In addition to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (featured in my 6-22-10 post), Jerome Kern composed Yesterdays with lyricist/librettist Otto Harbach (1873-1963) for the 1933 operetta Roberta. As we found in the former standard, these collaborators created a song that left performers plenty of room for creative expression. How could Mr. Kern have missed this? He insisted that his pieces should be performed within the context of their shows and in the style in which they were composed. Thankfully, pianists, vocalists and other instrumentalists have ignored this decree!
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!
