Cool enjoy the lessons… it’s a great tune to play.
I love the lyrics too so I’m backing this tune suggestion!
I’ll have to check out the album you mention. You certainly have listened to a lot James… loving all of your recommendations. It must give you such a wealth of inspiration to draw from for your production work!
Let’s pull this thread back on track… lessons 5, 6 & 7 of the course are here guys:
Lesson 5 - Easy Transposition
Lesson 6 - “Summertime” Simple Arrangement
Lesson 7 -“Summertime” Advanced Arrangement
Lesson 7 is my personal favourite. A really beautiful accompaniment arrangement and fantastically taught and presented by Lyndol .
Lyndol has created another 2 lessons which are addressed specifically at the singing pianist. These lessons are packed full of drills and exercises to develop your voice using the piano.
Prior to watching and editing these lessons, I’ve never had a desire to sing, but now I’m intrigued to give it a try when I get some time on my hands
I’m putting the final touches on lessons 8 and 9, and then we’re ready to launch the course
Lyndol and myself have double/triple checked everything, but if something looks unusual in the video, or a typo on the page, then don’t hesitate to let me know and I will fix it.
I know you guys are the most interested in these lessons so it’s nice to be able to run them past you before we publically launch the course.
That’s fantastic Hayden - regarding wanting to sing! Even if you don’t plan to sing in public, ever? - incorporating singing into your practice can be so great for your musicality as well as your well being!
A vote over here for another suggestion, more leftfield in terms of jazz: really more soul-jazz/jazz-funk. Apart from being one of my favourite songs, it’s a challenge to present this with conviction because the lyrics are so simple, but sung well it really brings out the feel within the song. I know from previous vocal coaching that sometimes simpler songs can be more challenging! I don’t have a lead sheet for this (but can make one) - I did an iReal Pro chart for this yesterday (my first one!).
Nice record James… I’m excited to expand more in the funk genre.
I think that the vocal accompaniment lessons should stick to well-known standards to begin with, as they are the tunes that we are all familiar with.
We can certainly branch out more in future. As soon as I find a musician to teach funk, jazz/funk lessons, I’d love to get your recommendations and insight
Everybody Loves the Sunshine - fantastic lyrics ! And I love funk. This song is hitting the right spot now as we are waiting for spring in NYC. I’m going to play around with it and see what the chords and mechanics of singing are like. I agree sometimes simpler is harder to sing. And most of the time I have to delve into a song before I know what it’s going to take to do it well. But I really like that piano lick too. Thanks for the rec!
Hey Lyndol, yes - it is such a simple but cool song. I recently transcribed it and did a chart for iReal Pro (and am doing some of his other songs too). He is probably one of my idols - amazingly prolific: in the 70s and early 80s he released 2 albums a year, and a few years back a whole lot of unreleased stuff from that time came out! Even now he’s approaching 80 and still gigs internationally - and frequently! There is such a sense of space in all his music. Would be great to see what take you have on the mechanics of singing this are like!
Yeah, I’m digging this tune for sure. Very nice arrangement - I like the drone violin sound (synth?) that happens during the Chorus. I’m been jamming on it with the recording for a bit today and my first impression is that the singing is almost chant like, and won’t be difficult to learn. But keeping it all interesting will be the challenge - The piano arrangement needs to be awesome. I’d want to keep that drone element and that catchy piano lick. It might just be my musical tastes, but I think it’s a melody that sounds best with harmonies. This song does get stuck in my head, and it’s a good one to have on repeat:) He sounds like an brilliant musician and I’m glad to know of him now. Thank you James. I’ll keep bossing this for a few weeks and see what happens.
Can’t wait to see what you make of it! There are also a few cover versions out there (Incognito, RAMP - basically another one of his bands! - and the Quiet Boys for starters…) - sometimes covers offer a different slant, though they seem quite faithful to the original in this case.
This is specifically why I joined Piano Groove today, Hayden - to learn to accompany my singing on piano by taking Lydol Descant’s course. Very exciting and daunting at the same time. But I’m determined. In fact, have already gotten started. She has a lovely voice, both speaking and singing, and great style.