Grace Notes
The use of grace notes is an important expressive technique in Blues playing. Grace notes have no real time of their own. Rather, they are heard as an expression added to the note they are leading to. A grace note is indicated by a very small note with a stroke through its stem. This note is played immediately before the following note, which is held for its full value.
There are two basic ways of playing grace notes. In Blues it is very common to play a grace note on a black key and then slide off onto a white key with the same finger. This technique is not used in classical piano playing, but is important in Blues playing.
Play D# note with 2nd finger.
Slide finger off to sound E note.
The second technique does come from classical piano music. It involves playing a grace note on a white note and following it with either a black note or another white note. Each note is played with a different finger.
Play D note with 2nd finger.
Play Eb note with 3rd finger.
Here are some of the ways grace notes are commonly used in Blues.
This 12 Bar Blues uses many of the things covered in section 2.
