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James Booker and Smaller Hands

for starters, i'm glad to see that booker has come up here recently. i've been a fan for a while. i didn't want to hijack the other thread completely so i started this one. i was trying to play "papa was a rascal" the other day, and for the life of me, it seems like the right hand is impossible to play unless you have fingers that were as long as booker's. has anyone else encountered or surmounted this problem?

by ziggysane on 02/17/2008, 13:16

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i've seen the published transcription of this tune, but i'm not sure it's right. have you personally verified it yet? or possibly re-arranging how they split up the hands? it's awfully dense on some of the recordings on the bass-side of the piano as well as the tune being based on a staccato-groove for much of it -- i couldn't swear to the exact notes without really obssessing over the details. it could well be something tricky, though -- but i found it pretty easy to get a big sound without stretching too much in the rh (or the lh). not like i really play this tune, though -- it's a fun one, though.

wish i wrote that tune -- including the lyric.

there are some bootleg videos of booker's hands playing this tune -- i don't recall seeing anything superhuman in particular, but you could certainly be right about everything. it should be possible to freeze-frame on a given chord to see if there's something important going on -- if you think it's worth the time. could just be a quirky thing booker practiced or was naturally good at -- there's usually a solution that will work for your own geometry, though.

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by on 02/17/2008, 23:02

check out this: - i haven't had the chance to look at it properly (i'm at work!) but it seems there's a few good shots of what he's playing that might help. i love youtube.

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by g on 02/17/2008, 23:37

nice video -- that was one of the ones i was thinking about. clearly, booker is not sweating the fingering on this one!

i agree youtube is fantastic for this stuff -- it used to be pretty squirrely dealing with private (weirdo, by and large) traders for stuff that should really be just shared among enthusiasts, without a lot of quid pro quo nonsense get in the way.

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by on 02/18/2008, 12:08

i checked out the video. i have several of his albums, but i've never seen footage of him playing before. :) it's amazing how relaxed he looks even though his music usually has so much going on in each hand. i also liked the funkier groove that this performance had from his solo versions.

i preface this next section by mentioning that the section i'm referring to (for non booker fans) is a groove in the right hand that actively alternates between a fifth (c3 f3, played with 1 and 2 according to the transcriber) and an am chord (a3 c4 e4, played with 3,4,5).

now for the nitty gritty: to play the above, i need to lift or significantly shift my hand. however, his hand appears to stay in one place in the video. i've been trying to figure out how much space is between his pinky and thumb, but no luck yet. i also watched another video that shows a close-up of his hand, and his pinky is freakishly long, to say nothing of his other fingers.

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by ziggysane on 02/18/2008, 20:30

did you figure it out yet? i haven't had a chance to hear the tune again, but on closer look, what you've written above *does* look actually kind of painful. maybe it is those long fingers at work.

there should be a way to just fudge the notes, though, to fit your own hand, although i can't figure it out away from the piano -- don't you think?

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by on 03/13/2008, 17:15

"however, his hand appears to stay in one place in the video."

i've found that this is key to playing in booker's style and also in boogie woogie.

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by on 03/14/2008, 19:47

anyone ever be laboring away at booker, trying maybe a little too hard, and then it hits you, and the instant you become aware you've been hit, it vanishes and you're dropping clunkers again?

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by ghoulidee on 01/27/2014, 15:45

op here; a little older; a little wiser :)

i gave up on playing booker not too long after the discussion ended on here. the dude's hands are just too freaky huge to cop his voicings on a piece like this. also, at the time of the original posting i was still in a phase where i wanted to imitate all of the greats, no matter how unmanageable that might be.

nowadays i give thanks that booker walked this earth and left a record of his music behind for the rest of us to experience and remember him by. i try to do my own thing, for that's worth ;)

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by ziggysane on 01/29/2014, 17:01

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James Booker and Smaller Hands

There are 8 comments, leave a comment.

by on 02/17/2008, 23:02

by g on 02/17/2008, 23:37

by on 02/18/2008, 12:08

by ziggysane on 02/18/2008, 20:30

by on 03/13/2008, 17:15

by on 03/14/2008, 19:47

by ghoulidee on 01/27/2014, 15:45

by ziggysane on 01/29/2014, 17:01

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James Booker and Smaller Hands

There are 8 comments, leave a comment.

by on 02/17/2008, 23:02

by g on 02/17/2008, 23:37

by on 02/18/2008, 12:08

by ziggysane on 02/18/2008, 20:30

by on 03/13/2008, 17:15

by on 03/14/2008, 19:47

by ghoulidee on 01/27/2014, 15:45

by ziggysane on 01/29/2014, 17:01

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

Articles

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

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