Edly
Paints the Ivories Blue
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Edly
Paints the Ivories Blue
(book 1), now in its second edition, teaches piano technique,
reading skills, improvisation, chords, and related theory. It's
intended for lovers of blues, jazz, rock, or any pop styles,
as well as "recovering traditionally-trained players."
Edly
Paints the Ivories Blue
is a bright blue alternative and supplement to traditional black
& white major-scale-based piano instruction books. It's as hip
and fun as it is educational. Bypassing twinkling stars and little
lambs, it teaches piano through blues songs written specifically
for this book. 48 pages softcover, black & white, $12 (one dollar
for every bar of a twelve-bar blues)
AUDIENCE:
• do-it-yourselfers (teacher input recommended)
• private students with teacher
• teenage to adult beginners
• traditionally trained players wanting to move towards
pop styles or improvisation.
MATERIAL:
• beginning piano instruction using the blues as the teaching
material;
keys of C, G, D, A, E, and F.
• reading: notes, rhythms, symbols, etc.
• improvisation
• blues form, melody, and chords
ORIENTATION
& TONE:
• alternative primary method, or supplement to a traditional
method.
• unusually hip, fun, and engaging for an instruction book
• user-friendly, humorous, heavily illustrated, attractively
laid out
• much more explanation than most piano method books
• encourages experimentation
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WHY THE
BLUES?
So glad you asked. In addition to the blues' own inherent rewards,
it's also a close relative of many types of jazz, rock, and pop,
and its chord progressions are found in many types of music.
Learning and playing the blues is a great
introduction to many styles*.
Second,
improvisation is an integral part of the blues. Any style that
fosters improvisation gets my "good teaching material"
vote. Young 'uns naturally improvise in their musical play, but
most traditional music instruction makes it easy for this instinct
to die of attrition. This approach attempts instead to nurture
it.
Third,
repetition is an important part of practicing. Blues is especially
full of repetition and patterns; melodic (the tune), harmonic
(the chords), phrased-based, accompaniment, etc. Put 'em all
together, and blues makes a great vehicle for learning piano.
Fourth,
I've had students who knew they wanted to focus on blues, rock,
or jazz right from the start. This book gives that focus a home.
Fifth and
finally, most people practice more when they enjoy the music.
Blues is fun and likeable, and therefore may get more playing
time than traditional material covering the same techniques.
The student progresses faster and is happy. The teacher's happy.
I'm happy. Everybody's happy. Ahhh, the power of a blue note,
a bit of swing, and the blues.
*...
the blues is a great introduction to many styles...
Like any organism, blues has grown and changed with time. The
twelve-bar form based on the I, IV, & V chords has emerged and
assumed reign as the most common standard, though plenty of variations
still exist. Many colors including whites have joined blacks
in blues. Blues itself has produced an 
impressive
family tree, and has had a role in the conception and development
of many styles, including jazz, rock, rhythm 'n' blues, country,
pop, etc. While blues lives on in more traditional contexts,
it has also been stripped and reclothed in outfits ranging from
fashionable to foppish, slick to cerebral. Its influence is not
to be underestimated. Why, I've even heard tell of a tale that
told that the great composer J. S. Bach, while studying at Yale,
would leave his wig, wife, and weekend wehearsal, motor a mod
Mercedes many miles, down brown-black beer in the din of booming
blues at the back of a candlelit club and be back in time to
lead the next morning's cantata.
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