PIYW #1: "Play 'Beale Street Blues' Your Way" is Now Live!

rsl12 · 2025-07-15T03:20:00+00:00

PIYW #1: Play "Beale Street Blues" Your Way (July 2025) Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! Since June 1, participants have been working on "Beale Street Blues" by W. C. Handy (1917). Enjoy their performances below! More information about Play It Your Way and about how participants prepared this piece can be found in the Meta Feedback discussion. The next Play It Your Way piece will be announced August 16. ALL comments must be polite and supportive, even when the performer has stated that any comments are allowed. "How to Give Criticism in a Nice Way: A Comprehensive Guide". Thanks for helping us to keep things friendly! Suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. We need suggestions for all genres of music! (Ideally, the Play It Your Way piece will be playable by many different skill levels, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.) If you are still working on Beale Street Blues, you can submit your recording here at any time. Click for the submission template: **Performer:** Name or Alias + Location + Experience **Comment Policy:** Feedback type desired (see below) Put the link to your performance here (see below for details). **Source of music:** ... **Instrument:** ... **Recording method:** ... **Additional info:** Tell your story or share any interesting details related to your performance! if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } You may use the following to specify the Comment Policy: No Comments Please! Positive comments only (no criticism or suggestions for improvement please). Positive comments and suggestions for improvement (no direct criticism please). All comments; anything goes! Link To Your Performance: If you have a video, that's great! Otherwise, audio-only is fine. Upload your performance to YouTube, Vimeo, Rumble, SoundCloud, or Google Drive. Your media may be public or unlisted but private will not work. The direct link needs to be posted so that the performance is embedded on PT. Dropbox option: If hosting your performance using YouTube or other service is not possible, then we will provide an upload option. Submitters are requested to keep their performances up for at least a period of 30 days and as long as possible after that.

rsl12

Sophia OMG, rsl... do you have a fan club? You have a fan club right? Can I be a member? I don't care what it costs... I'll be in

I'm pretty sure you are the founder and president! Are you sure you want to be the fan club president for the Streaker King??

Sophia Tiny, TINY nitpick: your voice was a bit drowned out by the piano.

You are probably right. I should learn how to record in a way that balances voice and piano better. My piece for the August recital involves singing, so I'll look into ways to get a better sound. Thank you for the nice feedback!

Sophia think of the two options you mentioned, using more rubato in other places might be more effective than keeping the rhythm strict. That is definitely a tendency I have, so I might be better off trying to loosen up a bit... what do you think?

Both approaches can work. Twocats kept a strict rhythm for the A section, and I did not. If it were me playing your version, I would probably choose a stricter rhythm. Whichever approach you choose, I would do a little metronome work for that small passage, since you weren't aware that you were slowing down there. Even if you choose to use more rubato, being able to play everything evenly is sort of like smoothing a wrinkled canvas before painting.

rsl12

Nightowl OMG that was a terrific performance! You packed so much into it, I could barely keep up with all the twists and turns.

Thank you! The composition itself has three very distinct sections, so it was easy to make it a journey with lots of variety.

Nightowl I don't know the technical term for (latin/calypso style?)

It's a New Orleans Rhumba! Not to be confused with a Latin Rhumba, which is quite different. But it's definitely close to Latin. Some people classify this kind of New Orleans music as the northernmost extent of Latin music.

Simonb

Hi rsl12

I own that recording, and absolutely adore Prof Longhair's style of playing. I used to play like that a lot, and still dabble with now and then. Perhaps I'll post something in one of the recitals in the future.

There is a difficult to find documentary "Piano Players rarely ever play together", which features Prof Longhair, Tuts Washington and the great Allen Toussaint. If you ever get a chance to see that it's well worth watching.

In the meantime for everyone on this thread here is Allen Toussaint explaining and demonstrating Prof Longhair's style. This is a great one for those following the boogie and blues path (Sophia et al).

The first clip is one I had a longer version of on a video tape decades ago, and seeing it again now almost made me cry.
The second longer one is more recent and better quality.

Sadly Allen Toussaint passed away in 2015 😢

Cheers

rsl12

Nightowl At times towards the end you seemed to get a little carried away, as though you were just eager to reach the end

Guilty as charged! It took many takes before I was satisfied. And when I compare my speed to Dr. John's, I can't believe how fast I took the C section.

Nightowl

Simonb That was a very fast paced performance and you packed a lot into it - respect. I liked the gentle ending, it was very nicely done.

Nightowl

twocats You played very well but seemed slightly angry at your piano - it's like you were determined to bash it into submission after it had the cheek to sound wrong notes in previous recordings and you were having no more of that nonsense now! 😆 The extra chord at the end made me laugh out loud - it seemed to say "I did it - so there!" 🤣

Something tells me that you won't be returning to this piece, which might be just as well as I'm not sure the piano could take it! 😂 🙃 You are a very competent player but this video should serve as a warning that it's not a good idea to get on the wrong side of you! 😂

twocats

Nightowl You played very well but seemed slightly angry at your piano - it's like you were determined to bash it into submission

Ha, it's funny that you felt this way! The version I played is almost in a ragtime style which is supposed to be played with a more assertive and heavy touch. That said, I don't shy away from playing with volume if I feel that the music calls for it! I think you'd be scared if you ever saw me actually play loudly; this hardly counts 😂

ShiroKuro

Congratulations PIYW performers @Sophia @WieWaldi @twocats @rsl12 and @Simonb !!! Everyone did a great a job and I absolutely loved hearing all the different versions! You all played wonderfully! And @rsl12 great job with the singing part as well (although that’s no surprise of course!)

I had decided not to participate in PIYW this time, partly because I was getting ready for my trip, but more so because I didn’t know this piece and after listening to the video @rsl12 shared and looking at the score, I couldn’t really hear it in my head, so I knew it would be an uphill battle to work with it. But now that I’ve listened to each of your versions, I can hear it in my head and I feel like the core melody is an old friend.

Anyway, I really enjoyed each of your versions, and hearing them all together just added to the fun!

Nightowl

twocats Yeah, you were just being assertive. 😁 I wasn't scared, I've seen worse... this guy for instance:

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diretonic

@Sophia Well played, a fine recording. From the videos I’ve watched in your blues thread your natural sense of meter seems rock solid to me so those occasional slips in timing are almost certainly the kind of stumbles (memory/execution) that get ironed out through improved technique. As to “…more musical…” - that will come, for sure. You and @WieWaldi have obviously benefited through a shared objective. How will this all end? - hopefully with both of you on the bill, on the same evening, at a Beale Street venue. (Afterthought; In fact, why not record a boogie duet for PT?)

diretonic

@WieWaldi Aside from a glitch or two, this is a very smooth rendition and well worth the effort of trying to improvise even if you chose not to let us hear it. But I’d recommend (@Sophia too) also trying to routine/develop and practice some ideas of your own - write them down if it helps and don’t worry about labouring over the task, even if it seems counter to the idea of improv; most blues/ jazzers spend a lot of time in prep, practicing and developing licks - borrowed, original or 50/50 - which become part of the ‘improvisation’ repertoire.

diretonic

@twocats This gave me a warm nostalgic buzz, the big chords suggesting the blues as I imagined it would sound at the time. I looked around for an original recording but suspect what I heard was a piano-roll so it’s not clear that BSB has to be played at the sprint chosen in several YT videos. The spirit of Handy was unmistakable in your performance but please, give us more next time!

diretonic

@rsl12 An ambitious mosaic of influences. Easy, bluesy - almost plaintive - feel at the outset and the contrasting move into the Spanish tinge channeling Dr John (through Prof Longhair) worked a charm…plagiarism?, so what!; approximations make these licks your own. The singing too - that’s definitely coming along. Worthy of a piano-bar debut (if you haven’t already!).

diretonic

@Simonb Enjoyed listening to you bring your rock/blues chops and neat riffing to this tune - the discipline of your more recent classical focus has done nothing to dent your enthusiastic swing ….best of luck, by the way, for the grade 8 result!

diretonic

By the way, I think PIYW is a great idea and if the focus is non-classical it’s right up my street so I’d really like it to catch on. As to BSB, I regret not having submitted (though with the open-end ….maybe later) but I’m a very old tree bending in the wind and assorted maladies resulting in fits and starts left me losing some focus - hopefully I’ll return to it.

@rsl12 do you have a plan for future tunes? Might I suggest that participants - and only participants - earn the opportunity to nominate? That would certainly incentivise me!

WieWaldi

diretonic @rsl12 do you have a plan for future tunes?

I second this question 🤨

diretonic Might I suggest that participants - and only participants - earn the opportunity to nominate?

I like the idea of this concept. But I am not sure, if I am leaning towards or against it. Let's say, there are currently 5 Blues people, nominating only Blues pieces, then they would not let anybody else in. Because there could be 10 classical people sitting outside, waiting for a classical piece - but this never happens.

diretonic

WieWaldi I like the idea of this concept. But I am not sure, if I am leaning towards or against it. Let's say, there are currently 5 Blues people, nominating only Blues pieces, then they would not let anybody else in. Because there could be 10 classical people sitting outside, waiting for a classical piece - but this never happens.

The blues thugs monopoly, I like it. Maybe impose a basic genre-rotating rule?

diretonic

....would PIYW treatment of classical work well enough?

WieWaldi

diretonic the effort of trying to improvise even if you chose not to let us hear it. But I’d recommend (@Sophia too) also trying to routine/develop and practice some ideas of your own - write them down if it helps and don’t worry about labouring over the task, even if it seems counter to the idea of improv; most blues/ jazzers spend a lot of time in prep, practicing and developing licks - borrowed, original or 50/50 - which become part of the ‘improvisation’ repertoire.

Oh, it already happened. Not inside the Beale Street, but I did it already in the regular lessons. Taking a lick from the course and either mix it with another lick. Or modify it with some ideas of my own. And then practised it like all the other licks, too. In the lessons it is easier, no need to connect to a musical structure. And I did it with a bassline that wasn't new. No, the bassline was an old friend, running on autopilot.
I agree in everything you wrote about starting improvisation. I've experienced this by own already (even if just a tiny little bit) and the feeling is amazing, when it worked out. 🤗

rsl12

diretonic @twocats This gave me a warm nostalgic buzz, the big chords suggesting the blues as I imagined it would sound at the time. I looked around for an original recording but suspect what I heard was a piano-roll so it’s not clear that BSB has to be played at the sprint chosen in several YT videos.

Yes, I suspect it's a piano roll as well. I shared this on the other discussion, but in case you missed it, this is perhaps the original:

It's very close to the version @twocats played.

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