PIYW #8: Play "How Long Blues" Your Way
Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! We are starting work on "How Long Blues" by Leroy Carr. Use the links below to find the sheet music you like, and when you are ready, post your performance in the submission thread. Perfection is not expected!
Previous PIYWs:
PIYW #5: Play Haydn's "Divertimento in G Major" Your Way
PIYW #6: Play "Lean On Me" Your Way
PIYW #7: Play "Over the Rainbow" Your Way
Full List of Previous PIYWs
Thanks to WieWaldi for this month's selection! Please suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. The theme of the next PIYW (to be announced in April) is Classical, but feel free to submit good ideas across all genres.
Guidelines
- This is not a contest! It is meant to be a casual and fun event.
- You can use this thread to discuss your preparation of the piece, or anything else related to PIYW. To submit a recording of your performance, go to the submission thread.
- All PIYW submissions will remain hidden from public view until June 15. However, there is no deadline for when you need to submit your performance. Although most participants submit their recording before that date, you may submit at any time.
- Use the recital schedule to plan your participation in future recitals!
"How Long Blues" by Leroy Carr (1928)
From Leroy Carr - The Bluesman Who Behaved Too Well:
Carr was the most influential male blues singer and songwriter of the first half of the 20th century, but he was nothing like the current stereotype of an early bluesman. An understated pianist with a gentle, expressive voice, he was known for his natty suits and lived most of his life in Indianapolis. His first record, "How Long — How Long Blues," in 1928, had an effect as revolutionary as Bing Crosby's pop crooning, and for similar reasons. Previous blues stars, whether vaudevillians like Bessie Smith or street singers like Blind Lemon Jefferson, had needed huge voices to project their music, but with the help of new microphone and recording technologies, Carr sounded like a cool city dude carrying on a conversation with a few close friends.
Carr's lyrics were carefully written, blending soulful poetry with wry humor, and his music had a light, lilting swing that could shift in a moment to a driving boogie. Rather than Smith's vaudeville jazz combos or Jefferson's idiosyncratic country picking, Carr sang over the solid beat of his piano and the biting guitar of his constant partner Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell. The outcome was a hip, urban club style that signaled a new era in popular music.
Links to Sheet Music / Lead Sheet
- You are not limited to only the music linked below. Feel free to find or create your own version.
- You do not have to complete or perfect the piece to submit it, and don't be afraid to simplify or shorten the piece.
- Improvisation, backing tracks, and backing humans are all allowed.
Sheet music (Listed easiest to hardest):
https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0095235
https://musescore.com/user/39593079/scores/15915238
https://musescore.com/official_scores/scores/6940448
https://christianssheetmusic.com/products/how-long-blues
https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0043017
https://musescore.com/user/188849/scores/1009141
https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0095173
Lead Sheet
(another thanks to WieWaldi for providing so many sheet music links!)
