The other night, one of my adult students, Ken Taylor and I were discussing his approach to learning to play the standards. He has developed a somewhat different approach to learning to play the music he loves. Rather than accumulate a group of songs for his performing repertoire, he prefers to explore, experiment and elaborate on all of the possible ways he can play one specific standard. He then records each piece and posts it on his blog Learning to Play Jazz Piano After Age 50+.  Once his performance is posted, he moves on to the next piece. It’s become an exciting way for Ken to develop his musical gifts. There are many ways to relate to your own musical interests. During these years of working with my wonderful webmaster and talented musical collaborator, David Summer, I have uncovered methods that work well for me.

As a result, when I share these stories of the great standards with you in each blog post, I have continued to be inspired by many aspects of the process. The Way You Look Tonight is no exception. Although this song came to my attention during the years when I was performing as solo pianist at the Radisson Hotel in Milford, revisiting the tune recently has revitalized my appreciation for it.

Once again, Fred Astaire provided its debut in the 1936 film Swing Time. Not only was it a hit, but it actually won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Like so many of Jerome Kern’s other compositions, the composer would not have approved of the many and varied interpretations that have been performed out-of-context during these past 75 years. Somehow, I can’t picture lyricist Dorothy Fields crying at the beauty of the composer’s melody the way she did when “Jerry” played it for her, if she heard Dave Brubeck’s Quartet play it.

That being said, The Way You Look Tonight offers performers the opportunity to open themselves up to a variety of stylistic interpretations. Several months ago, when a WGBH TV fundraising program was on in the other room, I ran in to see who was performing in such a captivating style. No sooner did I hear the first notes of his rendition of The Way You Look Tonight on my playlist, then I once again recognized to magical sounds of Chris Botti’s trumpet playing accompanied by his perfectly matched tasteful orchestrations. You may be wondering how listening to a trumpet player can be so inspiring to my piano playing. The piano is such a wonderful instrument which offers an infinite number of possibilities. Whether it’s capturing the lyrical melodic style of a saxophone or flute, imitating the bass lines of an inspiring jazz bassist or paying attention to the pulsating rhythms of a Latin percussionist, you can make your keyboard playing more colorful by opening yourself to what you hear. For more tips for applying this technique, take a look at my post on turning your keyboard into a cast of characters.

As with several of Jerome Kern’s other works, The Way You Look Tonight employs the composer’s preference for using tertiary modulation for the bridge. Rather than “follow the crowd” of other American Popular Songbook composers who used the traditional change to the key of the subdominant (IV) to provide harmonic contrast in the bridge (middle section) of the song, going up a 3^rd from F major to Ab major offers the composer’s common manner of contrast. In the meantime, the ii-V-I chord progressions continue to populate the harmonic structure of the piece. And guess what. Simpler is better! All you have to do is listen to jazz organists Jimmy McGriff and Chris Foreman (Blue Organ Trio), to hear their smokin’ versions of The Way You Look Tonight, and you’ll be reminded of how much fun you can have playing the music of Jerome Kern.

And so on that note, we bid farewell to Jerome Kern as our featured composer with many thanks for his great music.

How about you, did hearing about these great standards peak your interest in getting back to playing the piano?

Whether you choose to learn The Way You Look Tonight or prefer to perform another selection on your keyboard, you can make better and faster progress by working with a trained piano instructor. There’s still time to brush up on those holiday songs before someone asks you to sit down at the grand piano at their house party.

Whether the lessons are for you or for one of your children you can find out all about how we can help you by taking 20 seconds to Contact Us Today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Studio location. You can choose to study with one of our terrific piano teachers, Erika Hirsch, Karen Fahey or Robin Cho. If you are close to our Natick Piano Studio location, you can take lessons from me.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Although the songs Make Believe, Bill and Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man continue to be performed today, its signature song stands head and shoulders above all the rest. Ol’ Man River is written for a bass vocalist. This is rare in modern music and thus provides a unique opportunity for men with low voices to showcase their talents. It’s a dramatic piece of music, which carries a great deal of emotion.

Knowing this, can you see what an unusual piece this is to be included in my series of jazz and jazz influenced recordings for these blog posts?

I found myself facing a conundrum. This problem made for a very difficult choice. Should I play Ol’ Man River in a straight-laced operatic style or should I allow the music to dictate where I was to take it?

Needless to say I took the later approach.

One of the things that my students often notice is that I look for as many harmonic (chord) patterns as possible when studying the sheet music. Sometimes this requires moving, deleting and adding chords to the symbols that are already provided in the music. If you were sitting at your piano lesson next to me and I came to a tricky spot, you’d hear and see my trying several possible combinations of chords. I would probably ask you which pattern you preferred.

In my theory lesson How to Arrange a Song In Twelve Easy Steps I made sure to include a note of encouragement for students reminding them that there is often only 25% of what’s needed for the arrangement, so don’t give up. That being said, although it may take you a little longer than it takes me to create your song’s “blueprint”, you’ll get there.

And so that’s what I did with Ol’ Man River.

Once I realized that the three verses were in the key of Eb major, I knew the many accompaniment patterns that would easily work. The fact that the melody uses the Eb pentatonic (five note scale) invites interpretation. I spoke about this in my Autumn in New York post. Meanwhile, as in the case of several other Kern songs (Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, I’m Old Fashioned, etc.) the bridge goes up a 3rd (called a tertiary modulation) rather than the more typical up a 4th/down a 5th. In this way Ol’ Man River’s bridge offers a delightful contrast by being in the key of G minor. Minor keys are more colorful anyway, but the fact that the composer avoided the relative minor meant that there was more of a variety of chords than expected.

Once I understood the musical score more clearly and created my musical “blueprint”, I was open to the possibilities that Ol’ Man River offered to me as a solo pianist. If you decide to play this standard yourself, I would strongly suggest that you explore the variety of outstanding recorded performances.

Vocalist Lou Rawls, who always leaned towards a bluesy style, blew me away with his foot-tapping and swinging soulful version of Ol’ Man River. I met jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels 40 years ago when he was in the process of making the decision to market himself on this instrument rather than on the more popular jazz saxophone. When I heard his smokin’ upbeat fusion rendition of Ol’ Man River, I realized that great songs offer great artists great vehicles for musical expression.

How about you?

Isn’t it time you discovered how to express yourself at the keyboard?
Perhaps you need some piano instruction to help you get there.

September is a great time to get started. Whether the lessons are for you or for one of your children you can find out all about it by taking 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location. You can choose to study with one of our terrific piano teachers, Erika Hirsch, Karen Fahey or Robin Cho. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from me.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

In light of this mood, jazz vocalist and former WICN-FM disc jockey, Carol Sloane teamed up with trumpeter/vocalist Clark Terry to create a wonderfully enjoyable performance. Their recording is reflective of the light-hearted earlier rendition created by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Keeping to the duet format, three other vocalists managed to capture a similar mood by combining their talents with excellent pianists. Susannah McCorkle’s recording with English pianist Keith Ingham features the latter’s stride piano style during the instrumental interlude. French singer Isabelle Georges offers yet another example in combination with pianist René Urtreger. A more modern version follows this same model: California’s Nina Blade joining forces with the wonderful pianist Bill Mays.

It’s amazing to think that it took the combined talent of many creative artists to provide us with yet another part of Jerome Kern’s legacy. The 1934 musical Three Sisters was a flop despite the fact that it included I Won’t Dance with lyrics by the team of Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. All was not lost however. When it came time to make a 1935 film version of the Kern/Harbach 1933 operetta Roberta, songwriters Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh entered the scene.  They kept the songs Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Yesterdays and replaced the original lyrics of I Won’t Dance with their own. The song became a number one hit and is performed today in this version.

Now that I’ve shared all of this background with you, it’s time for me to come clean. The recording I made for today’s blog was actually the first time I ever performed I Won’t Dance. Not only that, when I looked at the music, I was baffled. It was the opposite of what I’ve been telling you about several of Jerome Kern’s standards: simpler is better. Despite the fact that there are plenty of ii-V-I patterns in the bridge, creating a workable solo piano arrangement for the verse eluded me. “I love this song”, I thought, “How can I capture the energy?” You can ask any of my adolescent or adult students and they’ll tell you what I did.

I looked at the sheet music and took out my pencil. After experimenting a bit, I finally got it. I found my solution! It was as clear as day. Use the anchor bass.  After adding a few chord names above the staff, all I had to do was start practicing. Pretty soon the fun began!

How about you?

Would you like to learn how to look at a piece of sheet music and turn it into a song that you can have fun playing?

Has your high school son or daughter wanted to find a way to personalize his or her keyboard playing?

Is your younger child interested in learning to play the piano, but you want her experience to be more enjoyable than the one you had when you took lessons as a kid?

Now’s the time to take action!

This week, many of your sons and daughters will be heading back to school. This is a great time to get started. Whether the lessons are for you or for one of your children you can find out all about it by taking just 20 seconds to contact us today.

Whether you live near our convenient Natick Studio location or close to our centrally located Hudson Studio spot, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our piano instructors are always delighted to help you learn to play the music you love!

Yesterdays, like many of Jerome Kern’s other compositions, contains a great deal of harmonic (chords) and melodic repetition. As a matter of fact, Yesterdays is a 32 measure song which is made up of two identical 16 bar sections. Because of this, there is an extra measure (bar 33) needed so that the song will actually end on the tonic (principal chord of the key). So as I mentioned last time in my Dearly Beloved post, when it comes to improvisation and interpretation, simpler is better. The great thing about Yesterdays though, is that it is written in a minor key.

One of my adult students and I have often discussed the difference between songs written in major keys (happy in character) and those written in minor keys (sad in character). She has been drawn to learn pieces in minor keys because she senses a depth to them which communicates to her. These have included such selections as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Autumn Leaves. Yesterdays certainly would fit into her concept of depth.

Written in the key of d minor (the relative minor of F Major with Bb in the key signature), the first six bars of Yesterdays make sure that we clearly hear and know this. The chords are Dmin – Emin 7b5-A7 (i – ii - V) played twice followed by the D minor handi variation (minor line cliché).  So looking at the list of tracks available on Rhapsody Music, it’s no surprise to hear the tremendous variety of styles that performers have selected for presenting their interpretations of Yesterdays. There are so many (10 hours worth of listening) that I hesitate to identify them individually. You may find it interesting to know that among the many great recordings of this jazz standard, there are many more instrumental tracks offered as opposed to the normal number of vocal versions.

As a matter of fact, one of my high school age piano students totally surprised me when he selected Yesterdays as his piece for our Annual Spring Student Recital. It was not so much the song as his interpretation of it. In addition to playing the piano (he’s been taking lessons from me since he was in the second grade) and taking trumpet lessons, Teddy Billings has been active in musical theatre productions for several years. When he told me what he had in mind for his arrangement, I was astounded. He had envisioned an arrangement that not only reflected his versatile artistic background, but one which conjured up images of a one person cabaret performance. Listen to Teddy’s recital performance.

I’m not sure when I first heard and/or started playing Yesterdays myself, but it has always been one of my favorite tunes. Although I never played it as a ballad like Wynton Marsalis does, I have certainly taken advantage of its inherent rubato (literally means “robbing the time”) ad lib tempo possibilities. At the same time, performing Yesterdays as a swing tune at a variety of speeds has been my common practice. Pianist Monty Alexander includes a bit of stride in his arrangement, and his rendition remains a source of inspiration to me. Nevertheless, I’ve also had fun treating Yesterdays as a samba on occasion.

Needless to say, when I made the recording to go with today’s post, I left myself open to the possibilities and went with the flow rather than follow any preconceived arrangement.  So I hope that you enjoy listening to it.

This past week, we began our annual Fall Piano Lesson Enrollment period. Students have already started contacting us to schedule their lesson appointments.

How about you?

There’s no time like the present.

Whether you want to put your own spin on a standard like Yesterdays, get your son or daughter started at learning to play the keyboard or finally take action on one of the major items on your “bucket list”, fall is the perfect time to enroll in piano lessons. Whether you live near our convenient Natick Studio location or close to our centrally located Hudson Studio, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student.

So take 10 seconds today and Contact Us to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio. Our piano instructors are always delighted to help you learn to play the music you love!

Why is this important?

Think about it. When you learn a song, you need to pay attention to the details such as phrasing, the dynamics (louds and softs), and the words. It’s far more than a casual acquaintance with the selection. In fact, you may even be drawn to listening to recorded performances to help your familiarity, memory and enjoyment of the piece you are learning.  After this following this process, you internalize the music. It becomes imprinted in your musical memory. And guess what? Your life is richer as a result of that experience!

I can remember learning and singing The Song Is You during my high school years. The arrangement was certainly closer to what Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II would have envisioned when they wrote it for the 1932 operetta-styled musical Music in the Air. Although my introduction to this great American Popular Songbook standard was through nostalgically styled choral arrangement, my frame of reference has changed dramatically since then.

Most jazz performers treat The Song Is You as a swing tune. As I’m writing this post, I’m listening to pianist Dave McKenna’s distinctive left hand walking bass lines moving easily through the chord changes as he exchanges improvised lines with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco. No drums are necessary here. These two know how to swing! Another interesting rendition is a solo jazz flute performance by veteran Sam Most. Unencumbered by other instruments, Mr. Most makes such excellent use of syncopation, rests, dynamics and rhythm that any piano student can benefit by listening to this track.

One of the great things about The Song Is You like so many other of Jerome Kern’s compositions, is that it’s simple enough to allow room for personal expression and yet challenging enough to keep even the most seasoned performer on his or her toes. As I’ve mentioned many times since my blog post It’s All About the DNA, the way so many standards are composed is related to the IV-V-I or ii-V-I chord progressions that are at the core of every piece of music.

That being said, often the bridge (middle section) of a song goes to the key of IV. For example, if the song is in the key of C, the bridge will be in the key of F (although the actual key signature will NOT change). Notice that F is a fifth (five letter names) BELOW C. Here’s where Jerome Kern surprises us. The bridge of The Song Is You is a third above C. Even without a change of key signature to 4 sharps, there is freshness in the sound and some challenging chords for the piano student to navigate through.

This is called a tertiary modulation. What I’ve noticed is that some of the composer’s other standards do the same thing. We’ll feature three of them in upcoming blog posts: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Eb to B[Cb]), Long Ago and Far Away (F to Ab) and The Way You Look Tonight (F to Ab).

When I was studying with composer and jazz pianist Tom McKinley at New England Conservatory, he often praised his former student Fred Hersch. Mr. Hersch, now in his 50s, has managed to combine a concert and composing career which includes piano performances in a variety of settings. His solo jazz piano performance of The Song Is You was recorded at the Maybeck Recital Hall. If you want to be inspired to play the piano in a style that expresses your creativity, listen to how Fred manages to combine his diversified musical background in his unique way. All the while, keep in mind that Jerome Kern’s great standard leaves plenty of room for a variety of vehicles of interpretation.

Now it’s your turn!

During the past year, several of our adult students have taken the first step to realizing their dream: “I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the piano and NOW is the time.” Meanwhile, you’d be amazed to discover that quite a few of our high school students have enrolled in our piano lesson programs because they have become highly motivated to continue (or to learn) to play piano for their own reasons and in their own way (no longer just to please their parents).

Summer is the perfect time to explore your own interests by learning to play the piano. Why not schedule some piano lessons today at one of the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s two convenient locations, the Natick MA Piano Studio and the Hudson MA Piano Studio. There’s still time to enroll in our unique 2010 Summer Piano Lesson program.

You can connect with your piano keyboard while still having the flexibility you need because you’ll be able to select the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments during July and August.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you learn to play the music you love!

This is one left hand accompaniment style that continues to fascinate many of my piano students. Not only do they find it energizing, but they also can’t wait until they can learn to use it too. As a teacher, I find that the best way to help a student expand her pallet of piano playing accompaniments is to select a song that helps her start using the specific style she is studying. This piece is the perfect pedagogical vehicle for introducing her to the walking bass technique.

What a far cry from constantly focusing on fingering exercises!

Once I make a few minor changes to the chords found in the verses of Let’s Fall in Love, the student is able to get started on his way to swinging piano playing. For our first step, my student and I review the ii-V-I progression concept which is so central to the music of the American Popular Songbook. Then the fun begins! He’s ready to understand how to create his own walking bass lines. Starting with the I-vi-ii-V (you’d recognize this as the Heart and Soul pattern); I explain how to construct what I call the anchor bass line. Using this for the turn-around (set of chords that bring you back to the beginning of the song); this student sees the secret for his success.

So often an adult student will apologize because she can’t remember something that I’ve taught her. This usually happens when we need to apply the material in question to the music that she is playing. My response to her (and to you) is that learning in school by studying, taking tests and forgetting most of what you learn is the opposite of the way that you gain musical knowledge. Whether my student is 6 or 66, my advice is always the same: “If you don’t know the answer, look it up rather than guess. The more often you do this, the more quickly the material will become second nature to you.” Needless to say, every time I provide this guidance to a student, I remember how many times I had to revisit the anchor bass line concept before I was able to understand, personalize and teach it.

Just to give you an idea of what mean, I’ll tell you that my learning process began during rehearsals with jazz guitarist John Dougherty in the summer of 1972. A decade later, this musical element became clearer when I listened and talked with Boston jazz pianist Joe Morocco after he had tuned my piano. Several years later, another piece to the puzzle fell into place when the well-known jazz composer, arranger and band leader Gerald Wilson was guest lecturer at one of my graduate school classes at New England Conservatory.

Now it’s time for my piano student to play Let’s Fall in Love with the walking bass line. First, she’ll need to meet the challenge of negotiating the notes of the left hand part. In order to do this, she’ll have to pay attention to the phrasing. By taking advantage of these patterns, she’ll finalize the fingering necessary for playing smoothly connected lines. Besides this, she’ll need to develop the independence required to coordinate the counterpoint between the left hand part and the right hand melody. I’m sure that you can see how doing this would provide you with a terrific way to improve your technique.

As you probably know by now, I am convinced that listening to different performances of your selected song for study will energize, inspire and inform your own piano playing. Fortunately, our featured composer Harold Arlen is a favorite among jazz musicians. Perhaps with this fifth song in the Harold Arlen series, you’ll take advantage of finding the variety of versions of Let’s Fall in Love that that will serve as your models for developing your new keyboard swing style skill.

Some of my favorite Let’s Fall in Love renditions include a few by Diana Krall, whose vocal and piano styles both reflect her strong sense of swing. Though they don’t have the dual capability that Ms. Krall has, Oscar Peterson, Hank Jones, Dave Brubeck, Ralph Sharon (Tony Bennett’s accompanist), Paul Smith and Ahmad Jamal each offer an excellent and inspiring example to piano students. Three other performances of Let’s Fall in Love also caught my attention. Jazz vocalist Betty Carter (whom I mentioned in a recent post) incorporated some horn-like inflections into her interpretation. Trumpeter Chris Botti, whom I first saw on a recent PBS TV special, combines his personalized performance with a background that is subtle yet swinging. Finally, jazz bassist Jay Leonhart‘s Quartet featuring clarinetist Ken Peplowski, not only contributes to the catalog of  Let’s Fall in Love recordings, but his bass playing will serve as a terrific model for developing your own left hand walking bass technique.

Whether you want to start using the walking bass technique, play a slower standard from the American Popular Songbook, compose a piece or play your favorite pop tune on your keyboard, taking piano lessons can help you enjoy music more than ever before.

Our 2010 Summer Session is a great way for you to get started.
Our unique Summer Piano Lesson program is designed to provide you with maximum scheduling flexibility. You can schedule the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments around your vacation, camp, family and other leisure activities.

Both our Natick Piano Studio and Hudson Studio locations are convenient and centrally located.
Contact us today to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio.

Our patient and encouraging piano instructors are always delighted to help you learn to play the music you love!

So who, other than Harold Arlen could have created a composition that combined song form with the blues? As I mentioned in my Blues in the Night blog post, Arlen had managed to find a way to energize and enrich his songs with a blues feeling that has continued to inspire jazz musicians for more than eight decades. Stormy Weather is no exception. Despite the fact that it includes two instances of “keeps rainin’ all the time” (two measures each) and thus increases the song’s length by four measures, for all intents and purposes, this standard follows the customary 32 measure form featuring the A-A-B-A (verse 1-verse 2-bridge-verse 3).

Arlen’s genius in imbibing his songs with blues elements can be seen by looking at the sheet music. There are several spots where an A# appears. You might think that this is just an accidental (a note that is marked sharp or flat because it’s not in the key of the song). However, this is the composer’s clever way of including the commonly used blues scale note, the flatted 3^rd (A# is actually a disguised version of Bb). There is also a Db in the melody and this can be seen/heard as the flatted 5^th. You may remember me telling you that my students often notice me adding some bluesy sounding notes when I demonstrate songs for them. Here’s a case where the melody of Stormy Weather gives you, as the piano student, the opportunity start sounding bluesy.

As I mentioned in my recent I Thought About You blog post, the creative process takes many shapes and forms, but rarely produces a piece of music instantaneously with a flash of inspiration. Perhaps because Arlen and Koehler had been working together for four years since creating their first hit song, Get Happy, it’s possible that their collaborative work had become extremely well synchronized. As a result of their musical contributions to shows at New York’s Cotton Club as well as for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films, it certainly seems believable that they wrote Stormy Weather while they were at a party. Once when I was visiting a college friend, I sat down at the piano and immediately came up with one of my early jazz compositions while I was waiting for his family to finish getting ready for church. Although my jazz quartet played my new piece for a couple of years, it was far from being a hit song.

As I’ve said before, often one of my piano students will come in to his lesson enthusiastically exclaiming, “I composed a new piece this week.” Needless to say, I can feel his excitement, and I truly enjoy helping him refine, improve and finalize his creation. Nine times out of ten, if you asked him how and when he came up with this new composition, he’d tell you that he was practicing for his lesson and an idea just popped into his head. So I ask you, was this simply a flash of inspiration? Yes and no. Perhaps this can give us a clue into the creation of Stormy Weather as well.

Before I put my Rhapsody Music playlist together to prepare for writing and recording Stormy Weather for today’s blog post, I expected to find slow and medium bluesy ballad version of this great standard. Boy was I surprised! There was certainly a variety of styles represented among the renditions. One of my former band mates, drummer Keith Copeland, surprised me with his soulful samba version from his CD Postcard from Vancouver. Although this performance was on one of Keith’s recordings as a leader, he has played with many jazz musicians including pianists Hank Jones, Kenny Barron and Billy Taylor as well as pop artists including Stevie Wonder. Needless to say, I learned a lot during my gigging days more than 30 years ago.

One other track truly got me fooled. As I was listening, I thought to myself, “this sounds like Sinatra, but the accompaniment sounds unusually intimate.” Needless to say, I had to find out who was playing with the Chairman of the Board? First of all, I was surprised to discover that not only was it not Frank, it was a Bulgarian jazz vocalist named Vasil Petrov. His duet recording features pianist Rumen Toskov. What makes this performance so magical is Toskov’s solo the playing style. The addition of conga drums also adds some special spice to this medium swing tempo track. What was that about music being the international language?

Whether you want to play a ballad or a blues, compose a tune or play your favorite pop tune on your keyboard, taking piano lessons can help enjoy music more than ever before. If you ask any of our piano students, children and adults, they’ll tell you the same thing. Like you, they’ll say that they just want to learn to play the piano. Often, especially from adults, I also hear “I’ve always wanted to learn to the piano”.

What about you? Isn’t it time you acted on that voice in your head that keeps saying, “Life’s too short, now’s the time to find a teacher and start taking piano lessons.”

Our 2010 Summer Session is a great way for you to get started.
Our unique Summer Piano Lesson program is designed to provide you with maximum scheduling flexibility. You can schedule the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments around your vacation, camp, family and other leisure activities.

Both our Natick Piano Studio and Hudson Studio locations are convenient and centrally located. Contact us today to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio.

Our patient and encouraging piano instructors are always delighted to help you learn to play the music you love!

Although Rose received partial credit for writing the words to this song (as well as a few others in collaboration with other lyricists and composers), it was never clear how much he actually contributed to the creation (usually, just an occasional word or idea). Because he was so successful at promoting songs that he had a hand in writing, lyricists and publishers were willing to include his name in conjunction with that of the actual professional lyricist. Yip Harburg, on the other hand, was a prolific and successful wordsmith.

Harburg’s partnerships with composers Vernon Duke (Autumn in NY), Jerome Kern (I’m Old Fashioned & My Romance), Julie Styne and Burton Lane as well as Harold Arlen produced many well-known successful songs. In fact, beginning with Satan’s Little Lamb (1932), Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg worked together on songs for more than 40 years. Of course, their most famous collaboration was for the Wizard of Oz including Over the Rainbow (1939).

Like several songs that have been featured in my previous posts, It’s Only a Paper Moon (1932) has become recognized as one of the great standards in the American Popular Songbook despite the fact that it was written for an unsuccessful Broadway play called The Great Magoo and even included the 1933 film Take a Chance. Once again, we have a case of a song’s popularity resulting from recordings that were made by jazz musicians including Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. It’s certainly a wonderful vehicle for improvisation as is evidenced by the number of instrumentalists and vocalists who have made quite a variety of versions of this terrific tune.

By sticking with the standard 32 bar A-A-B-A structure (verse 1-verse 2-bridge-verse 3), Harold Arlen created a musical composition that makes it easy for jazz players to follow when improvising. At the same time, the syncopated rhythm of the melody shifts the standard strong beat accent away from the first beat (and often third beat of many of the measures) in a way that keeps the music interesting.

Often when I explain the concept of musical accents to one of my students, she seems to have an aha moment. For the most part, my piano student has focused on learning to count so she can play in tempo. So being able to switch from 4/4 to 3/4 time and vice versa become yet another challenge. But when she understands the idea that the first beat of every measure ALWAYS gets the Strong accent, the light goes on. Counting and playing with correct rhythm become easier for her.

Now here’s Harold Arlen creating a jazzy effect by shifting the melody notes AWAY from the first beat of so many of the measures. What fun! In fact, it seems to me that the lyrics have a very fanciful character which the composer has enhanced so very well. As you must know by now, I really enjoy playing and listening to the standards from the American Popular Songbook. Although I know the words to many of the songs (remember, my mother always sang the songs while playing them on the piano), my focus is on the music itself. However, in the case of It’s Only a Paper Moon, I continue to be amazed at Yip Harburg’s fanciful lyrics.

Once, about 15 years ago, I was watching a TV program on which Buffalo Bob was being interviewed. He explained that for the first three weeks that the Howdy Doody show was on the air, there was no actual puppet. Buffalo Bob simply spoke as if Howdy was there in the desk draw. His comment to the interviewer was, “Can you imagine the kids today waiting three weeks before they actually saw the character on the screen?” And so in a parallel way, I ask a similar question, “Can you imagine a pop song today with words like ‘sailing over a cardboard sea….hanging over a muslin tree…’?”

In keeping with this, many interpretations of It’s Only a Paper Moon reflect the fanciful and fun nature of its lyrics. Tony Bennett’s vocal version casts the tune as a jazz waltz. Very clever! A San Francisco based bassist and composer by the name of Kurt Ribak leads his piano-bass-drums trio in a catchy Latin rhythm rendition which captures up an island flavor. Former Wynton Marsalis sideman pianist Marcus Roberts offers a cool cut as part of his CD tribute to the keyboard style of Nat King Cole. There are too many others to share with you today, but I’d recommend that you do an online search and get ready to put a smile on your face.

Are you are a parent who wants to offer your son or daughter the opportunity to learn to enjoy making music at the keyboard?

Or are you perhaps an adult beginner or one who wants to get back to taking piano lessons after many years?

Our 2010 Summer Session is a great way for you to get started.
Our unique Summer Piano Lesson program is designed to provide you with maximum scheduling flexibility. You can schedule the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments around your vacation, camp, family and other leisure activities.

Both our Natick Studio and Hudson Studio locations are convenient and centrally located. Contact us today to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio.

As always, our patient and encouraging piano instructors are happy and excited to help you learn to play the music you love!

Although I never used a stage name, this practice was so common among performers that anyone who wanted to join the musicians’ union had to list his or her stage name on the membership application. Thinking back to a few professional musicians who used stage names, I am reminded of an experience I had on one of my summer hotel gigs in the Catskill Mountains. A few weeks into the season, a saxophonist came with his family to stay at the hotel for his annual vacation. Apparently the owner of the hotel had promised him free room and board if he would perform with our trio in the casino (as the lounge was called) every night during his stay.

And so without any discussion or warning, this gentleman introduced himself by his real name and then proceeded to show us all sorts of promotional materials that used his stage name which I think was Paul Whiteman (not to be confused with the band leader who premiered Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue). To make a long story short, this older man took over the leadership of our group by becoming both the featured soloist and the emcee. Oh yes, he also showed up to perform in a white dinner jacket with his tuxedo so he would stand out from the three of us who wore black tuxedos.

Need I say more?

Well that brings us to the composer of today’s song selection, Darn That Dream: Edward Chester Babcock.

Who?

I thought you might be wondering. Born in 1939 in Syracuse, NY this ambitious young lad began writing music at age 16. While still in high school, he was asked to appear on a local radio show. As a result, he immediately adopted a stage name. Being familiar with the famous Phillips-Van Heusen shirt making company, Edward Chester Babcock became Jimmy Van Heusen and the rest as they say, is history.

Not too long after becoming Jimmy Van Heusen, the young composer became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of song writer Harold Arlen. With Harold’s help Van Heusen was able to make the transition from college student (Syracuse University) to professional composer. Beginning with writing songs for the Cotton Club review, Van Heusen moved on to become the staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers culminating in the 1938 song It’s the Dreamer in Me which had lyrics by Tommy Dorsey.

The following year found Jimmy Van Heusen collaborating with lyricist Eddie DeLange (1904-1949). Among the songs that they produced together was Darn That Dream. Although this piece came from the unsuccessful 1939 Broadway musical, Swingin’ the Dream, Benny Goodman‘s recording of Darn That Dream (with vocalist Mildred Bailey) became a hit record. Today, more than 70 years later, I was amazed by the number of versions available on Rhapsody Music.

For the most part, performers tended to follow the sheet music’s direction to play this piece as a medium ballad. Lest you think that this limited the variety, think again. In addition to this song’s popularity with guitarists including Jim Hall, Tal Farlow and Howard Roberts, saxophonists Eric Alexander, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz played Darn That Dream with passion. Brass players Tom Harrell, Kenny Dorham, Mike Metheny and Maynard Ferguson also made beautiful contributions to the extensive track listing. Rounding out my playlist were quite a few offerings by jazz pianists as well.

In addition to my usual favorites, I particularly enjoyed Cedar Walton‘s rendition of Darn That Dream taken from his CD Manhattan After Hours. As a veteran of the New York City jazz scene, Cedar’s group moved effortlessly from the medium ballad tempo into the double time section for the improvised solos. As I listened, I could recall the many times I went to jazz clubs in the Big Apple to hear Cedar and many of his peers perform. There’s something special about the New York jazz style. It really speaks to me!

After all of my comments, it may surprise you to know that I rarely played Darn That Dream on my gigs over the years. As a result, I needed to do some practicing and score study as I prepared to perform my recording to go with this post. One of my challenges was to find ways to keep the music flowing especially for the measures that had 3 or 4 chords in them. The composer’s creative use of ii-V and ii-V-I chord progressions (especially by adding chromaticism) certainly keeps the music interesting. The fact that this song is written in the key of G major (key signature: one sharp/ F#) and has a bridge written in Eb Major (key signature: three flats: Bb, Eb, Ab) is quite unusual.

So I’m glad that I had the opportunity to share Darn That Dream with you, because learning it gave me a chance to grow musically. Musical growth is something that I value deeply. Perhaps you feel the same way.

We live in a society that values learning. Playing the piano is no exception. Whether our students are adults or children, beginners or advanced, young or old, use a keyboard or a grand piano, every person who comes to the Ed Mascari Piano Studio to take lessons tells me that their desire to learn comes from deep within them.

How about you?
Are you tired of letting everything else get in the way?
Well, you are not alone.
Many people continue to take the simple step to contact us to find out about piano lessons.
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Whether you live near our Natick Studio or your home is closer to our Hudson, MA location, our patient and encouraging piano instructors will be delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!.

When I reflect on the collection of songs that I played and recorded for this series on Cole Porter, I certainly can appreciate Porter’s contribution to the American Popular Songbook with a different perspective. There’s something very valuable about getting acquainted with a composer’s musical language. By this I mean his or her manner of creating melodies and harmonic progressions as well as choosing certain chords and presenting these with certain overall and specific rhythmic patterns. In the case of Cole Porter, there is the additional element of his lyrics which definitely have an impact on his musical structure.

During the 16 years when I was actively composing concert music (classical music), I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge by getting to know the lives and works of many classical composers. My pattern was to select a specific composer because I had heard a piece that I really liked. I would buy the CD and purchase or borrow the musical score from the library. Usually, I would be curious about the creator of the particular piece that had caught my attention. This motivated me to find and read the biography which in turn introduced me to the even more of the composer’s compositions. Before I knew it, I was listening to many new (at least to me) pieces of music. This process combined in a way that energized and enriched my musical life.

Because this experience made such an impact on me, I find myself inspired to draw upon a wealth of knowledge which relates to specific pieces that my piano students are working on. This approach has been expanded because of my work with the Hudson Studio Faculty members.  Every week, I hold a conference call to discuss the lessons, progress and program of each Hudson Studio student with his or her piano instructor. In this process, I share an assortment of information and insights that apply directly to specific pieces so that their students are learning.

When we teach our intermediate students who want to play classical piano music as part of their lessons, we take this single composer approach as well. Teaching our piano students how to play the pieces from the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook as well as the Clementi Sonatinas provides a very effective way for them to develop their piano technique, music reading skills and a knowledge of music theory. This way, the process of developing piano proficiency becomes much more important than perfectionism and we take advantage using each composer’s musical language. Our students can then enjoy selecting and learning how to play their favorite classical piano pieces with a skill set and level of confidence that they wouldn’t have gained otherwise.

In the same way, my preparation, practice and playing of the Cole Porter collection for these recent blogs has taught me a great deal including today’s featured piece. Love for Sale required that I address the fact that converting the opening Eb7 chord into a ii V progression just wouldn’t work. I also had to find interesting ways to use the Handi variation, because the song has 8 places where it can be used. Then I had to decide whether to follow the directive indicated in the sheet music of Love for Sale which instructs performers to play this song “with swinging rhythm” or play it with a Latin rhythmic accompaniment as many musicians do.

Rhapsody Music offered some great examples of both swing and Latin rhythmic renditions of Love for Sale. Pianists Junior Mance, George Shearing and Art Tatum were among those who favored swing style. The customary Latin rhythmic treatment offered its own variety of alternate examples. In addition to versions by Ramsey Lewis, Tito Puente and Astrud Gilberto, Dr. John managed to put his personal stamp on this Cole Porter classic.

Another track that I found brought to mind the first time I heard Love for Sale. During the year when my brother Charlie and I began gigging together, we happened to hear a recording of Love for Sale by the Arthur Lyman Group. Played with a Latin style arrangement (it was actually a simulated Polynesian style which later became known as exotica), this particular record caught our attention for another reason. We had a classmate who had the same name as this performer. It felt like a paradox to us, because our friend certainly didn’t seem like a person who was a musical performer.

It’s funny, but songs often trigger interesting personal memories. Ask anyone you know to name a certain song that reminds them of an event or person in their life, and you’ll be amazed at how much comes to the surface. Likewise, I’ve noticed that so many adults who take piano lessons, as well as parents who want their children to learn to play, do this because of a deep personal connection with music.

Perhaps it’s time for you to connect with your own musical memories. Do you wish that you had practiced the piano when you took lessons as a child? Or did you learn to play the piano years ago and would now love to see your son or daughter benefit from the value that taking lessons can truly provide?

Whether you live near our centrally located Natick Piano Studio or close to our convenient Hudson Studio, we can give you what you need to connect your keyboard skills with your creativity. Contact us today to find out how.

Remember, our patient and encouraging piano instructors are always dedicated and delighted to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love.