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Do you want to light up your piano playing rock and roll, but you don’t know where to start? Well, in today’s Quick Tip, 3 Steps to Play Rock and Roll Piano, Jonny May is here to help you take your first steps toward that exhilarating rock and roll piano sound! You’ll learn:

• Introduction
• Rock and Roll Piano Step-by-Step
  • Step 1: Rock and Roll Left Hand
  • Step 2: Rock and Roll Chords
  • Step 3: Rock and Roll Licks & Riffs

Introduction

Rock and roll (also spelled “rock ‘n’ roll”) is a genre of American popular music that gained widespread popularity in the 1950s. Rock and Roll combines musical aspects of earlier popular styles including boogie woogie, rhythm and blues, electric blues, jump blues, gospel and country music. Beyond the music, rock and roll came to symbolize an influential cultural movement expressing the hearts, minds and attitudes of American young people in the middle of the 20th century.

“The music…was new, it was different, and that was what [teenagers] wanted: out of a nascent sense that the world in which their parents had come of age had changed or in some deeper, inexpressible manner disappeared, a sound that made the notion of a new life a fact, even if that fact lasted only a minute and a half.”¹

—Greil Marcus, Music Journalist & Author

Understanding the ethos of Rock and Roll music also helps to explain the some of the wild and unconventional performance techniques of its practitioners. For instance, must-know rock and roll pianists Little Richard (“Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally”, “Good Golly Miss Molly”) and Jerry Lee Lewis (“Great Balls of Fire,” “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Wild One”) frequently employed performance antics that are perhaps best described as “piano stunts”: lavish glissandi, playing under one’s leg, pounding the upper register, playing with the foot, and so on.

Despite the outlandish performance techniques referenced above, the rock and roll piano style also includes some more methodical patterns and techniques. For instance, a rock and roll pianist’s left hand often plays a driving 8th-note accompaniment pattern while the right hand contributes catchy licks and riffs. In the next section, you’ll learn to master these essential rock and roll piano skills.

Rock and Roll Piano Step-by-Step

Would you believe that piano students can learn how to play in the classic rock and roll piano style by mastering just three steps? It’s true! In fact, in this section of today’s rock and roll piano tutorial, we’ll examine each step one at a time. By the way, the sheet music examples in this section are excerpted from the lesson sheet PDF that accompanies this lesson. Today’s lesson also includes 3 backing tracks for play-along practice. These resources appear at the bottom of this page after you’ve logged in with your PWJ membership. In addition, PWJ members can also easily transpose the lesson materials to any key using our Smart Sheet Music.

Step 1: Rock and Roll Left Hand

The first step to playing rock and roll piano is learning to master a left-hand accompaniment groove like the one shown below. This driving 8th-note pattern is the chassis on which a rock and roll piano performance is built. Note, this example follows the standard 12-bar blues form, a common structural feature found in many rock and roll songs. (Also, it’s important to note that the 8th notes are played as “straight 8ths,” as opposed to a swung 8ths).

Can you play this groove comfortably? If so, then try putting your skills to the test with one of the 3 backing tracks. Afterward, continue on to Step 2.

Step 2: Rock and Roll Chords

The second step to playing a great rock and roll piano groove is learning to add some stylized right-hand chords. Even though the chord symbols on rock and roll sheet music often indicate dominant 7th chords, we can get a more representative rock and roll piano sound by coloring these chords a bit. For instance, on the C7 chord, we’ll slide from F♯ to G with the index finger. Also, for F7 and G7, we’ll actually play dominant 9th chords, which incorporate an extra color note. In addition, we’ll add a cool tremolo effect on longer durations.

By this point, you’re already playing a great-sounding rock and roll piano groove. In the next step, you’ll build up your solo chops with some flashy rock and roll piano licks and riffs!

Step 3: Rock and Roll Licks & Riffs

The last step to playing rock and roll piano is being ready to cut loose with some flashy solo riffs and licks. We’ve got your covered here in Step 3.

Lick 1

Our first rock and roll lick is a cutting upper-register riff (note the 8va designation) in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis. The example below demonstrates this lick over C7; however, Lick #1 can be played without transposition over any of the chords in the C blues form.

Lick 2

Our second lick uses 16th notes to produce a rapid rolling effect that is loaded with excitement. All of the notes in Lick #2 come from the C minor blues scale. In the example below, each group of 16th notes begins with the note C as a top harmony note. This C is played with the pinkie finger while the G♭ is played with the middle finger. However, if you have a smaller hand or if you find that this stretch causes discomfort, you can get a similar sound by playing either an A or a B♭ on top instead of the C. Note, this lick also works over all of the chords in the C blues form.

Lick 3

Our third lick is a fun, descending blues run that combines 8th notes, triplets, top harmony and a slide at the end. The demonstration below is modeled over the C7 left-hand pattern. However, this can also be played over the 2nd and 3rd phrase of the blues form with a slight modification. Specifically, when Lick #3 ends over an F7 chord, just keep the index finger on E♭ for the final note (instead of sliding up to E♮).

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve completed today’s lesson on 3 Steps to Play Rock and Roll Piano. As a result, we hope that you are fired up to continue toward all of your piano goals!

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

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¹ Marcus, Greil. The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Ten Songs. Yale University Press, 2014, p. 17.

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