Ray Charles – What’d I say Piano Tutorial

My six part Ray Charles What’d I say (or ‘What I’d say’) piano tutorial is part of my online piano blues and boogie woogie course which costs just £19.99 for 6 months access.

In each of the videos, I show you step by step how to play a different part of the song, until you have all the pieces you need to put the whole thing together.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

And here’s what each of the six individual tutorial videos contains:

What’d I say – Part I

In this first video we will begin by learning the single note introduction, which is one of the most famous and recognised piano blues solos of all time. Part I will cover the complete first 12 bars.

This can be played by just the left hand, but I prefer to use my right hand for the top note. Also, you can split the notes more evenly between both hands if you prefer – completely your own choice and style of playing.

Tip – hold down all the notes as you play them from left to right, so they layer over the top of one another. You could also use the sustain pedal, but I would strongly recommend holding down the notes as a minimum.

What’d I say – Part II

You are now going to learn how to play the rhythm in your right hand which is played straight after Part I (for the second 12 bars). The focus here is on the right hand which does most of the work, with just single notes or octaves playing in the left hand for accompaniment. For a fuller sound consider using octaves in the left hand.

The right hand consists of the following notes played in the middle of the piano – B, D, E + G# (fingers 1, 2, 3 + 5). In order to understand the order these notes are played I like to categorise this right hand into three sections. Number 1 is B, number 2 is D, and number 3 is both E and G# together.

Now that we have numbered each note, we can now look at the pattern –

3, 1, 2, 3 – 1, 3, 3, 1, 2, 3

This is the order the notes are played with the right hand, so 3 stands for E + G#, 1 stands for B, 2 stands for D and so on. You don’t have to see the pattern as numbers, you could also use bottom, middle and top, or A BC – whichever you prefer.

Part II will only cover bars 1-8 of the 12 bar blues in the key of E.

Tip – remember to play the single or octave note left hand first before you play the right hand rhythm. The left hand is on the first beat of the bar.

What’d I say – Part III

The next video will begin to complete the 12 bars we started from Part II, which used the right hand to create the amazing rhythm we hear Ray Charles and his band play. This video specifically focuses on bars 9 and 10.

Again, the playing mainly focuses on the right hand leaving the left hand to play single or octave notes. Feel free to use single notes in the left hand to begin with, and when you are more confident you can move to octave notes for that fuller overall sound.

Pay close attention to the fingers I use and the way in which I slide from the black keys down to the white to create the blues pitch bend commonly used in the piano blues style.

Tip – if this is your first time bending notes on a piano, you can practice this before attempting Part III. Choose any black key on the piano and try to slide your finger from the black key down to the white key. Practice going to the left and right of the black key as this will be required to play this song.

What’d I say – Part IV

This video tutorial will now look to complete the 12 bars, as this covers bars 11 and 12. More work is now needed in the left hand, with singles notes matching the run down in the right hand. This type of ending of a 12 bar is extremely common and you will see a version of this covered in my C blues beginner tutorials.

The aim of this type of ending is to work your way towards the 5th chord of the key you are playing in. For example, this song is on the key of E so we are working our way towards the B which is the 5th note on the E scale.

Tip – finishing the 12 bar blues on the 5th chord of its key creates an unfinished sound allowing the player and the song to continue back to the first bar. To finish a 12 bar song you would typically finish on the key chord, in this instance it would be E.

What’d I say – Part V – Solo I

This video tutorial will focus on a solo melody which Ray Charles sometimes plays in this song. What amazes me most about this song is that Ray Charles played it differently in every live performance, so it would sound improvised every time.

The right hand takes centre stage here, and to play this correctly you need to understand how many notes are played in each bar. Like most songs this has 4 beats per bar, and the right hand for this part will play a total of 8 notes per bar (semi-quavers) – this tutorial covers the first 4 bars in E.

Start by practising the E on its own for a total of 32 times (8 per bar for 4 bars). Once you are consistent with the rhythm you can then begin to attempt the accents on notes 1, 4 and 7 of the 8 you play each bar. To accent those notes you need to hit them harder.

Tip – playing this song requires a lot of practice with rhythms and how certain notes are hit harder on the piano to make the instrument sound percussive. You can practice this on a drum or even on a hard service. Practising rhythms before you play on a piano for this type of song will really help you play it correctly.

Additional tip – This solo covers bars 1-4, which means you will continue with the 12 bar by playing the rhythm from Part II. However, please note that you are using bars 1-4 with this solo so you will continue to bar 5 of the rhythm which is in A (not E).

What’d I say – Part VI – Solo II

Now that you’ve practised the rhythm for Part V you can attempt this solo which uses the same rhythm but with different notes. Again, this will mean that you play a total of 8 notes per bar and you accent notes 1, 4 and 7.

In this tutorial you will notice that I switch between my right and left hand to play each note, however you can play the first two notes with your left followed by the right hand for the next two notes. I find it’s more fun to switch hands, but isn’t necessary to play this correctly.

Tip – both solo I and II can be used at any time once you’ve played Part I and II. Traditionally Ray Charles sings a few verses before these solos are played, but you can insert them anytime you want for the first 4 bars before you continue with the rhythm from the Part II tutorial (starting from bar 5 on the A chord).