IROCKU Featured Lesson- “Tipitina” by Professor Longhair

Tipitina by Professor Longhair

This week’s lesson is one of New Orlean’s most iconic songs,  “Tipitina” by Professor Longhair.

“Tipitina” piano lesson

“Tipitina” is a simple 8-bar blues progression but it highlights three elements that uniquely define New Orleans piano style. The left-hand pattern uses a traditional syncopated blues, boogie woogie New Orleans bass line while the right hand melody is a repeated pattern based on the New Orleans piano flourish that we commonly hear in Dr. John, Fats Domino, and Huey Piano Smith’s melodies. The New Orleans style is rounded out with a turn-around and ending that is distinctly different than the go to turn-around that every blues performer plays. Our Lesson addresses all three of these New Orleans piano elements with the Improvisation driving home the New Orleans right-hand flourish and the Exercise focusing on the turn-around which walks down the root chord with eighth-note triplets in the right-hand over swung eighths in the left-hand. These techniques in “Tipitina’ are such cornerstones of rock piano that we deemed “Tipitina” an absolutely essential lesson when creating the initial IROCKU catalog. Not surprisingly it is one of our most popular lesson.   You just can’t play rock piano without learning this song.

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