Famous Piano Songs On Your Bucket List to Learn

[Everett A]

I love learning new songs. It is transcendent to be able to play a song you've heard all your life, and now your own fingers are actually making it happen. Thanks to Jonny! I hope he can add more song tutorials like his Cruella de Ville lesson. That was AMAZING and so much fun!

So....if you had a PWJ Golden Ticket and could ask Jonny to apply is incredible talents to teaching us a famous song that prominently featured the piano, what would it be?

Here is my list of favorites. I want to learn and play every one of them! 🙂  Who knows, perhaps some of these piano masterpieces are already here in the Library I and just haven't found them yet. It would make a great new section. "PIANO MASTERPIECES  YOU CAN LEARN"

MY FAVORITE SONGS THAT FEATURE THE PIANO
1.) The Piano Man - Billy Joel
2.) The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby
3.) Linus and Lucy - Vince Guaraldi
4.) Let It Be - The Beatles
5.) Tiny Dancer - Sir Elton John ...or "Your Song"...or both. Come on, Elton is pure magic on the ivories! 🙂 
6.) Prelude in C - J.S. Bach
7.) Fur Elise - Beethoven
8.) Clocks - Coldplay (Jonny gets close to this one in the A Minor Lessons! 😉
9.) 1000 Miles - Vanessa Carlton 
10.)  Open Arms - Jonathan Cain (Journey)

There are so many wonderful choices. What are yours? 

[Sandra]

Heya!

Interesting question, @Everett A ! And not easy to decide, if there's only one song to be picked.

I think I would spend my Golden Ticket for the epic piano played by Kenny Kirkland on the almost 12 minutes long track "Bring on the Night / When the World is Running Down" from Sting's 1986 Paris Live Album:

 

There exist a couple of great covers of this song's piano solo on Youtube, and also I have found a midi at an italian midi shop, which includes the solo as well as the comping at an at least acceptable quality. Anyway, I'd be quite interested in the harmonic and even more in the rhythmic concepts of the whole piano performance.

And in addition, I'd like to ask Jonny, if this song has piano-wise something (and in case: what) in common with my four other piano favourites (4 piano-heavy Rap songs that also include great comping and great piano solos and can be found in the "About Me"-section of my profile, if anyone's interested in outstanding Hip Hop Piano examples). I'm just wondering if there's any pattern in common of my piano favs.

In regard to your suggestions:
If you like Bruce Hornsby's "The Way it is", then you'll probably also find interesting Ten Sharp's "You" as well as Joshua Kadison's two songs "Jessy" and "Picture Postcards from L.A." - I remember these four songs as the most prominent piano pop songs of the 80s. I'm not a big fan of Coldplay - with exception of "Clocks"; anyway I like even more the cuban version:

 

 

I'm also curious what other PWJ members would use their "Golden Ticket" for 🙂 

 

 

[Wayne S]

Here is one I would like to be able to do well.  Very moody and need to sing with it.

Finneas: Break My Heart again.

 

[Fabyien]

On 1/31/2021 at 9:00 PM, Sandra said:

Ten Sharp's "You"

Hey ! This is one of the song that made me begin to learn the piano in the 90's :-) 

[Violaine L]

Hi !

I would like to play "On the Sunny Side of the Street". Sure Jonny could write a great stride arrangement for this tune.  I'm trying to come up with something using After You've Gone method, but the result is not very convincing.

 

[Thomas J]

11 minutes ago, Violaine L said:

Hi !

I would like to play "On the Sunny Side of the Street". Sure Jonny could write a great stride arrangement for this tune.  I'm trying to come up with something using After You've Gone method, but the result is not very convincing.

 

I am wanting to play "After Your Gone" too.  I'm working on the fundamentals lessons now and not ready for all of those chords. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" looks easier. The chords in the key of G are ; G , D, C, and A.  My Dad would have played it as a straight triad stride . .  Try googling; "On the  sunny side of the street chords".