Blues By Five - Piano Lessonby Red Garland

In this lesson, we're going to learn the classic jazz standard, “Blues by Five,” written by pianist Red Garland and released on the 1957 Prestige Records album “Cookin’” by the Miles Davis Quintet. “Cookin’” was the first of four albums released in the same year by the original Miles Davis Quintet, which included Davis on trumpet, Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. It’s a simple blues head, with just a couple of key motifs appearing throughout in different variations. In this 4­part lesson, we'll learn the melody, go through the harmony, look at a few different ways to comp the changes, and finally look at chord scales and improvisation techniques.