How to Play Great Balls of Fire
Posted by Dan in Rock Piano Songs on April 19, 2010
Can you really talk about how to play rock piano without mentioning Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire? I think not! So for a ‘rock and roll’ piano lesson and demonstration, this is a great example to start with…
This is one of those rock piano songs that is all about energy and speed. There are really only a few main bits to learn… a straight forward 1-4-5 chord progression; the right-hand motif — a classic rock piano lick; the walking bass in the left hand; and then a couple dissonant intervals with a few glissandos played during the instrumental (the really run stuff!).
I’ve tried to break down the parts of the song with the titles that appear at the top of this video, but I realize it moves by fast! You can pause the video to examine each part a little more closely.
The main motif in the right hand (appearing during each verse) may be a little tricky for some, but you can pick it up with practice. Basically– while you are in the C chord of the progression–it consists of rhythmically alternating between the notes C+E+G (i.e. a C chord) and C+F+A (F chord, 2nd inversion), with a quick little “roll” off of Eb+Gb to E+G at the beginning of each phrase. Then you follow the exact same pattern when the chord progression moves to F: alternating between F+A+C and F+Bb+D, this time just rolling off of Ab. After that you follow the same pattern for the G chord (alternating between G+B+D and G+C+E), but only half as long, then another F chord for half as long, and back to C for full length again.
The chorus progression, which starts on Fdom7 and moves back to C, has some of the same elements, but during the Fdom7 part, I’m actually playing A+Eb+D in the right hand. When played over an F walking bass line in the left hand, that essentially makes an F dom7+9 (never mind if that is going over your head. Just play those notes and you’ve got it).
Focus on getting each of the parts down, one hand at a time. Once you’ve got the parts, you can practice playing them together, just be sure to slow it way way down. Use a metronome to help you. As you begin pick it up, you can eventually start to increase the tempo.
Having said all that, you may notice that people sometimes play this song a little differently. Sometimes the left hand is more of bouncing alternation between C+G and C+A, instead of a walking bass line. Sometimes people don’t play the piano riff in the right hand (though this is one of the things you will hear in Lewis’ recording), but instead just play the major chord or the dom 7 chord in the right hand. The point is, with rock and roll piano like this, you can skin it a few different ways and still be jamming Great Balls of Fire. Once you master the progressions, rhythms, and “feel” of rock piano, you can play it all kinds of ways. That’s part of what makes rock piano so fun.
How to Play Rock and Roll Piano – The 1-4-5 Chord Progression
Posted by Dan in Rock Piano Basics on March 29, 2010
One of the most characteristic chord progressions of rock and roll is what is known as the “1-4-5” progression. If you are interested in how to play rock and roll piano, this is one of the fundamental piano lessons you need to grasp.
The numbers 1-4-5 each refer to a note in the scale of the root key for the song, and the chords which are based on each of those notes. For example, in the key of C major, the scale going up from low C to high C is this: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. If you were to assign a number to each of those notes, then low C would be “one,” D would be “two,” and so on through B which is seven. That means that F is “four” and G is “five.” So, in the key of C, 1-4-5 represents the notes C-F-G.
Now, if you were to play a major chord, making each of those notes the root of the chord, what you could get is a C major chord (comprised of C, E, and G notes), an F major chord (consisting of F, A, and C), and a G major chord (G, B, and D). So, these three chords are the basis of the 1-4-5 chord progression. Got it?
A great many rock and roll songs, old and new, have progressions which are variations of these three chords, sometimes with another chord or two thrown in for transitions or an alternate part. You’ll find this progression at work in a couple of the videos I have posted here on the site, including “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis (a classic example of a rock and roll progression), as well as John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Remember how we said that rock music is usually based on a count of four beats? We call that basic unit of four beats a “bar.” When we put a chord progression together, we usually indicate how may bars each chord is held for, before we go to the next one. Let me spell out the chord progression for the first verse of Great Balls of Fire: C-C-F-F-G-F-C-C (or, 1-1-4-4-5-4-1-1). What we have here is a nice even set of eight bars which alternate (in a deliberate way) between the “one,” “four” and “five” chords in the key of C.
Catching on yet? The concept is actually quite simple, and once you pick it up, you will begin to notice how many songs are based on this kind of pattern, or some variation of it. Some songs will have more or less bars for each chord, or will switch up the order a little for a different sound. You can do it in a minor key, instead of major, which changes the feel of the song. But if you just sit at the keyboard and start playing with these three basic chords (doesn’t matter what key, but C is often a good place to start), you will inevitably start playing the chord progression to some rock song.
Now that you’ve got the idea, give it a shot. See how quickly you can start playing “Louie Louie” or “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” (which is almost exactly the same as “Summer Nights” from the movie Grease). How about Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”. The list is endless. One you’ve got a few of these down, you are well on your way to really knowing how to play rock and roll piano.
How to Play Rock Piano – So You Wanna Know?
Posted by Dan in Rock Piano Basics on March 25, 2010
Hey, Dan here.
If you want to learn how to play rock piano, there are few musical basics you should understand which will help you pick up the style a lot faster. I’ll break them down in a second, but essentially they are rhythm, scales and chords, and improvisation.
The rhythm is one of the most distinguishing things about rock music. Rock music is typically based on counts of four, often with an emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beats (called the “backbeat”). You know, the beats you feel inclined to clap on when you hear the song (unless you are a polka fanatic, or you’re over 80 years old – no disrespect intended to either). A related quality to rhythm is the tempo, which usually runs at a quick pace in rock or pop music. One of the most characteristic features of rock music is its raw, fast energy– conveyed through its driving rhythm and upbeat tempo.
To understand how to play rock on piano, you also need to learn a little about chords and scales: in particular, the major, minor, and pentatonic scales. Basically, a scale is the range of playable notes, and chords are various combinations of different notes in a scale, which are played together at once. Don’t worry, there are plenty of rock songs you can learn on piano without having to know this stuff. But once you do, you’ll quickly be able to learn many songs by ear and even improvise in the style. Every rock song is built over a basic pattern that moves between several chords and then starts over again. This is called a chord progression. Rock music has its roots in the blues, and is based on many of the same chord progressions found in the blues. You can especially see this in the early days of rock and roll, where the separation between the two styles was still only recent.
I mentioned improvisation a moment ago. That is another major element of playing rock music, and it is what often throws off people who have had only traditional classical training—particularly piano players who are used to performing note for note from sheet music. Don’t get me wrong… its important to learn how to read music, especially if you want to be a well rounded musician. But have you ever bought a music book with your favorite pop or rock songs in it, and noticed when you played it that it doesn’t sound exactly like what you hear on the CD? That’s because the player is often improvising around the basic riff or motif of the song. Point is, rock music is about spontaneity and energy, and improvisation is one of the essential ways to convey that in the music. It’s what makes it possible to “jam”. Anyone who can play rock piano well eventually knows how to do it.
Well, that’s a super short introduction to the basics of rock music. Become a master of these three things on the keyboard, and you’ll know how to play rock piano like a pro in no time. Stay tuned… next time I’m going to get into a little more depth on rock chord progressions.
Who am I?
Hey I’m Dan Gallagher. Thanks for checking out my site on how to play rock piano.
There are few things I love more than playing the piano. As a kid I took some classical piano lessons, but (let's be honest) what I really wanted to do was play rock and pop songs. When I finally started to do it, though, I found out that the skills for playing rock piano are a bit different from classical music. A lot of the things I worked so hard to learn the "traditional" way didn’t really do me much good. I struggled for a long time before I understood the kind of skills that are necessary to pick up rock, blues, or pop piano songs. But, with a little help from the rights places, I was finally able to do it. And if I did it, you can too.
Enjoy the information here on this site, and feel free to see more about me by clicking on the About Me page below.
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