Piano Diana Blog: January 2015

10 Quick Quotes About Richard Marx

English: Candid photo of Richard Marx (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday Music Quote

"I'm happy, I would say that I'm one of the happiest people I know but I've certainly had periods of profound sadness, depression and heartache and those kind of things that are interesting to me to write about."

"When things are too easy I lose interest in them so I find ways to complicate them to get myself interested."

"It never ceases to amaze me that I get to do this for a living."

"I think really what I'm saying is that I thrive on adversity."

"People take songs so literally."

"I think I do better when things are a little tougher."

"I've always loved groups like U2 and Coldplay."

"I've never written a song that I thought was a hit."

"I don't think I've ever laid out a batch of songs that pick myself apart the way that these do."

"I didn't want my last chapter to be the guy who sits at the piano and sings love songs."

A great song Now And Forever, was written in the 90s by Richard Marx. He is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. You can read more of his bio, here. Take a look at this fantastic song list of his.

Now And Forever (Music and Lyrics)

G  C/G  G  C/G
          
        G    D/F#     Em               Am           Em/G       D/F#
         Whenever I'm weary   from the battles that rage in my head,    
         You make sense of madness  when my sanity hangs by a thread,   

        C             B7                 Em     D       A7/C#       
         I lose my way but still you seem to understand,                
                 Am7     C/D     D        G  C/G                          
         Now and forever, I will be your man.                           
                                                                        
         Sometimes I just hold you  Too caught up in me to see,         
         I'm holding a fortune    that heaven has given to me,          
         I'll try to show you each and every way I can,                 
         Now and forever, I will be your man.                           
                                                                        
         B7           Em      C       G            D                    
         Now I can rest my worries and always be sure                   
        Em        C           G    D/F#  Em    C        G              D
         that I won't be alone anymore, if I'd only known you were there 
                     Am7            Cm(#7) Cm6
         all the time  all the time.                                   

    solo: G  D/F# Em Am Em/G D/F# G D/F# Em Am Em/G D/F#

        C             B7           Em        D        A7/C#        
         Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand,                
                   Am7   C/D     D        G    C/G                    
         Now and forever, I will be your man.                           
                   Am7   C/D     D       C     Cm6   G  C/G  D/G  G
         Now and forever, I will be your man.

Other Resources

Guitar Chords

http://www.911tabs.com
http://www.azchords.com
https://www.jellynote.com

YouTube Guitar Tutorial

A Night Out with Friends

A great software program you may be interested in from Hear and Play is Back Pocket Band Software

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

A Blossom Fell: Diana Krall

     


In 1954, words and music were written to the song, A Blossom Fell by Howard Barnes,

Harold Cornelius and Dominic John. It was recorded by Nat "King" Cole in 1955.

A Blossom Fell (Key of Bb)

Play slowly with 4/4 time signature

Intro

Bb/F  Edim7  Bb/F  A/E  Bb/F  F/A  Eb/G  Dm/F

Eb6  E13 F13

          Bb6       Bdim7  Cm7  F7
A blossom fell from off a tree;

    Cm7    F7                     F7#5      Bb        
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me.

                   Bb/D Dbdim7 Cm F7
The gypsies say, and I know why,

           Cm7     F7 F7#5 Bb6 Bdim7      F7/C

 A falling blossom only touches lips that lie.


[ Tab from: http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/n/nat_king_cole/a_blossom_fell_crd.html ]
  F7      Bb6       Bdim7 Cm7 F7
A blossom fell, and very soon

  Cm7     F7                     F7#5     Bb
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon.

  Bb7#5       Eb                        Bb/D          
I thought you loved me;    you said you loved me,

             Cm7 F7             Bbdim7 Bb
We planned together   to dream forever,

    Bb7#5     Eb             Ebm       Bb/D Dbdim7
The dream has ended,     for true love died

            Cm7     Bdim7    F7/C        F7        Bb Ebm/Bb Bb
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied.

Slash Chords for The Song

L.H. / R.H.

Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AbF
Cm7 = C/CEbG
F7 = A/CEbG
Cm7 = C/BbG
F7 = F/AA
F7#5 = FEb/AA
Bb = Bb/DBb
Bb/D = D/BbF
Dbdim7 = Db/BbEA
Cm = C/EbG
F7 = F/AEbG
Cm7 = C/BbEbBb
F7 = F/AEb
F7#5 = F/C#FA

Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AG
F7/C = C/AEbF
F7 = FEb/AF
Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AbF
Cm7 = C/CEBG
F7 = A/CEbG
Cm7 = C/BbG
F7 = F/AA
F7#5 = FEb/C#G

Bb = Bb/DD
Bb7#5 = BbAb/DF#D
Eb = Eb/EbGD
Bb/D = D/DFC
Cm7 = C/BbEbBb
F7 = A/AEbA
Bbdim7 = Bb/BbC#G
Bb = BbF/BbDF
Bb7#5 = BbAb/DF#D
Eb = Eb/EbGD
Ebm = Eb/EbGbD

Bb/D = D/BbFBb
Dbdim7 = Db/BbEBb
Cm7 = C/BbEbG
Bdim7 = B/AbDG
F7/C = C/AEbG
F7 = F/EbAC
Bb = BbF/DFBb
Ebm/Bb = BbGb/EbBbD
Bb = BbFD/FBbCF

Diana Krall: Video

Play Piano With Diana Krall (Backup Tracks)

The Very Best of Diana Krall: Piano/Vocal/Chords

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

Monday Music Quote: Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday Music Quote

"It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous (extra) notes under the table. "

Left-Hand Parts

Composers write harmony parts in many different ways. Here are some of the most common left-handed harmony parts found in piano music.

Blocked Chords

All notes of the harmony are played together at once. Play G-B-D-G with your left hand. Then play, G-C-E-G.

Broken Chords

The left hand plays notes of a chord but not all at the same time. There are different ways of doing this.

Oom-pah

As shown above, a repeated pattern of a single note followed by a chord. For more information, visit wikipedia.

Here's an example to practice. First play C with the l.h., then grab E-G-C with the l.h. Go down to low G, then play E-G-C chord again.

Arpeggiated Chords

As you can see from the above photo, notes of the chord are played one at a time, just like in an arpeggio. With the left hand, try practicing C-E-G-E (counting 1-e-&-a) then play, C-F-A-F.

Alberti Bass

The notes of each chord are played in this order: bottom note, top note, middle note, top note.

Example: C-G-E-G // C-G-E-G //

For more information, visit Alberti Bass

Waltz Bass

The first note of the chord is on the first beat, followed by the other notes on beats 2 and 3.

For example, play the C note then grab E-G-C and play the block chord 2 times. Play low G, then play D-G-B 2 xs.

Be sure and check out the 300pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course

It's a great theory resource book to have in your library.

Best wishes this new year!

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!

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