Elmo Peeler Note-for-Note Piano Transcriptions
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Today is the first day of September and time again for my monthly newsletter to keep you informed of recent transcriptions and other news of the last month.
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Dave Edmunds
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What do you get if you combine a Welsh pub rocker singer/guitarist, a Bruce Springsteen song, and a Welsh rock-and-roll session pianist?
If you're lucky, you could get a wonderfully rocking track with an uptempo, smokin' piano solo - that would be Dave Edmunds' "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)".
Also new this month is a challenging exercise that requires the hands to work together very closely, sometimes overlapping - inspired by the flashy piano solo in Paul Brandt's "The Highway Patrol".
BTW, to make sure that my email doesn't end up in your Spam folder, please add me to your Contact list and/or mark my email as "Not Spam".
Note that every Title Heading is clickable.
Elmo Peeler
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ALL of the Sheet Music listed on my website has been personally transcribed by me, and guaranteed to be note-for-note perfect.
Whether you:
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have a cover band and want to get your keyboard parts exactly correct,
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are a professional who wants to study the styles of rock's greatest keyboard players, or
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are a hobbyist that wants to learn how to play pop/rock and great piano music,
...these note-for-note transcriptions will prove extremely helpful.
And as always, if you ever need any help, just drop me a note at: elmo@manymidi.com
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In the News!
- Dave Edmunds & Geraint Watkins
Welsh Pub Rockers
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Bruce Springsteen & Dave Edmunds
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Born in 1944 Dave Edmunds is a Welsh singer/songwriter/guitarist. At the age of ten he first started playing in a band, a duo with his older brother.
Forming many bands over the next 16 years, Edmunds finally broke through in 1970 with a #1 single in the UK (#4 in the US), "I Hear You Knocking", a remake of
Smiley Lewis' 1955 classic.
Edmunds' 1982 album,
D.E. 7th, saw him assemble a new group of musicians that had been known as Geraint Watkins and the Dominators. They would record and tour with Edmunds throughout the rest of the 1980s.
In 1981 Edmunds had gone to a Bruce Springsteen concert at Wembley Arena."I was
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Geraint Watkins - "From Small Things" pianist
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backstage in the hospitality area after the gig," Edmunds recalled, "and one of his crew of road managers tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Bruce wants to meet you.' I went back and had this great talk with him, and he played me this song ('From Small Things') and said, 'I'd like you to do this, if you like it.' He said he'd send me the tape, which he did."
Edmunds recording of "From Small Things" reached #28 in Billboard, and featured a terrific, uptempo boogie-woogie piano solo by Geraint Watkins.
Watkins, born in 1951 and also from Wales, dropped out of Portsmouth Art College, joined the New Orleans-influenced band Red Beans and Rice, and moved to London, where he went through a succession of bands and solo performances in pubs.
Discovered by producer Stuart Colman, he became an in-demand session player, working with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Nick Lowe (5 albums), and Van Morrison (4 albums).
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September's New Transcription
- "From Small Things" - Solo
Although Dave Edmunds had the hit with "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)", it was written by Bruce Springsteen. And Edmunds' version had an excellent piano solo in it.
This month I've transcribed that solo note-for-note - a rocking 20-bar boogie-woogie-style solo - which was played by London session ace Geraint Watkins.
If you'd like to perform this energetic piano solo just as recorded, complete with flips, crushed notes, 'yodeling' sixths, and other pianistic goodies, this will show you exactly how to play it.
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(click here to hear the piano solo in "From Small Things")
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September's New Exercise - Alternating 9th's
Hands Almost on Top of Each Other
A student of mine recently brought to my attention the piano solo in Paul Brandt's
"The Highway Patrol", and was happily surprised to learn that I had already transcribed it.
The solo, played by Steve Rosen, has a tricky, rhythmic, ascending 2-handed run that my student felt could be turned into an effective exercise.
And he was right. Using only the first six notes of that run, which establish a D9 harmony, I expanded them sequentially not only upward but also descending. Two versions are included, the original 18-bar phrase plus a shorter 9-bar variant.
This is a challenging exercise that will help improve your technique in several areas: Left-Right coordination, rhythmic syncopation, articulation, and "close-quarter" hand positions.
Because the underlying harmony for this exercise is a ninth chord - a D9 - and both hands are alternating in a Right-Left-Left pattern, it's called "Alternating 9ths".
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'Crowdfund' a Transcription - "Tell Her No"
Rod Argent in the Zombies' classic
'Custom' (to-order) transcriptions can be expensive because of the time required. And when a recording is particularly long and/or complex, the expense can be too much for one person.
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| The Zombies |
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Fortunately, "CrowdFunding" (I use the term generically) has now succeeded four times with important transcriptions: first Ethel Caffie-Austin's "Amazing Grace", then Don McLean's "American Pie", then Johnny Rivers' "Rockin' Pneumonia". and most recently, Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell". Thanks very much to everyone that contributed.
The way it works is simple: Drop me a note and let me know how much you'd like to contribute.
No contributor will b
e allowed to pay in advance, but only after the transcription is finished and distributed to all the contributors and everyone is happy with it.
An historically important keyboard track that needs to be transcribed note-for-note is Rod Argent's electric piano part on the Zombies' 1965 classic "Tell Her No".
Click here to hear
"Tell Her No", which Argent composed. What a creative keyboardist he was even as a young man, and has always been.
if you'd like to participate in 'crowdfunding' a note-for-note transcription of Rod Argent's classic electric piano part in the Zombies' "Tell Her No". So far, the response has been slow. Doesn't anyone like the Zombies? :)
My 'CrowdFunded' transcriptions to-date:
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It's remarkable what the human mind can achieve when one makes a commitment to oneself. If you're considering professional guidance, feel free to call me (323-650-6602) and let's talk about it on the phone for a few minutes. There's no charge.
I've
toured the world playing keyboards and arranging/conducting for these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Artists:
- The Beach Boys
- Ricky Nelson - Stone Canyon Band
- Rod Stewart - All 'Unplugged' concerts
I've also won classical piano competitions performing Beethoven, Rubinstein and Saint-Saens' Piano Concerti. See me playing here. "Josie's Boogie" is quite the virtuoso dramatic minor-key showpiece; check out the ascending double-octave run at the ending... :)
Thanks to the internet, I can help you play piano better - rock or classical, by ear or by note.
Perhaps all you need is just an hour or two on Skype discussing rock keyboards.
If you're serious about wanting to improve, drop me a note at info@manymidi.com. Tell me three things:
1) Your musical background
2) Where you are currently, musically-speaking
3) Your musical goals
My students include members of:
- Weezer (Rivers & Brian)
- Vampire Weekend (Ezra & new addition, Greta)
- Incubus (Mike)
- The Strokes (Nick)
- Rooney (Robert)
- Jason Schwartzman ("Mozart in the Jungle")
- Courteney Cox
- Sasha Spielberg
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