you can play stride piano1

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judy Carmichael s Complete Book of Stride Piano

available fmrn Songbooks Unlimited,

PO

Box 1950, Ridgeh M D 2168 1.

product 316957

(telephone 1-800-527-6300)

Additional recordings

available fmm C8tD Productions

EOBox 360, Sag Harbor; Y 1963

(telephone 5 16-725-3603)

Many thanks t o

Ketil Wrigh t

for transcribing

these performances

from MID I data.

Cover Photograph by

Elizabeth Glasgow

Book Design by

Susanna S Koueniak

Cover Design by

Chris Merola



INTRODU TIONP GE



BETH ENA Concert Nal z

BY SCOT JOPLIN

-

Wales.' It blew me away That's when Ithought, 'This is it. I'm going to teach

myself to do the whole thing "'

For Judy, that meant listening to and

learning even more complicated music of

such stride piano icons as Fats Waller and

James ? Johnson.But t also meant finding

her own way I thought most of the

stride players were too heavy, with no

dynamics, no breathing, no space," she

reveals. I was really drawn to Fats

because he had a lighter; more swinging

feel, and he used classical devices''

And it is this style that has sustained

her interest over many years. "Now, the

last 20 years," admits Judy Carmichael,

"have been spent on calming down, as

funny as that sounds-n relaxing, getting

a really strong dynamic control in my

playing, making sure I don't bang." And

bringing musical joy to audiences the

world over:

-Stuart lsacoff

Zez Confrey the king of novelty piano:

"Kitten On The Keys," "Diny Fingers,"

"Coaxing The Ivories," and others.

"His harmonies were different from

what I had been used to. And it's funny-

I didn't do it on purpose, but I realize now

that I was gradually going through

a history of jazz piano. Zez's special

contribution was in the different

harmonies he used, and in his humor:

In 'Kien On The Keys' you can hear the

cat; there was another piece of his where

you could literally picture skeletons

coming out of the closet and dancing.

I never thought of ragtime as a rip-roaring

honky-tonk kind of music; with Zez the

music goes running by and it's just a riot."

From Zez to stride was another natur-

al step. "His music really helped my stride

bass, because the left hand was ahvays

going back and forth. And I enjoyed it a

lot Then, one' day someone played a

recording for me of Count Basie, with the

Benny Moten band, doing 'Prince OfPACE

KITTEN ON THE KEYSBY ZEZ CONFREY

. . . .

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I've atways made it a point to watch athletes and

dancers, in order to figure out more efficient ways to

move. used to bounce my hands high, and I'd see

that classical pianists stayed down-avoiding wasted

motion. I'd also see some pianists leaning forward,

and I was atways sitting straight--which limited my

abil'ky to reach certain notes. So recommend that

you watch professional pianists in action, and note

their physical approach to the instrument

At the beginning of my practice in stride music, herelentless back-and-forth motion of my left hand

would cause my forearm to ache, so I learned what

I could about breathing techniques. I would s it at

home and play wrth the left hand, ake a deep breath,

relax and lower my shoulders.. and I'd discover that

I had more powerwhen I worked at Disneyland I

had to play seven hours a day, five days a week, so

it was important to work on relaxing, to prevent

injury to myself

In a way, my job at Disneyland made it easier topractice relaxation. In those days, I'd be playing

a tune and then start concentrating on breathing..

and I would forget the tune, or make a mistake.

But everybody walking by would be eating a hot

dog or talking anyway, so I would just play the

tune over and over: I could play 20 choruses of

T h e Entertainer;" and nobody would notice; pretty

soon, I would get to where I could take a deep breath

and keep on playing.

To this day when I walk out on stage, before everytune, take a deep breath, lower my shoulders, and

then start playing.-[his is important o keep in mind as

you start to play these stride pieces.

Whenever I play this music, I atways hear a big

band in my head. I t influences the way I phrase:

punching out the rhythm section in my left hand, and

hearing horns when I play rifk in my right hand.

tt s important to avoid having everything simply

banged out on the same level. Even ArtTatum would

do less in his right hand when he wanted the stride

bass to come out, when he played a lot of fast runs,

he would stop striding. tt was seamless, but he would

make certain that the focus moved back and forthfrom left to right.

You can only do so much at one time. It in order

to have all the effects available to you, it is necessary

to practice everything slowly and methodicalb

People tend to speed up with this kind of music,

so suggest practicing the left hand alone, wrth a

metronome.Start slowly Even in performance, I set a

tempo that is slower than what I think it should

be, because things tend to come out faster than

you expected.Another aspect of the way I approach this music is

that I often use single notes moving in the bass, rather

than octaves or tenths, to accommodate my hands,

and to keep a lightness to the music.

Go over the following examples with a slow,

metronomic beat Stay relaxed, and never twist your

body. Don't elevate your elbow to the side.

Allow your shoulders to fall. Take a breatb f ten

Remember; don't play too fast When you really have

command of this music it will soun fast because of allthe movement and it will swing be tter because it will

be less frenetic. Like any other music, you want it to

sing as much as possible.



P GE

Several stride elements appear in t is arrangement, including single-note boogie patterns, walking

octaves, and typical bass-chord-bass-chord stride accompaniment.

Practice the opening left hand boogie pattern slowly, remembering that the notes played by the fifth finger

get more weight.

In bars 29-30 and 60-63, the left hand moves in octaves.This, too, can be practiced slowly, relaxing the

hand after each strike, so it does not tense up before hitting the next notes.

A t bars 27-28,the left hand alternates between a simple single-bass-note stride pattern and the placement

of octaves.Try the simple stride in a number of different keys, to get used to the idea and sound of it.



N ow , practice the same pattern w ith th e ad dition o f he octaves.

In ord er t o play mo re com plicated stride patterns

wh ich use tenth s in the left hand, practice playing

atternating tenths.: r r

I I . . I

Then play them together:

Try the pattern beginning at measure 4 which uses tenths in the left t and.

The re are some big stretches in the right hand in An d n ote the typical riff in thirds, foun d in bars 09

as well, so you might want t o t ry this exer- 10. Don t force anyone else s fingering in situations

se fo r practice.-rhese sound funny bu t they will help like this; you can choose a fingering that wo rks for

ith th e stretch. your hand.



Watch the repeating bass pattern,which can create fatigue; keep the notes light and even.

This is also tru e o f he right hand pattern at bar8 1 .Avoid tensing your w rist muscles. Practice these stxteenths

slowly, allowing the weight o f your hand t o fall onto th e keys. Gradually increase the speed, but only up t o the

po int where you feel tension; rest, and start again.

In bar 104, you ll find a whole-tone scale (built with a full step between each tone). Stay aware o f the thumb

which must move quickly t o its next position throughout the scale.

In bar 20 1 you can play the low G o f he right hand chord with th e thumb o f your left hand.



One of the fundamental rhythmic tricks of swing-style music comes up throughout this tune: syncopation, or

emphasizing a weak beat instead of a strong one. Right at the opening you'll see a resthe first,accented chord

comes in on the and of beat I Another element in this arrangement is the use of chromatic, or half-step,

chordal movement.

Another tricky rhythmic problem appears in this piecwlaying 2 in one hand against 3 in the other

(bar 108).To get t right think of the combined voices creating the phrase:cup of tea,,2

I like my music to have a sense of humor: Does this sound familiar?

Keep in mind that Jive at Five and Christopher Columbus were big band tunes, so you should play them

with a big band in your head Hear the horns when you play the riffs



At measure 23 you'll get a typical stride riff, used by Try it in a couple of keys so you can appty it to

many improvisers. other tunes.

You'll find a similar approach at bar 5 1

The grace notes at measure 25 can also be played crushed together with the main notes of the chord.

Ekperiment wrth the differences in sound this can create.

For the glissando at bar 59 use the back of your thumbnail. And at bar 89 notice that the thumb play;

both bottom notes of the chord.



No tice th e grace notes in bar 33.

Grace notes are quick little flurries leading t o a

strong main note; remember that your weight is

going t o drop on tha t main note. Injazz hose little

grace notes can bunch together, but in classical

music they must be clean and fast fyou want to be

able t o articulate them clear+ try the following

exercise, in which your fifth finger is held downrs have t o move independently

In bar 59, there is another quick movement o f

notes, his time in an arpeggio.To play this witho utfakering, put the emphasis on the t w o th um b notes

(both Fs), and a llow the rest t o be lighter:

You'll find a contrast in this piece between straighteighths, which are played evenly, and swing eighths,

played wrth a tr ip le t feel.

A nd once again, you'll find chromatic chorda l move-

men t as in bar 7.

Oth er technical challenges: the arpeggios at bar 30,

and the trem elo at bar 40-43. Remember: if you findyourself tensing up, stop and rest, then try it again

mo re slowly

b kThere is a lo t o f 2 against 3 rhythm in this arrange-

ment. Remember the phrase one cup o f tea tokeep this rhythm correct.



Music Lyrics by GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN

1/8ths Very fast

O 1924 WE MUSIC COW Renewed)Thii anangementO 1996WE MUSIC COW

Genhwin @ nd eoge C e n h w i d are rea sered oademarks Genhwin Enterprises.All RighD eserved



By COUNT BASlE and HARRY EDlSC

Q I94 I WB MUSIC COUP Renswsd)Thiv~gsm nt 996WB MUSIC COW



by ANDY RAZAF Music by LEON ERR\

1936 Renewed) RAZAF MUSIC C 0 . d LEON BERRY Publulirghii



Words Music by LEO RO BI N and LEWIS E GENSLE



Words usic by HOAGY CARMICHAEL and SlDNMARODll

Straight

118th~

MSwing 1/8 1/16ths

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ISBN 0 943748 79 89.95O>ook)

Sla.oa CD)

19.95 Total

fou an PlayStride PianoBy Judy Carmichael

IncludesJudy Carmichael's "HowTo Drills,Note-For-NoteArrangements Transcriptions

kq l -

Stride has a bounce and a rhythmic lift that no othermket gmatkh.T k orfignabrsofthis swinging, energetic music--exciting players like J m e s P Johnssan and Jelly RollMorton-always seemed to possess three hands instead of two A crossbetween honky-tonk and blues, with lots of good-timeenergy thrown in, stride is always certain to light

up.a room. Once you learn how to play it, you won't want to spend your time playing any-thing else

And now you c r play "Stride Piano," wen if you've never attemptedit before Judy ,.

Carmichael, one of today's top stride performers, w ll show you how it's done. You'veseenher on CBS Sacrrd~3rMomiag. You've heard her scintill thg recordings, and attendedhex-performances at festivals and in clubs. Now shell ~ha reer secretswith you

You'll get Judy Carrnichael's newest CD, "Chops," f a t w h g her own personal, out-standing stride renditions of Oh Lady Be Good,A ? She Sweet, and other favorites.AND, you'll get notefor-note transcriptions of these 6 great solos:Ai% the Sweet Love IsustA r o u d The Comer, Oh Lady Be Good, b z y River, Ch&$apkm C01tl;mhwandliveAtFive. You can listen to the way Judy plays them on the CD, then ractice these solos onyour own, note-by-noteand measure-by-measure.

But that's not all You'll also get Judy Carrnichael's special tips and personal practice

you can play stride piano1

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