Hi all, I've been practising boogie woogie for a little while using this amazing website! I know some left hand patterns and licks now, but I'd like to know more about right hand improvisation. Could you just use the 8 licks and their variations, or are there some chords and scales that can be used as well?
Thanks! Jelte
Great question Jelte, thanks for joining the site! Using the 8 licks and their variations (keep in mind Lick #7 and #8 ARE scales) will be a GREAT starting place for improvisation. In addition I recommend two things...
Once you have a foundation of the 8 licks, start listening to songs and try to figure out what the piano player is doing by ear. At first you may not get every thing, but see if there are some things you can pick out. The more songs you do this for, the better you will get. Imitation of this sort is an essential learning skill.
The second thing is, if you have my book "How to Play Boogie Woogie Piano", Chapter 15 "Combining Licks and Soloing" addresses a beginning approach to improvising that I teach my students.
Licks can be connected with a few notes from either scale (Lick #7 or Lick #8) but usually they are either played in a way that connects them to each other, or just played one after another with no connecting notes.
Hope this helps! If you get stuck you can always contact me for some one on one help in a private lesson - either in NYC or on Skype.