Added: 4 years ago
From: pianojohn113
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  • I made a youtube account just to ask for a tutorial for this video. Best I've ever seen. Keep up the great videos and fantastic tutorials! Please post a tutorial for this videoooooooo!!!!!!

  • AMAZINGG (as usual) it would mean sooooooooo much if you made a tutorial video for this. probably the most impressive song you could play (next to BoRhap)

  • Unbelievable.

  • WOW!!! That's all I have to say.. that was amazing... super talented... one of my favorite songs ever, and you not only played it, but did it respectfully perfect.... no new twists or " re-mixes"... amazing.. great job! Aloha!!!

  • @joeyvegas0978 Thanks, joeyvegas, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate the comment.

  • Tutorial...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!

  • you've taught me alot through your tutorials. you're awesome. i need to find a tutorial for this song somewhere

  • @Saxboyy92 I'm still contemplating doing a tutorial for this, just don't know that I can do one that's easy to follow.

  • @pianojohn113 I'm sure even if it wasn't as easy to follow as your others, you would still teach alot of other people. Keep up all your awesome work :D

  • Mate that's a brilliant rendition and your piano playing is excellent. Thanks for the tip on the sheet music. You've made want to teach myself it now. Will take me a year I reckon but will be worth it - Stay well

  • @hawksnut I appreciate the comment, hawksnut, thanks. :-)

  • first class man ,loved it.

  • @pianojohn113 I am literally dying looking for difficult sheet music for this. Ive been playing for over 10 years but I'm not good at figuring out songs by ear, do you know of ANY way I can get sheet music with this difficulty?!

  • @Jilly0772 Yes - check out the Billy Joel Keyboard Book, published by Hal Leonard. I've seen the transcription a couple of times, and from what I could tell, it was the most accurate version I'd seen.

  • wonderful! always wished i could play piano !!

  • beautiful! (-:

  • I'm so glad you sang in this!! You're a terrific piano player and a great singer.

  • good video...really would love to see a tutorial for this. i know the intro but i would like to learn the proper chords for the vocals as i cant get sheet music for this version :(

  • do you have a tutorial of this one?

  • @stevelandmorris No tutorial yet, need to figure out how to teach it first!

  • @pianojohn113 I know you will figure out, you're very good teaching!

  • @pianojohn113 Have you considered dividing each section up into its own tutorial? I imagine that each part has to be taught as its own song. I'm dying to learn how to play this one.

  • @aquaboi5 Yes, I think that's the only way to really teach or learn this one. The fast parts and improvisations are the most difficult to convey on a video.

  • This is awesome! How would compare its difficulty to Root Beer Rag?

  • @raindrops2rainbows Glad you liked it, thanks. This one's probably more difficult because of the different styles involved in playing each part.  RBR also has its challenges, but once you get one section of it, you can figure out the rest.

  • You sir, are a magician

  • Could you attempt Root Beer Rag? I just wanna see it done without editing and speeding up. I wanna know if it is humanly possible, or if only a god like Joel can do it.

  • @BlackDeath17123 Root Beer Rag is a fun song to play, but a tad difficult.. I was never satisfied with the way I played it,and it's been several years since I last tried it.

  • @alright, I appreciate the quick reply. Root Beer Rag does look difficult. From what I've heard, it is finger stamina more than speed. I struggle with getting songs to sound right on the piano, of course I'm self-taught.

  • Dude, I don't know if you still use this account (this video is quite old, after all), but can you possibly tell me which scale the solo at 4:27 is based on? Pentatonic, weird jazz scale or otherwise? I realise that there are accidentals throughout but if you could give me a ballpark to wing it in I would be forever in your debt. P.S awesome covers/tutorials, you helped me learn a few Billy Joel songs.

  • @whynotgocheckitout It's really just a standard G chord, using notes from the pentatonic and blues scales. The major chords in the solo (G, D, and C) include both the third and flatted third (minor third) played together, giving it the bluesy sound. It's based on these chords, in this order: G, D, G, G7/B, C, G, D, G, C, G, F, E. After the E it just continues in the same manner as each verse (atually the enitre solo mirrors the chords in the verses).

  • @pianojohn113 Thanks, that info will be very handy indeed.

  • Hi, I'm currently learning the piano solo for this song. I'm stuck on the 3rd "slide down" as I call them. I was just wondering, what the hardest "slide down" was for you?

  • @IntaLSM Are you referring to the first solo or the second solo?

  • @pianojohn113 The first one, with the bouncing G to D octaves (aroung 2:45 seconds in recorded soug). For the right hand, what was the hardest moving down motion out of all 5?

  • @IntaLSM they each had their own challenges, but the third one has a strange rhythm to it that the others don't have, at least on the original recording.

  • love this video...watched it several times. Pianojohn113, can u please tell me what key your instrumental solo is in (what notes you use) over the "Brenda and Eddie" part? Thank You!

  • @camfuhr Glad you liked it, thanks. The Brenda and Eddie solo is in the key of G, which is interesting, I think, because the song starts in F, and ends in C.

  • Tutorial PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • YOU SHOULD DO A TUTORIAL OF THIS!! D8 <3 PLEASE!!

  • you're awesomeeee!!! i wish i could play like that!!!!

  • Comment removed

  • everyone wants a tutorial. PLEASE POST ONE. YOU'RE AMAZING.

  • Awesome!!

    It´s a difficult song to me :(

  • i honestly hope u make a tutorial

    i've been dying to learn this on the piano

  • I know that its hard, but could you do a tutorial of this song PLEASE??

  • @pianojohn113 Is it the combonation of the right and left hand that is hard or just the right hand that is hard. If it's just the right hand, then why don't you show how to do the left hand (even I know how to play that), then do the right hand, like you did with Piano Man. I can only find one other place to find how to play this and it costs money to get a membership which is needed to see the videos, You Tube is free. :)

  • @coast4airtime1 It's really both the right and left hand, but mostly the right. Combining the two on the "fast" parts is what's tricky to teach.

  • @pianojohn113 It seems like that would be hard. That's why I suggested you do what you did with Piano Man and did each hand seperate. Then at the end do it at real speed to show what it would sound like. Don't teach it slowly with both hands together, that seems impossible to do. And because there is no specific 'time' to press the keys, people would only have to practice it.

  • @coast4airtime1 That might work, I'll keep your suggestion in mind!

  • Your improvisation is truly wonderful. I want a tutorial too!

  • PLEASE!! TUTORIAL!! THe piano solo is AWESOME

  • Please do a tutorial!!!!!!!!!!!! :D The piano tutorial is AWESOME!!

  • PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE A TUTORIAL!!!!!!!!! this is one of billy's best songs in my opinion. you joust have to man. i cant find any other tutorial of this song anywhere. please. we all are begging you!!!!

  • Wow, thats SO GOOD! especially the piano solo, thats crazy!

    You should definatly do a tutorial (if not for the whole song, than definalty the piano solo), you have a lot of requests for it, and im sure you would do a great job, based upon your other tutorials and just the way you played this song! Thanks so much! ;)

  • @clayrox117 Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-)

  • Hi Pianojohn. I don't know if you remember me, but I used to upload piano videos on Youtube, one of which was a rendition of this song. I'm playing this for the concert and while I have everything pretty much down pat, it is the part at beginning at 2:50 that seems to always get me...especially with the workload that is suddenly put on the right hand. Is it possible that you could post a video to show how you manage to play that part? It seemed that you were playing in chords as you went down

  • Hi John. Simply too good not to share. What about a tutorial????

  • @jaywray1 Always a possibility..

  • it would probably be easy for a tutorial to just separate it into parts. so you dont have to teach it all at once

  • Yep John, I'm a fan. Hell, I've been trying to play that first piano solo part for too damn long. You know, the octaves in the L hand and runs in the right. I hate to say how long I've been working on it, so I won't. Good job. One question. Why not mic your voice?

    It's a challanging piece to sing. A mic would just lighten the load.

  • @Loejyrrab Glad you liked it, thanks. I had a mic at the time, but decided against it, knowing my voice would not carry the tune very well. The older songs are just too hard to sing anymore.

  • Outstanding -- you are awesome! Thanks!

  • Thanks for the help, John! Sounds a lot better when I play it!

  • John, I was wondering what kind of template you've created for the Brenda and Eddie section accompaniment...or is it straight out of the "...Keyboard" songbook?

  • @vincentc010 I use an octave-based LH, going from three below Middle C to one below and back.. it's really my own arrangement of what I'm hearing on the recording.. I'm not sure how the Keyboard Book transcribed it, but I would imagine the LH is quite a bit different from the one I played here. I'd be interested to see it, though, as those transcriptions are quite good, from what I've seen.

  • @pianojohn113 [ Thank you for this version.. I have looked for it for YEARS.. I have played many of Billy's songs as written in the sheet music.. but this is exactly what I was looking for.. Thanks for the tip... I am so eager to try it... You are quite talented and have a fan in me :)

  • @Gamemastor427 Glad it helped you out!  Have fun with it!

  • @pianojohn113 For Brenda and Eddie, this is the one thing where The Keyboard Book makes almost no sense. It's practical, but the notes lack flavor: G octaves on LH, GBD on RH. I'd be interested to know how you do the RH, because yours works better.

  • @vincentc010 One tip - [Right after the lyric "waving goodbye] - On the G octave in the bass, I play the full G-B-D-G. When the LH goes down to F octaves, the RH should play G-F-G (where the "F-G" are the higher notes), and not an F-A-C chord, as I've seen it written. It's really an F/G7 there. When the LH then goes to E, I play E-G-C-E in the RH, then the standard D chord when the LH goes down to D.  Hard to explain, but maybe that helps a little? I think it sounds better that way.

  • It's exactly right. Well played!

    Thanks I´m enjoying your songs.

  • @doesr100 Glad you enjoyed it thanks!

  • hi, i was wonder after the f octave and you play the AFC chord do you play the g then f naturals or some chords because ive sceen it a lot of different ways and your sounds the best thanks

  • @delly659 Are you referring to othe Brenda and Eddie part?

  • @pianojohn113 no. the very beginning,

  • @delly659 I start with C-F-A after the F octave, then the next two are Bb-G and A-F, then back to C-F-A. That's the very beginning, the first three notes of the song.

  • @pianojohn113 ok thanks, we have very similar taste in music I love The Beatles, Elton John, and Billy Joel, keep the videos coming, and sorry to hear about the whole Elton John Tiny Dancer thing, anyway good job :)

  • That was pretty good! Which songbook did you get this version out of? the one I have now decided to take out the solo :(

  • @CanadianBacon756 I think a lot of sheets remove the solo for some reason. I don't have a transcription, but if you check the Billy Joel Keyboard Book, I know it's in there.

  • i cant see it in the video what make is your piano the action is beautiful

  • almost

    better than the man himself

  • wow! that was great! I think a lot of people would be happy if you were the first to post this as a tutorial though haha. Keep it up!

  • perferct

  • wow only a genius could come up with this piano work. Your amazing for imitating it. congrats.

  • Can you PLEASE do a tutorial for this video? This is definitely my favorite Billy Joel song and i really hope to play it with my band eventually. The piano solo is amazing and i really want to learn it.

    PLEASE!!!!!!!

  • Sounds great,man!. Congrats, it is one of my BJs favorites.

  • BRAVO!

  • this is one of my favorite billy joel.......no this is one of my favorite songs and that solo is awesome, i was wondering if you could do a tutorial for this song if not just the solo i would really appreciate it

    THANKS you rock :D

  • Excellent job.

  • Amazing piano work as always + dynamite voice, did this classic justice :D

    Have you ever thought about getting a mic for your voice or some sort of better sound recording equipment? and also do you like any classical piano music?

  • @dreat1950 Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. The recording equipment I used for this one was quite old, and I have a little bit better stuff now. Classical - yes, I do enjoy listening to it, although I don't play it nearly as much as I used to. I own several Mozart piano concertos, a few of which I play portions of. They're great exercises for pop music too. :-)

  • Amazing. I appreciate all you do John. Thanks!

  • you're the man! please do a tutorial!

  • dude dont sing

  • I'm Japanese. This movie is so GOOD! I want to play this music! I want to watch tutorial video!! Please tutorial video!!

  • @decentlove07190212 It's possible I'll do a tutorial, not sure yet.

  • can you please give me the sheet music to this song!!! PLEASE!!! i really really want to learn it! =D please!

  • @HowToDanceForFree I don't have the sheets for this song, but I think it's available in the Billy Joel Complete songbook, either Volume 1 or volume 2.

  • @pianojohn113 thank you =) ill look into it, it sounds great by the way, very entertaining

  • GREAT job with that song John. There is just something about watching an accomplished pianist doing justice to a song. I guess thats what keeps the rest of us going. And to be able to watch was a treat.

  • @Mr89thkey  Hey, thanks so much for the nice words, I appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed the performance.

  • Yes! Please do make a tutorial! I can not find one anywhere!

  • would love a tutorial on this! truly amazing!

  • Hello! john how are ya?

    First of all..Thank you once again for all of your videos. they have helped me so much thank you.

    wonder is there any way that u can make a tutorial of this song anytime soon?

    Take care john

  • @DKlassicsG I'd love to make a tutorial on this song, since so many people have asked for it. It would be a very large undertaking, though, with so many different chords, tempos, ad-libs, etc. I just haven't found an easy way to teach it yet. If I do, I'll be sure to post something up. Glad you like the vids, thanks!

  • you play piano beautifully. You do this song justice. my goal is to play this well.

    do you have the sheet music for this song? could you possibly make a tutorial?

  • @emmillyyX6 Glad you liked it, Emily, thanks. The tutorial for this one would be a very big project, but it could happen at some point. :-)

  • you HAVE to make a tutoriallll =] pleaase

  • @pianojohn113 the version i have is from The Billy Joel Keyboard Book nut i don't know if that's the original

  • Hey, is the audio here super-muffled for anybody else? I can barely hear it. (Only for this particular video.) I love this though. Excellent work, pianojohn113.

  • @triptikboy Thanks! This was one of my older mono recordings, sorry about that... check your master sound level on your computer and make sure the balance tab is in the middle. That should give you the sound.

  • @pianojohn113, you are right. I found the balance control on my screen and that took care of it. I just watched the video again and enjoyed it even more. Thanks!

  • awesomw dude, i am sitting here at my piano thinking about givign it up...lol great job, maby a month, I can just get the chords down,,, then I will think about the fill.

  • where did you get the sheet music

  • For the whole brenda and eddie part what are you doing in the bass??

    And what scale are you using for the second piano solo? it sounds sick, were you improvising?

  • @Rooneyizzle Thanks! On the Brenda and Eddie part, I'm mostly playing a "double octave" bass, going low note to high note, then down one octave and repeating. For the others, it's just a single octave repeat. On the solo, I was half improvising, and half trying to imitate Billy Joel's concert solos. The chords are the same, but playing an exact duplicate can be a challenge...

  • @pianojohn113 Maybe if you couldnt do a tutorial, you could just do a simple breakdown. Since so much of it repeats, such as the intro being the structure for the first part. and the New Orleans segment being mostly repeating chords.

  • This is so impressive!! Great job!

  • Are you ever gonna do a tutorial for this one? It would be awesome. :P P.S. Thank you for the tutorials you've already made, you are by far the best teacher on YouTube. :)

  • Hey nice job I'm gonna learn this song soon. Any tips on how to approach it/make it easier as it is a tough song

  • @apppjunkie Just take it slowly, one section at a time. Don't rush the quick parts too much, as there is a temptation to do that. Be patient, and you will get it!

  • @apppjunkie If i may. search for the midi file online. Theres one thats all piano, and it sucks. Then theres one that a full orchestration. Its pretty good. It sounds a little robotic, but its good. and you can get sheet music from it if you know the tricks.

  • Do you have sheet music for this?

  • @ZigZag1400 No, but I do believe it's available in a couple of Billy Joel songbooks.. you just have to look around to find the right one. The Billy Joel Keyboard Book might have it.

  • @pianojohn113

    yes, it does

  • TUTORIAL. PLEASE.

  • <<open-mouthed and goggle-eyed! this is AMAZING! people, this is Billy Joel! haha.. Very beautiful arrangement! Salute!

  • @ElephantALBUM It's kind of my own arrangement, although I tried to be as true to the original piano part as possible.

  • Thank you for all of these videos/tutorials! seriously they help out so much! You da Man

  • @kstatefan56 Thanks. :-)

  • Dude, incredible! Please do a tutorial... i understand its hard to teach... but i just have to play this. The stranger is one of the best albums on the planet.

  • @Robethius Great song on a great album. I'm guessing that I'll be able to post at least the intro and part of the middle section at some point.. The solos and the fast part are a different story!

  • This is about as perfect as you can get! You had me singing along! Haha =D

  • @Steveo2395 Glad you liked it. :-)

  • can you put a tutorial on how to learn this please?

  • @dski42 I might post one eventually.. see my comment to murkan14 below...

  • I've been a big fan of your videos, and they have come to be of great use to me with learning. Do you have a "How to" with the piano solo from Scenes From an Italian Restaurant"? The part where it starts on continuously hitting the "G" octave is what I'm looking for. Thank you so much.

  • @murkan14 I don't have a tutorial on any part of this song yet, but may eventually post one. It's a challenge to teach this on a video with all of the various moving parts!

  • This is awesome John ! your voice sounds good too ! Nice

  • @aleccmusic Thanks very much! :-)

  • tutorial. we need it.

  • @WomanAmerican I may do one.. just gotta figure out how to teach it!

  • i've been racking my brain to learn this damnable peice. So freekin difficult and you just rattled it off. Good playing man. The vocals, well, you're a fine player anyway.

    Congrats!!!

  • @joelweisberg Thanks! It's one of his harder pieces to play, but satisfying once you get it down. Gotta sing this song, though, it sounds empty without any vocals. :-)

  • wow. you are my hero. ive wanted to learn this song for the longest time, and you just showed me that its possible. honestly, a tutoial would be amazing, but i would understand if it was too long....

    amazing job though, very talented...

  • @22manofthehour Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! This took a while to learn, but it was worth the effort. A tutorial would be difficult to do, but I haven't ruled it out.. maybe at least the intro.

  • That's amazing. A tutorial would be intensely appreciated. I know it would be tediously long for you - but I'd be forever thankful!

  • @IXIScarecrowIXI I keep saying I'll do a tutorial for it, but haven't gotten around to it yet.. maybe it's time! :-)

  • Incredible!!! This is probably my favorite Billy Joel song and you nailed it. How long did it take you to learn? I'm tryin to learn the piano, seems like such a fun instrument. Amazing job once again

  • @Mastas999 Thanks, glad you liked it. It's my favorite Billy Joel song to play on the piano. I don't remember how long it took to learn it, but I'm always sort of refining it and changing a few things, so I guess I'm still "learning" it all the time. :-)

  • I just got a Billy Joel piano book from Amazon, and this is in it, so if you do make a tutorial video, I should be able to follow along more! The solo is crazy though!

  • @Steveo2395 Yeah, the solo is nuts.. but fun!

  • Awesome job!!

  • @jingles373 Thanks very much!

  • Can you please please please please PLEASE (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) do a tutorial for this video? I really want to learn it, especially the piano solo, becuase that may be my favorite piano part in all of his songs! And the transitions are amazing!

  • Yes, it's a tough on to teach, this one.. I'm still thinking about doing a tutorial on it, though. :-)

  • I like how you respond to almost all of your comments! It's very professional :D

  • 2:54...

    bloody hell...

    you amaze me yet again john =]

  • That ROCKS!!! I'm a huge fan of Billy Joels music

    and this cover is great!

  • favorite song!!!!!!!! and for all out there who want the sheet music go to amazon and purchase the billy joel keyboard book. it has note-for-note keyboard transcriptions. it was written by billy joel and it is what he plays in concerts and stuff. i got it and i am half way in the song. the book also has a ton of his other songs

  • nice job!

    huge Billy Joel fan, one of my favorites!!

  • Dear John,

    Question for you:

    What's your favourite song of Billy Joel?

    Thanks for your amazing tutorials and other upoads!

  • It's hard for me to place one song as my favorite, but this one is certainly in the top 3.. it might be the Beatles influence that intrigues me about this one, I don't know.

  • Hi! First just to say your videos are class, working my way (more gradually than I would like!) through the tutorials...just wondering if there's a tutorial on this song? I'm almost certain you had one up not so long ago but maybe I'm making that up...alas if there was, I can't find it now!!

    Many thanks! Happy New Year!!

  • Thanks, richiet14, glad you like the videos. I don't have a tutorial for this one yet, but if I can figure out a way to do one without it extending into 15 different parts, I'll post one up.. Happy new year to you, too!

  • damn.... great job!! 5*

  • Thanks very much!

  • Nearly a perfect rendition of one of the greatest Billy Joel songs ever. I know for a fact that those crazy 8th note octaves in the verses take a lot of wrist muscles. Great job!

  • Thanks, TimthePianoMan1, I appreciate the comment. The wrist muscles do get a workout, you're right! :-)

  • awesome man! I love this song....

  • Thanks, I love this song too.. Fun to play!

  • did you buy the sheet music for this or just fill the blanks from the chords?

  • Mostly filled in the blanks.. I play more of a stride piano style on this one.

  • I wish they made sheet music of this song as well as you play it. All I can find are cheap sheets where you only play simple chords. :(

    You don't happen to write sheet music do you? xD

  • Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I haven't found any good sheets of this song myself, either. I don't write sheet music, no, but I'm told there is a good version of it in the Billy Joel Complete book, Volume 1 (I think.. maybe Volume 2?). You might check that one out. The other book that might have it is the Billy Joel Keyboard Book, by Hal Leonard Publishing. I don't remember if this song is in there, but it's worth checking.

  • Ok, I've seen the Volumes on Amazon but I wasn't sure how well they'd be written.

  • Wow thats excellent!!!!! I love the piano playing all the various instrument's solos!!!! excelent!!!!

  • LOVE THE SONG! Will there be a tutorial for it!?

  • this is excellent. how long did it take u to perfect?