“F Blues” by Joey DeFrancesco

When Joey D walks bass like this, is he using his left hand or the bass pedals on the organ? Both, really — many organists like him walk primarily with the left hand, while using the foot pedals for accents and percussion. Versatility is key, though. “If you’re playing this style of organ, you have to play the pedals,” says Joey. “You can make the gig without the pedals. We’ve all done it. But add the pedals and it puts that ‘thud’ in there, more bottom, and usually I hit the pedals in unison with whatever I’m playing in my left hand. It’s very much like the pluck of the string on a bass or the way a drummer feathers the bass drum.”

For more on creating your own bass lines, read Andy LaVerne’s Beginner lesson; his Intermediate and Advanced lessons on blues improvisation and lightning-fast lines will help you get up to speed with other aspects of Joey’s playing as well.

Where’s the Sheet Music?!
Much of the sheet music that Keyboard publishes is copyrighted material, licensed from the artists to run only in the printed version of the magazine. Keyboard continues to offer the explanatory text of these lessons online, but in order to get the complete song transcriptions and other bits of licensed sheet music, you need to have a copy of the magazine.

Sure, you could run down to the local music shop or corner store and pick up the latest issue of Keyboard, but why not subscribe today? It's easy, cheap and you'll never miss another lesson!

Play Audio and MIDI

These audio and MIDI files correspond to the lessons and hot solo transcription beginning on page 46 of the February 2008 issue of Keyboard. All files performed by Scott Healy.