Songs I Have Learned to Play

You may be wondering what have I learned to play on the piano since getting the Yamaha Piaggero this past winter. At first I started with trying to play all the Christmas classics in the key of C. And while that may sound like a really simple thing, keep in mind that most people would not be able to pick out the melodies and chords by ear. I cannot do that myself perfectly but I know when something sounds right and when it sounds wrong, and when I've got it figured out I can play it decently.

I don't have all those tunes mastered yet--and by mastered I mean being able to play without error--mainly due to me not playing as often as I should/could. But in terms of a full, non-holiday song that I have learned to play completely, you'd probably never guess what it is so I'll just tell you: "It's Too Late" by Andy Williams. Yes, Andy Williams. You might question as to why I would learn to play Andy's version as opposed to Carole's or any other version out there. For one, Andy's version is very Marvin-Gaye-What's-Goin-On-ish. It's not the kind of sound you would expect from Andy. Marvin's classic was released in January 1971 while Andy's cover was recorded in the spring following. Clearly it was influenced by that smooth soul jazz type of sound achieved on that Marvin single. As an aside, this new musical direction for Marvin Gaye was refreshing and a nice break from all the love and heartbreak songs he did up to that point. Socially conscious music was slow to penetrate Motown but it started with The Temptations and continued on with the music of Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Rare Earth and Edwin Starr to name a few.

Back to my reasons for choosing Andy's version---frankly, I like Andy. He was one of those--if not the only one--classic era crooners who was able to focus not exclusively on Tin Pan Alley and jazz standards and rather build up his repertoire of music to include pop/soft rock hits of the day (unlike Tony Bennett who would become literally ill at the thought of having to croon "Sugar, Sugar"). And Andy did a great job of mixing the classics and the fresh to create his own sound. I'm happy to say that I have probably all of his albums from about 1962-1975, a period in which 2 albums per year was rather common.

Okay, so he didn't write his own songs. When you've got a voice like his you don't have to. Look at Elvis. Tom Jones. Ella Fitzgerald. The great voices were never expected to write songs. Probably not encouraged to. But if you had a voice more like Bob Dylan's, Neil Young's, Tom Waits', etc., you'd better write darn good songs!

But I've come to appreciate Andy Williams over the last several years. I think it was the Christmas TV specials that did it to me. However, it wasn't even just Andy. It's also been Perry Como, Tony Bennett & Frank Sinatra, someone I vowed never to listen to in my younger years. And it's not even so much how they thing but also the arrangements of their recorded music. I don't see how you can't not like that music. It's just so pleasant, soothing and perfectly crafted particularly considering their 1960s releases.

Anyway. "It's Too Late." Andy's version. I can play along with it now. Not perfectly of course but enough to show a significant improvement in my keyboard skills. And it's not even in the same key as Carole's original. I do add some elements of her version to this one. But it feels good to be able to play along with the recording from start to finish even if I do make mistakes.

I've also learned to play "Time of the Season" by The Zombies. It's definitely more simple than the other song, but interesting nonetheless. Still can't play it perfectly either but that's okay.

With the organ sound on the keyboard I have learned to play that organ riff on "Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis Group. That is really cool! Even though the rest of the song does not have a lot going on in terms of organ parts, knowing that alone is great fun. I can walk into any music store now and just play that riff and I'll instantly appear to be a keyboard wizard.

I also took it upon myself to learn the organ intro and basic song part to "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum. Another really fun thing to play that would raise eyebrows if played loud enough in a store.

Of course, learning to play these things makes me want to record my own versions of these songs. That's great if I were in a cover band or if I could make my own covers in a short amount of time. But these things can take on lives of their own and end up eating a lot of the time I should be using to make my own music. I have to remind myself that it's June now and I haven't recorded anything new this year and the time for releasing an album is growing short. So we'll see. I know I'm going to look back on these last 9 years or so and regret not having used it more wisely. In the meantime I'll just keep practicing and writing more. And recording soon, too! I want to have new material to send to "The Basement Tapes with Nick & Bootsy"! Thanks for reading, Bootsy!!

Yamaha Piaggero

Time for an update? Well, I'm glad to say that I've been honing my keyboard skills a bit since I acquired the Yamaha Piaggero not too long ago. This is a very nice keyboard with some pretty good sounds on it. The price is affordable, though I hate that term because who is anyone to determine what is affordable for anyone else? But it was affordable for me and when you include the accessories package--bench, stand, power cord, sustain pedal and piano book--it was a super great, unbeatable price.

I chose the 61 key version because I felt it would be sufficient for me to use and store in my already tiny and cramped room. The 76 key version would have been nicer but also would have taken a bit more room but not much more. Now that I think about it I probably should have gotten the 76 but really this one here suits me completely.

It has 2 sounds each for piano, electric piano, organ, harpsichord as well as string and vibraphone sounds. I mainly use the piano and organ tone banks. The electric piano sounds are not bad at all with one sounding much better than the other. This is true of the organ as well. I find myself always using only one of the 2 organ sounds and one of the 2 electric piano sounds. The acoustic piano choices feature a brighter and a darker sound. Both sound good enough for recording.

Speaking of recording, it has a built in feature for recording that you can play back while you play live on the keys. That is very useful. Also includes metronome sounds.

A feature that I accidentally came across (and then later read in the manual) is a reverse-sustain effect with the sustain pedal. Normally you plug in the sustain pedal and when you press it you get sustain. But I discovered that if you press the pedal while you turn on the power to the keyboard you get the opposite effect; you'll have sustain all the time except when you press the pedal!

I like having sustain all the time. Just sounds better to me. Of course, this doesn't sound good with the organ sounds. But with piano and electric piano it's great.

And one of the biggest selling points of this keyboard for me was the built-in speakers.  It is so nice to be able to play along without either using headphones or having to connect it to an amp or something.

My goals with getting this instrument was to play every day/night and significantly improve my keyboard skills and to use it to compose music. Using only a guitar to compose all your music is limiting in my opinion and leads to creating similar sounding songs or at best, repeated chord progressions. Using a keyboard opens up a new world in terms of composing.

So while I haven't played this instrument every day/night I have improved my skills already and have even learned to play a few songs albeit not without stumbling and making errors. But it feels good knowing how to play some songs and getting those fingers all independent-minded.

Here are photos of both the 61 key and 76 key versions: