[VIDEO] The Cure - Friday I知 in Love

[foryoda]

Here is another one of my lockdown piano arrangements of my favourite 80痴 music. The Cure - Friday I知 in Love.

[ted]

This type of music is new to me but I think I might now pay it some attention. I am surprised your videos have not drawn more comment as your playing is very clear and your sense of rhythm is incisive without thumping. Do you compose or improvise your own music too ? Nice piano, what is it ?

[foryoda]

Thank you for your comments. This is just popular music that I enjoyed when I was younger. I find the rhythms of pop music to be very challenging given my classical training.  I am playing on a rebuilt Steinway baby grand. I don稚 compose or improvise unfortunately.

[ted]

Thank you for your comments. This is just popular music that I enjoyed when I was younger. I find the rhythms of pop music to be very challenging given my classical training.  I am playing on a rebuilt Steinway baby grand. I don稚 compose or improvise unfortunately.

Well it is not apparent to me that you find rhythm challenging, quite the opposite. Maybe the creative aspect is worth your consideration, worth a try. No prerequisites, no rules, no lessons, just start playing sounds you enjoy every day, doesn稚 matter what other people think. It will reward you as you get older more than any other musical activity.

[foryoda]

Thank you very much for your encouragement!

[ranjit]

I've heard about The Cure, but haven't listened to any of their songs yet. I should check them out, this sounds interesting.

I've thought long and hard about what makes a good piano cover of a pop song. I love the way you use inner voices. There were a couple of things that came to mind when I listened to your playing. Don't get me wrong -- your cover is really nice. These are just some suggestions.

Firstly, maybe reconsider the voicing of the melody. To my ears, it sounds like the arrangement would sound better if the melody stood out a little more and was phrased differently. It's not just to do with volume, but rather how you kind of convey the nuances of the singing on the piano. How you phrase the rest of the parts will also make a difference, but the melody is more important. Listen to a few popular piano covers or those which you really like and I think you will get what I mean. Complexity of the arrangement doesn't matter that much when it comes to arrangements of popular music. Once you strip down all of the other elements, one of the main things which really remains to differentiate a good pop piano cover from a poor one is how well the phrasing and voicing works to convey the emotion of the song.

Secondly, I think more dynamic variation would work to increase cohesiveness and interest. Typically, in a pop song, the intensity keeps building. For example, you might have an A section, then you have a different B section, then you have A with more instrumentation, detailing and volume, then a bridge section C with a lower dynamic, and then a final bombast at the end. Try to listen to how this works, and follow the "arc" while you're playing the whole piece. It might be hard to discern, but I can guarantee it's there. It might only be a 10 dB difference on the record, but it works because of all the variation in intensity that can be brought about due to instrumentation. In order to convey that on the piano, I've found that one of two things can work -- either tempo variation, or detailing (such as adding arpeggios, or inner lines, or playing a block chord instead of a plain old octave...).

Hope you find this useful! Arranging covers of popular songs can be a lot of fun. I just wanted to put this out there because it's what I've gleaned from listening to thousands of piano covers and trying to arrange popular songs for the past few years. It's been my experience that those who "figure it out" do many of these things instinctively, but it's seldom if ever documented, perhaps because they aren't thinking of it in these terms. I am pretty confident that it can be understood without having to resort to some fancy appeal to emotions, it's just that it's very much like jazz in some respects in that most of the "real" stuff isn't written down anywhere, and you have to explore, listen and try and figure it out on your own.

[foryoda]

Thank you so much for your detailed and insightful comments. I completely agree with what you are saying especially about the dynamics.  I chose the pieces because of the challenge and the complexity of bringing out the different voices but you are right in that they can be brought out more musically.  I will definitely take all your comments on board going forward.  Thank you again!