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I'm a pianist and I play boogie woogie very well in C and G. Everyone knows that these are the easiest to play on, but guitarists like E and A and maybe D. I started to learn some riffs in A and E but it is not easy.

So my question is: What are the limits for playing Boogie Woogie in these keys? Can we reach the same level of proficiency playing in these new keys that we can reach playing in C or G?

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  • I don't know enough to give a full answer, but I believe the answer is yes, it is possible to play as comfortably in A, E, D, or any other key as you currently do in C and G. In fact, I believe that many experienced pianists would disagree that C and G are the easiest keys to play in. In this answer, the poster points out that "F# and C# Major/minor are relatively common keys for solo [piano] literature" because experienced pianists find it easier to play on the black keys! – Kevin Oct 24 '14 at 17:19
  • @Kevin, that was me! This issue is probably more complicated than I made it sound, I think a lot of pianists, probably most if not all, find C or G major easier to read. But it's a weird case where what is easy for our eyes is not necessarily as easy for our fingers and vice-versa. I consider F# major in particular to be the absolutely easiest scale to play, and I tend to gravitate to that key or similar keys when freely improvising because it's so comfortable. Piano-centric composers like Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt tend to write in those keys very frequently. – Pat Muchmore Oct 24 '14 at 17:41
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There really are no major limits for playing anything in any key on piano. Certain players are more familiar and comfortable with certain keys, but it is possible for a pianist to play in any key. It's all just a matter of practice. The only minor stumbling block is the fingering of a piece may change with the key.

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I think a big challenge I’ve faced in transitioning boogie woogie piano (or blues piano also), is around restructuring grace notes to play up (or down) to the black keys. I’ve gotten sounds close to what I can make when playing Grace notes from sharps/flats onto the naturals, but there is the physical limitation imposed by the way a piano is built that I cannot quite overcome. It’s physically impossible to slide a single finger off of a natural (white) key onto a sharp/flat (black) key because it is above the point where the white key rests. The opposite is not true, when a black key is fully depressed, it is above two white keys, and therefore can be struck with the same finger in a single motion. There are physical limitations with the way the piano is built and for those reasons the same sound requires a more complex motion. In the case above, what can be played with a single finger in the key of C, requires two fingers in the Key of E flat. There are sounds that simply are impossible to recreate in other keys as a result.

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