![]() ![]() In today’s video lesson, Jonny teaches the tune’s melody note-by-note. The first step to play “The Way You Look Tonight” on piano is to learn the melody and basic chords. “The Way You Look Tonight”on Piano in 3 Steps Step 1: Learn the Melody and Chords In today’s lesson, you’ll discover 3 steps to play “The Way You Look Tonight” as a beautiful piano ballad. However, the tune has an enduring place as a piano ballad as captured in brilliant performances by Art Tatum (1954) and Ahmad Jamal (2008) some fifty years apart. Mel Torme’s 1956 recording of “The Way You Look Tonight” with Marty Paich on piano moves at a blistering 320 BPM! Overall, medium tempos seem to characterize most recordings such as Oscar Peterson’s 1959 recording at a snappy 164 BPM and Frank Sinatra’s immensely popular 1964 recording at 134 BPM. However, this is by no means the fastest version. By contrast, Erroll Garner’s later 1963 recording moves at a brisk 210 BPM. The Erroll Garner Trio first recorded “The Way You Look at Me” at 130 BPM in 1949 in which Garner can be heard using a 4-on-the-floor piano technique with his left hand. Later recordings of the tune trend toward medium and faster tempos. ![]() Six years later, Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee released an enchanting ballad version of the tune in 1942 with Mel Powell on celeste. Since its introduction in 1936, countless other artists have recorded “The Way You Look Tonight.” Early versions were released in the same year by Guy and Carmen Lombardo, Bing & Dixie Lee Crosby, and Bille Holiday with Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra. The occasion marked the first time the award had been won by a female songwriter. The song was an instant success, earning Kern and Fields an Academy Award for Best Original Song. “The Way You Look Tonight” Introduction and Backgroundįred Astaire introduced the world to “The Way You Look Tonight” in the 1936 film, Swing Time. In the memorable movie scene, Astaire sings the classic love ballad to Ginger Rogers while she washes her hair in the next room. This lesson captures the “breathless charm” that has made Kern and Fields’ masterpiece of one of the most-requested wedding songs of all time. In today’s Quick Tip, you’ll play a solo piano arrangement of “The Way You Look Tonight” in the jazz ballad style that is just as captivating. Timeless is the perfect word to describe Jerome Kern’s classic jazz standard, “The Way You Look Tonight.” In fact, lyricist Dorothy Fields remarked that the first time she heard Kern play the melody, she began to cry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |