and full of creative energy.
Blues is a kind of jazz, and it’s a great way to get introduced to the world of jazz improvisation. Blues and jazz have influenced music for decades. It’s everywhere, and internationally loved and appreciated. Some popular blues players piano players are: Oscar Peterson, Abdullah Ibrahim, Otis Spann, Dr. John, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Professor Longhair, Barrelhouse Chuck. Blues piano can evoke emotions in many ways. Its constant swirl of textures can be imaginative, delicate, rambunctious, evocative, captivating, elegant, and playful.
Getting Started
Music stores are full of ‘Learn To Play Blues Piano’ books. However, I’ve yet to find a student who could make sense of the material presented in book form. They end up confused and frustrated. Learning blues piano is a hands on experience. I’ve taught hundreds of students to understand and blues. One-to-one training is effective, and the way to go.
Playing blues on the piano is very well suited for beginner players. To learn to play blues, students don’t need any previous piano experience. We can start right at the beginning with reading music. As soon as the student has enough playing skill, we can begin the blues. If you already play piano and have a good ear but don’t read music, then we can begin blues right away.
The Lessons
My approach to blues is unique; modern, clean, easy to understand. Learning 12 bar blues starts with the left hand chord progression and right hand melodies. I’ll show you all the steps you need to play a real nice blues. After a short time practicing the basics, you’ll be improvising your very first original blues. I’ll teach you everything you need to know to master the basic styles of blues.
You should find blues piano to be a delightful introduction to improvisation. Those who are starting piano from the beginning will enjoy the freedom of playing without music. Those of you that already play will find new energy and expression in this engaging music. If you have tried playing jazz piano, and found it too hard, blues piano should be a much easier style to learn. Each student is a unique individual, so the lessons are guided by each students interests and comfort level.
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| Examples of Blues |
Some techniques covered in the lessons:
• Understanding Basic Chord Theory
• Left & Right Hand Swing Rhythms
• Left Hand Walking Bass
• Left Hand Rhythmic Variations
• Alternative 12 Bar Chords
• Diminished Chords & Scales
• Boogie Woogie & New Orleans Styles
Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Portland, Oregon
Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Portland, Oregon
“Wonderful, fun lessons for my child. Patient, experienced teacher. Fun lessons. My daughter has been studying piano here for over two years. She loves the lessons and is fascinated with music. She learns to read music, and does theory, chords, melodies, composing music. Her teacher gives her lots of encouragement. She takes pride in what she has accomplished.
We spent time interviewing potential teachers here in Portland. This teacher had the experience, patience, and relaxed teaching method that was a perfect match for us. Our daughter looks forward to piano lessons every week, and that is just what we wanted.” – W. Houser
“Fabulous teacher. The lessons are excellent and so much fun. I learned really quickly. His method of teaching made me feel at ease, and he is very patient. It’s clear that he loves teaching piano. I am learning a wide variety of music and I feel a sense of accomplishment after each lessons. I am learning to read music and play by ear; something I’ve always wanted to do. I am totally happy with my piano teacher.” – George Greve
“My kids really enjoy these piano lessons here. Their instructor is a very talented educator.The lessons are wonderful and my children are learning so many great things on piano. My 8 year old girl loves the classical and new age pieces. My son, 9 loves to play ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Lion Sleeps’ and is composing music and make recordings of what he is done. The lessons are much more than just piano lessons. They are a complete music education.
They learn about the history of the piano, music in the current world, all about recording studios, how to play music with other kids. This is the one activity outside of school that they truly enjoy, and I want to take advantage of that interest.” – J. Kern
“Our children love playing the piano. They are rapidly acquiring new skill. I am proud of them. My children are 5 and 7, and are learning quickly. They are quite enthusiastic about playing piano and we are very satisfied with our piano teacher. He is very good at inspiring and praising and them. He’s so patient with them. They often get fresh, new, interesting music, and this keeps them moving forward. My piano teacher makes learning easy and fun, and keeps me inspired.
He encourages them and supportive when they get stuck. It’s particularly rewarding to watch them develop a sense of accomplishment with their progress. They read music, play by ear, and do lots of recording projects that they love. Coming over to lessons each week is a family outing and something we love doing together.” – A. Manew
“He’s great with my kids. We are so thrilled at finding this teacher. Our kids really like going to their lessons, and always leave happy and inspired about music. The love playing both the piano and the keyboard. They are quickly gaining skills and confidence. Their progress is excellent. The other day, some of my friends remarked how nicely they play piano.
Both my son and daughter like the music they get, and especially like to record what they have learned. We have recordings and videos of them playing at the studio, and it’s a great thing to email their grandparents who live far away. I looked around for just the right teacher for them, and I’m pleased with my choice.” – P. Stevens
“My son’s piano teacher is the best. My son is making excellent, rapid progress. And my son loves taking lessons and playing his songs. He gets to learn to do all kinds of things, in addition to reading music. The lessons are just plain terrific for him.
I wish Public school could be like this! He is learning to read music and compose his own songs from scratch. In addition to piano, he is getting a complete music education. This is important to me because I think it’s essential to his future. I am completely happy with the piano lessons and am so pleased we found this teacher.”
– J. E. Wheeler
“Super piano lessons. Very patient & supportive teacher. I am very happy with our teacher. My 9 year old son really enjoys his lessons. His teacher is extremely competent and the results we see are excellent. He makes the lessons fun, has a great sense of humor, and gets my son to move forward by challenging him in a supportive way, always making sure he feels supported.
Here, my son gets to learn to read all kinds of fun music, learns how to play by ear, and gets to record music at the studio. He loves making soundtracks with piano, bass, drums, flute, and all sorts of other instruments. He just completed making a CD, which he is so proud of. I am very happy with the piano lessons. He is the best piano teacher.” – Charles Bradley
“My kids really love taking piano and keyboard lessons. Their teacher is just great! My kids, 7 and 9, have lots of fun playing piano at home. We’ve been doing lessons here for almost 3 years. It is so pleasing for the children to have such a positive thing to do. They play duets together, and get to try music from all around the world.
They also are creating their own CS’s and writing their own pieces. Their teacher does a great job encouraging them. I like the new skills that my children are learning, especially being challenged, working hard at something, and not quitting. They are learning skills that will help them with other challenges in life. The piano lessons really inspire them.” – Bette Parker
“We’re very happy with their teacher. My kids are excited about piano lessons. They really love playing. He makes the lessons interesting and fun at the same time. They are learning to read music, play by ear, compose music, make CD recordings. They are having a great time. They do lots of fun stuff to keep them engaged. I’m totally pleased with their progress.
Music education is important to a child’s development. Many studies show that playing piano improves children’s overall performance in school. We can readily see this. I want my kids to have the best education they can.”
– K. Tannes
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Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Portland, Oregon
Beginning piano lessons is an exciting start to a new world of music. People who can play piano or keyboards attain an entire new outlook about music and their understanding. There are a number of avenues to becoming a well rounded musician. Learning to read music is the most basic skill. It will enable you to play all sorts of interesting and fun pieces. There is an amazing amount of music available from every genre imaginable; Pop, rock, classical, new age, blues, jazz, and folk are just a few. Then there is the ethnic and world music from around the world.
Another skill that students may want to explore, is learning to play by ear. Understanding melodies and chords and how they are formed into a piece of music is fascinating. Being able to hear a song and then play it is magical.
Blues improvisation is so much fun. It’s another skill that is unlike reading or playing by ear. With all the playing ability that’s achieved, it’s natural for students to want to play music with other people. Playing duets and jamming is a blast.
Playing by ear is something that appeals to many students. Studying chords and melodies increases one’s ability to translate the sound we hear to playing the notes. In addition, blues improvisation and theory are a great addition to playing by ear.
Other techniques that can be learning are accompanying vocals, arranging, composing, and song writing. Recording a video to share is a great way to show friends or family members what you are up to.
• Individual Piano & Keyboard Lessons
• Beginners Welcome To Start Anytime
• Patient Teacher, Experienced
• Easy-going No Stress Lessons
• Children and Adults, All Ages
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Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Portland, Oregon
