wow, thanks for all the tips. i will definitely check out more jazz.

Hi Briian13,
In addition to the excellent above suggestions, be sure to check out Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Oscar Peterson.
My 3 personal favorites.

Don't forget Bill Evans!!! "Peace Piece" is my all-time favorite jazz piano piece.

Oh Yes, (and) definitely Bill Evans too....can't forget him....thanks Monica

Hello all. Newbie here.

So...what is the latest on Linus and Lucy? I did a search for this song as we just bought our first piano (Kawai Digital CA5) a few weeks ago and my wife and I are learning. I have ALWAYS wanted to learn this song and in the original A Flat. The first song I learned was part of Piano Man by Billy Joel and was happy to find out both hands can do different things! My wife found that out also. The sheet music didn't have the solo, so I said...ON TO Vince!! I bought it online like suggested here. Probably a stupid move for the 2nd song ever played on a piano, but I played organ from 6-11 yrs old or so, and even in competition, so I have a little background. I am 38 now so very rusty.

I about have the beginning down. Still weak in the fingers, which throws the timing off easily, but I am happy with my progress and it is fun to try and play. I am just wondering if anyone was successful with this and has kept up with it after the holidays? I am sure I have several weeks before I tackle those jazzy parts on and who knows how long before it sounds OK.

Don

Oh, we're much too nice to say it's "stupid," but the words "brave" and "ambitious" certainly come to mind.

I'm a firm believer in pursuing one's dream piece, even if strictly speaking it is too advanced for you. (I started working on Winston's "Longing/Love" long before I should've myself.) Just make sure you're working on other stuff that you can make faster progress on; otherwise you'll start to get too discouraged.

I am embarrassed to admit that I put "Linus and Lucy" away for a while. Okay, a very long while. I realized I had no shot of getting the jazzy part down in the near future, and the "easy" part was still sounding too clunky to my ears. But it is definitely a piece I want to learn well sometime in the next year. Or two.

btw, welcome to the forum, Don!

Welcome Don!!

I have been playing for a little over 7 months now. It's funny, about once a month, my (non-musician) friends ask, "So, can you play 'The Peanuts song' yet!?".
It cracks me up every time!!

Currently I am still struggling with a watered down version of Christmas Time is Here.

Thank you.

Well, I will keep at it, as I am making progress. Progress for me, that is. I remember a friend of mine playing it and having a lot of those fancy hard parts down but the timing was a little stiff. I really want to focus on keeping everything smooth, even if I get out of time a little.

Christmas Time is Here is a GREAT song! I have that on my list to learn for next Christmas. I don't listen to jazz much, and a lot of it is beyond me, but I love all the Peanuts music by V.G. and would love to be able to play them.

Every year I listen to that Christmas CD and say, I really should try to learn the piano. Finally, this year I am!

Don

KBBit:

I've completed Linus and Lucy a long time ago. However, while I can play along with the original recording, I am not at the level of Vince.

What I did on the 'jazzy' verse is I play the bass guitar part (the little notes on the bass clef, if you have the same sheet music #HL00352295) instead of the left-hand chords.

I'd say you're stupid to learn Linus and Lucy at this early stage. But I know that won't stop you!

Welcome and good luck!

Here's a really good version of the song from the dreaded YouTube...(I say dreaded because it always raises the mods attantion )

YouTube

Dang YouTube...I got addicted and listened/watched about 15 videos last night. Some were good, some made me feel better about my progress.

I made more progress on the song today!

Thanks for posting that link, Mr. Joshua... I'm enjoying learning Linus & Lucy and can play the main part just fine, but the bridge and the jazzy part are still way beyond me. I'd been thinking I'd like to hear Vince play it so I could at least hear how it's supposed to sound! (Speaking of getting addicted to YouTube, my son came along and made me watch a whole bunch of those other clips of Peanuts specials!)

I have been so slammed at work, I have been too tired to hit the computer at night so I haven't been up on the forum much, but am still working on this piece! I don't have the timing quite right on the last part of both solos and have to learn the bass line on the solos as well. Still deciding on whether to do the small guitar notes, or the left piano notes.

It has been fun and I am happy to be as far as I am in the song. I make a little progress every time I play it. At least I can play the whole thing now, although sometimes with the left hand resting.

Thank God for electronics. My 3 year old son came down the stairs one night to tell me to turn if off! hahahhahaha I thought it would be the other way around. Nice to be able to slap on the headphones.