sergio Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I haven't prepared the video needed to upload the song to YouTube, but I wanted to share it with the forum now. I've been working on playing the piano solo without the auto rhythm, at least for a while, and I've really learned a lot by going "solo" again... I'm going to continue this way for now, and I still thank my friend m10538 for suggesting this. Please let me know what you think. BTW, the song is really "Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado", written by Maria Grever, the first Mexican female composer to become internationally famous (with this song). The song "oozes" emotion, at least the way I "feel" it, and to me, expressing emotions with music, in full range, is what I get a kick out of... Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m10538 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 👍 Has the signature Sergio smoothness! And check out the fancy ending! Ooo, getting daring eh, Sergio? I did a search of that title but found nothing about Maria Grever. Is she really the original composer of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Thanks! Yeah, I don't feel confident enough to fool around, but I'm putting my toes in the water... 😁 Working on arranging this song taught me a lot, really... It's kind of liberating, not being bound to the auto rhythm. For now I'm trying to "stretch" on the piano playing, and I'm happy with my progress so far. BTW, enough "emotion" in the piece??? 😀 It IS a very lush melody... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Oh, I forgot... Indeed Maria Grever (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/María_Grever) is the composer. She wrote, listen to this.... Over 800 songs! Talk about prolific!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m10538 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I don't think that melody is dramatic enough to be too strongly emotional. It's of a fun melody rather than one that's more about loss and heartbreak. You should find the saddest, most weepy tune and tackle that. If you make me cry...success! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm talking as a layman whenever I make comments about music, etc. Opinions I have many, but I also recognize that I don't have the music background that probably most of the folks here have. So please take me with a grain of salt. I seldom pay attention to the lyrics of a song, because I'm so hung up on the music. This is a love song but I don't even remember the lyrics. Like most "boleros" (I still can't get over the fact that this woman wrote over 800 songs!), they're all about love lost, love rediscovered, love betrayed, you name it... We Latins are very romantic. But you don't think this song is romantic enough? I could play it "sadder", but I don't "feel" this melody that way. When I started arranging it, I had a more aggressive, louder sound and rhythm, and over time it changed on me... I just go with the flow... I'll try to find a really weepy music for you... some gypsy stuff, that's always sad... 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m10538 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm thinking of the English song lyrics about how yesterday there was sadness and rain but today there is sunshine and love. I wonder if Maria wrote different lyrics? It's not just the words though. The melody itself isn't dark and dramatic. I guess when you say "emotional" I jump right to tears and sadness. If you meant romantic type of emotional, then yes it is plenty romantic. And the flourish at the end is a happy heart flying up into the rainbow filled blue sky! Awww!💏💑 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 I thought I responded last night, but I must have forgot to press the button... Grever didn't write the English lyrics. The original Spanish is a love story (what else?) of kisses not given, etc. It's not a "sad" song, but a "love" song, like most "boleros". Anyway, music is so wonderful because it can convey all kinds of emotion, from elation to depression, and that's what I enjoy from playing the piano, to express my emotions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Very nicely stretched out accompaniment, a classical feel to it, with a "rubato" type rhythm. Good thing you aren't a professional!(kidding) Certainly sounds like you are. I've heard many covers of this, yours is very nice. A good melody can be carried to so many genres, I also like this as a traditional merengue. do you know what the composer's original style intention was? Probably none of these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Thanks a lot, Jokeyman! It's quite a compliment because I just play what comes out of my heart/hands and you're someone with far more knowledge of music than I do. I agree that any melody can be interpreted in a million ways, and that's the beauty of music, it's universal. I haven't heard it as a merengue, but I think it's such a sentimental song that such a fast, dance beat would not favor it. The composer, Maria Grever, wrote over 800 songs, something that shocked me, but I grew up with a lot of her songs played in my household. She had many beautiful songs, and I remember an LP in particular or a famous Cuban female singer that was only her songs. Sadly, we lost it along the way. This is a song of love, not sure because it's kind of cryptic, but it's all about love and kisses not given or received. Not sure of the English lyrics, which were written by someone else. Her Wikipedia entry tells a lot of her story, and being female in those days, it was quite an accomplishment that this song made it internationally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Well, sadly in my wedding gig days we did this song in a variety of styles-we had to keep people dancing or they'd get too drunk and maybe ruin the wedding-it happened sometimes! Maybe that's why people switched to DJs.... You would be very surprised at the accomplished pro musicians who never learned to read music-notation is always useful but your hearing is better. No technique can replace passion, although the piano is such a challenge since it basically is a mechanical contraption, difficult to deal with IMO. I sometimes envy people who can wrestle such expressivity out of say a violin or cello, or a beautiful brass or woodwind passage which also present challenges. All we can do is vary dynamics, timing and sustain or sostenuto-admittedly alot there, but aside from synths, can't bend pitches as with almost all the other instruments (even a vibraphone can bend notes a bit if you know the technique and it is very subtle) or create broad crescendos or diminuendos without many notes. Guess this why synths got so popular. and finally-one of my best students on piano was teaching himself! One day a few years back before I retired, I heard someone playing 2 Beethoven pieces, and a Bach minuet in my music room-he was a new student and I asked him who he was studying with (a student in 6th grade). He described how his mom would buy him a CD, he would listen for awhile, and simply play what he heard! I hope David, you are in a music conservatory somewhere, not many can do that. So Sergio, no worry, keep that fire burning.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Thanks for the encouragement, Jokeyman123. I do consider myself the luckiest man in the world if only for being able to sit down at the piano and just play whatever comes to my head. Sometimes it takes effort and I learn either way. I didn't play the piano for so long (about 40 yrs) because my career went otherwise, so now that I'm retired and bought my keyboard, I've been able to get back to my passion. It's funny when one considers "alternative futures" that "could have been" had key decisions in life had been different. I used to feel bad for not pursuing the music path, but the wedding gig days would have been rough... I'm glad you survived it all!!! 😂 Thanks again, Jokeyman123. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsquare Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Very nice and smooth trills/arpeggios. Bravo my friend! I'm left-handed, so I can appreciate the right hand dexterity. I remembered where I've heard this song before: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 That was hilarious!!! 😁 Never saw the show clip but it's priceless! Thanks, Tsquare! All is relative, I guess, so you worry about right hand dexterity and I've always had a complex about my left hand sub-par performance... Never thought about left-handed piano players... I guess you're supposed to have each hand independently perform, but I can see the extra hurdle for a left-handed player. Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsquare Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Yes, Bach and Mozart are especially rough for me. However, I excel at Scott Joplin ragtime with the the syncopated left hand rhythm so go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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