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It is sometimes said that “playing the blues is easy.” In reality, the truth is more like “playing the blues poorly is easy.” However, playing the blues well takes skill and sensitivity. To that end, piano students who want to make significant progress toward an authentic blues sound have much to gain by focusing on isolated left-hand techniques. In today’s Quick Tip, 15 Essential Blues Piano Left Hand Patterns, Jonny May helps students develop an amazing blues piano feel by focusing on the left hand! You’ll learn:

• Introduction
  • Explore Blues Piano Patterns by Tempo & Feel
• 15 Left Hand Patterns for Blues Piano

Introduction

I first heard about the blues as a young piano student. At that time, playing the blues seemed pretty simple and straightforward—1 scale, 3 chords, 12 bars—voila! It wasn’t until I became an adult that I slowly began to realize that not everybody plays the blues the same way. I also discovered that, despite what I understood about the blues in theory, I didn’t actually play blues piano very well. In fact, I had experienced very little of the depth and breadth of the American blues tradition. Instead, I was more familiar with pop music derived from the blues. As a result, I knew just enough to recognize the familiar 12-bar form, but I had no capacity to actually play the blues in a convincing way.

Today’s lesson drills down on an important aspect of the blues sound that my childhood music training had omitted…the feel! Even though both hands of a pianist contribute to an authentic blues sound, it is the left hand in particular that most significantly establishes the feel. After studying the 15 left-hand patterns in today’s lesson, you’ll have a good framework for how to establish an appropriate feel in a variety of blues sub-genres.

Explore Blues Piano Patterns by Tempo & Feel

In today’s lesson, Jonny’s 15 blues piano LH patterns are ordered in progression from those that are most broadly applicable to those that are more narrowly applicable. However, depending on your musical interests and playing level, you can certainly study them in any sequence you’d like.  In fact, you can use the following link tree to browse Jonny’s left-hand blues piano grooves by tempo and feel. (Note, grooves with the ♫ icon have a “straight 8th-note” feel while grooves with the 🎶 icon feature “swung 8th notes” with an underlying triplet grid).

If you’re already a PWJ member, then be sure to download the lesson sheet PDF for today’s lesson. You can find the PDF at the bottom of this page whenever you are logged in with your membership. In addition, PWJ members can easily transpose the lesson sheet examples to any key using our Smart Sheet Music.

15 Left Hand Patterns for Blues Piano

Blues Left Hand #1:
Blues Shuffle

The first left-hand pattern in today’s lesson is the classic “Blues Shuffle” pattern. This is a “go to” accompaniment groove that is well-suited for many traditional blues songs. The following demonstration is recorded at a medium tempo of 90 BPM. However, this versatile groove will work well for tempos ranging from approximately 75–120. Note, the 8th notes in the shuffle pattern should be played with a swing feel.

The Blues Shuffle is a foundational skill for blues piano accompaniment. Therefore, once you’re comfortable playing this pattern in your left hand, it’s a good idea to learn how thicken this texture by adding right-hand harmonies. You can learn more about this two-handed Blues Shuffle in Lesson 2 of the following course:

🔎 Rockin Blues Bass Lines (Int, Adv)

Want to learn how to apply the Blues Shuffle accompaniment to a blues song? If so, then you’ll love the following course on W.C. Handy’s classic blues song, “St. Louis Blues”:

🔎 St Louis Blues Challenge (Beg–Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #2:
Slow Blues

Our next blues piano pattern is the “Slow Blues” left-hand. This sensual-sounding blues accompaniment pattern is comprised of two components: (1) a “rolling 10th” interval and (2) a chord in the middle register. The placement of chord is fairly simple in that it lands directly on beats two and four. However, the rolling 10th takes some getting used to. For instance, many beginners are accustomed to playing the root of the chord on beats one and three. However, in this pattern, the root actually enters on the 8th note preceding beats one and three. As a result, the 3rd of the chord lands on the strong beats. The following Slow Blues demonstration is recorded at a tempo of 68 BPM.

If you like the sound of this blues style, then you’ll love the following slow blues PWJ courses:

🔎 Summertime – Slow Blues (Int , Adv)
🔎 Bernie’s Blues – Slow Blues (Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #3:
Jump Blues

“Jump Blues” is a fast and energetic precursor to rock ‘n’ roll that combines musical characteristics from blues, swing and boogie woogie. Popular blues artists who played jump blues included Big Joe Turner, Amos Milburn and Floyd Dixon.¹ The following left-hand pattern captures the essences of the jump blues style.

If you want to play in the Jump Blues style, then check out the following course:

🔎 Jonny’s Jumpin Boogie (Int/Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #4:
Burlesque Blues

Our next blues piano pattern is the “Burlesque Blues” left-hand accompaniment. This medium-tempo style of blues piano comes from the Vaudeville Era and Burlesque shows from the 1920s. It has a big, bold sound and is a ton of fun to play! The following demonstration is recorded at 90 BPM, followed by a slower demonstration at 70 BPM.

Learn to master the Burlesque Blues piano style in the following courses:

🔎 Burlesque Blues Footsie Woman (Adv)
🔎 Cruella de Vil (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #5:
Chunky Blues

Our fifth blues piano left-hand pattern is a fast, “eight to the bar” boogie woogie accompaniment that Jonny calls “Chunky Blues.” While most boogie woogie patterns feature single-note bass lines, this pattern carries a little extra “chunk” owing to the commingling of single-notes with intervals, especially tritones. The following demonstration is performed at 140 BPM, followed by a slower demonstration at 95 BPM.

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Blues Left Hand #6:
Four-On-The-Floor

Our next left-hand pattern is the “Four-On-The-Floor” technique (also “4-On-The-Floor”). This soft and dense quarter-note accompaniment texture is commonly heard in a pianist’s left hand on slow-to-moderate blues and jazz tunes. The following Four-On-The-Floor demonstration is performed at 62 BPM.

Dig into additional “Four-On-The-Floor” chord shapes and explore a song application in the following course:

🔎 4-On-The-Floor Blues (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #7:
Boogie Octaves

Next, we have the traditional “Boogie Octaves” left-hand pattern. Boogie woogie is a fast-paced, instrumental sub-genre of blues that began in the late 19th century as a type of dance music in the “barrelhouse” taverns of northeast Texas.² The following Boogie Octaves demonstration is performed at 100 BPM.

The above Boogie Octaves pattern use a simple triadic shape. However, there are many boogie left-hand variations that incorporate additional chord tones and passing tones. For a deep dive on additional Boogie Octave patterns, check out the following course (see Intermediate Level Lesson 4 or Advanced Level Lesson 5):

🔎 Rockin Blues Bass Lines (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #8:
New Orleans Blues

Our next left-hand pattern is the “New Orleans Blues” sound associated with pianists like Dr. John and Professor Longhair. This bass line features a “straight 8ths” feel that draws on the root, 3rd and 5th of a major triad with an important chromatic approach note on the “and of beat 2.” The following left-hand demonstration is performed at 120 BPM.

Discover more vibrant and festive piano sounds from The Big Easy in the following lesson:

🔎  New Orleans Blues Piano – The Complete Guide (Int)

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Blues Left Hand #9:
New Orleans Spread

Blues left-hand piano pattern #9, the “New Orleans Spread,” is a variation on pattern #8. While the rhythm in each pattern is identical, the difference is that pattern #8 is a single-note pattern whereas pattern #9 employs the thicker sound of a chordal texture on beat 3. The following New Orleans Spread demonstration is performed at 120 BPM.

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Blues Left Hand #10:
Walking Blues

Blues piano left-hand pattern #10 is the jazz-blues walking bass line approach. The terms jazz-blues and bebop blues are both used to describe a hybrid musical style that overlays the structure of the blues form with more advanced jazz harmonies, rhythms and improvisation. The following “Walking Blues” demonstration is performed at 165 BPM.

For a deep dive on how to play jazz-blues piano with a walking bass line, check out the following course:

🔎 Jazzy Blues Comping (Int, Adv)

Afterward, you can explore even more ways to construct walking bass lines in our dedicated course on this topic:

🔎 Jazz Walking Bass Lines (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #11:
Rock Blues

Our next pattern is a “Rock Blues” accompaniment that emulates the style of rock ‘n’ roll pianist Jerry Lee Lewis. This fast “straight 8ths” pattern combines intervals and individual notes into a driving accompaniment groove. The following Rock Blues demonstration is performed at 145 BPM.

If you want to learn to play piano with an early rock ‘n’ roll sound, then be sure to check out the following course:

🔎 1950s Rock and Roll (Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #12:
Country Blues

Our next blues piano left-hand technique is the “Country Blues” sound of Floyd Cramer. This slow and relaxed pattern uses the root, 5th and 6th of each chord in a symmetrical layout that produces a lazy, lilting feel. The following Country Blues demonstration is performed at 70 BPM.

If you want to further explore this countryesque piano sound, then check out Lesson 4 in the following course:

🔎 Rockin Blues Bass Lines (Int)

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Blues Left Hand #13:
Funk Blues

Next, we have a “Funk Blues” left-hand pattern. This pattern uses “straight 8th notes” as opposed to “swung 8th notes.” However, the essence of the funk sound lies in syncopated 16th-note rhythms that launch from an emphatic stress on count one. The following “Funk Blues” accompaniment demonstration is performed at 105 BPM.

If you’d like to learn additional funk grooves and improv techniques, then check out the following course:

🔎 Funky Blues Soloing (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #14:
Stride Blues

Our next left-hand blues pattern is the “stride” approach. Stride is the proper name for a sub-genre of early jazz music that evolved from ragtime with notable stride pianists including James P. Johnson and Thomas “Fats” Waller. However, the term “stride” also describes a performance technique in which the left hand keeps a steady quarter-note pulse while simultaneously leaping or striding across the keyboard. This stride technique frequently appears in subsequent genres that evolved simultaneously after ragtime, including blues, jazz and traditional gospel music.

A simple stride pattern like the example below involves movement from a single bass note on counts one and three to a mid-register chord on counts two and four. The following “Stride Blues” demonstration is performed at 145 BPM, followed by a slower demo at 90 BPM. However, the stride technique can accommodate almost any tempo ranging from 60–250 BPM, with slower tempos engaging the damper pedal for a smoother ballad texture.

If you want to master the Harlem stride style played by pianists like Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, then be sure to check out the following course:

🔎 After You’ve Gone (Int, Adv)

For a different application, discover how to modify the left-hand stride pattern for 3/4 time in the following course:

🔎 Amazing Grace Piano Hymn – Slow Gospel Blues (Int, Adv)

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Blues Left Hand #15:
Pop Blues

Our final left-hand blues pattern is a “Pop Blues” approach. This pattern features a “straight 8ths” feel with light syncopation. The particular aspect of this example that adds a blues inflection is the chord progression itself. The chords are C major→B♭ major→F major→C major. Harmonically speaking, this makes the chord progression Ⅰ→♭Ⅶ→Ⅳ→Ⅰ in C major. Notice, the B♭ major chord is technically not in the key. Instead, it is a borrowed chord from the C Mixolydian scale (C–D–E–F–G–A–B♭). However, this borrow chord introduces the note B♭, which creates a tonal environment that is ripe for improvisation with the C minor blues scale (C–E♭–F–F♯–G–B♭). The following “Pop Blues” left-hand demonstration is performed at 155 BPM.

If you’d like to learn more Pop Blues techniques, then check out the following course:

🔎 How to Improvise a Solo With the Mixolydian Mode (Int, Adv)

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Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve finished today’s lesson on 15 Essential Blues Piano Left Hand Patterns. As a result, you have a strong foundation that will enable you to approach your next blues piano performance opportunity with confidence.

If you enjoyed this lesson, then be sure to check out the following PWJ resources:

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¹ Harrison, Mark. Blues Piano: The Complete Guide with Audio! Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 2003, p. 4.

² Lowry, Todd. Boogie-Woogie Piano : The Complete Guide with Audio! Edited by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2013, p. 7.

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