Piano, help me out here

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So I got a book full of blues piano pieces for my birthday, but I can't understand any of them. I play what I read from them as if I were reading a normal piece, and it sounds nothing like the song when I look it up. I can read and play some classic stuff (Chopin, op. 28 no. 4 and Satie's Gymnopedie).

Is blues piano writing that much different to normal sheet music?

Also, does anyone know any sites that help you teach yourself this stuff? I don't want to get a book full of music for my birthday and not be able to play a single piece...

Any help would be appreciated.

Blues music is definitely a "swing" beat (it's often written out in 12/8), but sometimes it's written so that it looks like, umm, straight eighth notes, and you have to know that those eighth notes are played like every two eighth notes equal a triplet made up of a quarter note and an eighth note... if you're playing straight eighth notes, it will sound wrong because the second of those eighth notes falls well behind the beat... you talk about playing Chopin, so hopefully you understand what I'm talking about.

Sometimes there will even be a notation at the start of the song where a quarter note will equal a quarter note plus an eighth note under a bar with a 3 above it.

If the songs "as written" sound just completely un-blues-y, that's my guess what's going wrong, is that they've written it out in straight time but they expect it to be played with a "swing" feel to it.

And then the other thing about music notation for blues (and even modern pop and country songs) is that they don't try to notate every time the melody comes in a little bit ahead of or behind the beat... if they did, the music would be full of 32nd notes just before the barline, tied to the note at the start of the next measure.

Blues music, especially, is a real "feel" thing, and when it gets written out, the notator kinda expects the player to understand the blues feel, and to apply that to what they're playing. There is a definite "blues feel" and it's not an easy thing to notate, especially since it is not something that is played precisely the same time every time.

So, maybe find some of the pieces in the book on YouTube, listen to the recorded music and try to see how what they're playing relates to what got written down.

Blues and jazz styles aren't really rushed, though. Unlike classical music, the accents are placed on beats 2 and 4, (unless it's a waltz, of course), which gives it a kind of forward feel. Otherwise there is a lot of swing playing rather than straight playing.

Another thing to ponder: Many times when blues music is notated, the arrangers usually tend to oversimplify for the sake of easier readability and playability. So when you compare the easy arrangements to the original recording, there is a lot in the original that gets left out of the arrangement. I can think of two reasons why this is. First of all, blues comping is entirely improvised. So when someone writes out a chorus and adds repeat dots, they often leave out that the second chorus is played differently from the first. This also means that it is extremely difficult for a transcriber to accurately notate every nuance of the player's performance. It CAN be done, but it is extremely time-consuming and often not worth it since the original performer won't likely ever play it that way again. The second reason is often due to publishing licensing. Blues musicians have traditionally enjoyed a certain level of mystique when it comes to what they do. So when they authorize arrangements for print, they'll sometimes insist that the arranger stick to a specific chord progression that often does not match exactly what they played. I see this in commercial music, too, when I know good and well for example that the original recording used a I-IV-V progression but the print arrangement substitutes a ii for the IV.

The main thing to remember is sheet music is often inaccurate when it comes to blues, jazz, and pop styles. I reccommend a few different things. First, learn to play from lead sheets. That will give you a good foundation for playing melodies along with the freedom to experiment and develop your own personal style of playing styles other than classical. Second, learn to play by ear and develop your memorization skills. That will help you pick up on the highly nuanced details you won't find in written arrangements. Memory work will give you a sort of toolbox for guiding your own improvisations. Third, if you really want to learn blues, find an active blues musician willing to mentor you on how to play the style. Keep in mind that blues musicians traditionally do not read music very well if at all, so you want to be a quick study and rely on aural skill to carry you through. With YouTube, you can find tons of performances you can copy, and I do suggest you take in as much as you can if you really want to get the hang of playing blues.

Note: I played bass in summer camp jazz band throughout high school and a year in college, jazz keyboards later on in college. Though I don't really do that anymore, I do play contemporary Christian and some gospel. Besides that, I play in a classic rock band and play cocktail piano occasionally doing jazz/blues standards and some New Age. My "Real Book" is my best friend for these little solo gigs. If you don't have the "Real Book," you're really missing out on what you could be doing at the piano. I may not be a "legit" jazz/blues player, but it really comes in handy when I'm feeling uninspired.