Some Other Spring

If my computer had accidentally mixed up the digits of the current date, I wouldn't have been able to post this song before summer started on June 21st. I usually try to post songs when their title matches up with the current season. (Of course, for those of you who are receiving this post from across the equator, it doesn't match up with the current season at all. You could call it Some Other Autumn, then.)

When I looked up this song, I found a page on "KeyboardImprov.com" that said:

Harmonically, “Some Other Spring” is really interesting. It’s as if composer Arthur Herzog Jr. said to himself in 1939, “So many songs use the same chord progressions, so let’s see how different I can make this one!” Things begin pretty conventionally, which makes it all the more surprising when the harmonic twists and turns start happening.

I think these twists and turns helped me learn a lot from this song. When I'm making improvised solos (i.e. coming up with melodies on the spot - making really good ones is harder than you think), learning to play on top of these harmonies can help me play more songs than just this one.


Listening back to this later, I think I still had a hard time soloing on these chords.


Here's an explanation you might connect with better. If you always drive on roads like this:

then it'll be much harder when you get to a road like this:

But, if you practice driving on that road, it will be easier to navigate this one.

Really, that's why we practice. We play songs faster than we'll actually have to perform them, so that we're comfortable with the song at its original speed. Sometimes we play songs really slow to get the rhythm under our fingers.

If there isn't some reason why we're forced to practice, we do it because we like music and want to get better at it.

And hopefully, you're listening to this song because you like music and want to be a better listener.

If you're working on improving a skill right now, what motivates you to keep practicing? 

Keep filling your teacup with music!

~Liya