Billy Joel - How to play "Vienna" intro and ending "sting"

[Soogarbuns]

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm playing Vienna for my school's talent show in March and these were a really big help. :D

[pianojohn113]

@Soogarbuns That's great, let me know how the talent show goes!

[jeddbowman]

Hi john great video (again) but I cant find the rest :-( I had it last night but thismorning its gone can you please help?

[pianojohn113]

@jeddbowman Yes - I've added a link to the other video at the beginning of this one.  Just start the vid and click on that link, and it should work.

[pianojohn113]

@Bumblelou7 Glad you enjoyed it!

[AGlvsyou1]

ooh,I REALLY WANT to play that song but i'm a dumbass and i can't :c

[Nek0KawaiiChan]

can you send me your note please ? :)

[pianojohn113]

@Nek0KawaiiChan I don't have the notes written out for this one, but if I ever get a transcript I'll let you know.

[Nek0KawaiiChan]

@pianojohn113 thank you :)

[filipinfrancis]

Can you explain the last part of the intro where it goes into the song again?

[pianojohn113]

@filipinfrancis Which part, specifically?

[filipinfrancis]

@pianojohn113 nvm, got it. I just didn't understand what a octave was, i'm just a beginner. Thanks, I just learned my first song. :)

[MrJonathanrfoster]

thanks wouldn't have learned it without you, can't wait to bust it out at the next party!

[pianojohn113]

@MrJonathanrfoster This is a great one to play at a party.. glad it helped you.  :-)

[wk19781]

I love this! Thank you so much. Within 30 minutes I had perfected it!

[gummybeargigglez]

Thanks this was really helpful!!

[1995mscastro]

can u do it slower /:

[polkadotshorts101]

Can someone tell me the first four notes please? He doesn't make it clear enough :/

[DrewEl2]

your tutorials are amazing....I hope you continue to post more upon requests !

[MarianitaVeronica]

thanks so much!! you're an awesome teacher!!

[fifa2011soundtracks]

this is the first part?

[pianojohn113]

@fifa2011soundtracks This is the intro and the part at the very end.

[bluesman354]

i cant get any audio on most of your song anymore?

[delly659]

hey anybody? what does it mean when there is a rest under or on top of a note

thanks! :D

[Darksonic1928]

@delly659 It means that you have to hold that note and extend your other fingers to play the other notes.

[coast4airtime1]

At 3:33 it's not a b-flat octave. Billy Joel plays it with a b-flat, d, and f.

[jadekkmika]

on the exact last one, what are you playing in the base clef ?

[pianojohn113]

@jadekkmika On the last chord of the song?

[jadekkmika]

@pianojohn113 oh sorry, i meant that last few notes in the intro, i couldn't figure it out, but i got it! your helped a lot! thanks!

[IHGWB]

2:29... so, G G# A

[sohighstudio]

is this vienna from the fray?

[pianojohn113]

@sohighstudio No, that's a different song.

[Laudilicious]

i whish i could read notes.

you're explaining so good and i hope i can learn it without notes, just from your hands.

[pianojohn113]

@Laudilicious Let me know if you have any questions on it, I'll help you out. :-)

[belustar]

thank u soooo much! u are awesome!1!

[Jakerinthebox]

I wish I knew how to play piano.

[MovieBumonTwitter]

Wow I have learned so many songs from you, a few more and I got a career as a Lounge Singer lol - Any chance of a Simon and Garfunkel Bridge over Trouble Water? .. Best Christmas Gift Ever :)

[pianojohn113]

Becoming a lounge singer is fine, just don't sound like Bill Murray's Nick Rails character! lol

I should have S&G's "Bridge" posted fairly soon.. it will be up here eventually.

[JARProductions100]

I love this song, and I'm playing this at my high school talent show coming up... Thanks so much for the tutorial! Now i can play AND sing :D Keep up the good work, I love the tutorials. (PS I'm also doing Hey Jude, learned that one from you too haha)

[pianojohn113]

That's great! Nice job on learning those songs!

[crikarika]

me too! choice haha

[llCP13ll]

Love your tutorials! Preferably, I'd prefer that you explain what to play with chords instead, but I guess you're doing what you're doing to help the laymen pianists. But thanks!

[krkostecki]

John,

Your tutorials are awesome. I love the piano but have somewhat large fingers and have a difficult time getting both fingers on the white keys between the black keys (e.g., 'B' and 'C'). What can a guy with large hands do? BTW, if I could play like you, I don't think I'd ever sleep.

[pianojohn113]

krkostecki - yes large hands can be a problem at times.. are you using a digital keyboard, or an acoustic piano? I've found the the newer keyboards have much thinner keys in order to make the entire unit smaller and portable. Usually the regular acoustic pianos have normal sized (larger) keys. If you're using a keyboard, you may think about switching to a piano, if that's possible..

[ilovecoldplay32094]

Wow you are so cool! I wish i was freaking piano ninja

[armagedon607]

Nice video but make sure you stay in the key that your in...at 40 seconds you say play the A flat..but it would really be the G sharp..probably meaning that you are playing in the key of A major( F, C, and G sharp)

[shortdogginc]

Thank you John! I tried to practice the left hand first as my rhythm, then tried the melody on the right hand after my left hand automatically knows where it's supposed to go. I had a hard time playing this part but nailed it after a couple hundred tries. Stranger is the best Billy Joel album for me by the way. Thanks a lot my dear friend!

[pianojohn113]

Very glad to do it for you! You practiced it correctly, good job!

[BernabeBushlap]

at about 2:40

when you do the roll G, Ab, A

are you playing anything in the left hand?

[pianojohn113]

No, just keep the pedal down and the Eb you played in the left hand will hold until after the roll. You don't need to play anything in the left there, though.

[ruskybalboa]

Hey John, ruskybalboa here. Great tutorial, can't wait to learn the main part.

P.S. nice watch!

[efagels]

thanks so much, im getting it, but its still really hard

[lilfryxobaby88]

i just staretd playing your vids really help. in a week i should be able to play this song completely thanks

[pianojohn113]

Great, have fun!

[vitvalz]

At last I've found... someone who plays it real and shares... This is Great and you are a great Piano Man!!!

[pianojohn113]

Thanks, vitvalz, I appreciate it! Enjoy. :-)

[ilovesoccer66]

i just started watching your videos and i love them so much! they're so easy to learn from and it's fun. thanks a lot!

[pianojohn113]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[davespeanuts]

welcome back John. My daughter was watching 13 going on 30 last night. I thought it would be fun to learn Vienna, and I knew the only place to go was to PianoJohn. Thanks so much for making the world sound so much better to all of us aspiring pianists., Dave

[pianojohn113]

Happy to do it for you, Dave.. Enjoy!

[pianojohn113]

Great! Enjoy! Greetings to you from California, USA.

[schizometric]

I cannot thank you enough. i've been looking for this song in sheet music for a while, but since it's just chord progressions I couldn't find it anywhere! I'm performing this song next month. THANKS A MILLION!!!

[dissyfingers]

Thank you Thank you Thank you... all I can say

[Eliyetterbowman]

Could you please make another one of these for "Falling for You" by Ronnie Day? I would really appreciate it, I'm a guitar player/singer and I would like to teach someone to play the piano part of the song because 1. It's really easy 2. I love the song.

[angelfire1010]

awesomeness

[codo24769]

thank you so much! ur tutorials are incredible... this is such a fun song to play and it would be awesome if u posted something for the instrumental part so u could play it front to back. once againg thank you very much

[ih8suvz]

Awesome. I wish I would have learned to play the piano when I was a kid. Looks hard.

[Brittneythevampire]

no really. all you heave to do is know the notes.

[Cheftodd67]

This is a great song to play. Could you post a tutorial on the instrumental bridge. The song seems incomplete without it.

[BeastlyGreenDogs101]

make a video on how to play the harmonica part on the piano

[Mueychacha]

it's an accordion.

[oldhorror]

great help thanks

[Ciscoho]

Pianojohn - take a lot of pride and satisfaction in knowing you have inspired someone in this world to love music and pick up an old instrument again after many years. You have given me a wonderful gift. Thank you.

[fdesignr]

This was such a great and easy to learn tutorial! I love this song and hopefully when I get a keyboard, I'll know how to play most of it. Thank you so much!

[pianojohn113]

Thanks, glad it was helpful to you.. it's a fun song to play, isn't it? :-)

[baroodio02]

i love you!

[pianojohn113]

lol, thanks!  :-)

[pdkobet]

THANKS SO MUCH FER POSTING

[franshej]

Haha this is the best tutorial i've ever seen! :P thank you very much! :)

[ArtsyTails]

Excellent tutorial! I really needed a tutorial so I could learn this for chorus class. :)

[goldenrod2]

Hey thanx for this tutorial!...I'm definatly working on this but I have my piano in the kitchen right now & my comp in the living room. I'm going to move it back in tomorrow and start learning this one!

[treblemaker24]

I LOVE THIS SONG! thanks for the tutorial

[Kgodfather18]

Hi my name's Kyle, you're really good at piano. I love billy joel and i want to let you know that you sound just like him!!! I learned how to play piano man from you !!! Thanks

[JAGAE]

good vid, but what about reading notes. its easier to learn then

[shcorporation]

no its not

[DAMNDIDAMN]

Thank you for this! I didn't find any instrumental versions to the song (so that I could sing it), so I decided to play it by myself. I've never taken lessons, but after couple hours I finally got it. So thank you very much! (: And now the main part...

[MorexThanxUseless]

nice vid!

it helped me a lot :)

thanks!

[ZiggyStardust35]

Awesome post! thanks!

[pianojohn113]

Glad you liked it! :-)

[MikeyT817]

You are a badass!!  Thanks. My C7 stab sucked before this!

[pianojohn113]

lol, thanks, glad it helped! I actually saw a close-up of Billy Joel playing it on a live performance, and the result is what you see here. I couldn't get it down quite right either until I saw him play it.

[ESB1138]

Awesome job! Could you do Billy Joel's Entertainer?

[pianojohn113]

Thanks! I've had a few requests for The Entertainer, but I don't think it sounds as good as a solo piano piece because part of the appeal of that great song is the build-up of instruments through the verses. I may give it a shot, though.

[ESB1138]

Well that's true...but there was one verse where it was just piano. It doesn't have to be the entire song just that part.

[fletchstudio240]

Hey - Thanks man! I have this song on my iPod and I always listen to it and even though I am self-tought on the piano, I still had always wanted to play this. Thank you so much! I still stink at it but practice makes perfect.

[pianojohn113]

You're very welcome, I'm glad to do it. Keep practicing, you'll get it down very soon!

[Bongotheband]

There is a place in Heaven for you.

Thank you very much

[pianojohn113]

Hey, thanks very much.. Glad you liked it!

[gct1189]

awesome viedos man! all of em! if you could do a video of "baby Grand" by Bily Joel and Ray Charles you'd be my hero! haha

[pianojohn113]

Thanks! "Baby Grand" is a great song, lots of improvisation.. I'll try to get something done on it, although that was done with two pianos, Billy Joel and Ray Charles together.. What a combo, huh?!

[gct1189]

yeah theres actually a really neat video you can watch of Billy Joel and Ray Charles in the studeo when they recorded it on here if you search Baby Grand...you might wanna check it out if you haven't already

[pianojohn113]

Yeah I saw that, what a great vid.. Would love to have been in the studio that day. I thought that Billy was doing a good vocal imitation of Ray Charles, too!

[sawellesley]

Hey Ive done the intro, body and sting, but could u do a video on the instrumental part???

[pianojohn113]

Yes, I meant to get that done when I did this video, and I just forgot. I've got a note to do it, though.

[WoahLordyMomma007]

do you think that you could do Elton John's Harmony... from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road... i own every album of his... and i have been dying to learn that song... i just can never find the sheet music!

[pianojohn113]

It's a good song.. Harmony and me, we're pretty good company... I haven't played it for a while, but I'll see what I can do.

[OhJayzuz]

Thanks man, I've been hoping someone would show me how to do this, its a great song

[pianojohn113]

You're welcome, I'm glad it was helpful to you!

[Theaterman527]

Hey Thanks a lot one question though: Is that B flat at the beginning really that important? I've tried it without the B flat and it seems to sound fine. Any thoughts?

[pianojohn113]

If you're talking about the one at the very beginning of the intro, then it's probably not all that necessary, since it's played so quickly. As long as it sounds good, which I think it does either way, then you can certainly leave it out.

[psmth49]

that was so great! thank you

[pianojohn113]

You're welcome, I'm glad it was helpful!

[EFECTOESTERICO]

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH

[pianojohn113]

You're very welcome!

[omglaz0rzpewpew]

yessss can't wait!

[omglaz0rzpewpew]

can't wait for the full version of this...is it still coming?

[pianojohn113]

Yes.. My guess is within a week or two.

[labetson]

You are amazing. I just got an acoustic upright Yahama, and I'll be starting lessons soon... this is really helpful! Thank you.

[pianojohn113]

Thanks! Glad you liked it. Those Yamahas are excellent pianos, BTW. Have fun with it!

[metsfanalex]

I was wondering if you could make a lesson on every thing you didn't teach us in this one. So everything inbetween. Just so I can have the whole song in my arsenal.

[pianojohn113]

Yes, it should be coming up here soon.. I've got it near the top of my list so look for it in either the next set of vids coming up or the ones after that.

[metsfanalex]

awesome cause I got this one down and it would be so cool to be able to play the whole song. It is one of my favorites, and you explain things so well

[keewee1091]

thanks for this one...not trying to be greedy but is their a chance for a tutorial on "she's got a way"??

[pianojohn113]

Absolutely, that's an easy one to do. Look for that likely on my next set of videos.

[keewee1091]

thanks so much!

[meny933]

pianojohn113 hellow!

im still waiting for your lessons to the full song "vienna".

when it will be ready??

i cant wait!

thanks!

bb

[pianojohn113]

I won't be back in the studio for a couple more weeks, but I should be able to get it done then.

[oceanate]

thank you so much.

[pianojohn113]

You're quite welcome. Thanks for watching!

[bjoelfan98]

Thanks very much for this video it helped so much, thanks your the best.

[pianojohn113]

Well thanks for the comments! If you need help with any others I have a few more on my channel.

[vodkashana]

Is there any way you could do a tutorial on the entire song? Where can I get the music for it?

[pianojohn113]

Yes, I should be able to get one done for the rest of the song. Stay tuned. I remember that the sheet music is available in a book called "Billy Joel Complete", and I think it's in Volume 1.

[meny933]

pianojhon113!

thats really nice!

but can you teach the full song?

you know... the acords... that will be more good and more usefull.

thank you!

bb

[pianojohn113]

Thanks! I'll be doing a how-to video for Vienna soon. It's quite easy, actually.  The intro is really more complicated than the song!

[martin2288]

wonderfull! :D that´s a big help!

[pianojohn113]

Great! Thanks for watching.

[pianoman815]

Billy Joel uses the regular B note instead of the B flat...just a little hint there ;)

[pianojohn113]

Which part? Just curious.

[pianoman815]

The VERY first note...

[pianojohn113]

Well, that could be, I'll take your word for it.. wouldn't surprise me, this being such a dissonant intro.

[rosemarysmi]

Thank you. I do try, you know.

[pianojohn113]

Indeed.. you're great!

[BakerStIrregular]

Thanks.  I'll get on it right now!!! Please keep up the excellent instruction

[BakerStIrregular]

Great tutorials, John. I have only recently discovered them. Thanks! Can I play the rest of the song with just the chords: Gm, Eb, F Ab, C, etc?

[pianojohn113]

Yes, the rest of the song is mostly just playing chords on the beat, pretty easy. It goes in this order: Gm, Bb, F, Ab, Eb, Bb, C7, D7 in the first part of the verse, then in the 2nd part just substitute Am7 for the C7. There's more, of course, but you get the idea. Thanks for your comments!

[CappCreations]

Thanks you so much John! Can't wait to get this one down. You're the best!

[pianojohn113]

Glad to be of help, thanks for watching!!