Elmo Peeler Note-for-Note Piano Transcriptions |
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Greetings!
Today is the first day of February 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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If you enjoy Western swing, you'll love this month's new transcription. A hint - take Route 66 to get there! :)
Also new this month is an exercise using Alberti bass patterns. Your left hand should enjoy the ride.
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.
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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:
- have a cover band and want to get your keyboard parts exactly correct,
- are a professional who wants to study the styles of rock's greatest keyboard players, or
- 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.
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Born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in nearby Royal Oak, Glenn Frey studied piano at age five, later switched to guitar, and became part of the mid-1960s Detroit rock scene. One of his earliest bands was called the Subterraneans, named after Jack Kerouac's novel.
Immediately after graduating from high school in 1966, Frey was invited to join a local band, The Four of Us. While in the band Frey also attended Oakland (Michigan) Community College and learned to sing harmonies.
In 1967, he formed the Mushrooms and also met Bob Seger, who helped him get a management & recording contract with Hideout Records, a label formed by Seger's management team. |
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Michael Thompson & Glenn Frey
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Seger also wrote and produced the the Mushrooms' first single, "Such a Lovely Child", and the band made television appearances to promote it. Frey had intended to join Seger's group but his mother blocked that course of action for smoking marijuana with Seger.
At age 19 in 1968, Frey played the acoustic guitar and performed background vocals on Seger's single, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Frey has said that Seger strongly encouraged and influenced him to focus on writing original songs. They remained good friends and occasional songwriting partners, and Frey would also sing on Seger's songs such as "Fire Lake" and "Against the Wind".
In Detroit, Frey also met and dated Joan Sliwin of a local female group that became Honey Ltd. after the group moved to California in 1968. Frey went to Los Angeles hoping to reconnect with his girlfriend, and he was introduced to J. D. Souther by her sister, Alexandra Sliwin, who was with Souther at the time.
After three weeks Frey returned to Detroit but then went back again to Los Angeles to form a duo with Souther called Longbranch Pennywhistle. In 1969 they were signed to Amos Records and released an eponymous album, which contains songs he wrote such as "Run, Boy, Run","Rebecca", and "Bring Back Funky Women", which he co-wrote with Souther.
Frey also met Jackson Browne during this period and the three musicians lived in the same apartment building for a short time. Frey later said that he learned a lot about songwriting from hearing Browne work on songs in the apartment below.
In 1970 Frey met drummer Don Henley, who was signed to the same label. They spent time at the Troubador, and when Linda Ronstadt needed a backup band for an upcoming tour, her manager John Boylan hired Frey because he could play rhythm guitar and sing. Frey approached Don Henley to join Ronstadt. Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon were also hired.
Frey and Henley decided to form a band together while on the tour and were joined by Meisner on bass and Leadon on guitar, banjo, steel guitar, mandolin and dobro, forming the Eagles, with Frey playing guitar and keyboards. The band went on to become one of the world's best-selling groups of all time.
Frey wrote or co-wrote (often with Henley) many of the Eagles' songs, and sang the lead vocals on a number of their hits, including "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Already Gone", "Tequila Sunrise", Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town", "Heartache Tonight" and "How Long".
In 1985 Frey guest starred on Miami Vice in the first-season episode "Smuggler's Blues", inspired by his hit song of the same name.
In May 2012, Frey was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music. BTW, after Eastman I completed the Berklee College of Music's correspondence course. So far, they have not yet awarded me with a doctorate. :)
My new Glenn Frey transcription:
My Eagles transcriptions:
My Don Henley transcription:
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Michael Thompson & Glenn Frey
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My new transcription this month is the piano part in Glenn Frey's version of "Route 66", released in 2012 on his After Hours album. The pianist was Michael Thompson, a touring member of the Eagles, Don Henley's band and Glenn Frey's band.
The piano part is an excellent example of Western swing.
"Route 66" was composed in 1946 by Bobby Troup, and first recorded by Nat King Cole, for whom it was a big hit. Since then it has been recorded by many other artists, including Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, and the Rolling Stones.
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This is a note-for-note transcription of the piano part, which contains the equivalent of two solos - the actual 12-bar piano solo plus a 23-bar Instrumental Tag at the end. And the Left Hand supports the Right Hand lines with excellent 'jazzy' Western swing chords, including 9th & 13th chords, flat-9 chords, sharp-5 sharp-9 chords, and others. Plus, the two hands together are often voiced in nice, fat block chords reminiscent of the tightly-voiced block chords found in the horn section of a big band.
If you'd like to study "Western swing" in general, this should be a big help.
BTW, a MIDI file is also available in addition to the PDF sheet music.
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BTW, a MIDI file is now available for:
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Improve Your Left Hand Technique
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"Route 66" pianist Michael Thompson's hands |
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This is an exercise that will help strengthen and improve the Left Hand. Although it contains a slip-note (Floyd Cramer) melody in the Right Hand, the challenge - and the main benefit - is the Alberti bass pattern in the Left Hand.
An Alberti bass is a particular kind of accompaniment figure, often used in the Classical era (Mozart, etc.), and sometimes the Romantic era. It was named after Domenico Alberti, who used it extensively, although he was not the first to use it.
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It is a kind of broken chord or arpeggiated accompaniment, where the notes of the chord are presented in the order of lowest, highest, middle, highest. This pattern is repeated and creates a smooth, sustained, flowing sound. It has also been used in pop/rock, e.g., the rhythm guitar part of the 1962 surf rock standard "Pipeline" by The Chantays, and Nicky Hopkins piano part in "She's a Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones. This exercise is 24-bars long and uses Alberti bass patterns in various hand positions: root position, 1st & 2nd inversions. If you'd like to gain facility in playing this type of common Left Hand pattern and increase the strength and dexterity in your Left Hand, this exercise will help.
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(to listen to it, click here)
Other Exercises for the Left Hand:
(to listen to it, click here)
(to listen to it, click here)
(to listen to it, click here)
(to listen to it, click here)
(to listen to it, click here)
(to listen to it, click here)
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The Hangout Place for Gospel Classics
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You don't have to be from the Deep South to love Gospel piano, nor do you need to belong to any particular religion. All you have to have is a love for wonderful old-time, swinging, uplifting piano-playing.
Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Richard Tee and Ray Charles, some of the greatest keyboard players ever, loved the style and infused their own performances with Gospel licks and rhythms.
Inspired by the wonderful playing of the portly Associate Pastor/Musical Director of my childhood's Baptist Church deep in the piney woods of Mississippi, in recent years I've transcribed and/or arranged a few Gospel classics.
This little corner of my newsletter is where I'll keep you informed of my latest efforts to share that old-time Gospel sound.
Here are my Gospel transcriptions and/or arrangements, plus some exercises:
Full-blown Gospel:
Heavily Gospel Influenced:
Moderately Gospel Influenced:
Gospel-related Exercises:
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Helpful for Those that Don't Read Sheet Music Well
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Most of my transcriptions have heretofore been available only as sheet music in PDF's. That is gradually changing - some are now also available as MIDI files, which can be especially helpful for those who would prefer to listen to them than to read the sheet-music notation.
This section of my newsletter is where I'll keep you informed of which transcriptions and exercises are available as MIDI files.
BTW, if you'd like my sheet music in a MIDI file, just let me know which one(s).
Here are the currently available MIDI files of my transcriptions, arrangements, and exercises:
MIDI Files of Rock & Pop Transcriptions:
MIDI Files of Exercises:
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If you're using a vintage synthesizer, please check out our synth patches here.
These are the most highly-organized and best-sounding synth patches available anywhere, guaranteed. Get the most out of your vintage hardware with these large patch libraries:
Ensoniq
Kawai
Korg
Roland
Yamaha
Even if you don't use the actual hardware synthesizers, there are software emulations that will allow you to play these patches on your computer, as VSTI's in your sequencer. These include:
Korg Legacy Digital Edition (for M1 & T1 synths)
Native Instruments FM8 (for DX7 synths)
Aurora FM (for DX7 & TX81Z synths)
SQ8L (for ESQ-1 synths)
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One of the greatest piano tracks ever recorded was the gospel-influenced piano part in Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", played by the legendary 'Wrecking Crew' pianist, Larry Knechtel.
I'm considering transcribing it but it would require a lot of time - the song is about 5 minutes long with an intricate piano part. If you'd like to contribute to the effort, drop me an email and let me know how much you're willing to contribute. The minimum pledge will be $100, and the project will need ten contributors. However, you won't pay anything until you have the finished, custom transcription in hand and are happy with it.
To listen to "Bridge over Troubled Water" click here. |
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I've had the good fortune to have taught some very talented musicians, and I'll be happy to help you, too, regardless of your skill level.
By means of Skype lessons (or in-person if you're in L.A.), I can coach you and help you to improve your technique, your rhythm, your ability to improvise, your knowledge of music theory, your sight-reading, and to develop relative pitch.
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- The Beach Boys
- Rod Stewart - All 'Unplugged' Concerts
- Ricky Nelson - Stone Canyon Band
And 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.
Or if you live near the Hollywood Hills, I'll teach you in my home or yours.
1) Your musical background
2) Where you are currently, musically-speaking
3) Your musical goals
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My students include members of:
- Weezer (Rivers & Brian)
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Vampire Weekend (Ezra & newest addition, Greta)
- Incubus (Mike)
- The Strokes (Nick)
- Rooney (Robert)
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Jason Schwartzman (Mozart in the Jungle)
- Courteney Cox
- Pablo Dylan
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Franz Liszt - Turning the 88's into his own "Route 66"
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Los Angeles, CA
323-650-6602
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