From mastering the iconic 12-bar blues progression to understanding blues scales and improvisation techniques, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of the blues genre. Through interactive exercises, practical demonstrations, and personalized feedback, you'll hone your piano skills and cultivate your unique musical voice.
By the end of Blues Piano 101, you'll feel empowered to confidently play and create blues music independently. Whether you aspire to perform on stage or simply want to serenade your friends and family at home, this course will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to express yourself through the power of the blues.
Paul began his musical studies as a classical pianist at age 8 and in high school discovered a love of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett. He studied jazz in college and then moved to New York City to further hone his jazz skills at the Aaron Copland School of Music. While in New York Paul studied and performed with some of the best players on the jazz scene, including Wynton Marsalis, Antonio Hart, Michael Mossman, and Lage Lund. Always keeping his rock and pop music passions alive, Paul performed at venues throughout NYC with singer-songwriters, cover bands, musical theater performances, dance performances, and ASCAP and Sony Music artists. He also worked as a musical director aboard Princess and Cunard Cruise Lines, traveling to exotic locales such as Bora Bora, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Alaska.
After a brief hiatus from musical pursuits to earn his law degree and pass the MA bar, Paul returned to NYC and served as the musical director for various artists appearing on the NBC TV show "The Voice," which led to extensive touring with Javier Colon (Season 1 winner) and Maroon 5 on their "OverExposed World Tour" throughout North, Central, and South America, performing for audiences as large as 35,000.
Now residing in the greater-Boston area, Paul maintains a performance schedule as a musical director and sideman for a variety of ensembles. He has developed a deep love of teaching which includes working as a music faculty member at various universities, directing university jazz band programs, teaching private students online, working with music-education site JazzEdge, and teaching through online adult instruction centers such as W.I.S.E (Worcester Institute for Senior Education) and Framingham State University's Lifelong Learning Program.
Paul's approach to teaching is to focus on real-world music skills - music theory is fun when students can use it to actually play their instruments better. Paul also believes strongly in using technology to teach music-making skills at the beginner level, believing that it will foster early musical creativity that will self-propel student learning.
He is married to his beautiful wife, Aubrey, and is a father to three children whom he and his wife homeschool. He enjoys long-distance road trips and travel with his family and loves bringing his kids backstage and to rehearsals for his musical performances.
Class 1 - The blues form part 1
Class 2 - The blues form part 2
Class 3 - The blues sound / feel
Class 4 - Composing a blues head
Class 5 - Playing the blues head
Class 6 - Final details and finishing touches