[dave brum]

I have been teaching myself to play piano for 14 months now, and am working my way through the Complete Piano Player course by Kenneth Baker, but I have now hit a stumbling block. I'm at page 192 and a number called 'Swingin Shepherd Blues'. The rhythm patterns are quite complex, and because I have never heard the tune in my life, I have absolutely no idea of how the printed rhythms should be interpreted and consequently, I have no idea how the number SHOULD sound when played properly. Does anybody know, as I am also an Internet newbie, if there is a site I can go to where I can hear the song. If I had a teacher, I would ask him/her to play it for me, or if I knew any pianists in my local area, which I don't. I would be most grateful of any help that any1 can offer.

[crescendo]

I think it is probably time for you to find yourself a teacher...

It is occasionally possible to find videos of this sort of piece on YouTube, but the quality is dubious and the timings could well be wrong.

Can you describe the rhythms in a bit more detail? Difficult to help without the book to refer to!

[dave brum]

I think that I need to keep practising the piece, and like everything else, it will begin to make sense. The rhythms are the normal swing dotted quaver/semiquaver combinations, which I am familiar with, but there are loads of triplet quavers, which although they are easy in 4/4 time, I always seem to struggle with. Also some oddly placed quaver/dotted quaver rests, and - something which is new to me, left hand octaves. So, yes, what is needed is a bit of good old fashioned practise. I mentioned all of this to my wife and I played it to her, and that helped, she does not play the piano incidentally. As far as getting a teacher is concerned, not all of us can afford to get one, much as we'd like to.

[Gill the Piano]

You might find a friendly teacher who would give you a one-off lesson; praps Mrs Brum might spring for it as a birthday present?
Break it down into semiquavers, counting 16 to the bar, and rule lines down between each of the beats to help you work out when the next beat starts. If 16 to the bar seems a bit histrionic, try 8, counting the quavers. I think that 16 would be a good start though. Ignore the acciacaturas (have I spelt that right? It never looks it, however I spell it) for now, just play the straight music. You can always add the accaccaccaccaccaccacc things later.
Blimey, page 192 means you've nearly finished the book, that's excellent going!

[dave brum]

Thanks for your comment, Gill. Gill the Piano,eh! Mine's called Fiona
Unfortunately, my birthday has only just gone! But I did get my piano as a Christmas present from my wife a couple of years ago. I love the swingy dotted quaver/semiquaver combis as I'm into jazz anyway. The triplet quavers take some thinking about tho. I wanted to have piano lessons as a child, but my parents (I come from a working class background) always said that I couldn't, something that I don't intend doing to my kids when they come along, but that's another story! I would happily reccomend the Baker course to any adult wannabe pianist, also lots of piano books, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Thelonious Monk, Oscar P, and Radio 3. Another of my hang-ups is confidence, and yes, it might sound boring, but practice is the key. My wife says she likes your car!

[Gill the Piano]

I always recomend that course to adults because it's so approachable without being simplistic or patronising. Also, because it uses songs you know, it's easy to know when you've gone wrong.
Try clapping the rhythms before you play them, and another trick is to find words to fit - 'Lud-wig' for the dotted, 'Beethoven' for the triplets, for instance. Anything will do, the more ludicrous the better, because you'll remember it. My husband's never really got over finding me staring at a bit of Scriabin muttering 'Nice cup of mil-ky tea', which was how I got the three against 4 rhythm. He's always thought musos are cracked, and that was simply confirmation...
I couldn't possibly tell you what I call my piano when I'm having a bad practice session, but it casts doubt upon its parentage.

[crescendo]

Hi Dave,
Some excellent suggestions above - I can't really add anything new. It depends a bit on where you live, but you might be pleasantly surprised by how (relatively) cheap lessons can be. A lot of teachers are happy to take an adult who for whatever reason is unable to come every week. In my part of the country (average sort of town in the South West) I pay £19 for 45 minutes. Manageable for you on an occasional basis perhaps?
All the best,
Crescendo

[Geminoz]

Ask all your friends/neighbours/local music shop if they have a recording of the tune to enable you to listen to it.
I can remember it being popular when I was a teenager...late 50's if memory serves me correctly (Aghhhhhhhhh now that dates me).
Or you could try downloading it from a peer to peer network such as winmx.

[dave brum]

Gill, you may be pleased to hear that I think I have grasped the basics of "Swingin Shepherd" although I have not played for a couple of days as we have had some friends down for a bit of a Hay on Wye "bookshop crawl"! I have been going back through the book and playing all these old tunes that have quaver triplets in them, like "Isn't She Lovely" to refresh myself so I can count and clap "Shepherd" easier. Wish I knew some pianists and piano students round here so we could sit around in Wetherspoon's comparing notes on composers and playing methods. Oh my word, a huge genie has just appeared in the room!

[Gill the Piano]

Splendid; now go & get that piano lesson!!

[dave brum]

Guess what! Found "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" on YouTube last night, there's a few vids of it. And it doesn't sound that different to how I would play it either. Perseverance pays! So a happy ending to a happy tale. Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb!

[Gill the Piano]

No need for bad language, even if you are learning the piano...