This song is in Db.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1a: Bbm - Bbm/Ab - GbM7 - Db/F - Ebm7 - F7 - Bbm - F7
Part 1b: Bbm - Bbm/Ab - GbM7 - Db/F - Ebm7 - F7
Part 2a: Bbm - Ebm7 - Ab - Db - Ab/C - Bbm - Ebm7 - F7
Part 2b: Bbm - Ebm7 - Ab - Db - Ab/C - Bbm - Gb - Ab
Part 3a: GbM7 - Ab - Bbm
Part 3b: Ebm7 - Cm7 - F7

This theme song from 香火 is in B.
Part 1 is the intro.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1a: E2 - B/D# - Cm7 - E/F# - B2
Part 1b: E2 - D#m7 - G#m7 - A - E/G# - F#4 - F#
Part 2a: E2 - B/D# - E2 - F# - F#/G# - F#/A# - B2
Part 2b: E2 - D#m7 - G#m7 - C#m7 - A - F#
Part 3a: E2 - F# - D#m7 - G#m7 - C#m7 - E/F# - F#m7 - B/D#
Part 3b: E2 - F# - D#m7 - G#m7 - C#m7 - E/F# - B2

This song by Wincci is in B.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1a: B2 - F#/A# - G#m7 - G#m7/F# - E2 - D#4 - D#/G
Part 1b: G#m7 - D#m7 - Dm - C#m7 - C#/F - E/F# - F#
Part 2a: B2 - F#/A# - G#m7 - G#m7/F#
Part 2b: E2 - E/F# - D#m7 - G#m7 - C#m7 - E/F# - F#
Part 2c: B2 - D#4 - D#/G - G#m7 - F#m7 - B/D#
Part 2d: E2 - E/F# - D#m7 - G#m7 - C#m7 - A#m7b5 - D#4
Part 2e: G#m7 - D#/G - B/F# - C#/F - E/F#

Thank you, Janet.

Les

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Regina Spektor: From Moscow to The Bronx

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Singer-songwriters are everywhere. A simple trip to your local open mic night confirms that. Of course quantity and quality are far from the same thing. Still further, being a good singer-songwriter doesn’t make you interesting either which means truly unique and talented artists are annoyingly hard to come by. This is just one of the reasons that makes Regina Spektor so great. A multi-instrumentalist, with a voice like no other, and a style with few to compare to, Spektor is someone that sticks out like a sore thumb in the music industry, albeit a talented thumb. She is currently carving out a fan base from around the world and is headed to become one of the best songwriters around. It’s taken her a long time to get to where she is today, but it certainly seems that her music is a product of her exciting, yet stressful upbringing.

Back in 1980, Ilya Spektor, a photographer and amateur violinist, and Bella Spektor, a music professor, had a child in Moscow. They named her Regina and little did they know of what she would go on to achieve. Coming from a very musical family it is unsurprising young Regina soon became interested in the piano. She began to learn as a child on an old Petrof upright piano that once belonged to her grandfather. During her time in the Soviet Union, Spektor was also introduced to bands like The Beatles and Queen by her father who would trade cassettes with his friends. Although still very young, this influence stuck with her to reveal itself in her work many years later. The Soviet Union would not be the place for Spektor to start her career though, at the age of 9 the family left the country.

Spektor had been doing so well in her piano studies up until that point, that her parents considered staying put. This is incredibly meaningful as it was during the time of perestroika. This being a period where Soviet citizens were permitted to emigrate. Coupling this with the hardships of being a Jewish family in the Soviet Union you can see just how much promise the young Regina must have shown. Nevertheless, the decision to move was made and Regina’s piano was left behind. It is doubtful any home contents insurance plan would cover for that and so it was never seen again by the Spektor family.

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The family finally settled in The Bronx, New York after stopping in Austria and Italy. It was not long before Spektor was back to her musical studies. Up until she was 17, along side normal education, she learnt classical piano under the guidance of Sonia Vargas, a professor at the Manhattan School of Music. The family was still without a piano, but luckily the local synagogue had one in the basement she was able to use, while she also kept up her skills by practising on hard surfaces whenever she could. All of this training was really only based around classical music, but it was not long before Spektor begun to widen her palette by becoming interested in hip hop, rock and punk music.

Her path to becoming a songwriter was not as clear as for some. While on a trip to Israel she discovered that while making up songs to entertain the other teenagers with her, she had a real knack for it. Her confidence grew upon discovering the work of singer-songwriters like Ani DiFranco. She learnt from them that she could create her own songs exactly how she liked and do something with them. By the age of 18 she had written her first songs that including her playing piano and singing. To really cement her skills, she went on to complete a composition program with the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College with honours. She was now ready to take her songs to the masses.

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She begun by becoming a hit with the New York anti-folk scene by playing lots of bars and clubs. As her popularity grew she self-produced her own albums to sell at shows and this just led to more and more interest in her as her work spread. It wasn’t long before Sire Records came after her. Through them she released her third album, called Soviet Kitcsh, to wide critical acclaim in 2004.

There really isn’t another artist out there like Spektor. Her quirky technique, unique voice and amalgamation of different genres really givers her the edge over her contemporaries. Her amazing live shows have also helped her to get her fantastic reputation. She truly is on track to becoming a legend.

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1a: D2 - A/C# - Bm7 - A/C#
Part 1b: same as Part 1a
Part 2a: G2 - D/F# - Em7 - D/F#
Part 2b: same as Part 2a
Part 2c: Em7
Part 3: BbM7 - CM7 - EbM7 - G11 - A11
Part 4a: same as Part 1a
Part 4b: D2 - A/C# - G2 - A4
Part 5a: same as Part 2a
Part 5b: G2 - D/F# - D - D/F# - F/Bb
Part 6: C#dim - F#dim - Em7 - Adim - Gm6

These are the “cheat” chords I played for that pattern…
Fm7 - Ab2 - Eb - Bb

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1a: Bb - F/A - Ab - Eb/G
Part 1b: Ebm/Gb - Bb/F - C7 - Eb/F - Bb
Part 2a: Eb - Bb/F - D+/F# - Eb/G - Bb
Part 2b: Eb - Bb/F - C7 - F7

Les

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Jamie Cullum – “I Never Let Anything Hold Me Back.”

He failed his grade four Piano exam, he can barely read a note of music, but despite this, Jamie Cullum is the UK’s biggest selling jazz artist of all time.

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Brought up in rural Wiltshire, music was incredibly important in Jamie Cullum’s family life. His parents sung in a band, the house where he grew up was full of musical instruments, his early memories include jamming sessions with his parents, uncle and brother. However, when Cullum first started taking piano lessons at the age of eight, he just couldn’t seem to get to grips with reading music. He would go on practising, and his piano playing would improve, but he couldn’t make any progress understanding the notes on the page. His teacher would tell him they were going to read through a piece of music before playing it. He would then beg her to simply play it through for him, and copy her, not only playing the song but also adding bits that he thought ‘sounded better.’

He learned how to play the songs he loved by listening to tapes and cds over and over, studying every nuance of every note and chord, piecing the song together painstakingly until he could play the whole thing.

He failed his Grade Four Piano exam and never got beyond it, because by that stage, the sight reading part was so important. It was almost like a form of dyslexia. He found it so impossible that he gave up trying to read music after that point. However Jamie has never let it inhibit his creativity or his ability to perform.

The first song he played live at a proper gig, was a song he had only just worked out how to play earlier on, in his bedroom at home. The gig was in a pub in Bristol. The piano player became ill and the band leader called into the crowd “Is there anyone out there who can play piano?” Cullum’s friend pushed his hand up, and the rest is history.  The song was ‘You Know What it Means To Miss New Orleans,’ a jazz classic.

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Cullum went on to play in clubs and cover bands, in sessions for other musicians. He sometimes played for free, sometimes for trifling amounts of money. He just loved playing music and writing songs: songwriting brought together words and music, the two things he loved most. Yet he still didn’t think he was good enough to be a professional musician; that choice was for ‘other people.’ He did a degree in English Literature at the University of Reading, thinking it would lead him to a more conventional career choice; but the music simply wouldn’t let him go. During his free time, evenings and weekends he would play at pubs and bars and at weddings.

Finally he had enough money to record his first cd, Jamie Cullum Trio – Heard It All Before.  Five hundred copies were produced, which are now incredibly rare and sought after. He carried on playing wherever he could and when he finally did start to get the breakthroughs he’d been dreaming about, he had a good track record of solid work behind him, which helped him keep his feet on the ground. In 2003 he appeared on The Parkinson Show and got signed to Universal for a million pound deal. His life quickly become a surreal whirlwind tour where he became surrounded by people he didn’t know. He kept his head by concentrating ferociously on his music.

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As well as touring and recording new albums, Jamie now also has his own Jazz radio show. He has a hectic family life, being married to supermodel Sophie Dahl, with a baby daughter, Lyra. Their London home is full of pianos, rare guitars, and drumkits, and they are probably careful to compare house insurance to make sure they are all covered!

Cullum is best known for jazz but plays a diversity of music and has a great range of styles. He has always been motivated by wanting to get better and better at playing the piano; to improve his craft. This has led him into a career where he sold out the Albert Hall and rocked The Proms. So if you can’t play sheet music, or you’re not classically trained, don’t let it stop you. Just keep making music, keep improvising, keep trying things out and enjoying yourself – you never know where the music will take you!