Added: 4 years ago
From: pianojohn113
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  • Hey, John. I love this song, and lots of other Geuraldi tunes as well. What do you think of George Winston's tribute to Vince, Linus and Lucy. I think his version of "Monterey" is killer!

  • @Multi80schick "Monterey" is wonderful - some beautiful chords in there, and he captures VG's style perfectly. I haven't heard that one in years, gotta listen now!

  • Thanks for an interesting, helpful chord-grounded demo. Best wishes.

  • @1954MSH You're very welcome. Enjoy!

  • OMG IT'S YOU!!!!!!! HAHA!! Mah favourite piano teacher! I was totally looking up how to play this and then saw that you taught it and I was like OH MY GOD. So yes! Ummm thank you!!!

  • @BeatlesFanCharsh Have fun with it!

  • this is so helpful. thank you so much and happy holidays.

  • This helped me a ton! Thank you!!!

  • where can i get the chords for this? this is absolutely terrific!

  • @KHANHcept I've seen the chords written in different places, and I think musicnotes might have a copy of the actual song that you can download.

  • Excellent!!! Thank You for breaking down the chord structure!!! I nailed this in like 20 minutes!! Now I'm ready for this weekend's Christmas party gigs!

    You're A Good Man, pianojohn113! :)

  • @elsongs lol, thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Have fun with it!

  • Every time he says "if you don't know chords" I feel inadequate

  • nice tutorial again...gonna try this one..thanks john

  • @taskmaster83  Have fun with it!

  • Thanks, this is a great tutorial. I thought I had figured out most of this by ear, but it turned out I was off on a few chords and this tutorial helped me get on track. I am glad you taught how to play the whole song (and not just the refrain), but you might want to consider teaching the intro. too - the one that alternates something like Fmaj7+9/C and Bb dim + A+C.

    Definitely some complex chords in this piece. Again, great job.

  • @sandm1982 Glad you liked this one, thanks. I've been meaning to re-do it with the rest of the song for a few years now, as I'd like to get a better camera angle than the one I had here. Complex chords, for sure!

  • Do you have any sheet music for this song, of the chords? I'm planning on playing this for my Christmas Recital, and it's helpful to have sheet music. Thanks!

  • @quarrybird1964 I don't, but I may re-do this one with a better camera angle to make it easier.

  • @pianojohn113 That would be super helpful! Thanks!

  • Sir, you are my Favorite Person of The Day. I'm already improvising all over this song and having an absolute blast!

  • @PoorOldRisingSun  Fantastic, that's the way it should be - have fun and keep improvising!

  • great job, thanks!!

  • @WaltTheWarrior You're very welcome. :-)

  • Thank you so much man! I'm getting it now! Thanks for making it easy to understand!

  • @WildSurrender Glad it helped you out!

  • excellent lesson, there are of course, many different ways to notate a chord,,, on the second chord,,, the way you play it , I would call it a b flat minor,add major 7,over an e flat in the left hand,,,,, i like to play a g with my right thumb, and get the b flat in the left hand, which i would call an e flat 9 add an augmented ( plus) 11,,, vince wrote some great songs,

  • @JazzKeyboardist1 You're right, there are a few different ways to describe what a chord is, probably no actual correct way in this case.

  • you teach it better than sucka ass santa

  • Can u repost with a different camera angle and possibly the chords listed??

    

  • @atorrey74 I keep meaning to do that each year, and never quite get around to it. Maybe this year?

  • will you add another tutorial of this song but with the chords listed and a different camera angle???

  • will you add another tutorial of this song but with the chords listed and a different camera angle???

  • Dude!!!!!!! This is the best tutorial on here for this song! Many thx.

  • @dtjesus101  Very glad you enjoyed it. :-)

  • Actually dude, those last two chords are a Db7#5 and a C9/13 :)

  • thumbs up if you can't stop tilting your head to straighten the piano when watching this tutorial.

  • Great tutorial, Thanks.

    Now i got the whole song. Most of the other tutorials only did the first part.

    Thanks again

  • Can someone explain how the constituent notes of "Eb 7 9 b5" are Eb, Bb, Db, F A?

    -Eb is the root,

    -Db I assume is the minor 7th as it is a dominant voice chord (correct me if I am wrong here),

    -F is the 9,

    -A is the b5,

    -but why Bb? isn't Bb a perfect 5th in relationship to Eb? why does it belong in the chord?

    Sorry, just a dumb guitar player :)

  • @petthemidget If you ignore the A (which is in the melody), you have Eb, Bb, Db, and F underneath. That gives you a root, perfect 5th, minor 7th, and a 9th. This gives you an Eb 7 9 chord (with no 3rd). The A is then an "extra" note which is a b5 above Eb. You could also write this chord as Eb 7 9 #11 so you don't think about having both a b5 and perfect 5th. With a lot of these types of chords, there's more than one way to notate and think about them.

  • @petthemidget The Db is not the minor 7th, it's the dominant in the key of Eb. The minor is achieved by flatting the third. The Bb is not required in this chord, but by playing it an octave lower, it provides nice dissonance to the b5 A above it. The same applies to many #9 chords, where the third is often played in the bass below the sharped 9th. austinpowell makes some nice points on it above as well.

  • @petthemidget Good question, but actually he technically played Eb 7/9 add b5 Which has a nice dissonance to it like the seven sharp nine chord :D  An easy way to visualize that chord is to play a eb then build a minor Major seven chord which is what (Bb Db F and A) is :)

  • Thank you so much!

    Is there a part 2 for this tutorial?

  • @allreminiscence Just this one part.. I really need to re-do it with the overhead camera.

  • Great video. If you could do one for Great Pumpkin Waltz it would be terrific!

  • Are you going to be able to post some more christmas song tutorials by this christmas? If so I request Carol of the Bells if that is possible:)

  • @elrais2 I sure hope so.. it's been a goal of mine for 3 years to do that.. there are so many fun holiday songs.

  • "E flat 7 9 flat5" hahaha what a rediculously long soudning chord!

  • @al3xb777  Yeah, and written out it looks even crazier. :-)

  • @al3xb777 Do the theory and its not too hard.

  • @TheBeatlesCom i dont know a bit about theory. i play fully by ear and i know alot of chords. =D

  • @al3xb777 You can memorize as many chords as you want. But til you learn how to do the theory on them and how to form chords by just looking at them. Example. C Chord is C E G right? Cmaj7 Add the 7th from 1st 3rd 5th C E G B Cmaj7 Cmaj9

    Add the 9th of the major scale. C E G B D. using C as an example cause its so easy. with no flats nor sharps. But learning theory as such would help you see Flat5's Sharp9's and such, and be able to just play the chord without even needing to memorize it.

  • Very good Tutorial!!!

    nice

    

  • @Noorenever Glad you liked it, thanks. :-)

  • @Noorenever  Can you make an toutorial for the title music form Charlie Brown??

    ??

    It would be very very great!!!

  • Please post the chords and their inversions...please

    Thanks

    Eddie

  • you play this so good but i just cant follow it i am trying really hard : (

  • @TheLongestMile This is a VERY early tutorial video, so it's a little harder to follow without the overhead camera. I should probably upload a new one. Sorry about that.

  • @pianojohn113 hey dont be sorry! i got the general tune down this video helped alot i just am a novice at piano that is all. by the way your video of juat playing it without the tutorial is very nice i love it

  • just to let you know, somehow you're recording it stereo when you're using a mono mic, so it's just recording into the left ear. you can fix this by making sure that whatever you're using to record has as an input only the channel that's got the sound (most often channel 1). msg me if you need any more help!

  • @lhalman  Yes, that happens with my older videos. The one-channel mic was not a issue a few years ago when You Tube was also mono, but when they went stereo it became a real problem. I tried converting the audio to digital but ran into phasing issues, so I just gave up on it. I haven't used that camera since '08, so all of the later vids sound just fine.

  • i am going to start learning this now and hopefully will eventually know it by xmas. thanks for sharing!

  • this is a TERRIBLE tutorial. can't see keys, instructions are fast and vague. TERRIBLE.

  • @manatopia If this song is too difficult for you to play or understand, try an easier one.

  • @manatopia Not only does he name the chords, but he even tells the name of each individual note. It doesn't exactly take a great deal of detective work

  • I watched another person perform the song and it was quite different... especially in the left hand. (and some right hand as well- less four finger chords) Is this a style choice on your part? Just trying to learn it the way it's played in the original version. Thanks... I appreciate your work here - it's always great.

  • @partsat99 Yes, it's my own interpretation of the song that I hear. It's not a note-for-note copy of the Vince Guaraldi original, but it's the way I play it. The chords are correct, just the arrangement might be a little different. Glad you liked it!

  • @pianojohn113  It's actually funny when I watch your videos that I've learnt off, and see how differently I play some songs. Like you said, it's all just personal style and arrangement.

  • @tobyrhino Yes it is, and I always encourage people to make their own arangements of songs.. makes it much more fun to play them.

  • Intelligent and usable posting for all of us who are not heavily into reading piano... very enjoyable.

  • Thank you. I appreciate alot. If you could, could you send me a message whenever you post it up. Can't wait.

  • wouldnt happen to just have the sheet music would ya?

  • Mary Christmas John, I just bought my 4 yr old a pro keyboard and this is the first song she wanted to learn. Your tutorial is great, we look forward to learning it.

    Thanks again

  • Thx. All your tutorials are easy to understand. It would be amazing if you knew The Christmas song and did a tutorial on that.

  • I'll try to do the Christmas song sometime before the holidays this year.

  • noob

  • You're such a blessing PianoJohn! Thank you so much. Your method here on YouTube is spot on. It allows those who don't know much about reading music, the spark needed to not only play this song but others as well, with a desire to get into the theory of music as well. Keep doing what you're doing. Merry Christmas!

  • Thanks very much, scarabY2k, I appreciate the kind words. Merry Christmas to you too!

  • thank you . your teach very well and thank for making it quite easy for me

  • Glad you liked it, renearona!

  • thanks for this tutorial.. its funny how even tho peanuts was a comic strip and kids cartoon, the music had some of the coolest piano ever. so whether they realize it or not, almost every kid has been exposed to jazz and enjoyed it. (at least those who watched charlie brown-who didn't?) love the chords with the 7ths, 9ths and flatted 5ths.

  • This is very true. It really added to the mood of the show, and to the comic strip itself, which always had sort of melancholy undertones to it. Amazingly, CBS originally didn't want to air the Christmas special because, among other reasons, they hated the jazz soundtrack!

  • Piano John, you're the Man! Merry Christmas buddy!

  • Thanks, Zozoworld, right back at ya. :-)

  • Why don't you just post a link to the sheet music? Do you have it? Cause I don't know about anyone else but I'd much rather teach it to myself by reading the notes than take so much time watching someone else do it and telling me what notes to play.

  • i don't have the sheet music, so I can't link to it. Any sheet music would be copyrighted anyway.

  • just wanted to add my thanks to the pile!

    I never thought I'd play this, thanks a bunch!

  • Very happy to do it for you.. Enjoy!

  • Yes please can you add the chords thank you!

  • I'll try to add them on the annotations.

  • GREAT JOB....THANKS!!!

  • You're very welcome!

  • it was kinda helpful, but to hard to follow since you go so fast and don't explain all the notes.

  • No overhead view on this one, sorry.

  • Not to be rude, but thats why they invented the pause button. And he did say quick tutorial. But I found it to be very detailed, I guess from a perspective of knowing piano to a degree.

  • Thank you for posting this. I am a guitarist, and I play a little piano. I have been wanting to learn this. It is very helpful. Thank you.

  • Glad it helped you!

  • I agree. This is a very helpful tutorial. I had been puzzling about how to play some of the chords to one of my very favorite Christmas songs. This is a godsend.

  • Extremely helpful, thank you for doing this

  • Thank you so much! I had most of it down by ear and it was mostly correct but this really helped me with those trouble spots! Now it sounds polished enough to play for Christmas!

  • Where can I find the right sheet music? all of the ones I find are easy and not like this one.

  • thanks for this, if u have the time when u post the chord progression could u just post roman numerals with figured bass? like I V/V7 iv65 etc?

  • Hey, could you post the chord progression here? Thanks

  • I have the chords posted on a separate video.. Check my channel or search the title with "pianojohn113" in the search field and it should come up.

  • Oh, wait, correction... I don't have the detailed chord progression video anymore.. I took it down by mistake several months ago and do not have the original file anymore. If I re-do it I'll let you know!

  • Sorry to hear you lost the orriginal.

    If you're able, you could just post them up as text into this video's sidebar.

    Cheers. Your vids are the best. Thanks for making me take up piano again.

  • I love Vince Guaraldi. Thank you so much.

  • Hey very nice tutorial but where is Linus and Lucy? Post that if you can too thanks!

  • can you post the main charlie brown theme song?

  • Great Job!!! :)

  • Very Interesting. . .I'll need you to help me out greatly. I have piano theory, but it's really just theory that I picked up over the years. I know some of my chord names aren't always accurate.  However, this is an excellent tutorial. You are amazing.

  • Dude, they're not that big.

    The reflection is giving the illusory impression that they keys are bigger.

  • wow this was so great!

    are you a piano teacher? you'd do really great at it.

    this should be the reason youtube exists

  • Thank you for sharing this! It's really nice to now know how to play this piece. It's that kind of music that probably would have been too hard to figure out by ear, since the chords are fairly jazzy and complex.

    Again, nice tutorial.

    "Lights and display contest?! Oh good grief, even my dog has gone commercial!" ;-)

  • Yeah, if you could just post the chords I could go from there.

    Also, yes, if you can possibly do "Skating" that would also be great.

  • Could you possibly show us how to play Guaraldi's "Skating"?

    I agree with "workfromhomemom" (below), you make youtube great, man.

  • I've watched a few of your video's I think it's great that you do this. Thanks so much

  • Love this guy.

  • Thanks for the lesson. It was really helpful.

  • You make youtube great. thank you for sharing

  • Just came across your video today! Outstanding! Nicely done! Thanks for sharing.

  • thank you so much! You are a great teacher. I wish I could take lessons from you! I've played since kindergarden but need some refreshers! YOU are amazing. Do you play by ear?

  • Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I do play by ear, mostly, but I use sheets on occasion if they look like they're properly notated.

  • Thank you so much!  My mom will love it when I play this.

  • Great! Enjoy. :-)

  • Your God sent PJ..what age did you sent playing?

  • I would pay for these lessons in piano. I hope you know this sir. You are a great asset to the music community!

  • Totally agree! This really helped me a lot.

  • hi, i loved this tutorial... do you know how to play the little drummer boy it's a cristmas carol and i would love to know hot to play i... please if you know it upload it to the youtube..

  • Oh my god thank you sooooo much for posting this! My grandmother will loove when I play this for her today!

  • thanks for posting this. ireally love this song. i'm a bass player that is trying to learn piano. what are some good books and videos i should get. i understand the basic make up of chords and modes tha goes with the chord and i can play them on bass but i cant bring it to the piano so please help me out

  • insanely good! thanks i cant read sheet music so this was a HUDGE help!

    merry christmas to you and yours

  • I know you probably figured out the chords for this song by yourself, but do u know a book with this song and others from Charlie Brown Christmas that's in the original difficulty level? They all seem to be in "Easy Piano", and its driving me nuts! LOL I won't need a book for this song though, you teach it great!

  • Wow... you've made this so great to learn....thanks for sharing your knowlegde.... Have a wonderful Christmas....thanks again...

  • You a are great teacher! I have no idea how to play the piano but can now play three songs thanks to your videos!

  • hey man, can i get a copy of the chords for this song? thanks

  • u think u can put up a video and tutorial for Guaraldi's version of Oh Christmas Tree?

    and u have no idea how much this turns me on.

    no homo or anything.

  • crap i was listening to love lockdown loud then i clicked here and it was like YELLING! lol I almost wet my pants.

  • that was me yelling i'm your next door neighbor and sick of love lockdown!!

  • Ur an excellent teacher!!

  • LOVE IT!! Wish I could play it!

  • I learned this song in an hour, thanks to you. I've been wanting to play it for as long as I've played the piano. DUDE YOU ROCK HARD!!!

  • Great Vid Sir! I learned this song in 2004 and couldn't remember the chords.  Thanks for the reminder.

  • hey awesome video! seriously, well explained! Im surprised that there isnt like 10000000 views! its way better than the other vids... and who doesnt like this song? thanks...

  • Thanks VERY much for this. I know you're knee deep in requests, BUT - a tutorial similar to this for "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" would be a dream come true for me. The slower (easier) George Winston version should be relatively easy to teach. Thanks so much!!!!

  • Great really great it stinks I don't know chords would have made this a lot easier (I was forced to memorize the order of the chords notes instead of just their names)

  • Nice....learned in 30 minutes a song I've wanted to play for years. Got any Girl from Ipanema in the works? Thanks much

  • Glad it was helpful!

    Girl from Ipanema.. I used to play that in the dinner music circuit, hadn't thought of doing a tutorial on it.. I may do that!

  • thank's for some great videos..

  • You're very welcome!  :-)

  • can you do the charlie brown theme?

  • I might do that one soon, thanks for the suggestion!

  • I just saw your interpretation of some beatles songs. Thats the view I meant. And the yellow chord names were very neat too! It is much easier too follow this way....

    Anyway, thank you very much, because now i'll be able to learn some tunes without sheet (that I cannot read anyway)

  • No problem! :-)

  • great. i'll try to learn this one soon. Thank you very much!

    Could I ask you if it were possible to consider taking a differnt camera angle (fronntal view on the keys perhaps) so it would be easier to simply follow your hands -for all those who have limited musical education^^ or are jus a lil bit lazy..

  • Yes, the overhead camera was not working at that time, so I apologize for the bad angle. It was fixed for later videos, though!

  • Good tutorial indeed, except that the Db chord near the end is a Db9#5, then into the chord that I prefer as you do, C13.

  • Yes, you are correct.. I mis-labeled that chord, as well as the C13. I did this one quickly!

  • great help thanx - Is that true that he wrote this song trying to emulate bill evans?

  • That may be true, I've heard that from a couple of people. He was influenced by Bill Evans and Jimmy Yancey and credits them with his musical development, along with Albert Ammons.

  • This song will make great light background music at my Christmas party, I can probably fill up ~8 minutes with a little improv. Thanks so much for the chords, the video was a HUGE help.

  • You're very welcome.. this song always adds to the musical flavor of a Christmas program.. Most everyone knows it's a Charlie Brown song, too!

  • Dude, you're the bomb. Thanks so much for this great instruction on such a soulful tune. You made my night.

  • Glad to do it! Thanks for the comment.

  • Thanks for this one. Good grief, Charlie Brown,I have been working my way through Billy and Elton but found this just in time for the holiday season. What a great tutorial, as usual.

    All the best for a Merry Christmas, John.

    Bob

  • Thanks Bob, always nice to have you here.

    Merry Christmas to you!

  • John, your playing is soulful and your demeanor is kindly and patient, like a great teacher! Guaraldi was a gem - thanks for carrying his torch with these vids.

  • Glad to do it Danjugle, thanks for the nice comment!

  • you should do more good instuctions

  • More coming up, stay tuned... :-)

  • you're awsome dude! do you know pink floyd's great gig in the sky? off of dark side of the moon....

    thanks for this post it is great!

  • that eb7/9 b5 is a killer stretch. I haven't played piano for a while but am trying to get back into it, and your videos are great, very helpful. Thanks a lot!