I think Mary have a little lamb is an easy song; it took me 3 minutes to learn. I also learn "Auld Lang Syne" as well as the theme from Romeo and Juliet.
Another favorite is Happy Birthday which I played for a friend on her birthday. I also like "Here comes the Bride" which I am currently learning.
I find playing the simple melodies on the piano is as much fun as playing a more complicated piece. You can do so many things with simple tunes; this keeps me motivated to learn more...

- Mark (aka Hotkeys)
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The ultimate joy of music is the joy of playing the piano...

Lee, loved your renderings. inspired me and having fun rying different styles. How do you save and send your files?
iris

Hotkeys, happy birthday is OK the melody but the harmony is NOT easy I have found

You can play Happy Birthday with just 3 chords, which is one more than Mary Had A Little Lamb.

In the key of C, these are the chords: C G C F C G C

Hello iris

Glad you enjoyed listening thankyou

You can open an account with boxnet for free just follow the links from where you heard my files.

And to upload your music is very simple you can choose the option to "drag and drop" and then all you have to do is open the folder on your computer (where you've saved your music) and drag it on to the boxnet java window that appears and it does it all for you.

Once the file is stored at boxnet all you have to do is copy and paste the "public share" link

Glad you are having fun with the simple stuff too


rocky: I have passed your message onto honeycomb


hotkeys:

YES!!


Lee

Matthijs...WARNING!! do not play "Happy Birthday" in C if there is a family sing-a-long unless you want to kill some of the folks there off...playing it in the key of F should help save the lives of many of the older folks

Oh, so that explains why they won't have me back at the elderly home.

When I clicked on this http://www.box.net/shared/92i466mpo1 I remember when I used to go to a jazz club and listen to jazz like that night after night until the jazz club burned down around Christmas time about 20 years ago. Nothing ever replaced its loss.

Michael, I'm so glad you found this thread, because it's one of my favorites ever! I even have it bookmarked. Some of the most creative recordings we've ever had in the ABF!

Thanks for bumping it.

Cathy

well, it has been a nice thread. I can't completely wrap my ears around the piece, but when I play it countless times it is putting me, for the first time, in the right direction. I quickly checked the chords in my "Patterns for jazz" book by Jerry Coker" I am going to keep my ears close to the thread to hear what else I can learn. Thanks.

another fun thread: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1284996/3.html

listed in this great thread: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1963082/1.html

I grew up in a trailer that didn't have a recordplayer, just cbc radio. My brother came home - was adopted and used words I am not allow to type. I don't remember any singing in the trailer. There were no kindergarten in those days in northern Canada and we didn't have tv until 1958 and I was born in 1949. I am not making excuses but strange things happen.

"Mary Had a Little Lamb." Is that the same as "Ole McDonald had a farm"? I can only think of the naughty version of the nursery rhyme . . . courtesy of Benny Hill in th 70`s

"Musical culture has evolved in quite a bizarre way, given that everyone is in fact completely creative. When you speak, you're using the bank of words in your mind to make something up on the spur of the moment and you don't think twice about it. And if you have a knowledge of the language of music - it doesn't need to be particularly sophisticated, just a few chords and a melody - the joy of trying something out and seeing if you like the sound of it is very natural. If you respond to music, then there's no reason why you shouldn't have fun experimenting with it. The idea that a performer would only play what someone else wrote is like only ever speaking lines from a play or novel, never saying your own words. To a composer like Beethoven, the idea that improvising and performing are completely separate would have been ridiculous." - Steven Osborne - Pianist Magazine, issue 23, page 12.

This thread reminded me of this quote.