As a husband and step-father to three young boys, I was concerned about providing for my family. Nevertheless, it was clear to me that somehow I had to persevere in my career path as both a private piano teacher and a professional pianist. Since I had to make some major changes to manage this somewhat ambitious goal, I consulted my closest friend, jazz guitarist John Dougherty. Previously, John and I had spent a year working together in his quartet which traveled from gig to gig along the East Coast. Since he had always shared his musical knowledge, training and experience with me, I trusted his recommendation.

What did my friend think I should do? You guessed it……..Take piano lessons!

A big part of my philosophy about teaching piano came as a result of following this sound advice. Rather then send me to a concert pianist, John recommended a rather unusual teacher who provided me with a high level of diversified musical training that included classical piano technique and literature, piano pedagogy, church music, jazz composition, music theory, ear training and of course solo jazz piano playing. The great part of all this was that I was able to develop my skills and knowledge in these areas as a result of taking a private music lesson once a week. My piano instructor was a professor from New England Conservatory by the name of Joseph Gabriel Maneri. Despite the fact that he was a jazz saxophonist and a classical  composer, Joe had spent many years studying piano, music theory and composition in preparation for his own professional career.

Due to the fact that my wife Brenda was working full-time, I was able take advantage of Joe Maneri’s incredible training by practicing several hours per day. One very important part of my studies focused on learning to play solo piano versions of standards from the American Popular Songbook. Among the many pieces that I explored was Cole Porter’s I Get a Kick Out of You.

As we move forward in this new year I want to devote more of my blog posts to the music of this great American song writer. Recently I was listening to an audio program called Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham. The author caught my undivided attention when he cited Cole Porter as an excellent example of someone who had not only discovered his strengths, but as an individual who had used his strengths to overshadow his weaknesses.

According to Buckingham, Cole Porter’s characters and plots were weak. However, he used his strength as a song writer to not only eclipse his weaknesses, but also to make an outstanding contribution to the repertoire of American popular songs.

Wondering how much truth there was to the author’s viewpoint, I discussed this assessment with one of my Hudson piano students.

As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, I continue to learn a great deal from my students. Since this adult student is a vocalist, teacher and actress as well as an experienced director of musical theater productions, I was confident that she would be be able to tell me whether or not there was any truth to Marcus Buckingham’s hypothesis. Sure enough, she validated the author’s point of view for me.

Cole Porter composed I Get a Kick Out of You in 1934 for what has been identified as one of his best Broadway scores, Anything Goes. As I mentioned in my blog post that featured, Night and Day, Cole Porter was far from being an overnight success. How could he be? Unlike most of his fellow songwriters, he did not collaborate with a variety of lyricists. Instead, like Irving Berlin before him, Porter wrote both the music and words to his 800 songs.

On one hand, he was not required to compose his songs according to the standard formats used by his peers. But on the other, he did not have the advantage of working with a musical collaborator.

Despite that fact, in order to communicate his lyrics more expressively, Porter adds variations to the structure, melody, harmony and/or rhythm in many of his songs. I Get a Kick Out of You is no exception to this. The half-note triplets that are a major part of each of the three verses increase in number as the song progresses: verse 1 – 5 triplets; verse 2 – 6 triplets; verse 3 – 7 triplets. In addition to associating this great standard with my lessons with Joe Maneri, I also recall how Frank Sinatra‘s arrangers emphasized the word kick in their accompaniments of his swinging vocals. The bass drum kick recurs  several times during the recording because each verse ends with the phrase “I get a kick out of you”.  Do you think the composer planned that ahead of time?

Last fall, when I recorded I’ve Got You Under My Skin for my beguine blog post series, Sinatra’s definitive version of this other Cole Porter standard came to mind because of a similar connection between a word and the music. In fact, this seems to have been intentional on the composer’s part. Following the words, “But each time I do, just the thought of you makes me stop” there is an 8th rest.. How many songwriting teams could have so perfectly interwoven melody and lyric?

During the next few weeks, I’ll share more of my solo piano recordings of Cole Porter songs as this blog series continues. As with I Get a Kick Out of You, some of them will remind me of personal experiences that I’ve had along my musical journey. Perhaps you associate one of Cole Porter’s songs with something that happened in your own life? Please do share this with your fellow readers. Simply leave your reply in the comment box below this post.

With the first week of the New Year behind us, we’re beginning to move forward into 2010. If you’re getting anxious to achieve your long-awaited goal of learning to play the piano or if your son or daughter has been asking about taking piano lessons, now is the perfect time to act! Simply contact us today and we’ll help you figure out if taking piano lessons is right for you.

Nervous? Not to worry. Our piano instructors are patient and encouraging, our studio atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. And more than anything else, when it comes to your piano lessons, we’re always delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

Interestingly enough, it was during my first month as a brand new teacher, that the music of the Charlie Brown television programs became the way that the junior high school students related to my jazz piano playing. During those days, jazz education was in its infancy and there was little interest on the part of students for this style of music. However, when I played Herbie Hancock‘s Watermelon Man on the piano these young people immediately and enthusiastically responded “That’s Charlie Brown music.”

Since teaching General Music to 7^th and 8^th grade students was clearly not my calling, I transitioned into full-time performing and touring with groups that included among others, jazz guitarist John Dougherty, Stevie Wonder’s former drummer Keith Copeland and vocalist Rebecca Parris (who actually introduced me to my wife Brenda). In fact, it was through my step-son, Kevin, that I re-encountered Charlie Brown a few years later when he used the Peanuts characters as models for his artistic development.

Other than the song Linus and Lucy, Christmas Time Is Here is probably one of the most recognizable songs that Vince Guaraldi composed for the Charlie Brown shows. I truly enjoyed preparing and playing this tune for the recording I did to go with today’s blog post. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the composer makes such great use of the motive (short-short-long-short-long) by repeating it so often that you can’t help but keep hearing “Christmas Time is here” in your head over and over.

It just occurred to me that Christmas Time Is Here this is actually a sarabande. This musical form was usually one of the movements of a Baroque Suite (there are plenty of examples that you can find in the music of Bach and Handel which actually bear the title of Sarabande). Although I suspect that Vince Guaraldi must have used this musical form intuitively (rather than thinking about it consciously) when he composed this song, its sensitive mood and waltz meter (3/4 time) certainly fit the form and capture the character.

Another reason that I found Christmas Time Is Here so enjoyable to play is that its harmonies are so rich: (there are several “jazz” chords that include the upper structure tones: 9^th, #11^th and 13^th. Besides that, there are chord progressions that descend chromatically (by half steps). These are the types of things I use to modify standard songs when I am working with my adult piano students. This song has them built right in!

So often in my efforts to help students learn to play music from the American Popular Songbook, I make changes to the chords that are shown above the melody in Fake Books and other sheet music. Not only is my goal to help pianists learn to play music they love with skill, smoothness and self-confidence, but I also want to help them understand how music works.

In the case of Christmas Time Is Here, Vince Guaraldi has provided piano students as well as professional musicians and listeners with a rich palate of harmonic color and a musical form that connects with centuries of music history. All of this in a familiar song that children of all ages so easily recognize. Wow! What a contribution!

Well, Christmas time is actually here. Before I sign off I would just like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday season. After all of the festivities have finished, it may be just the right time to plan to go after your long-desired goal to learn how to play the piano. January is a great time for you to get started with your piano lessons.

Whether you live near our centrally located Natick Studio or close to our convenient Hudson Piano Studio location, take 20 seconds now to contact us today. All of the piano instructors at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are knowledgeable, patient, encouraging and always delighted to help you or your son or daughter Learn to Play the Music You Love!

I would venture a guess that, over the years, most piano students, regardless of their playing level, have included Jingle Bells in their repertoire of holiday songs. In addition to the simplicity of learning the refrain, this song is one of the most well known Christmas holiday standards. It seems to me that whether my piano student is 6 or 66 or any age in between, he is familiar with Jingle Bells. This is no accident, especially in America.

Jingle Bells was composed a little more than 150 years ago by the Boston native James Lord Pierpont (1822 -1893). In my beguine blog series, I brought up the idea that there no such thing as an overnight success. In addition to that, I’ve noticed that many composers create their compositions after being inspired by a particular encounter or personal experience. Not only that, pieces of music often evolve over a much longer period of time than you might expect.

The story of the writing of the most well known Christmas holiday standard, Jingle Bells, is no exception. James Lord Pierpont was sent to boarding school in New Hampshire at age 10. His first inspiration for the theme of song Jingle Bells came during December of that year while he was riding in a sleigh in the snow. However, although Pierpont’s idea originated at such a young age, the journey from concept to creation continued for another quarter of a century.

Returning to Boston in 1845, Pierpont married, fathered two children and then left to seek his fortune by opening a business in the California during the Gold Rush of 1849. About four years later, his older brother Rev. John Pierpont became the Pastor of the Unitarian Church of Savannah, Georgia. A short time later, after his business failed, James became the organist and music director at his brother’s church. He supplemented his salary by giving organ and singing lessons (Later in life he moved to Georgia where he worked in a Presbyterian Church and gave private piano lessons.)

It continues to amaze me when I find that so many composers gave private music lessons as well as worked as church musicians. Since I have been the Music Director at the Hartford Street Presbyterian Church for nearly three decades as well as giving piano lessons to children and adults at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio for more than 30 years, I am grateful to be in such good company.

Along with his ongoing work as a professional musician, Pierpont composed many songs (some became hits) with a variety of music publishers. In 1857, the first version of Jingle Bells called The One Horse Open Sleigh was published in Boston by Ditson & Company. Two years later, the song was slightly revised and re-released as Jingle Bells.

Ironically, neither version became a hit song. In fact, it was only through the efforts of the efforts of the composer’s son Dr. Juriah Pierpont, MD that the copyright was renewed and James Lord Pierpont’s name became permanently attached to the song. Despite this humble beginning, Jingle Bells has become one of the most often performed as well as one of the most widely recognized holiday songs throughout the world.

Since I have been a professional musician for most of my life, I have played this song thousands of times. As a result, in order for me to arrange, perform and record my solo piano version Jingle Bells to go with today’s post, I really needed to hear some renditions that would fuel my enthusiasm.

Among the many out there, I found an older solo piano/vocal version of Jingle Bells by Diana Krall. She’s got both areas covered so well! When I recommend certain types of recordings to my piano students, I often need examples of excellent solo piano performances. This one is sure to be at the top of the list. What are some of your favorite versions of Jingle Bells?

Before the fall season comes to a close and the holiday period really begins is a good time to go after your long-desired goal to learn how to play the piano. In fact, lately several parents and adult students have inquired about beginning their piano lessons in January.

Whether you live near our centrally located Natick Studio or close to our convenient Hudson Piano Studio location, contact us today to find out all about piano lessons. All of the piano instructors at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are knowledgeable, patient, encouraging and always delighted to help you or your son or daughter Learn to Play the Music You Love!

Sometimes the available assortment of recordings is good, occasionally it’s disappointing and once in a while there are some real gems. I have to tell you that recently when I was working on my Beguine blog posts, I was somewhat disenchanted by selection of tracks offered for the Cole Porter standards that I had selected for the series. As a result, I was not overly hopeful when looking forward to researching versions of today’s selection I’ll Be Home for Christmas.

Boy was I surprised…..

There are some real gems included among the ten tracks I added to my library. Jazz pianist Stephen Scott offers a Bossa nova oriented version of I’ll Be Home for Christmas with interludes provided his New York styled jazz quintet. Rob McConnell and his Boss Brass starts his track with a slow tempo rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. After this introduction, McConnell segues into an up tempo Bossa nova oriented version of our featured selection which he introduces with somewhat funky horn punctuations and concludes with an all-out big band swing feeling.

Among the ten treasured recordings of I’ll Be Home for Christmas that I found, one that features solo pianist Dave McKenna is an excellent example of how he employs his signature swing style so successfully. There are many times when I recommend that my students listen to Dave McKenna’s solo piano recordings so that they can hear how beautifully he plays his left hand walking bass lines. This particular track is an excellent model for the piano student to follow for any time of the year. Dave passed away at age 78 for just over a year ago. As a piano teacher, I’m certainly grateful that Concord Records was able to create an extensive catalog of Mr. McKenna’s solo piano recordings that the younger generation of piano players and piano students can look to for inspiration and instruction.

Although my favorite performances of I’ll Be Home for Christmas are somewhat removed from the 1943 Bing Crosby hit recording, the message and origin of this classic Christmas standard have a tremendous similarity to today’s political climate.

The message of I’ll Be Home for Christmas originated by calling to mind the unfounded hope that World War I soldiers had about returning home in time for Christmas. With so many of America’s men and women serving in the armed forces today, we’d all like to have them home for Christmas. Our grandson Jay, who has been in the US Navy for the past 2 1/2 years, is scheduled to be home on leave this year but will be out to sea beginning in January for his second six month deployment in an 18 month period.

In addition to the parallel between then and now that I’ll Be Home for Christmas has, there was also a controversy surrounding the composition of this ever-popular standard. Apparently, Buck Ram (1907-1991), whose extensive songwriting career includes a long-time association with The Platters, had written a song with the same title in 1942. Ram had been a college student when he wrote the song as a gift for his mother. It just so happened that his publisher held back the release of his piece called I’ll Be Home for Christmas so that White Christmas could receive maximum publicity.

In the meantime, Mr. Ram just happened to be discussing some compositional concerns about his song with two casual acquaintances at a bar. These two gentlemen were composer Walter Kent (1911-1994) and lyricist James Kimble “Kim” Gannon (1900-1974). We met Gannon a couple of months ago in my blog post that featured his lyrics for Josef Myrow’s Autumn Nocturne.

Although Buck Ram had left a copy of his piece with these two individuals, he and his publisher were shocked when Kent and Gannon’s published version of I’ll Be Home for Christmas was released with a 1943 copyright date. Despite the differences between his song and theirs (although the titles were the same) the subsequent legal battle resulted in granting Buck Ram the status and recognition as co-writer. He also was then entitled to receive all the royalties associated with this status.

Whether you agree with the court’s findings or not, I think you’ll agree with me that I’ll Be Home for Christmas offers the pianist room to create a variety of possible interpretations. Once again, we have another special selection that reflects the richness of the repertoire from the American Popular Songbook. Whether you are a beginner, an intermediate level student or even and advanced piano student, you can be confident that your listeners will both recognize and enjoy hearing this familiar tune.

It may surprise you to know that November and December are often months when people just like you realize that they want to take piano lessons. They may need some guidance in order to learn how to play the piano or they simply require some assistance so that they can improve their keyboard skills more quickly.

Why wait?

The Ed Mascari Piano Studio has two convenient locations (Natick and Hudson) where you can take piano lessons. The winter months go by much more quickly when you are making music. Contact us today to find out more about Piano Lessons. Our piano instructors are always patient and encouraging. All of us are always delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

One of the benefits to being near this cultural hub was that my early exposure to jazz included some transformational experiences that have had an impact on my entire musical career. Sometime between attending the two concerts that I wrote about in my Summer in Central Park Brings Memories of Great Music blog post, a friend of mine introduced me to the music of the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

In addition to sharing some of his Brubeck LPs with me, he and his father invited me to attend one of the Quartet’s concerts held at Lincoln Center during the ensemble’s Take Five heyday period. Needless to say, as an impressionable young pianist, I was blown away by the performance.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that Brubeck (often with long-time partner saxophonist Paul Desmond) had an extensive discography that featured interpretations of the standards of the American Popular Songbook. Even though two of my three Brubeck records fit into this category, it was only much later that I realized how important this contribution was.

Sometimes my students can get frustrated because they have some trouble understanding an important musical concept. The more they learn, the more they realize how much more there is to learn. I always encourage them to persevere. Experience has taught me that the longer you stay on the path to musical growth, the more things begin to make sense.

And so here I sit writing this article to conclude my Beguine blog post series with the Rodgers and Hart classic This Can’t Be Love as the featured selection. It’s been more than four decades since I first heard the song on the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Bossa Nova USA recording. If you’re curious, the track is available on Amazon.com.

The impact of this early inspiration remains imprinted in my musical memory. To transform the Brubeck Bossa nova arrangement into a beguine bass accompaniment for my recording for today’s post only took a minor adjustment. So my advice to all of you piano students is to “take heart, eventually the pieces of your musical puzzle will create a colorful picture!”

One of my long-time adult students once told me that his motivation for taking piano lessons year after year has been his enjoyment of the process of musical growth. He finds that it also fuels his energy for his extensive explorations with creative photography.

Composer Richard Rodgers spent the first half of his career in partnership with lyricist Lorenz Hart on thirty musicals from 1919 until 1943. Nineteen years after their Broadway beginning, This Can’t Be Love was composed in 1938 for the show The Boys from Syracuse. It ranks as one of the team’s most popular songs. Like Cole Porter, the composer was far from being an overnight success. Then, rather than give up or simply live on his reputation after Hart died in 1943, Rodgers continued to evolve and grow.

His work changed and developed in his 17 year collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II. Although his track record of popular success was less distinguished after Hammerstein’s death in 1960, Richard Rodgers remained dedicated to his own process of musical growth until his illness and subsequent death in 1977.

As we prepare for the holiday season and bid goodbye to the beguine blog series, I hope that those of you who play the piano will be encouraged to continue to grow and develop your musical skills and knowledge. If you are taking lessons, please be assured that all of us who are professional pianists have faced the same challenges that you face. There is a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes as you pursue your piano playing proficiency.

That being said, you don’t have to try to make the journey on your own. Taking piano lessons can make your learning process simpler, shorter and certainly more successful. Our Instructors at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are dedicated to guiding you along the way to better piano playing sooner than you think. Contact us today to find out how you can get started with your piano lessons.

Whether you come for your lessons to our convenient Natick studio location or to our centrally situated Hudson Studio in the historic Oddfellows Hall, you can be assured that our piano instructors will be delighted and dedicated to helping you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

After bringing the CDs with me each week to return to him, I finally gave up and left them home.  I never saw him again because apparently he was assigned to another property by the company. Several months later he stopped in at the hotel for a social visit, and he told me to keep the CDs. I was certainly glad about this, because one of them turned out to be a fantastic gift!

Simply called 25, this recording features several solo piano / vocal tracks which showcase the talents of this wonderful musician. Today, more than twenty years later, one of my favorite tracks on the CD is Tangerine. For some reason, the tune never caught my attention during my initial period of introduction to the standards. Yet, ever since hearing Harry’s version, it’s been one of my favorites.

As with so many of the other great pieces from the American Popular Songbook, Tangerine can be played in a variety of ways while still retaining its identity. As the sixth selection in my beguine blog post series, I’ve recorded the tune with a beguine bass that works perfectly!

Rhapsody Music service offers a percentage of tracks that feature Latin rhythm renditions of Tangerine. One of the artists who excel in this area is jazz pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias. A native of Brazil who had studied with composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ms Elias combines her unique blend of American jazz with her Bossa nova background to present two different inspirational interpretations of Tangerine.

Another more subtle and somewhat more sensitive spin on Tangerine maintains the Latin rhythm as well. This North Star Jazz Ensemble track features the talents of drummer Paul Mason. Mr. Mason, who directs this Rhode Island based group, was a personal friend and musical colleague during our years as undergraduate students at Holy Cross College.

In addition to the swing versions of Tangerine that are included on the track list, there was a unique and catchy performance by one of Harry Connick, Jr.’s fellow New Orleans musicians. Pianist Dr. John takes Tangerine through a series of foot-tapping piano improvisations above his funky rhythm section.

I suppose it’s particularly apropos that Tangerine was introduced to the American public in the 1942 film, The Fleet’s In. My oldest grandson, Jay, was born during the time that I received the Harry Connick, Jr. 25 CD. Jay is currently serving in the United States Navy, and we expect his fleet to be in soon since he is planning to be home during the Christmas holidays.

The song’s composer Victor Schertzinger (1888 – 1941) was a songwriter as well as a film director, film producer and screen writer. The Fleet’s In was not only his final film, but it also featured his two best known songs, I Remember You and Tangerine. Perhaps, at least in part, the success of these two songs had to do with the fact that the lyrics were provided by Johnny Mercer (1909 – 1976). In fact, the words to I Remember You were (according to Mercer) a specific expression of his feelings for 19 year-old Judy Garland with whom he had just had an affair.

All in all, I would have to say that playing Tangerine with the beguine bass is a lot of fun. As you probably know by now, I truly enjoy taking advantage of the II -V- I chord progressions that are woven into the fabric of so many great standards. Tangerine is no exception. This song not only makes continual use of the II -V- I chord progressions from its tonic key of F Major
(Gm7-C7-F Major 7^th), it also includes several other II -V chord progressions.

As I showed in the musical examples that are part of my How I Began My Beguine blog post, the beguine bass works beautifully with II -V and II -V- I chord progressions. As a result, Tangerine serves as a terrific vehicle for my solo piano stylings.

How about you?
Have I sparked your interest?
If you’re like most people who want to learn how to play the piano, you’ll know that taking piano lessons is the quickest way to being able to make music on the keyboard.

Whether you live near our Ed Mascari Piano Studio conveniently located Natick facility or our beautiful Hudson Studio location, you will always be welcomed.

Contact us today so we can help you decide if taking piano lessons is right for you.
Our piano instructors are always delighted to:
Help you earn to play the music you love!

When I was 39, I returned to school to work on my Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory. An important part of my graduate work for the two Masters degrees (Jazz Studies and Classical Composition) that I subsequently received from NEC was the four year period that I studied privately with William Thomas McKinley. It was as a result of these lessons that I began to discover the connection between the standards from the American Popular Songbook and the concert music (classical music) that I came to know and love.

Although most 20^th century composers focused on writing either concert music or popular songs, there were a few who achieved notoriety in both genres. George Gershwin‘s concert music compositions, e.g. Preludes and Rhapsody in Blue, came after the writing of his sensational songs. On the flip side of this, there were three European composers who later became famous in the USA by making the transition from writing classical music to composing American popular songs.

I’ve written about each of them in my previous blog posts: Josef Myrow Autumn Nocturne, Vernon Duke Autumn in New York and Kurt Weill September Song. Five years after composing September Song, Weill wrote this week’s song Speak Low as part of the musical score he composed for the Broadway show, One Touch of Venus.

As I mentioned in last week’s blog post that featured Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love?, the composer was far from being an overnight success. The same can be said of Kurt Weill. In 1935, after more than a decade of being a successful composer of concert music in Germany, Weill immigrated to the United States, married actress/vocalist Lotte Lenya, took up residence in New York City and began to study the compositional components of American popular song and stage music.

Piano students take heed…..

Once again, we have an example of a knowledgeable, experienced and successful professional musician who continued his musical growth by studying and learning. Weill wanted to be authentic. He wanted to write his music with integrity. In fact, Weill insisted on writing all of the music for the scores of his musicals. Not only was this commitment unique among his contemporaries, it’s still unusual today.

It may surprise you to know that even John Williams does not orchestrate all of his wonderful film music. In Hollywood, professional orchestrators are hired to create the full score that the orchestra actually plays for a movie by expanding the composer’s condensed score to include parts for all the instruments..

Three years after making the major life and career change, September Song debuted as part of Knickerbocker Holiday.  But it was another five years before Kurt Weill composed Speak Low. The concept of overnight success could not have possibly crossed the composer’s mind!

Speak Low is often performed as a swing tune, occasionally as a ballad as well as a piece in Latin rhythm (although the bridge sometimes switches to swing rhythm). As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I wanted to continue my beguine blog series by following the four songs by Cole Porter with standards by other composers. In keeping with this focus, I used the beguine bass throughout my performance of Speak Low.

As I prepared for writing this post, I listened to a variety if interpretations of Speak Low on Rhapsody Music. I found it gratifying to hear how many performers opted for the Latin rhythmic flavor for their renditions of this great standard. This made for inspiration of the first order, because even within the Latin genre, there were a variety of tempos being explored. Since each speed suggests stylistic shifts, Speak Low provided plenty of room for the artistic voices to speak.

In fact, that is precisely what we at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio believe. We encourage and teach all of our students to develop their piano playing skills and musical knowledge in such a way that they can play the songs they like in the way that that like to play them.

As with Kurt Weill, there’s always something to learn. Perhaps you love piano music and have always wanted to play, but didn’t know how to get started. Contact us today and we’ll show you how.

Whether you live near our Natick or our Hudson Piano Studio location, we at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are dedicated to giving you the tools, techniques and even some tricks to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

In his book, Now Discover Your Strengths, author Marcus Buckingham cites Cole Porter as one of his excellent examples. He uses the composer to illustrate how a well-known person took advantage of his strengths rather than focused on his weaknesses. He stated that Cole Porter focused on composing great songs. Because these were so strong, the composer was able to compensate for his somewhat weak characters and plots that made up his Broadway shows.

As I’ve mentioned many times, I learn a great deal from my students. Knowing that one of my Hudson adult students is a director, actress, teacher and vocalist, I asked her if Marcus Buckingham’s assessment of Cole Porter’s song writing strength verses his show writing weakness had any validity to it. After thinking about it for a moment, she confirmed the author’s assessment.

Knowing this about Cole Porter’s songs, we can see how What Is This Thing Called Love? played a big part in the composer’s success. He returned from Paris and reintroduced his music to Broadway in 1928. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love), You Do Something To Me, What Is This Thing Called Love? and Love For Sale are the four songs that preceded popularity of the composer’s 1932 signature song, Night and Day.  ”Not too shabby”, as they say. All five of these songs are still played, recorded and enjoyed today.

In the process of teaching my students how to play songs from the American Popular Songbook, I have often shared a particular observation with them. Most of these standards share several similarities: they are 32 measures long, they use only a few specific structures and they employ the wonderfully rich ii-V-I chord progressions for their harmonic language. There is one more factor which unifies this material. The composers worked with a variety of lyricists throughout their careers.

Like Irving Berlin before him, Cole Porter wrote both the music and lyrics for his songs. I make it a point of identifying this fact to a student as he begins to work on one of this composer’s pieces. The reason for this is that the length, structures and even some of the chord progressions often differ to some degree from those of his contemporaries. For example, Beguine the Beguine has 108 measures and I’ve Got You Under My Skin has 56 measures.

Although What Is This Thing Called Love? is 32 measures long and follows the customary A-A-B-A (verse-verse-bridge-verse) form, the composer challenges the piano student to accept the fact that this song is in the key of C Major (no sharps and no flats). Beginning with the first note of the song, the melody surprises you with a B flat, soon followed by an A flat and later by an E flat. Even though all three verses resolve to the tonic (home) key of C Major, Cole Porter’s mastery was already manifesting itself less than two years after his return to Broadway.

As I’ve mentioned many times, I listen to many versions of the featured song as part of my preparation for each blog post. Despite the fact I enjoyed the many jazz versions of What Is This Thing Called Love? I was surprised by the fact that only a couple of the performances took advantage of this standard’s possibilities when played with a Latin rhythm.

I hope you will enjoy my beguine rhythm recording of What Is This Thing Called Love? I’ll return to the music of Cole Porter after the holidays. So if you have any particular favorites by this wonderful composer, please leave the song titles in the comment box below this post. In the meantime, I’ll finish out the month of November with three more beguine blog posts. But this time, the selections will come from the works of Kurt Weill, Johnny Mercer and Rodgers & Hart.

As you probably know by now, whether I am writing a blog post, recording a standard or creating a music theory lesson for my website Music Theory pages, I want to help you understand how music works so you can enjoy it even more.

There’s always something to learn. Perhaps you love piano music and have always wanted to play, but didn’t know how to get started. Contact us today and we’ll show you how.

Whether you live near our Natick or our Hudson Piano Studio location, we at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are dedicated to giving you the tools, techniques and even some tricks to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

Nothing could be further from the truth. Cole Porter had returned from Paris to re-introduce his music to New York audiences four years earlier, but it took the composer even more time to build up to this success.

Sometimes my students will ask me how long it will take for them to feel totally confident with their piano playing. Of course, the answer to that question can vary widely with each individual. Nevertheless, it’s difficult for aspiring piano students at any age to grasp the concept of the time required to develop musical maturity.

Believe me, I was no different. When I made the mid-career shift from ensemble keyboardist and jazz organist to solo pianist, I naively thought that making the change was simply a matter of switching performance vehicles. Boy was I wrong! In fact as I recall, it took the first five years of my 14 year solo piano gig at the Radisson Milford Hotel before I achieved the level of confidence that I had been working toward with the solo piano genre. Make no mistake though; I still had plenty to learn then. Today, I understand and appreciate the fact that musical growth is a life-long learning experience.

Returning to Night and Day, think about the fact that Cole Porter’s most popular standard premiered 17 years after his Broadway failure and emigration to Paris. It was after many hours of practice, experience, ups and downs that Night and Day became a hit for the composer. So I hope you realize that even though Night and Day has a legacy of nearly 80 years, the composer was anything but an overnight success. The fact is, that it takes a considerable length of time for even the most talented and famous musicians to achieve greatness.

After Fred Astaire‘s premiere recording of Night and Day in 1932, a great variety of performing artists from Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to Ringo Starr and Rod Stuart have continued to contribute their own interpretations to our extensive listening library. Although most jazz musicians tend to play Night and Day as a swing tune, there was one notable exception that particularly inspired me.

As I have mentioned in my Bossa Nova blog post series as well as in my recent Beguine blog articles, the way jazz musicians in the 1960s began to incorporate Latin rhythms and songs into their repertoires had a tremendous impact on my own piano playing.

Although I have performed Night and Day over the years as a swing tune, when I decided to record it for this Beguine blog post series, I immediately recalled the rendition recorded by Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’66 nearly 30 years ago. With the Latin rhythms in my inner musical ear and the review of the track on Rhapsody Music (which I listened to several times), I was ready to record my solo piano version to go with this post.

The first beguine bass pattern that I presented in How I Began My Beguine works beautifully for Night and Day. The reason for this is that almost every one of the song’s 32 measures has only one chord. By simply following the pattern Root – 5^th- 5^th- 5^th (an octave below), the Latin rhythm accompaniment falls right into place.

As I often tell my students, the best way to make your piano playing work effectively, is to keep your left hand accompaniment solid and steady. Once this foundation is established, you can play the melody with the right hand with the freedom to embellish, vary and personalize your version of the song. This principle turns the average person’s logic upside down. But all you have to do is think about how Sinatra could swing when he sang the standards on his recordings with the Count Basie Band.

Whether you want to learn how to play one of your favorite songs with the beguine bass, get your children started with piano lessons while they’re still young or achieve your life-long dream of learning to play the piano, the piano teachers at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio can provide you with patient and encouraging instruction.

Whether you take lessons at our convenient Natick Studio location or at our Hudson Piano Studio centrally located on the Hudson Rotary, you can be confident that we are always delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!

As I discovered long ago with my own musical development, becoming comfortable with a new accompaniment style is not always easy to learn. Perhaps this is why I teach the way I do. It’s also why I am so passionate about guiding the Ed Mascari Piano Studio faculty members in the use of my teaching method. By finding ways to simplify the skill of playing songs on the piano, we focus on helping each student learn how to make use of a particular accompaniment style.

Enter the first of our two featured selections, I Love Paris…..

As soon as I introduce a student to the elements of the beguine bass, I then show him how to play Cole Porter’s I Love Paris with the beguine bass accompaniment. Because the melody of this standard is short and rhythmically simple, it provides an excellent contrast for the syncopated rhythm of the accompaniment.

My students get an additional benefit from beginning their beguine with I Love Paris. There is thematic unity between the two sections of this piece. This makes it easier to learn. However, there is something else which provides the song’s colorful contrast. Cole Porter takes advantage of the differences between the key of C minor and its parallel major, C Major.

Not only does the listener get to hear the melody played in the happy sounding key of C major, she also can hear its character change when the melody and associated chords come from the parallel somber sounding key of c minor.  Basically, using of this idea of alternating between the minor and major keys, the pianist can take advantage of the fact that the letter names (and thus the hand position) are the same for both the minor key and its parallel major. Notice that it’s only the change in accidentals (flats) that is needed to create this contrast between the first half and second half of I Love Paris.

You can see this contrast in Example No. 1 in C minor, (Listen)

and then in Example No. 2 in C major… (Listen)

The Summer Knows is another great song that makes excellent use of the minor key and its parallel major key. You can hear my recording of this piece as well as read what I said about this concept in my Summer Knows blog post.

When I found out that Cole Porter composed I Love Paris in 1953, it really caught me by surprise since it had been a quarter of a century since the composer had decided to return to Broadway where his music finally met with success in America. He had immigrated to Paris after the failure of his first Broadway production in 1916. In addition to earning a living as a successful song writer, Porter’s years in Paris also included his marriage to Linda Lee Thomas, his European travels as well as a great deal of socializing. Among the highlights was the opportunity to show Richard Rodgers several of his songs.

Perhaps it was for the same reasons that Cole Porter’s music made an impression on Richard Rodgers, that I became drawn to many of his songs. I can’t even begin to remember when I started playing I Love Paris in a medley with I’ve Got You Under My Skin. But once I began my beguine, I ended up putting many of Cole Porter’s songs together in medleys.

A word about the term medley…

Something that I had to learn when I first started playing G.B. gigs was how to link songs together. Often when I suggest to a student that she put two songs together by having one segue immediately into the other song, she seems bewildered.

I guess that since being able to play songs in medleys is a job requirement for the professional pianist, I’m always looking for opportunities to link songs together. However, I need to constantly remind myself that finding the common ground between two or more songs and playing them in a medley is a new idea for many piano students.

Ironically, when I automatically followed I Love Paris with I’ve Got You Under My Skin, the Cole Porter song segue evolved naturally because I was using the beguine rhythm that I began after hearing Jimmy Lyon play Begin the Beguine.

When you listen to my recording of the I Love Paris / I’ve Got You Under My Skin medley, think about other possible songs that you could put together in medleys.

You may need some help in this area. Perhaps you would like to organize the music from your favorite Broadway show into a medley. As an alternative, you may want to create a set of songs by a single composer. Whatever help you need with your piano playing, remember….

The Ed  Mascari Piano Studio instructors will be delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!