Thanks, and I hope you're doing well!

Thanks Guy!

Thanks and yes exactly. Most players only go to the Bb7 at the very end of the performance. Good luck!

Thanks Howard! I'd enjoy hearing your version of this one.

Definitely a free spirit!

Thanks so much - have fun playing this great tune!

A fun challenge, and luckily the chords sound great when played slowly too. Good luck with your playing :)

Thanks for your kind words. I first learned this tune when I was about 15 years old. Luckily, the internet hadn't been invented yet to overwhelm me, so I figured out how to play it myself, based on the lead sheet. SOmetimes the simplest way will take us far. Good luck with your music!

Thanks - much appreciated!

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for mentioning Jarreau's version, since I hadn't heard it before. It's amazing how his phrasing seems to emerge from the groove!

I'm glad you enjoyed this!

Thanks - this was fun!

Thanks!

Maybe!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thanks, Jim, and welcome aboard! So far I've done about 250 songs and hope to continue soon. When I finish Vol 1, I'll probably start Vol 2 right away.

Hi Simon - thanks for listening and I'm glad you enjoyed this! You have the right attitude and approach. Keep the soup simmering while gradually expanding your musical technique and melodic/harmonic knowledge. Definitely check out Billy Taylor's recording of the tune. If you send me an email through my website, I'll send you a PDF arrangement I wrote out of this tune. Good luck with your music :)

Thanks for your input. Different opinions are what make the musical world interesting - much appreciated!

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 it’s not an opinion, just listen to “April Joy” from “Pat Metheny Group 1978” and you will easily realize yourself that what you played is an abomination…!!!

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 I’m not saying you are not a good musician!! Not at all, you play really well and you are talented. But seems as if you intentionally put efforts to transform April joy in a pop song… this is really unqualified!!!

@@geroboamtreni1950 Thanks for making the effort to build bridges. It was simply to illustrate the fact that Metheny sometimes used pop elements in his playing with the Pat Metheny Group and that groups such as Steely Dan used jazz harmonies in their pop music.

Thanks Chris!

I agree! Sometimes professional musicians become a little burnt out on certain songs that they play and hear a lot, but we can't let that dampen our enthusiasm. Great music is great music!

Thanks John. That was what most people preferred so you'll get to see my hands on the keys from the top view on all these videos moving forward. Much appreciated :)

You can find them in The Thelonious Monk Fakebook, which is well worth getting. Good luck!

Yep, all of the above. I was focusing on the harmonic aspect, which as you know is a huge stumbling block for improvising melodically on Monk's music. But yes, you've pinpointed more of the big picture. You and I were fortunate to have studied with that generation of musicians! I studied with Billy Taylor and knew Max Roach at least well enough for him to pick me out of an audience as someone who was learning jazz. Any Ben Riley/Thelonious Monk anecdotes would be welcome - thanks for chiming in :)

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 Dr. Billy Taylor taught you? 🤯🤯🤯 Yes, we've lost most of Jazz's "greatest generation", sadly. I'm just glad we were able to experience their greatness, but also to be inspired to become musicians ourselves.

@@LeydenAigg So true!

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 I never met Thelonious Monk. This was in 1970-71, in public school on Long Island, while I was in 7th and 8th grade. Ben would often share little tidbits of life touring internationally, but he wasn't one to engage in name dropping to impress a bunch of teenagers. Most of all, his noticing so many little things, made me a much better musician (I played trumpet then, a poor fit for me, forced on me by non-musician parents), and showed us that having a successful career in music was possible, IF you had the goods. I picked up French horn, percussion, and vibes in high school, which eventually led me to teach myself basic keyboard in my early twenties (finally! 😃), and I studied 2 years with a teacher who was a family friend. He taught me a lot of theory, but I had to learn jazz theory from books...and playing! I was in a few r&b and rock bands, did a bunch of songwriting, and tried to become a producer, only for The Industry to relentlessly break my heart. This was nothing related to jazz, music for the dance floor. Now, I'm just an old coot with a bunch of musical instruments, who likes to play jazz, reggae, and Brasileira sometimes. Oh, and I'm a harmonica whiz, really my first instrument, I think I started around Kindergarten. I used to busk on chromatic harp in NYC parks, and the subway system.

Have fun playing this tune!

Thanks so much!

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 , It was always claimed that the piano intro was an unfinished piece by McCartney, but that was not the case. It is also not a reverse piano recording, as you can see, said piano part is played normally and does not exist in any previously recorded record. Yoko Ono from 1968 encouraged Lennon to make his music more articulate, especially because Yoko Ono had knowledge of classical piano and had been married to the famous Japanese composer, Toshi Ichiyanagi. The "Revolution 9" recording is the exclusive work of Lennon/Ono/Harrison, no one else.

@@stellapolanco6860 I think that Yoko Ono is an under-appreciated musician.

He had such an unbelievably smooth sound.

Thank you so much! Accompanying singers came naturally to me , beginning when I was a teen. Much more naturally than, say, bebop did. Those Holiday Young recordings are gems!

Give it a try, on several tunes.

It was a nice keyboard.

Thanks!

Well said!

Thanks! This tune deserves to be played more than it is. A fun groove.

Thanks, Greg, and am glad this is helping. I had fun making this!

Thanks - fun stuff!

Great questions, and our next step is always an individual thing for each of us. Based on what you've said here, I recommend that you begin playing th e7th chords with some inversions, so there's smooth voice-leading. Your hand shouldn't move very far from chord to chord. When you can do this easily on many tunes, then move on to rootless one-handed voicings, then rootless 2-handed voicings. Good luck with your composing!

Yep!

Thanks!

Thanks Patricio!

Thanks for watching!