Old Adam

Hmmm... if you've heard this song before, you might think that the title doesn't fit the song. Although the composer of this song, William Bolcom, seemed to know a thing or two about jazz. I can see a lot of ii-V-I's and triplet sixteenth notes....oh, yeah. You might not know what those are. But you'd think that if this Adam is so old, he wouldn't be bouncing around so much, right? But if you haven't heard the song, I'll need to tell you a little about it first.



You probably know that I like songs that are swingy and bouncy - that's why I post a lot of them. (When I say "swingy," I'm talkin' bout jazz.) So, when I was going through my list of RCM songs for grade 10, it was hard to decide which one to play because, finally, there were quite a few songs I didn't like. But when I listened to this one, I decided, "Okay, I'm doing this one.") Even though I had played songs like that many times in past years, I still liked it.

So, I started to learn the song. And guess what? I didn't have any problems with song speed! When I listened to the recording, there were just the usual things to work on with songs: "memorize the song (otherwise I'd be docked marks on the exam), put in all the little details (like rests and accents and all those things), get some shaping in (volume changes), all to make sure that it has more musicality..." I'm not trying to make it sound like my teachers don't know what they're doing. But, even though (and probably because) these are good things to do in your playing, I hear them a lot.

So, when I was done working on these things, it was time to record the song. That's the routine I almost always follow when learning a song:

• Pick a song (usually from a list)
• Learn it
• Memorize it
• Confirm speed, details, and dynamics
• Record it
• If I decide to, perform it
• Post it
• Wait for it to rack up millions of views!

Okay. I don't actually do the last one. I don't know if my songs will ever rack up millions of views. But thirty or forty is good enough, right? Wait! Stop! I'm NOT saying that you shouldn't look at the song if it already has 30 views. But I'm saying, I don't need to have millions.

Now, I've told you most of the things there are to say about the song, right? Except for one thing, which I referenced in the first paragraph. If you want people to know that you know a thing or two about music, then show it in your playing and composing. Don't just say, "I'm an expert at jazz!" People usually get opinions about musicians from how they play, not what they say.

So, are you tired of listening to me talk now? I hope you aren't tired of listening to me play, because that's what I'll give you a chance to do right now!