How to Play the Intro to "Recorda Me" by Joe Henderson
Someone who is sitting-in on an upcoming gig asked if we could play Recorda Me by Joe Henderson. Great, I responded, I love playing that tune -- it has fun chord changes to solo over and a funky latin rhythm. Who could ask for more really? It's no wonder it gets called so much at jam sessions.
Others may not have been as happy to play Recorda Me on a gig as I am. There are certain jazz snobs out there who don't like to play songs because "everybody plays them." This is not my viewpoint. On the contrary, these songs get called on gigs and at jam sessions for a reason -- they are great songs! However, since everyone does play them, we have to make an extra effort to make sure we stand out when we do play them. One great way to do that is to go to the original recording of the tune, and REALLY LEARN IT off the record. Take Blue Bossa, another Joe Henderson classic -- it's often used as a beginner/intermediate level tune because it is straightforward to improvise over -- but how many of us seasoned jazz players have scoffed at the idea of playing it on a gig? The thing is, that tune is killer! (Killer by the way is a good thing in jazz lingo) If you really check out the original Joe Henderson version and learn how he played the actual rhythm of the melody and how he soloed over it, you'd realize that Blue Bossa is no tune to scoff it, rather, it's a tune to STUDY!
The same goes for Recorda Me, you might have played it a million times on gigs, but have you ever played the intro from the recording? It's such a cool intro that not a lot of people play, probably because it's not written down in the Real Book. Let's change that right now and learn the intro once and for all!
Check out my transcription and video tutorial below. There is a unison left-hand piano and bass line and some simple 3-note right hand chord voicings to go along with it. Enjoy it and surprise everyone on your next gig when you play the real introduction to Recorda Me!
How to Play the Intro to Recordame by Joe Henderson
Time for some country: Learn to play Willie Nelson's "Crazy"
It may be blasphemous in some circles of heady jazz musicians, but I love folk music. I've even been known to call my trio music "instrumental folk" but that might be pushing it a bit. But in any case, I can't deny it: old country music, folk songs, and Americana hold a special spot in my heart. I just love the longing lyrics, the not-so-polished vocals, and the hypnotic rhythm of finger-picking. Maybe in another life I was (or will be?) a guitar playing singer-songwriter.
This is why I was thrilled when I Skype student of the Piano Shed asked to learn the Willie Nelson tune "Crazy." This is a song that I've always loved but never played on piano, so I decided to write an intermediate level piano arrangement for my student, myself, and for you all! This song was made famous by Patsy Cline and has been covered like crazy (pun INTENDED). Here's Willie's version:
Crazy by Willie Nelson on Grooveshark
Below is a video of me playing the arrangement a few different ways. Listen to the youTube video as you follow along with the sheet music.
Crazy (Willie Nelson) Piano Arrangment by The Piano Shed - Jazz, Pop, and Blues Music Lessons
I thought this tune would be a good opportunity to work on a steady left-hand quarter note pulse. This reminds me of the Erroll Garner style. The left-hand chomps away on the chords, providing a solid rhythmic foundation, while the right hand freely interprets the melody. Check out the master at work -- listen to the way he makes the quarter notes groove in the left hand!
They Can't Take That Away From Me by Erroll Garner on Grooveshark
Here's how I would go about learning this one:
STEP 1: Get the left-hand solid until you can play along with a metronome. Start with a metronome on all 4 beats, and then if you are up for a challenge, check it out with the metronome on 2 & 4 like I do in the video. It's harder than you might think!
STEP 2: Right hand. Similar to the Garner style, the right hand has a way of floating over the steady rhythm of the left hand. It's important to mention that I didn't transcribe the melody exactly as Willie sang it. Why that's? Well, Willie has a very unique way of phrasing the melody. (Phrasing, by the way, describes the way a melody is interpreted by the performer -- the way he/she changes the rhythm, the timing, the dynamics, and articulations to make it sound more...well...human). He plays around with the rhythm, often singing behind the pulse, giving it this great lazy and defeated feeling. If I transcribed the rhythm exactly as he sang it it would be terribly confusing to read and wouldn't be fun for anyone. It's more about a feeling than notes on a page.
So, first learn the melody as I wrote it. Again, it won't sound like the recording but it will be close (check out the video!). Then once you have it down, try and get a little more adventurous with the rhythm. Listen to the Willie Nelson recording and see how close you can get to off-kilter rhythmic stylings.
When working on playing melodies on an instrument, one of the best things we can do is listen to vocalists and imitate how they do it. Miles Davis said that he used to listen to Frank Sinatra records to learn how to interpret melodies. If we can make our instrument sound like it's singing, we are doing something right.
Now see if you can that grooving persistent left hand, all while playing a loose melody on the top of it. Make Erroll Garner proud!
STEP 3: As a final challenge for the advanced player, you can try to go off the page a bit and make your own stride arrangement of the tune. Check out what I did at the end of the video for a guideline. This is a whole other topic, but basically what I am doing is:
LH: plays root notes on beat 1 or (beats 1 and 3) then then the chord (or parts of the chord) on the other beats.
RH: plays the melody but thickens it up by adding in octaves and chord tones.