Piano Diana Blog: August 2014

Monday Music Quote: George Jellinek

"THE HISTORY OF A PEOPLE IS FOUND IN ITS SONG"

-- George Jellinek (Hungarian-born American DJ, New York City)

I love studying various cultures with their music and family traditions. I find the above quote by George Jellinek to be true. I was reflecting on Hawaiian music and of course, The Hawaiian Wedding Song comes to mind.

"Hawaiian Wedding Song" is a 1926 love song written by Charles E. King for his operetta, Prince of Hawaii. It was originally entitled "Ke Kali Nei Au" - Hawaiian for "Waiting Here for You". In 1958, Al Hoffman and Dick Manning translated the original Hawaiian words into English, christening the song as the "Hawaiian Wedding Song".

I have a chord chart in the Key of C with 4/4 time signature. Play slowly, with much warmth.

C    G7 C C7    F    G7 C
This is the moment I've waited for.
   G9   C      G7   E7     Am Am7
I can hear my heart singing.
D7                           G7
Soon bells will be ringing.
C          Cdim D7
This is the moment
G7             C
Of sweet Aloha...
C                                             G9
I will love you longer than forever.
G7                                                     C    G+
Promise me that you will leave me never.
C      A7    D7
Here and now, dear,
G7                  C
All my love I vow dear.
Cdim    G9
Promise me that you will leave me never.
G7                                            C
I will love you longer than forever.
   F

Now that we are one,
D7                                G7
Clouds won't hide the sun.
         C        A7    D7
Blue skies of Hawaii smile
      G7                         C
On this, our wedding day.
A7

I do love you,
           D7 G7    C
With all my heart...

For the intro, the arpeggio chords in the r.h. are:

C/EGCE
D/EF#CE
B/DF#BD
G/DFBD
E/CGD
Eb/CF#C
D/CFA
G/BFG

Do you have a favorite Hawaiian song? There's a few that I can think of...

Lovely Hula Hands
Now Is The Hour
Tiny Bubbles
Aloha Oe

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"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

How To Play Speed Of Sound

English: Chris Martin at a concert in England. Español: Chris Martin en un concierto en Inglaterra. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I did an older post on Coldplay awhile back and was thinking about a song, Speed Of Sound that some of my piano students enjoy playing. The words and music are by Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin in 2005. Are you familiar with this one? It's full of power chords!

Here's how I play the song, moderately with 4/4 time signature. If you like playing sheet music, here's Coldplay - X and Y

Speed Of Sound Chord Chart

A5 Em D A5 Em D

    A5                 Em
How long before I get in, 
                             D
before it starts, before I begin? 
    A5                 Em
How long before you decide, 
                              D
before I know what it feels like? 
      A5                 Em
Where to, where do I go? 
                                       D
If you never try then you'll never know 
    A5                    Em
How long do I have to climb 
                                       D
up on this side of this mountain of mine? 

A5 Em D A5 Em D

     A5                   Em
Look up, I look up at night, 
                                      D
Planets are moving at the speed of light. 
     A5                Em
Climb up, up in the trees 
                                              D
Every chance that you get is a chance you seize 
    A5                Em
How long am I can stand 
                             D
with my head stuck under the sand?
     A5                    Em
I'll start before I can stop 
                                      D
but before I see things the right way up 

G(add9)           A(add9)         Bm7
   all that noise, and all that sound 
G(add9)      A(add9)       Bm7
  all those places  I got found 

CHORUS:

 G                      Bm
And birds go flying at the speed of sound 
   D                 G
to show ya how it all began 
G                          Bm
birds come flyin' from the underground 
             F#m                         G
If you could see it then you'd understand 

A5 Em D A5 Em D

  A5                       Em
Ideas that you'll never find
                                  D 
All the inventors could never design
    A5                       Em 
the buildings that you put up 
                          D
Like Japan and China all lit up 
    A5                       Em
A sign that I couldn't read 
                             D
or a light that I couldn't see 
    A5                         Em
Some things you have to believe 
                                   D
but others are puzzles, puzzlin' me 

G(add9)           A(add9)          Bm7
   all that noise, and all that sound 
G(add9)     A(add9)        Bm7
  all those places I got found 

CHORUS

G        F#m                 G

Ah, when see it then you'll understand.

 D5 Gsus2 D

G(add9)               A(add9)      Bm7
 All those signs, I knew what they meant 
                E7
Some things you can't invent 
G(add9)           A(add9)     Bm7
 Some get made,  and some get sent
E7
ooh 

CHORUS

G            F#m               Gmaj9  G6/9  Gmaj9         
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand.

Understanding Chords in Song

Here's the breakdown of the chords in this particular song. The chart uses different inversions as you can see and you're playing L.H./R.H. chords throughout. You can pick up the single to listen to here, Speed of Sound (Originally Performed By Coldplay) - Single

A5 = AE/A and A/EAC# and A/EAE

Em = EB/G and E/EGD

D = DA/F# and D/DF#A and D/ADF#

G(add9) = G/BDA

A(add9) = A/AC#F# and A/AC#G and A/EBE

Bm7 = B/F#AD and B/ADF#

G = G/DGB

Bm = B/F#BF#

F#m = F#/F#AC#

D5 = D/ADA

Gsus2 = G/DA

E7 = E/EG#D and E/BDG#

Gmaj9 = G/ADF#

G6/9 = G/ADE

So, what are you working on?

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"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Monday Music Quote: Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Anything that cannot be defined cannot be taught. If you don't know what something is, then you can't teach it." -- Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, teacher, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, United States.

I think Wynton Marsalis occupies a singular position in popular culture and has to be the most well known jazz musician alive. I recently read an article about him and learned that he received his first trumpet from Al Hirt when he was five or six but really got started playing trumpet at twelve.

Another key point I recall was that he first learned to play with love and feeling, plus having all the fundamental exercises down. Can you imagine being around eight years old and hanging out with your dad's friends like Dizzy and Art Blakey?

When Wynton was 13 he was in a funk band, The Creators and from then on... he played with a lot of groups, plus school bands. Later on, he attended Julliard to study classical. The rest is history!

What I enjoyed most from the article is Wynton's approach to teaching. He gauge's his methods with the student's interest level. If they're not serious and don't practice, then he would rather just play basketball with them and still like them.

So, the question needs to be asked... How serious are we with our music studies and practicing the piano/keys? As teachers, we're not beating our students over the head with "you have to" approach but rather we're trying to bring them into the feeling of the thing that we're teaching.

I'd like to end with a direct quote from this wonderful musician that I admire greatly.

"Anything that cannot be defined cannot be taught. That's just a fact. If you don't know what something is, then you can't teach it. So the question a band director has to ask himself is, "What will my students get the most use of?" - not "What will my students like? What will be the most beneficial - to learn the history of our people, to learn our culture, to become virtuosic on their instruments or play their instruments in a more individualistic style, to teach them how to play more together and in balance? You have to ask yourself certain key ensemble questions. What music will be most beneficial to my students and their development? Each band director should ask that question and also do the research, themselves, in order to figure out what's available for their students."

You may be interested in these music resources:

Jazz101
Jazz201
Jazz Intensive Training Center

*affiliate links in post*

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"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Monday Music Quote: Richter/Tillotson

English: Trade ad for Johnny Tillotson's single "Heartaches By the Number". (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MUSIC IS THE POETRY OF THE AIR

-- Richter
Russian pianist

Poetry in Motion

The song was written by Paul Kaufman (1930–1999) and Mike Anthony (born 1930), who said that the inspiration for it came from looking up from their work and seeing a procession of young ladies from a nearby school pass by on the sidewalk outside each afternoon... The song was later recorded by Bobby Vee in 1961. I remember it well, along with car hops and drive-ins!

All-Time Bobby Vee

	G	Am	Bm	C	D7
W	hen I see my baby,	What do I see, P	oetry, Po	etry in m	otion...

Verse:1

	G	Em	C	D7	G	Em	C	D7
Po	etry in m	otion, W	alkin' by my s	ide, Her lo	vely locomo	tion, Ke	eps my eyes o	pen wide,

	G	Em	C	D7	G	Em	C	D7	G
Po	etry in mo	tion, S	ee her gentle s	way, A w	ave out on the	ocean, Could n	ever m	ove that w	ay.

Bridge:

	Bm	Em	Bm	Em
I l	ove every m	ovement, There's n	othing I would c	hange,

	Bm	C	A7	D7
She d	oesn't need impr	ovement, She's m	uch too nice to r	earrange.

Refrain:

	G	Em	C	D7	G	Em	C	D7	G
Po	etry in m	otion, Da	ncing close to	me, A f	lower of de	votion, A-s	waying g	raceful	ly.

Bridge:2

	G	Em	C	D7
Oh, A-w	hoa whoa whoa whoa	whoa, A-	whoa whoa whoa whoa	whoa,

	G	Em	C	D7
A-w	hoa whoa whoa whoa w	hoa, Wh	oa.

Refrain:2

	G	Em	C	D7	G	Em	C	D7	G
	Poetry in m	otion, S	ee her gentle s	way, A w	ave out on the o	cean, Could n	ever m	ove that w	ay.

Bridge:3

	Bm	Em	Bm	Em
I l	ove every mo	vement, There's n	othing I would c	hange,

	Bm	C	A7	D7
She do	esn't need im	provement, She's m	uch too nice to re	arrange.

Refrain:3

	G	Em	C	D7	G	Em	C	D7	G
	Poetry in m	otion, A	ll that I a	dore, No n	umber-nine love po	tion, Could m	ake me lo	ve her m	ore.

- Repeat Whoas And End-

Poetry In Motion chords
Johnny Tillotson

Bobby Vee MP3 
Poetry In Motion


D
When I see my baby
Em
What do I see
D
Poetry
G         A7
Poetry in motion

D         Bm
Poetry in motion
G             A7
Walkin' by my side
    D          Bm
Her lovely locomotion
G                  A7
Keeps my eyes open wide

D         Bm
Poetry in motion
G              A7
See her gentle sway
  D               Bm
A wave out on the ocean
G                     A7
Could never move that way

F#7         Bm
I love every movement
            F#7              Bm
And there's nothing I would change
    F#7             Bm
She doesn't need improvement
      E7               A7
She's much too nice to rearrange

D         Bm
Poetry in motion
G                A7
Dancing close to me
  D           Bm
A flower of devotion
G         A7       D
A swaying gracefully

D
Whoa
                        Em
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
A7                      D
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
                        Em
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
A7
Whooooooooa

D         Bm
Poetry in motion
G              A7
See her gentle sway
  D               Bm
A wave out on the ocean
G                     A7
Could never move that way

F#7         Bm
I love every movement
            F#7              Bm
And there's nothing I would change
    F#7             Bm
She doesn't need improvement
      E7               A7
She's much too nice to rearrange

D         Bm
Poetry in motion
G          A7
All that I adore
   D                Bm
No number-nine love potion
G                      A7
Could make me love her moreD
Whoa
                        Em
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
A7                      D
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
                        Em
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
A7
Whooooooooa

If you're in need of a music reference book, like a workbook where you write in the answers with pencil, then check out The 300pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course

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