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Once you are competent with the left and right hand separately, it’s now time to try both hands. Don’t forget that you are using the fingers 1, 2, and 5 for the F7 chord, and 1, 2 and 4 for the E7 chord. However, you only need to move all of the notes down one key to play from F7 to E7. This is the hardest of the two chord movements as you have to play completely different notes. The next chord movement to practice is the F7 to the final chord – the E7. This will be relatively straight forward as all you need to do is move your second finger from the E to the E flat. Begin with practicing moving from the Am chord to the F7. The next stage is to then practice moving from one chord to the next, but again you need to hold back on trying all four chords at this stage. You shouldn’t be playing any other chords at this stage as your only goal is to practice the right hand rhythm, which would be hindered by trying to change chord.
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Start by playing the first chord over and over to build up your rhythm, and see how consistent you can keep it.
Holding onto you piano letters how to#
The great news when it comes to playing the right hand is that the first two chords are the same, so once you know how to play this chord you are already halfway through!īefore you rush into playing the last two chords you need to focus once again on practicing an even rhythm at around 60 beats per minute. Now focus your practice on the right hand Once you are happy that your rhythm is consistent, you can then begin to gradually increase the pace – keeping the rhythm consistent no matter how quickly you play it.Ī great way to practice this is with a metronome, and all you need to do is Google the word ‘metronome’ and those clever people have created one for us without having to buy one! The original song is played between 90-100 beats per minute, but you can of course play it at whatever pace you like. This song is all about the rhythm, so practice as much as you can with your left hand and see if you can keep a nice even rhythm. If you are a complete beginner then I would advise going even slower to around 40-50 beats per minute. You should be playing no faster than 60 beats per minute, or 1 note per second. Start by playing the left hand notes really slowly, ensuring you keep a nice even rhythm of 4 beats per bar. The best way to practice Hit the Road Jack is to begin with the left hand.
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Holding onto you piano letters full#
*If you’d like to see my full tutorial video on how to play ‘Hit the Road Jack’ by Ray Charles, please scroll to the bottom of the page for further details* How to practice like a pro Start with the left hand Remember, you don’t actually play the left and right hand at the same time – you play one after the other. The second chord will become F7 when we add the ‘F’ from the bass, and the final chord will become E7 when we add the ‘E’ from the bass also. You will notice that the first two chords are the same (A minor), but when we add the left hand ‘G’ to the second chord it now becomes Am/G. Here’s the four chords along with the fingers for the right hand underneath… The right hand chords fit in between each left hand bass note, meaning you play one of each.
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The right hand uses only four chords – Am, Am/G, F7, and E7. This is how they sound – The right hand chords – we only need four! Here is where the notes are played on the piano, and I have also written the fingers for the left hand underneath each note… You can use the notes directly below the middle C, however they sound much better if you go one more octave down like this… The left hand only uses four notes for the whole entire song and they are – A, G, F and E. The RockJam RJ661 or the Alesis Recital Pro are the perfect keyboard or piano for the beginner! The left hand bass notes – we only need four! It really is that simple, so here’s the tutorial to show you how to play Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles. The left hand plays a single note which descends down the keys for a total of four notes, whilst the right hand plays a chord in between. Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles sticks to the same chord pattern throughout, which makes this a great song to learn whether you’re a beginner or advanced player. Trying to play like Ray Charles is no easy task, but one of his most popular songs is surprisingly not that difficult. If you want to know how to play Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles, we have the ultimate guide below including notes and sound bytes so you can compare your own playing.