PIYW #3 — Meta Feedback

rsl12 · 2025-08-24T03:41:10+00:00

October 15, 2025 EDIT: "Play "Autumn Leaves" Your Way" is now live! You can continue to discuss your preparation of the piece here. The next PIYW will be ann...

ShiroKuro

Hey, @HarryLikas shared his version of Autumn Leaves here not long ago!

https://forum.pianotell.com/d/1537-autumn-leaves-easy-arrangement

Nightowl

Now that I've listened to some versions of this piece online it has grown on me and I might take part. 🤔

I have the Hal Leonard First 50 Popular Songs book and it contains a version which looks manageable for me.

Is anybody else thinking of playing this arrangement? If so, I'll leave them to it (because comparison is the thief of joy, especially when there are so many skilled players on this forum who could probably play this arrangement with their eyes closed and mine would sound like c**p by comparison).

Sophia

Nightowl I might try the Harry Likos version… (thanks Shiro!) if I ever get the Pachelbel one in my fingers and then the actual recital coming up… this forum is keeping us BUSY 😁

WieWaldi

Nightowl Is anybody else thinking of playing this arrangement? If so, I'll leave them to it (because comparison is the thief of joy, especially when there are so many skilled players on this forum who could probably play this arrangement with their eyes closed and mine would sound like c**p by comparison).

Nah. I am playing the arrangement of the one and only... (is most likely different from Hal Leonard's 1^st 50ties).
But he ranked it as easy (=toddler👶) arrangement, too.

It would be nice to have you in this group. ❤️🥰💕

Nightowl

pianoloverus I love the first part and the ending, but jazz fries my brain so I skipped the middle bit. I appreciate the skill of the pianist though.

LifelongBeginner

Great choice! Some of you might enjoy this vid: Bradley Sowash shares a lot of fun tips as he discusses the tune with Scott Houston. I particularly liked the brief tidibt he plays as a Baroque version later in the video.

[

jazz fries my brain so I skipped the middle bit

How about a more peppy version for you? Below is Blue Knights' cover of the song. Some of you might not like this and I imagine jazz purists reacting in horror (especially after about 30sec when the accompaniment kicks in), but the pianist here has so much groove, and I love his vamping throughout. Apologies for not having the sheet music, but it's the entire arrangement that really makes the song...great to play loud on a sunny day while cleaning your house! 😀

[

kanadajin

Thank you for these details. Uploading files to these platforms is new territory for me, I would almost never have the need nor desire to do so.

I am considering participating and would have an audio mp3 file only. A first cursory glance at creating an account on these platforms appear to require a paid subscription ($). Perhaps I missed something but I am just curious if there exists a no-cost option out there.

rsl12

kanadajin Dropbox and Google Drive are both free hosts that can accept and play audio files. Also, soundcloud has a free option still, I think. If you're having trouble, you can e-mail me the file and I'll host it on my Google Drive.

WieWaldi

kanadajin A first cursory glance at creating an account on these platforms appear to require a paid subscription ($).

Youtube account is free and provides unlimited upload data.
But it is video content and you need probably to deal with video editing software. Something like displaying only a static picture all the time (maybe text or even black screen) and have your mp3 as main content.

If you don't want to deal with any video editing software (free and very good software exists, but you need to learn it):

Soundcloud.com is mp3 upload directly, and it is free, too. Only limitation of the free account: The maximum upload time is only 120 minutes. I guess, if you reach the limit, you need to delete your old uploads. (I am at 34 mins, currently)

kanadajin

rsl12
Thank you for this rsl12 and also WieWaldi. I will then dig into this a little deeper. Soundcloud seemed to be always pushing for a paid subscription but I will have another look and persist (and look at those alternatives). Worst case scenario if frustration prevails, I may then take you up on your offer to host on your Drive.

Highly appreciate the help 🙂

Player1

WieWaldi

Rather than deal with editing software, point your phone or camera at a picture while you record your performance. Any picture will do, even one in a magazine. What you don't want to do is use a screen because the screen refresh rate and recording rate will clash and give you lines in the image.

kanadajin

WieWaldi

Well I had a deeper look at Soundcloud and of course (!) I now found the free version, you were right it is there at the bottom and in smaller font. I just created an account (artist) and uploading appears to be straightforward from what I can tell.

Again I appreciate your kind comments and suggestions.

And rsl12, great baseline!!! Love the impro, you have definitely improved this skillset - keep it up!

twocats

twocats I'm in!

Well did not expect to submit so soon, but I found a score I mostly liked, made a few modifications, recorded it, and submitted! 😃

rsl12

Pachelbel's Canon is coming along nicely (wouldn't you say Sophia?), so I think I have time to come up with a strategy for Autumn Leaves.

I have two possible recordings I'd like to study for this:

Wynton Kelly has long been one of my favorites. His solo in this recording is pretty straightforward, making it easy to study. A few nice little runs to give me a little challenge too.

Every time I try to study Dave McKenna, I fail. His approach is too hard to replicate, and my hands aren't big enough. But I keep trying. I found an Autumn Leaves recording (starts around 11:50). There would be a lot to glean from it! I'm very tempted. No one plays solo piano like he does.

Since we have 7 weeks or so, maybe I have to study a little of both!

Sophia

rsl12 wouldn't you say Sophia?

Yes definitely 🎼🎹😋

WieWaldi

Player1 Good idea. Haven't thought about this simple method^^
I had something like a zoom recorder in my mind. Or a line-out to PC connection. Or maybe digitial audio from the piano to the computer, directly. (Yamaha digtials provide this option very often)

twocats

kanadajin it also doesn't have to be a high quality recording! I just point my iPad at the piano and record a video and upload to YouTube. If it were any other format I'd feel like I had to make a "proper recording" with good quality sound but I love that PIYW is so casual, which greatly improves my likelihood of participating 🙂

Sophia

I just use an iPhone as well, nothing fancy. Point at my hands & click the record button 😃

rsl12

rsl12
Notes on "Autumn Leaves" from keyboardimprov.com:

We start learning jazz with “Autumn Leaves” and as we progress and grow as jazz pianists, the tune can become a kind of barometer that reflects where we are, musically. To see this for yourself, go to the piano, sit down, and play “Autumn Leaves.” Then, remember how you used to play it, when you were first starting to learn jazz. Do you see how far you’ve come? Or, if you’re just beginning to learn jazz right now, start with “Autumn Leaves,” and come back to it every once in a while. It will help you measure your musical progress.

With that idea in mind, here's a baseline recording --one take, no sheet music or lead sheet, first time playing this tune in... not sure how long, at least months if not years. It came out better than I expected! I've fooled around with Autumn Leaves before, enough that I know the chords, but never seriously. Looking forward to digging into this more!

keff

rsl12 here's a baseline recording

I like that arrangement. The version I obtained the other day seems to be full of strange chords in unexpected places but after a little practice I am beginning to hear the tune. It is marked as Fast Swing but I will probably take it much slower. It is jazz after all and an arrangement so I can play it as I want.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 that was great!

And quite the “baseline!” For me, that would be the finish line… 😅

Autumn Leaves is one of the few jazz standards I’ve actually played. But I realized that I may not be able to participate in this PIYW, depending on what my new teacher guides me toward for this semester. Still, I look forward to everyone’s recordings!

🎶

diretonic

rsl12 That’s working well, with some nice jazzy touches and sounding quite free.

I’m a big fan of Dave McKenna too, notably his walking bass line style which I’ve noodled half-heartedly before - I might try and offer my palest of imitations for Autumn leaves (and at a fraction of his pace!). I’m reminded from my amateur trio days, when you’ve got bass and drums behind you, you can afford to play quite sparsely and still sound full. No such luck here and I’m not inclined to do the faux-trio thing.

I could upload a baseline recording, if only of a sketch or direction. It might help me to buckle down - not easy these days…

Simonb

Hi rsl12

I enjoyed your baseline recording.

I've just tried it out and will certainly submit something. Like diretonic I've mainly played it in a trio setting, and crucially always with a bass player. I can't do the Dave McKenna thing, so I will be imagining a bass player!

Cheers