Brian Wilson/M. Love - That Same Song (overhead piano cover - Gospel choir version)

This is an overhead shot of my attempt to play the piano part to the gospel choir version of Brian Wilson and Mike Love’s That Same Song. This is somewhat different from the album version. Please note that I am not a gospel pianist; I’m just doing my best here. Enjoy!

[@milwaukeeskosher]

It sounds more complex than what that man played in the video. Very good! I always loved that version.

[@seerup101]

Thanks so much!

[@robertpurdue1962]

Best job ever! Thanks for the request. I’ll speak to my lawyer about putting you in my will. I hope you like Pennies. Can’t thank you enough!

[@seerup101]

That's the nicest (and funniest) compliment I've gotten in a long time. Thank you!

[@robertpurdue1962]

Sure hope that you’re in good health & just taking a well deserved break from Wilson World. Hope to hear more tunes in the future, but no pressure from me. ( just a lot of gratitude for all your work so far. Peace!

[@DistantLights]

One of my favorites from the 15 big ones album! I love the choir version even more, so thanks for covering it!

[@SirHatchporch]

When I saw the title, I was thinking how the gospel choir version gave me a new appreciation for the song...and then I read your description.🙂

[@seerup101]

I just wanted to give full disclosure: this ain't my wheelhouse. I appreciate the hell out of the genre, but I have no background to speak of.

[@Breshe]

Did you have fun with this? It made my day, thank you!

[@seerup101]

I did! It was a blast to figure out and play, although it threw me for a bit of a loop, since I'm not really skilled nor experienced in the gospel style of piano playing. Thanks so much!

[@DistantLights]

Awww man if I may make a request, there's a Thelonious Monk album from the 60s (wanna say 65) called Solo Monk, with a song called Ask Me Now on it. I'd love to see your cover of it, if you can manage somehow.

[@seerup101]

I only know a couple of Monk tunes, none of them particularly well enough to play them. Maybe someday...

[@DistantLights]

@@seerup101 that's cool! love your vids

[@JonasEurich]

Hi, I have a question related to your perfect pitch or perfect pitch in general. I know the main element of it is the ability to think of any given note without any reference. This obviously helps when translating notes onto the keyboard because you already know which keys you gotta press. Now the actual question: Does perfect pitch also help you to better HEAR all the notes in a song? For instance, if you have a four part vocal harmony, is it easier for you in the first place to tell apart the four voices or does that still depend on your general musical ability like for everyone else? Thanks.

[@seerup101]

This is such an excellent question that I almost cannot decide how to begin to answer! I suppose I'd say that in some sense my absolute pitch is a tool to help me label and organize what I am hearing according to a fixed sense of place. However, in other situations so-called "perfect pitch" can actually be a detriment... and I know that some may have difficulty understanding or believing that, but in situations where there is a written key transposition or some sort of unintended change of key (for example in an a cappella choral piece when the entire chorus goes sharp or flat together in the midst of a performance), absolute pitch suddenly presents a real hindrance, especially if one is a member of the choir trying desperately to sing along while staying in tune with the ensemble. It's a bit akin to losing your balance while riding a bike. If a song or piece of music is in a fairly standard key (say C or G major or A minor or some such uncluttered key signature) and in a fairly common tempo and meter (say 4/4 or 3/4 without much changing around as the piece goes on), and if there are just a few textural elements (say, one lead vocal which sings a simple, repetitive and fairly predictable melody, an electric guitar without too many flashy solos, a backing or rhythm guitar playing standard, simple chord changes within the firmly-established key, a bass guitar which stays fairly simple on the roots of the chords in this key, and a straightforward drum set which keeps time without grabbing too much attention or complexity), then perhaps my absolute pitch might discern some of what's going on in the melody and harmony fairly quickly and without too many extra layers of information cluttering up the process. Conversely, for each of the aspects of the music which happens to gain more and more layers of complexity (unusual key signatures or multiple unexpected key changes, tempo fluctuations, meter switching up all over, layers of differing instruments and timbres, "weird" or interesting or unexpected chord progressions, and complicated counterpoint, interesting backing vocals [I'm looking at you, "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"!]), needless to say there is a lot to sift through for any pair of ears, and while absolute pitch can help or be a crutch in such situations up to a point, sometimes what emerges rapidly becomes a kind of unscalable cliff to be able hear and completely understand all these moving parts at once - for even the best musicians out there, I'd have to imagine. Your question's example of complex four-part vocal harmony is excellent, because in a situation like that you literally have more than a few moving parts to consider, and as you're listening to the music in real time (pause and rewind buttons notwithstanding), you don't have a moment to stop and carefully untangle the web of sounds you are hearing which is flitting rapidly past and clashing in your mind with what you are hearing next, and next, and next. I'm not a hunter, but I would imagine It is a little like trying to hunt several different creatures at once, all of which are moving away from each other (and you) in differing directions and speeds. One of my most difficult transcriptions thus far was Our Prayer from SMiLE, because of the ethereal, at. times dissonant and downright transitory nature of the moving parts and sublime yet strange harmonies. However, there's an element to any sort of transcribing one might do which I have so far managed not to mention, and which has nothing at all to do with whether one's approach is via relative or absolute pitch, and that is just plain ear training and music theory - doing the homework, as it were. If I never drilled ear training (yes, even relative intervals and recognizing chord qualities), if I never studied music theory as it is often applied to pop (and classical and jazz, the latter being extremely important in the case of Brian Wilson's music), then even with the most highly-attuned and fastest perfect pitch in the Wild West, one can only be able to get so far, so fast when it comes to figuring out every detail in harmonically- and melodically- (and rhythmically- and timbrally-) complex music. This is my self-challenge, to build and strengthen my hearing and analysis as best I can. And, of course, to get my blasted fingers to accurately play what I hear in the correct rhythm and up to tempo,, which is a whole other struggle and story for another day. Does any of my blather help at all? I sure hope so, and that I'm not TL;DR-ing anyone. Great inquiry! Thanks so much for watching and asking!

[@JonasEurich]

@@seerup101 Thank you for the detailed answer. I don’t want to know how long you’ve been typing haha but I now understand the situation better, thanks again.

[@lxuaes6915]

Can you do Ennio Morricone's "L'ultimo"?

[@seerup101]

I don't think I've ever heard that song yet. Maybe someday.

[@lxuaes6915]

​​@@seerup101"La Consecration - Strings" by Sean O'hagan and Tim Gane. (It's on spotify) Please, I beg you. EDIT: Also, I don't know if you know or not, but Sean O'hagan is a self proclaimed Brian Wilson/Beach Boys disciple. Sean almost collaborated with Brian on a project, around the late 90s or 00s I believe, but there was a dispute of some sort that nixed it, there are interviews on KZbin that go further into it. But I do think Sean's work is apart of Brian Wilson's lineage; a continuation of the spirit of Brian's work. Sean's in his 60s or 70s now, but is still working as far as I know, producing and collaborate with younger acts.