Elmo Peeler Note-for-Note Piano Transcriptions | | |
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Dear Elmo,
Today is the first day of May and time again for my monthly newsletter, to keep you informed of recent transcriptions and other news of the last month.
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This month I'm offering an eclectic group of three brand-new transcriptions.
One is Piano Gospel style, by the Doobie Brothers.
The second is classic Bubblegum from 1969.
And the third, my favorite, is another complete Booker T. recording.
BTW, to make sure that my email doesn't end up in your Spam folder, please add me to your Contact list and/or mark my email as "Not Spam".
Note that every Title Heading is clickable.
Elmo Peeler
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ALL of the Sheet Music listed on my website has been personally transcribed by me, and guaranteed to be note-for-note perfect.
Whether you:
- have a cover band and want to get your keyboard parts exactly correct,
- are a professional who wants to study the styles of rock's greatest keyboard players, or
- are a hobbyist that wants to learn how to play pop/rock and great piano music,
...these note-for-note transcriptions will prove extremely helpful.
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In the News! - Booker T. Jones, Bill Payne (Doobie Brothers) & Bubblegum
Three Classic Styles
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In 1944 Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and named after his father Booker T. Jones Sr., who had been named in honor of Booker T. Washington. Jones Sr. was a science teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis.
Booker Jr. became interested in music as a toddler, when he received his first dime store drum. At age five he taught himself chords on a ukulele and an old piano, and in the third grade his parents bought him a clarinet. Booker's mother and father were both musically inclined (his mother was a lead soprano in their church choir, and his father sang).
As a fourth grader, Booker found his way into Memphis' Porter Junior High School Band by playing the oboe, a difficult woodwind instrument that no one else wanted to tackle.
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Booker T. Jones' original Hammond organ | |
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Spending evenings after school in the bandroom, Booker eventually learned to also play the saxophone and flute, then later moved to the brass instruments, trombone and baritone horn, at Booker T. Washington High School.
A multi-instrument musical prodigy, he went on to play string bass, guitar and organ, which he played at church.
At 14 Booker T. was sneaking into Memphis clubs to play music. And around this time while hanging around a Memphis record shop (next to Stax), he met a record clerk named Steve Cropper, who played guitar.
By the time he entered high school, he was recognized as the most talented musician there, and was appointed director of the high school band for four years.
Isaac Hayes and Maurice White ("Earth, Wind & Fire") also attended the same high school, where White was Booker T.'s first drummer.
Booker began working sessions at Stax Records in 1960 at age 16, introduced to the Stax team by high school pal David Porter. His first professional recording gig was playing bari sax on Rufus & Carla Thomas' "Cause I Love You".
He and Cropper went on to become half of the Stax house band that recorded the backing tracks for all Stax artists. The other half included Donald "Duck" Dunn, the bassist, and the incomparable Al Jackson, Jr. on drums.
Two years after Booker T. began working at Stax, while still only seventeen - the month before he turned eighteen, he and that house band released their first album, Booker T. & the M.G.'s Green Onions, which went on to make history with its title song.
Their second album, Soul Dressing, contained one of the best electric piano instrumentals ever, "Chinese Checkers". The single was released when Booker T. was eighteen. If you don't remember it, treat yourself and give it a listen, here on YouTube.
Here are my Booker T. Jones transcriptions:
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "She Breaks" - NEW!
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Chinese Checkers"
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Hip Hug-Her"
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Green Onions"
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Green Onions" (Live with Daryl Hall's Band)
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Pigmy"
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Time Is Tight" (Album Version)
Albert King - "Crosscut Saw" - Booker T. Jones, piano
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Bill Payne - Gospel Piano on "World Gone Crazy" | |
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Bill Payne, founder of Little Feat, has been a first-call L.A. session player since the early 1970s.
His mother introduced him to piano-playing by sitting him on her knee at a large old upright piano in the basement, while playing "Vaya Con Dios" from sheet music. She would play a few notes and then show him what notes to play.
At five or six, he began taking lessons from Ruth Neuman, playing the theme from "Davy Crockett" for her at his very first lesson. She said, 'The next time you come in I'll have this written out for you. I'll show you what you actually played.' She encouraged him to play by ear but taught him how to read music also, and guided him through a study of the classics until he was 15 - Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms.
(BTW, by striking coincidence, Davy Crockett was the very first piano piece that my daddy taught me at age 6. It seems to have been a big hit among 5 & 6 year-old pianists in the mid-1950s.)
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May's New Transcriptions - Booker T. "She Breaks", The Doobie Brothers
Plus 1969 Bubblegum TV by the Cattanooga Cats
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Booker T. Jones - "She Breaks" | |
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My favorite of the three new transcriptions this month is of Booker T. Jones' "She Breaks".
Released on Booker T.'s Potato Hole album in 2010, it has the old retro classic M.G.'s sound from the 1960s.
At 4:22 long it's not a short song, but builds all along the way until it peaks during the Bridge, about 2/3 of the way thru, when Booker T. holds down one high note while playing around that sustained note with other fingers - creating terrific Hammond B-3 tension until it finally resolves. Click here to hear that Bridge.
My transcription also includes the Leslie tone cabinet speed settings, i.e., when it speeds up or slows down.
Plus, the drawbar registrations are included.
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My second brand-new transcription this month is the Gospel piano Intro on "World Gone Crazy" by The Doobie Brothers, released in 2010 on their World Gone Crazy album. Bill Payne (of Little Feat) was the studio pianist.
Although the Intro is short - only about 12 seconds - it is chock-full of Gospel techniques, including some cool chromatic chord changes kicking it off in the very first bar.
When you listen to it, check out the free timing (rubato). Metronomic markings (BPM) are included in every measure.
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My third new transcription this month is of "Stop Right There" by the Cattanooga Cats, an animated (cartoon) TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera from 1969 to 1971. It depicted the adventures of a fictitious rock band similar to The Archies and The Banana Splits.
"Stop Right There" was the second song featured in the 12th episode of the show, and is in the style of English bar-room or dance-hall music with a BubbleGum influence. It contains some honky-tonk octave runs plus a short piano solo complete with a tremolo in sixths.
BTW, PDF and MIDI files are available for "Stop Right Now".
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March's Exercise - Blues Exercise #11 - 3rds, 6ths & Flips
Some of the Most Important Elements Used in Blues Piano
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Sorry, but there is no new exercise this month because I've been busy transcribing. But if you like blues or slow boogie, please give a listen to my Blues exercise from March.
Almost everyone loves to play the Blues. My old friend Ian McLagan told me that blues was his favorite form of piano-playing (and that Otis Spann was his favorite blues pianist).
Like any other style, blues uses certain 'elements' over and over, just in different contexts and tempi.
My new exercise this month will help you gain facility with four important elements often found in blues:
1) 3rds
2) 6ths
3) Flips
4) Thumb pivot
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Included are four 12-bar sections, each with a different left hand pattern. The last two sections demonstrate how a blues phrase can be made even 'bluesier' by flatting the third rather than transposing it up during the IV- and V-chord changes.
Two options are available, sheet music and a MIDI file.
BTW, if you need other good, effective technical exercises, please check out all of the 110 exercises
available.)
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Gospel Corner - Say 'Amen' Somebody
The Hangout Place for Gospel Classics
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You don't have to be from the Deep South to love Gospel piano, nor do you need to belong to any particular religion. All you have to have is a love for wonderful old-time, swinging, uplifting piano-playing.
Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Richard Tee and Ray Charles, some of the greatest keyboard players ever, loved the style and infused their own performances with Gospel licks and rhythms.
Inspired by the wonderful playing of the portly Associate Pastor/Musical Director of my childhood's Baptist Church deep in the piney woods of Mississippi, in recent years I've transcribed and/or arranged a few Gospel classics.
This little corner of my newsletter is where I'll keep you informed of my latest efforts to share that old-time Gospel sound.
Here are my Gospel transcriptions and/or arrangements, plus some exercises:
Full-blown Gospel:
The Doobie Brothers - "World Gone Crazy" (Piano Intro) (click here to hear it) - NEW!
Billy Preston & The Beatles - "Without a Song" (click here to hear it)
"I'll Fly Away" - arranged by Elmo Peeler (click here to hear it)
"Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" - arranged by Elmo Peeler (click here to hear it)
"Amazing Grace" - as played by Ethel Caffie-Austin (click here to hear it)
"Victory in Jesus" - as played by The Gaithers (click here to hear it)
Heavily Gospel Influenced:
Richard Tee - Contemporary Piano - First Piece
Floyd Cramer - "One Day at a Time (Sweet Jesus)"
Don Henley - "You Don't Miss Your Water"
Mavis Staples - "Hard Times Come Again No More"
Van Morrison - "Benediction"
Richard Tee - "Happy Birthday" (version 1)
Richard Tee - "Happy Birthday" (version 2)
Jeff Beck Group (Nicky Hopkins) - "Girl from Mill Valley"
Plum Nellie - "A Love Like Yours"
Plum Nellie - "That Lucky Old Sun"
Bill Payne (of Little Feat) - "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"
Lari White (Bill Payne on piano) - "Lead Me Not"
Ray Charles - "Sweet Sixteen Bars"
Billy Preston - "Will It Go Round in Circles" - Gospel-style Intro by Billy Preston
The Rolling Stones (Billy Preston on piano) - "Shine a Light"
Delaney & Bonnie (Leon Russell) - "Faded Love"
Leon Russell - "She Belongs to Me"
Don Henley - "You Don't Miss Your Water"
Moderately Gospel Influenced:
Billy Vera & the Beaters - "At This Moment"
Bob Dylan - "Piano Mood" - Gospel-style piano improvisation
Delaney & Bonnie (Leon Russell) - "Don't Deceive Me"
Jackson Browne (Craig Doerge on piano) - "Rock Me on the Water"
Jerry Lee Lewis - "When the Saints Go Marching In"
James Taylor (Clarence McDonald on piano) - "Steamroller Blues" - Piano Solo
Leon Russell - "Old Masters"
Ray Charles - "Heartbreaker"
Ray Charles duo with Billy Joel - "Baby Grand"
Gospel-related Exercises:
Transform a Melody into Floyd Cramer's Style - Mary Had a Little Lamb
ii-chord Bump Exercise
Gospel Chord Exercise No.1
Gospel Chromatically-Descending Riff Exercise - Ethel Caffie-Austin's Signature Lick
Gospel Rhythm Exercise (in the style of Lari White's Good Good Love)
Descending R&B-Gospel Riff Exercise - Billy Preston-Richard Tee Style
R&B-Gospel Elements Exercise, incl. Substitutions - Billy Preston-Richard Tee Style
Exercise in Contrary Motion - Gospel-Rock
Exercise in Gospel - Walk-ups & Walk-downs, IV-chord Bumps & Strums
Exercise - How To Transform a Melody into Gospel
Gospel & Stride Exercise - Crossing the Left Hand over the Right
Exercise - Ray Charles Ending (Extended Walk-down)
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MIDI Corner - Transcriptions Turned into MIDI Files
Helpful for Those that Don't Read Sheet Music Well
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Most of my transcriptions have heretofore been available only as sheet music in PDF's. That is gradually changing - some are now also available as MIDI files, which can be especially helpful for those who would prefer to listen to them than to read the sheet-music notation.
This section of my newsletter is where I'll keep you informed of which transcriptions and exercises are available as MIDI files.
BTW, if you'd like my sheet music in a MIDI file, just let me know which one(s).
Here are the currently available MIDI files of my transcriptions, arrangements, and exercises:
MIDI Files of Rock, Pop & Classical Transcriptions:
Cattanooga Cats - "Stop Right There".mid - NEW!
The Fleetwoods - Mr. Blue - Arranged for Solo Piano.mid
Joe Zawinul - Jazz/Blues Acoustic Piano 4-minute Improvisation (1963).mid
Bruce Hornsby - Boogie-woogie Improvisation from The Tree Man.mid
Elmo Peeler - "Ashokan Farewell" arranged for Solo Piano (with Tempo Map).mid
Leon Russell - "Old Masters" (with Tempo Map)
Elton John - "Still Uses This Tip Leon Russell Gave Him in 1970"
B.B. King - "The Thrill Is Gone"
Jacob Tolliver - "Boogie Woogie Country Man"
Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood - "Squeeze Me In"
Meat Loaf - "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (with Tempo Map)
Ray Charles - "Mess Around"
Richard Tee - "Happy Birthday Boogie-Woogie"
Donald Fagen - Standard 12-bar Blues (in A Major) transcr/arr. by Elmo Peeler).mid
Meat Loaf - "Bat Out of Hell" (with Tempo Map).mid
Bach - Violin Concerto, BWV 1042 - 2nd Mvmt - For Synth/Sampler or Piano.mid
Bach - Double Violin Concerto, BWV 1043 - 2nd Mvmt - For Synth/Sampler or Piano.mid
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Chinese Checkers".mid
Dave 'Baby' Cortez - "Rinky Dink".mid
Richard Tee - Contemporary Piano - First Piece.mid
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - "Hip Hug-Her".mid
Billy Vera & the Beaters - "At This Moment".mid
The Beatles (with Billy Preston) - "I've Got a Feeling" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Floyd Cramer - "One Day at a Time (Sweet Jesus)" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Gerry & the Pacemakers - "How Do You Do It" - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Glenn Frey - "Route 66" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Don Henley - "You Don't Miss Your Water" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Billy Preston & The Beatles - "Without a Song" (gospel jam)(transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Ray Charles - "Makin' Whoopee" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Bonnie Raitt - "I Can't Make You Love Me" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
The Beatles (with Billy Preston) - "Get Back" (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Mavis Staples - Hard Times Come Again No More (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender (arranged by Elmo Peeler).mid
Sugar Chile Robinson - Numbers Boogie (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Sugar Chile Robinson - Numbers Boogie - with Left Hand in Broken Octaves.mid
The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Van Morrison - Benediction - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
The Meters - Cabbage Alley - Piano Part - Intro & Verse (trans. by Elmo Peeler).mid
Elmo Peeler - A Whiter Shade of Pale - (arranged for Solo Piano).mid
Leon Russell - Shoot Out on the Plantation (studio version) (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).mid
Leon Russell - Shoot Out on the Plantation (Solo Piano version) (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).mid
The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Liberace - Chopsticks (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Long John Baldry - Conditional Discharge (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire (1957) (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Jerry Lee Lewis - Trouble in Mind - 2 Pianos: Jerry Lee &Tony Ashton (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).mid
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Allman Brothers Band - Southbound - Complete Piano Part with Solo (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).mid
Bill Payne - The Ballad of Davy Crockett (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
Saving Mr. Banks (8 Different Songs) - Richard Sherman demos from "Mary Poppins".mid
Stevie Ray Vaughan - The House Is Rockin' - Piano Intro & Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).mid
MIDI Files of Exercises:
Elmo Peeler - Blues Exercise No.11 - 3rds, 6ths & Flips
Elmo Peeler - Exercise No.2 in Yodeling 6ths (Chromatically Ascending & Descending)
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in 4-note Chord Inversions
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Fast Rock/Pop/Gospel Right-hand Octaves
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Legato, Fingered Octaves
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Rhythmic 'Pushes' (Jackson Browne Style)
Elmo Peeler - Exercise on Bruce Hornsby's Boogie-woogie Left Hand Pattern
Elmo Peeler - Boogie-woogie Chromatic Double-thirds Exercise
Elmo Peeler - Repeated Note Exercise on the Most Common Cliche.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Chord Inversions (in the Allman Brothers style).mid
Elmo Peeler - Rippling Fingers Exercise.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Crossing Hands - No.3.mid
Elmo Peeler - Propulsion Exercise.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Flips & Tremolos in 3rds.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise - Transform a Melody into Floyd Cramer's Style - Mary Had a Little Lamb.mid
Elmo Peeler - Alberti Bass Exercise.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Harmonized Arpeggios for Two Hands.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise for Crossing Hands, No.2.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise for the Wrists - Banjo on the Piano.mid
Elmo Peeler - Articulation Exercise in 6ths, Inspired by Bach's Invention No.8.mid
Elmo Peeler - Exercise in Chromatic Double-thirds.mid
Elmo Peeler - Leon Russell Exercise.mid
Elmo Peeler - 4-5-2-1 Exercise for the 4th & 5th fingers.mid
Elmo Peeler - 4-5-4-1 Exercise for the 4th & 5th fingers.mid
Elmo Peeler - Rhythmic Exercise - Splitting the Left Hand.mid
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These are the most highly-organized and best-sounding synth patches available anywhere, guaranteed. Get the most out of your vintage hardware with these large patch libraries:
Ensoniq
Kawai
Korg
Roland
Yamaha
Even if you don't use the actual hardware synthesizers, there are software emulations that will allow you to play these patches on your computer, as VSTI's in your sequencer. These include:
Nils' K1v – Kawai K1 Emulation Plugin
Korg Legacy Digital Edition (for M1 & T1 synths)
Native Instruments FM8 (for DX7 synths)
Aurora FM (for DX7 & TX81Z synths)
SQ8L (for ESQ-1 synths)
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I've had the good fortune to have worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, and if you're serious about learning, I'll be happy to help you, too.
By means of Skype lessons (or in-person if you're in L.A.), I can coach you and help you to improve your technique, your rhythm, your ability to improvise, your knowledge of music theory, your sight-reading, and to develop relative pitch.
I've had the good fortune to have toured the world playing keyboards and arranging/conducting for these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Artists:
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- The Beach Boys
- Rod Stewart - All 'Unplugged' Concerts
- Ricky Nelson - Stone Canyon Band
And I've also won classical piano competitions performing Beethoven, Rubinstein and Saint-Saens' Piano Concerti. See me playing here. "Josie's Boogie" is quite the virtuoso dramatic minor-key showpiece; check out the ascending double-octave run at the ending... :)
Thanks to the internet, I can help you play piano better - rock or classical, by ear or by note.
Or if you live near the Hollywood Hills, I'll teach you in my home or yours.
If you'd like to improve, drop me a note at info@manymidi.com. Tell me three things:
1) Your musical background
2) Where you are currently, musically-speaking
3) Your musical goals
If you'd like to step back in time, watch me playing piano with Ricky Nelson on the Tonight Show - click here.
And here is a video of us playing three songs on The Midnight Special. And here we are on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show.
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Franz Liszt laying down the Gospel on
"World Gone Crazy"
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My students include members of:
- Weezer (Rivers & Brian)
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Vampire Weekend (Ezra & newest addition, Greta)
- Incubus (Mike)
- The Strokes (Nick)
- Rooney (Robert)
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Jason Schwartzman (The Hunger Games - 2023, Asteroid City, Mozart in the Jungle)
- Courteney Cox
- Pablo Dylan
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"...you have already been more of a help to me than you realize.
I started playing the church pipe organ when I was in the 6th grade. I could read music as well as I could read a book, but never developed my ears like I should have. I always struggled to pick parts out, and often needed help from the other guys in the band if I could not find a sheet or transcription.
A few years ago, you and I were emailing about your transcription of Bob Seger, Roll Me Away, and you mentioned Xtrax stems to me - which I knew nothin about. Your simple statement on how Xtrax Stems helped you to fix that transcription, has had such an impact on how I learn, practice and play I cannot explain - and is noticed by the guys I have been playing with for years. I have a long way to go - but it is a treasure for me.
Sometimes the least of our actions, even unknowingly, have an immeasurable effect... So thank you."
- E. D.
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Los Angeles, CA
323-650-6602
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