Product Description

David Cohen continues his expert instruction in blues piano, taking you beyond the beginner’s level and firmly into intermediate territory. Again, the heart and soul of this lesson is in your ability to improvise, and David gives you all the tools you’ll need to make up your own solos, completely by ear.

Starting his lesson with various kinds of "slow blues," the emotional and dramatic form that is the basis for so many great songs, David demonstrates variations in the basic chord progression as well as an array of bass lines, chord voicings, turnarounds and familiar-sounding riffs.

You’ll then get into the "New Orleans Rumba," with its infectious rhythms and funk-based sounds made famous by Professor Longhair, Dr. John and many other Crescent City players.

Finally, David wraps up his instructional method with a rockin’, straight-time boogie-woogie, giving you yet another blues format to add to your newly found repertoire.

David’s approach to teaching is systematic and logical, and he packs an amazing amount of information into this DVD lesson, giving you enough material to keep you busy for months to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62046 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 70 minutes

Customer Reviews

Country Joe and the Fish!
Mr. Cohen, having played for the sixties psychedelic band Country Joe and the Fish, imparts his deep musical knowledge in this video.

If you have some piano experience and basic knowledge of the blues you will find this video useful. The lessons are well formatted and informative and Mr. Cohen begins by demonstrating how to play a basic blues on the piano. Subsequent lessons show blues licks that we all know and love. With a little effort you will be up and playing these licks quickly.

The video is professional shot and edited. Mr. Cohen plays a beautiful piano and there are snippets of his improvised playing which serves to inspire and motivate the student.

Well worth the price tag considering the cost of hiring a piano teacher.

boring
i lost interest almost immediately. i should have read the description better because i was under the impression it would be more of a instructional video for beginners where you have more to look at besides the teacher the whole time. would have preferred some written music showing up now and then or for him to raise and lower his voice. some reviewers say it's good for beginners but i disagree. i can read music and prefer to stick with that, not make up my own songs using chords.

Perfect for New Orleans Piano
Although the title suggests that this is primarily instruction in blues, Cohen spends a lot of time on New Orleans style piano in the tradition of Professor Longhair, James Booker, and Doctor John, which I love. He even has a great zen quote on New Orleans blues: "It's very simple music: but that does not mean it is easy to play." He takes it slowly, but you still need to be equipped with a laptop or portable dvd player sitting on top of your piano and one finger on the pause button. Compared to other instructional videos, this one you can actually figure out what notes he is playing and the proper syncopation; his theory instruction is useful (I suggest first spending some time getting familiar with basic theory: scales, intervals, and standard "fake book" chording and inversions). I contrast this instructional video to Dr. John's videos which are dazzling but downright comical in his inability to tell you how he did it.