It Had to Be You - Piano Roll Transcription for Solo Piano

[@richardbrandeis4879]

You're correct about the embellishments. Many of these pieces were recorded and then additions were made giving the impression that there actually four hands playing. I've played stride for years and there is no way one could possiby duplicate the music on many of these classic rolls.

[@ampicoab]

Well done! It sounded like Frank Milne to me. Thanks

[@RetroPianist]

That's very high praise indeed. Thank you!

[@musicalmusingswithaine5412]

This is such a beautiful cover!

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you very much!

[@JoelRossPiano]

Your love for this music is so evident. Very impressive and inspiring! Sounds awesome, RP! 🎹

[@RetroPianist]

That means a lot, Joel! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment 🙂

[@cecillevgl8434]

Beautiful!

[@aggelosk3013]

That’s just perfect the 10ths the touch everything sounds great and relaxed

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you, I appreciate it! You have great performances on your channel. I subscribed so I can follow your future videos!

[@groefelo8631]

Love this music genre, you did an amazing job. Musical greetings Liam

[@nekolilipianoreiko]

Great peaformance🎶Very fun❣️

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you so much 😁

[@victorsvoice7978]

Another great piano cover.

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you!

[@ilonajeanpassino608]

beatiful...love it.

[@vernonbebout1]

Just wow!

[@a320214]

Thanks !! that's one of my favorite !! Thanks for sharing your time and talent !!!

[@yumaxpiano]

It's a cute and cute song！✨ Nice performance✨ I feel good☺️🎶

[@RetroPianist]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for listening and commenting! 🙂

[@yumaxpiano]

Thank you for your reply！ I will go listen again✨

[@RobHoffman83]

I’m impressed. Bravo!

[@RetroPianist]

Thanks a lot, Rob. How have you been lately? It's been a while since you uploaded a video.

[@helenpeddar7459]

You are brilliant, love everything you play, every note is clear

[@taliesin8192]

Absolutely superb.

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[@SunValleyPiano]

Very much like the Bix Beiderbecke pieces, beautiful

[@PeterHontaru]

This must be incredibly hard to transcribe, very impressive. It will definitely help improve your ear as well with time but kudos to you man :)

[@RetroPianist]

Thanks, Peter! It definitely took many hours to write the sheet music and learn. I've done a lot of transcriptions over the last few years, and you're right about it being a good way to improve your ear. It's also a good way to learn how different styles of pieces are arranged. What pieces are you working on right now?

[@PeterHontaru]

@@RetroPianist I see what you mean, it's kind of like a different way of looking to understand what/how the composer was thinking. I am currently working on finishing the Bach Invention 4 and Prelude in G major. Will also recording the Contredanse at some point in the next couple days, I've "finished" it a few weeks ago but never really recorded it fully

[@JoiceLintang]

Your play is amazing..👍🏻👍🏻

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@kennethjones1441]

THANK YOU.

[@tokmind]

It's so cool!

[@russelllindsay2702]

Very good. Amazing.

[@RetroPianist]

Many thanks, Russell. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@russelllindsay2702]

Retro Piano you are great :-)

[@p1anosteve]

Wonderful.. it reminds me of Charlie Kunz style especially the melody in the tenor with the left hand crossing over. I watched a video of the same roll on a player and you can see that it had been cut with more than one run allowing more to be added and notes (particularly the left hand top split tenth) to be sustained. I guess you had to leave a few notes out here and their.

[@RetroPianist]

Thanks, Steve! The extra notes added to piano rolls is one of the things I have found most challenging about transcribing them. Some rolls are pretty much four hands arrangements, but luckily the roll I covered in this video isn't one of them. I believe I have heard that some pianists use the middle sostenuto pedal to hold notes like the tops of tenths, which adds a whole other layer of complexity to performing pieces in the style of piano rolls.

[@SugarBearMosher]

You command the piano!

[@wouterp515]

Amazing! 👍🏻

[@SihanQD]

I like you music, very nice

[@RetroPianist]

Thanks, AQ. Keep up the great work on your channel!

[@Modeltnick]

Amazing! Of course the QRS roll doesn’t have the wonderful expression that you add! I’m really enjoying these performances!

[@RetroPianist]

I'm so glad you're enjoying them! Many thanks, Nick.

[@FreeAnalyst]

Brilliant.

[@rogerhartman5918]

This is when music was music!

[@edwardlisauskas1186]

You've Got That Right !

[@PiotrBarcz]

You're transcription is quite nice! You even included the tenor melody section with the left hand crossover, something I for a long time considered impossible (though Nicholas Brown, another very talented stride pianist, proved that was bogus and does it regularly hahaha). You are indeed correct about piano rolls being embellished but I have to say that most foxtrot rolls, especially ones by Frank Milne could be very minimally edited to be playable (albeit they are very hard), same goes for just about all the other piano rolls except for the very obviously crazy ones. Nice playing!

[@RetroPianist]

Thank you very much for the compliment. I always enjoy the hand-crossing technique where the melody is played in the lower register and it is a great way to add some variety to a song when the chorus is being played multiple times. It seems to have been quite common in arrangements from the '20s and '30s. I have spoken with Nicholas; he is an excellent musician and his performances are a delight to listen to.

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@RetroPianist I wish I could meet the guy in person, I'd love to have two piano duet with him hahaha

[@beatuzic-pianocovers4885]

Amazing playing sounds really good Subscribed for more

[@beatuzic-pianocovers4885]

I also play piano on my KZbin channel will be glad if you give them a listen

[@RetroPianist]

@@beatuzic-pianocovers4885 Thanks so much for the comment and subscription! I will definitely check out your channel!

[@elianadelpizzo7141]

👏👏👏💥💥💥💥💫Pianissimo🎉

[@peterkrauss6962]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉love love

[@dontheshark]

Wonderful playing.

[@garethrutherford]

excellent

[@RetroPianist]

Many thanks, Gareth!

[@syncopated]

Beautifully done! I have a Weber Duo-Art upright from '27. I love Milne's rolls and the music from that era. Have you thought of transcribing Blue Shadows? It's quite a piece.

[@RetroPianist]

Thanks, Gregory! I wasn't familiar with Blue Shadows, but I found a recording and listened to it. It's a nice piece (the melody in the opening verses reminds me a little of Stay Out of the South). I can add that to my list of pieces to transcribe.

[@ΙωαννηςΜπαβας-κ9θ]

Magic sound bravooooooo* utube smile by john bavas

[@laurencefinston7036]

I really enjoyed this performance. It's nice to hear these arrangements played by a person, with all the sublety you can't get from a machine, no matter how ingenious. You're obviously a skilled pianist. Are you familiar with the piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Ernesto Lecuona? A lot of it is too difficult for me, even if I had a piano available to practice on. I think it might be right up your street.

[@RetroPianist]

I'm not familiar with Lecuona, but I've listened to some of Gottschalk's music before and thought about learning one of his pieces. I really like his tarantella in D minor.

[@laurencefinston7036]

​@@RetroPianistI think you might recognize some of Lecuona's songs if you heard them. Some were hits in English, too. "Siboney" and "Malagueña" were by him, as well as "Para Vigo me Voy" ("Say 'Si, Si'"), "Siempre en mi Corazón" ("Always in my Heart"), as well as many others His music was often played by bands such as Desi Arnaz' and Xavier Cugat's. I have a beautiful edition of Gottschalk's piano music from Schirmer, but it's a bit daunting, especially since I don't have a piano available and would have to try to work out how to play it on some other instrument or combination of instruments.

[@PiotrBarcz]

After seeing this again I've just realized it seems you can't reach tenths, you did a great job rolling them though! I find that quite difficult, especially when flats on top are involved as I miss all the time. I usually settle for sixths instead, them being easier to play and I can walk them to some extent. I can reach tenths on all white keys and minor tenths with the flats on top but not at any tempo faster than 130 bpm really.

[@RetroPianist]

You are correct; I'm unable to reach tenths and always roll them. Sometimes I try to blur them with the pedal if I'm going for a smoother sound.

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@RetroPianist I highly recommend the sustain approach ;) Frank used a lot of long and drawn out tenths that can be simulated with pedal, his arrangements scream fluid playing! Keep it up!

[@icebear2049]

I love you

[@loyaltonotredame2160]

great job! this reminds me of my ex girlfriend! we used to do everything together!

[@JollySummer]

This is beautiful, well done friend!!! 🖤🤍👏 I want to ask of you if it’s alright that in sometime in the future, I use your cover as background music for a video. I’ll give full credit and props to you but if that’s not the cup of tea then it’s alright! You have my full understanding :) Furthermore just goes to show how much I adore this overall, keep shining!

[@RetroPianist]

Hello! I'm so glad you enjoyed my video. Yes, you have my full permission to use my piano cover in your video :) Thank you for asking and good luck with your channel!

[@JollySummer]

Thank you! ❤️