Due to several recent requests, I took a few minutes tonight to play through my old 30 Must-Have Blues Licks tune and capture the MIDI file for upload. I played some left hand as well, because many people have asked about things they can do with their left hand while working the solo licks.

This is awfully raw :) — I just played and recorded, and didn’t fix mistakes or timing errors — but if you want a straight up recording of how I play it (wrinkles and all), here ’tis. Also — I was playing from memory, and I varied a bit from the original. A couple extra ghost notes, some different octaves — but the general tune is the same.

I opened it up in Synthesia, and it looked right to me (left hand/right hand parts split correctly, sounded correct). I hope this helps you aspiring blues players out.

Here’s the 30 Must-Have Blues Licks MIDI FILE.

I’ve also added it to the 30 Must-Have Blues Licks page itself.

P.S. — You may not know this, but I recorded the very first Funk Groove and this blues licks series in one marathon weekend. By the time I got to the “performance” clip for this it was literally about 3:30 a.m. — I was exhausted and it shows. As I go back and watch this video, I look like I’m about to collapse onto the keys :) Good times.

A guy’s gotta have a little fun every once in a while.

After finally wrapping up the video edits and uploading the last parts for the tutorial for Funk Groove #4 in Bb, I decided to take a short break and put together a purely-for-fun arrangement to do some straight-up jamming. After all of that straight-laced instruction, I needed to let my hair down a bit.

But I may have gotten a little carried away.

If you’re looking for the actual piano groove from the tutorials — it’s buried down there in the clavinet part. I also added some nicely-distorted hammond organ parts, some authentic rhythm guitar parts and a screaming wah-wah monosynth lead part. I basically turned the volume up to eleven and improvised over the tune, while picking up the melody where appropriate.

I hope you have as much fun listening to this as I did playing it. I think I actually bruised my left heel, stomping it on the ground while working out the parts for this, and as the video will later show — I even busted out my old 1985 Roland AXIS (yes, it’s actually a “Keytar”) to play those lead parts.

I felt like a real rock star.

Well… at least as “rock star” as I could possibly feel amidst my three teenaged kids, five pets and suburban lifestyle.

Yes, there actually is going to be a video for this, it’s just not quite ready for prime time yet. With all of the delays around here lately, I figured it’d be best to just throw the audio up ahead of time. Rest assured the video’s coming soon.

I hope you like it, and you’re free to download this and spread it around as freely as you’d like. Watch for the video, coming soon — and, of course, the next tutorial series, which is the single-most-requested tune of mine: Funk Groove #3 in F.

Without further ado, here’s the audio version of Funk Groove #4 [CryBaby Mix].

Funk Groove #4 [CryBaby Mix] by groovewindow

That took forever! But I think I’m getting faster with practice.

You can now get all seven parts of the tutorial for Piano Funk Groove 4. Just scroll down…. and down…. and down…. they’re at the bottom of the page. I really need to spend a little time cleaning up that page so it’s a little easier to deal with, plus I have a couple more surprises coming up before calling this little groove completely wrapped.

Next up for full production: The often-requested full tutorial for Funk Groove 3 in F. Here’s the rough draft, if you haven’t heard it yet. I have added additional music, and have gotten many questions along the way (“How do I reach that freaking 11th span in the beginning?!“) which I plan to answer in the videos.

If you have any questions about Funk Groove In F (now called #3), add a comment or send me a note, and I’ll be sure and get it in. It’s going to be a fun one!