London Contemporary School of Piano

🎹 Want your blues improvisation to sound cool? Try THIS right-hand trick!

Instead of playing only single-note blues riffs, play two notes at once.
Tom Donald demonstrates a simple but powerful idea: hold one note steady at the top or bottom while moving the other note through the blues scale. Then switch it around, change the intervals and experiment with different combinations. 🎶

It’s an easy way to add colour, texture and energy to your blues playing and turn simple blues licks into much richer, more exciting right-hand riffs.

🔥 Try it next time you improvise: two notes can completely change the sound!

Save this reel for your next blues practice session. 🎹

🎹 Easy Way to Improvise Blues!

Want to start improvising blues but don’t know what to play? Start with just 2 or 3 notes.

Tom Donald demonstrates a simple but incredibly effective way to get started: choose just a few notes from the blues scale and loop them in your right hand while keeping your blues progression moving steadily in the left.

With fewer notes to think about, you can focus on what really makes blues sound great — rhythm, phrasing, groove and coordination between the hands. 🎶

👉 Try it at the piano: pick 3 notes from the blues scale and see what you can create!

🎹 Major or Minor Blues Scale? Here’s the Rule!

Ever wondered which blues scale you should use when improvising over your favourite songs? 🎶

Tom Donald shares a simple rule that makes choosing the right blues scale much easier:

👉 Minor-key piece? Stick with the minor blues scale.
👉 Major-key piece? You can use both major AND minor blues scales — and mix them together for that unmistakable blues sound!

Using Hit the Road Jack as an example, Tom demonstrates why the minor blues scale fits naturally over a minor-key piece, while the major blues scale doesn’t work in quite the same way.

But over a major piece, things get much more interesting — combining major and minor blues colours can bring incredible character, contrast and expression to your improvisation. 🎹🔥

The BEST way to practise your blues scales? Combine them. 🎹

Most pianists practise the major blues scale and minor blues scale separately. But the real magic happens when you combine them together in the same exercise.

Make this exercise part of your daily practice, and before long you’ll begin using both sounds naturally in your solos.

🎹 The Irresistible Blues Sound!

What makes blues sound so distinctive? It’s the powerful combination of major and minor together.

In classical harmony, this effect is known as false relations and was traditionally avoided because of the tension it creates. But blues took that very same sound and turned it into one of the most expressive and recognisable colours in music.

It’s this beautiful clash between the major scale and minor scale that gives blues its unmistakable character!

🎹 Want your II–V–I progressions to sound instantly more like jazz?

Tritone substitution is one of the most powerful harmony techniques you can learn—and it’s much easier than most pianists think.

Cameron Ward explains the simple idea behind tritone substitution: the original dominant 7th chord and its tritone substitute share the same 3rd and 7th. The only thing that changes is the bass note, which moves a tritone away.

That one change creates smoother voice leading, richer harmony, and a fresh jazz colour you can use whenever you encounter a II–V–I progression.

🎹 Easy Chord Trick for a Rich Sound!

Want your chords to sound richer and more colourful without learning complicated theory?

In this short, Cameron Ward demonstrates a simple trick based on tritone substitution that instantly creates beautiful altered chords.

The idea is incredibly straightforward:
🎵 Choose your bass note.
🎵 Build a dominant 7th chord from a tritone away.
🎵 Enjoy a rich, sophisticated sound that’s perfect for jazz, contemporary piano, and modern harmony.

It’s one of those concepts that’s easy to learn, but you’ll find yourself using it again and again.

Save this reel to try at the piano later, and follow for more practical piano tips! 🎹

🎹 Want your chord progressions to sound groovy?

Instead of playing static bass notes, give your left hand its own groove. In this short, Tom demonstrates a simple pattern that moves from the octave → 9th → 10th, creating a flowing bass line that adds movement, depth, and energy to your playing.

It works brilliantly over the 1–5–6–4 progression, but you can apply this idea to countless other chord progressions too. Once this groove feels comfortable under your fingers, you’ll find yourself using it everywhere.

🎹 Years Worth of Lessons in 1 Exercise!

Want one exercise that will genuinely transform your jazz piano playing?
Tom Donald demonstrates a simple but incredibly effective ii–V arpeggio exercise that’s hidden inside countless jazz standards and improvised solos.

The concept is simple:
🎵 Play the minor 7th arpeggio up
🎵 Then play the dominant 7th arpeggio down
🎵 Repeat the pattern through all 12 keys

Save this reel and add it to your daily warm-up! 🎹