Quickest way to learn "The Way It Is"-thought exper. w/ Poll

[pinkfloydcramer]

For me it's sheet music + playing by ear, to learn a piece ASAP. And decidedly NOT by watching video- which is usually either too intimidating, or has me wondering "how can such beautiful music be made by hands that look so clumsy and uncoordinated"? Either way, a distraction. My personal quirk, probably not shared by anyone else.

 

I have a good ear but learned The Way It Is from sheet music. A little tricky to play but IMO not as challenging as Valley Road, at tempo. And you almost have to be BE Bruce to play Spider Fingers.

 

I play TWII at solo "poptail" piano gigs mostly so people can say "he plays Bruce Hornsby!", as my competitors don't, to my knowledge.

[Morrissey]

And you almost have to be BE Bruce to play Spider Fingers.

 

I put Spider Fingers in the same category as Billy Joel Prelude/Angry Young Man intro. Exhausting!

[pinkfloydcramer]

And you almost have to be BE Bruce to play Spider Fingers.

 

I put Spider Fingers in the same category as Billy Joel Prelude/Angry Young Man intro. Exhausting!

 

I bought the book but that didn't make my fingers any longer, for those LH 16th note parts when the band drops out. I know he's a tall guy but he must have big mitts even for someone of his height.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

And you almost have to be BE Bruce to play Spider Fingers.

 

I put Spider Fingers in the same category as Billy Joel Prelude/Angry Young Man intro. Exhausting!

 

I bought the book but that didn't make my fingers any longer, for those LH 16th note parts when the band drops out. I know he's a tall guy but he must have big mitts even for someone of his height.

The Billy Joel Angry Young Man technique is a little closer to the earth, at least, since it's just alternating right hand thumb and left hand index finger. Comparatively, that Spider Fingers move is nuts -- alternating fingers on one hand (index, thumb, middle if I'm not mistaken, though he may get the ring finger in on the action as well); I can alternate thumb and index one-handed on a Hammond and that's about it. Thinking about doing that on a grand piano, man, what a workout.

 

And watching that live video of The Way It Is I posted earlier, I noticed Bruce was hitting tenths with his left hand as almost a matter of course. Certainly he's known for a disciplined practice regimen that I could never bring myself to duplicate, but it is helpful to observe that he has that purely genetic leg up on me too. :wink:

[Morrissey]

 

And watching that live video of The Way It Is I posted earlier, I noticed Bruce was hitting tenths with his left hand as almost a matter of course. Certainly he's known for a disciplined practice regimen that I could never bring myself to duplicate, but it is helpful to observe that he has that purely genetic leg up on me too. :wink:

 

How about this guy! 12ths with his left hand!

 

[video:youtube]

[pinkfloydcramer]

That's about how I do a 10th, I have to roll it a little.

[MikeT156]

And you almost have to be BE Bruce to play Spider Fingers.

 

I put Spider Fingers in the same category as Billy Joel Prelude/Angry Young Man intro. Exhausting!

 

I did Billy Joel's Angry young man live back when I did a solo act. But the Prelude was just about impossible to play on a Roland HP electronic piano. Playing things like that requires a high quality grand piano with a positive action with no slop in it. A Biker asked me after I played the song with out an "accurate" into rather loudly in order to attract attention to himself. I told him what I Posted above. but he decided that HE was the authority on not only Billy Joel's songs, as well as music. I invited him to come up and SHOW everyone just how it could be done on my Roland Electronic Piano. but of course he was all talk. As they say "everyone's a critic" 99 percent of Critics can't play anything themselves, which makes me wonder how THEY were qualified to be a Critic.

[Adan]

I'd need context to answer the question. A competition like the one hypothesized in the OP is a thought experiment not a real thing. But there are times when you need to learn a tune quickly. I'd want to know how much accuracy really matters. I could list several reasons why learning by ear makes you a better musician (reason number one -- it makes you better at learning by ear). The consequences of getting something wrong depend on the situation. Bottom line for me, I spend as much time learning by ear as I possibly can because the process is its own reward.

[MathOfInsects]

I can just reach a 10th (from the front of the white keys), but only rarely use it in my playing. Sometimes I'll hold a pad that way. Occasionally something else will require it, but not often. And I can only do it in my right hand, since my left has only 4.5 fingers for the price of 5.

[El Lobo]

... my left has only 4.5 fingers for the price of 5.

You were shorted on that deal.

Sorry.

 

 

[MathOfInsects]

... my left has only 4.5 fingers for the price of 5.

You were shorted on that deal.

Sorry.

 

 

On the plus side, proportionately it makes each finger more valuable.

[niacin]

Yeh quick web search for the first page as a head start and then ears. An accurate transcription would be faster obviously, but most of them aren't a home run on the accuracy front, and if I can borrow the Professor Longhair example, a transcription will only get you some of the way there anyway.

[niacin]

I can just reach a 10th (from the front of the white keys), but only rarely use it in my playing. Sometimes I'll hold a pad that way. Occasionally something else will require it, but not often. And I can only do it in my right hand, since my left has only 4.5 fingers for the price of 5.

 

My left hand can do limited tenths. My right hand lucks out at a ninth. I did hand stretching exercises when I was in high school and trying to learn stride piano, but still only front of the white keys or roll them.

[Barryjam]

You possibly remember Which sheet music? I find that MAYBE the first page is close but subsequent pages are not, at least so far.

[tunaman]

I usually start the other way... ear first, then sheet music if I can"t figure something out. I also don"t care to watch videos unless as a last resort.

[Shamanczarek]

I got "The Way It Is" down by ear several years to teach a student who I taught from age 7 through high school. I could get most of the left-hand tenths but had to roll the D to F#. Shortly after this student wanted to learn "Root Beer Rag" by Billy Joel. He gave me a transcription but I found so many inaccuracies that I just learned it by ear. There was one demanding part that at the time I wasn't able to figure out correctly. Then that same student wanted to learn the ragtime-style section on ELP's "The Sheriff" which I spent hours on and think I really nailed it. My student gave up on it after a couple of lessons. That student really made me work for my money but he was very talented and I'm sure he has continued with music. Around that time I had a talented high school age student who had previous teachers and wanted to learn "The Spider" by Kansas which I wasn't familiar with at the time. I think I got all of the prominent Hammond parts correct but the sections with ensemble playing were difficult to fathom accurately. When you get to music on this level it is sometimes difficult to find any transcription let alone one that is accurate so your ear is really the best approach.