Introduction
Starting something new on the piano is always a journey full of excitement, challenges, and discoveries. I set myself a new challenge, I decided to dive into the energetic and rhythmic world of Boogie Woogie piano — an irresistible blend of bluesy riffs and rolling rhythms – for 100 hours to see what I can learn. In this post, I’ll share my honest reflections on Boogie Woogie the first 10 hours, lessons learned, and the process of creating a video to share this milestone with you.
If you’re a beginner piano learner like me, exploring Boogie Woogie music, this story and my video will give you encouragement, practical tips, and a sneak peek into what could be in front of you. This article also ties back into my earlier journey documented in “My First 100 Hours Learning Piano,” so if you want a fuller picture of my learning philosophy, that’s a great read to check out alongside this.
Why Boogie Woogie?
Choosing Boogie Woogie as a beginner might seem ambitious, even a bit mad to some but I’m drawn to it and the joy it brings both the players and the audience. As a Piano beginner bordering on Intermediate player, this offers me rich opportunities to work both hands independently at speed, to improvise and to recognise patterns in music — a critical skill every beginner should practice right away.
What I Focused on in My First 10 Hours
During my first 10 hours learning Boogie Woogie, I concentrated on a few core elements:
- Finding the appropriate guide
- Systematically going through the exercises
- Practicing to 75% then moving to the next exercise.
Well that was the plan, then, BLAM. I hit the wall.
I found that although I could manage the first few exercises and indeed replicate them in my video on the subject, I was soon out of my depth.
This was because the book I had chosen – Play Boogie Woogie Piano by Arthur Migliazza – had inbuilt assumptions of a level of music theory knowledge – specifically chords that was beyond my current understanding.
It was not that the method or the book itself was bad, It just was aimed at a. slightly higher level of music theory than mine. It could well be that it fit others well but it was not for me.
If you want to know more details on why I won’t recommend this book to piano beginners, message me directly using the link below and I’ll give you more details.
What I achieved in those First 10 hours
All was not lost, I learned a great deal before I hit the wall. Here is what I learned:
- Basic 12 Bar Blues
- Using a Swing Rhythm.
- Blues Cord progression.
- A Wonderful little blues ending.
But don’t take my word for it here, check out the Video below. I created this to accompany this blog and show what you too can learn in the first 10 hours of Boogie Woogie.
Challenges and Surprises
The biggest challenge was syncing my hands. Boogie Woogie demands a consistent steady pulse in the left hand. It felt awkward at first, and I had some tension because I was learning and not relaxed. This led to a fatigue in the left hand. For me this was a warning sign. any time you feel some tension, fatigue or pain when playing, you should back off, re-think your technique and go back to it more relaxed. This is essential to avoid injury. So, with repeated practice and focusing on reduced speeds , my left hand gradually learned to cooperate.
Another surprise was the instant joy I felt when I got my first riff sounding recognizably “Boogie.” That kind of early success is a big motivator for any beginner—it reminds you that with steady effort, progress is inevitable. Also, once you recognise the pattern of the 12 bar blues, you begin to hear it everywhere. There is now not a day goes by when I don’t hear that recognisable progression somewhere in my music library or on the radio.
Making the Video
As any of my regular readers will know, the main goal of My Piano and More is to share my experiences with other fellow Piano learners and find a way to grow a supportive community. Part of this of course is to create not only Blog posts but Youtube and Facebook links to build the community. It takes time, but I believe in the long run it’s worth it, as sharing what I have learned, re-enforces it into my memory and creating the videos helps me see and show the progress that anyone cane make in learning the piano.
So Join me for the next instalment – 20 Hours of Boogie Woogie Paino. And in the mean time, join the mailing list to keep in touch, or just drop me a line in the comments, Facebook or even on Youtube.
See you soon and happy playing.
