Thank you for all of your feedback. I play everyday. Now I just have to pick a favorite tune to work on!

Hey lrngkybrd,

You are in deep trouble! Picking a favorite is hard to do! There are so many songs out there worth playing. Some are just plain fun, others are so darn beautiful you can't resist, others are so challenging that you have to prove you can do it! Like Chuck says, it is very easy to get "lost" in the music! All I know is there isn't enough hours in the day to make beautiful music -- even if it is only to my ears!

Carol

In answer to your last statement, "What do you suggest?" TALENT! All the lessons, fancy runs and technical skills you have learned won't help you unless you have that God given ear to play a melody on a keyboard without music in front of you, and equally important, to be able to hear harmony in your head. With the aforementioned, it is just a matter of doing it. I started out picking melodies out on the piano when I was seven years old. I had no lessons and by the time I was eight, I was winning first place in local talent shows - a precocious kid, is what I was. Later on, I learned to read music, which was difficult for me, for I found it boring to sit and play mediocre simple things. I wanted to close the book and play by ear. Rich harmonies, few ever learn. By listening to great artists over the years and in this case, practice, I have been able to do pretty well with advanced harmony. At a very early age, (5 or 6 years) I was very interested in not only a beautiful melody but also the way the piece was arranged. It no doubt played a major part in my ability to arrange later on. People who know me give me a lot of compliments on my arrangements. Not long ago, a professional organist heard some of my arrangements and playing skill and said, " Being a professional musician, how are you able to arrange music so well the way you do?" I thought to myself, how strange this person asks this question. He is a musician and why can't he do this. Anyway, if you can play the melody of a song (one finger) without sheet music, there is hope for you. It comes down to the way you approach this matter. Good luck.

You said it, Carol, the days aren't long enough! After a few hours of work at the keyboard I like to fool around (noodling) with notes...like see how long I can sustain a melody in one chord using two octaves, just run up and down scale trying to make the notes pleasant but unique. Or, just make up a song bar by bar, measure by measure, without worrying about words, and after a bit you have a song that's all yours. I did that with an old Wersi style that I couldn't seem to fit to any songs, and it's on Bebop's next 20 for 1 disk. It's fun to do and no body can ever say you played it wrong, or missed some notes, and best of all - you've opened up a door to a whole new world. Your music! So, bottom line...keep practicing!!

Hey nsr can you play Wonderfull Baby (don mclean i think) I cannot find the sheet music and the melodies quite easy to pick ouk but the descending chord progression
over the words:
/ - / -/ / - /
Wonderfull baby
/ - / - /- /
Living on love

if you could just send me the numbers of the chords will not matter about the key
or a recording would be really great
many thanks
jan


[This message has been edited by kozykeys (edited 05-15-2002).]

[This message has been edited by kozykeys (edited 05-15-2002).]

Hey nsr can you play Wonderfull Baby (don mclean i think) I cannot find the sheet music and the melodies quite easy to pick ouk but the descending chord progression over the words:

Hi Jan,

Sorry I can't help you out. I am unfamiliar with Wonderful Baby. I did some research for you but came up with nothing other than it is indeed by McLean. Interesting enough, Perry Como recorded it in the 70s on a country album called, "Just Out of Reach." I am not a Don McLean fan. I can't get past "American Pie." :-) Perhaps some other forumite can help you. If I knew the melody, I could tell you immediately what the chords are.