For those of you who have followed my Series on How to Play a Funk Groove on the Piano, I’ve got another free video series for you. This time — it’s over to the blues for 30 must-have blues piano licks.

Here’s the final demo of the series (after the break), where I run through a bunch of the licks from the series. Scroll down for links to the downloadable music (as a PDF), downloadable MP3 files of the backing tracks and links to the entire series.
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While shooting some video at a local park, I was disappointed with the quality of the onboard microphone’s audio. I remembered stumbling across a web site describing a way to make a pair of binaural mics using an Altoids box. So… I decided to try and make something for myself. Read more

Back in November, 2007 I posted my video series on How to Play a Funk Groove on the Piano. A number of people have contacted me hoping for written music for the techniques shown in the videos. Unfortunately, its not a direct transcription of the demo/solo at the end, its simply the notation used for each of the techniques presented in the series — but it should be enough to get you going.

Techniques Used in How to Play a Funk Groove on the Piano (PDF).

I hope it helps — I’m always happy to answer questions. Just post a comment, that way the answer will be there for others who might have the same question.

UPDATE: By request, I’ve also posted two versions of the backing drum loop I used in the videos for your practicing! Unfortunately, I don’t have it at a variety of speeds. You would be able to slow it down using audio software (such as the free Audacity ). There is a single time through the loop — if you use Audacity, you can create as long of a loop as you’d like. I’ve also uploaded a 5-minute loop.

• Loopable Drum Backing (loop on your own in audio software, 35k)
• 5 minutes of the drum backing groove (4.7 mb)

Ah… the good old days.

In high school and college, I used to sit in front of my music gear for hours making little grooves just for fun. It would stretch on into the night and early morning, and it really wasn’t about wanting to be a rock star… it was about having a good time making music, regardless of who heard it.

Now, of course, I’m approaching 40, and with my job, my house, my family, and no space for the old music gear, it just doesn’t happen much these days. Read more

Until I can finish up some posts on some more exciting things (of which, there are many), here are a few more photos:

Too much stuff, not enough time. A few photos in the meantime:

All photos taken with my trusty, but now somewhat outdated Canon AE-1 film camera. If only my digital camera could take such nice pictures…

I’m happy to announce the launch of my alter-ego site, www.chilkari.com the new home of my electronic music. You can listen to some of my selected electronica and trance pieces there, and download the MP3s for playing on your iPod, or what-have-you. You can also head over to my channel on Odeo to subscribe to my podcast, so that you never miss another thumping beat, just as they roll off the presses.

I’ve edited this post to provide a concise set of links to the music, backing drum loops and videos, in order. Hope this helps.

• PDF of music
• Loop-it-yourself drum backing
• 5-minutes of drum loop
• Video 1 – Intro
• Video 2 – Lead-In Line
• Video 3 – Bass Line
• Video 4 – Right Hand Comping 1
• Video 5 – Right Hand Comping 2
• Video 6 – Stab Breaks
• Video 7 – Hangs
• Video 8 – Bass Techniques
• Video 9 – Riff Variation
• Video 10 – Stops & Glissandos
• Video 11 – Tremolo
• Video 12 – Double Stops
• Video 13 – Left Hand “Helpers”
• Video 14 – Rolling Blues Chords
• Video 15 – Accent Notes
• Video 16 – Aggressive Riff Variation 1
• Video 17 – Aggressive Riff Variation 2
• Video 18 – Full Song

The final video in the series, demonstrating all of the techniques from the series is after the break: Read more

It is with a heavy heart that I report that our cat, Sunny, who recently was involved in some other emotional turmoil, passed away last night. Read more

With the new gig eating up most of my time, I can only point to some other things out on the net that are worth checking out. I particularly like this duo, because they assume their audience is smart enough to appreciate all of the tiny little hand and finger movements which are what truly make this performance stand out. Excellent.