Ernesto Lecuona - Por Eso Te Quiero - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Ernesto Lecuona was one of Cuba's most prolific composers, most famous for "Malaguena". A child prodigy, he graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana at 16, and was the link between the virtuosic pianistic tradition of the 19th-century and the modern age, incorporating jazz and Latin American dance rhythms.

In 1954 Lecuona recorded an original piece that he never notated - a beautiful, impassioned Romantic ballad for solo piano, "Por Eso Te Quiero" ("That's Why I Love You"). I've carefully transcribed it note-for-note, exactly as Lecuona himself recorded it sixty-two years ago.

If you perform "Malaguena", a wonderful virtuoso piece, this beautiful Romantic ballad is a perfect compliment to it.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Ernesto Lecuona - "Por Eso Te Quiero" ("That's Why I Love You")

Ernie K-Doe - Hello My Lover - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Hello My Lover", recorded in 1962, was one of the series of hits that Allen Toussaint produced on Ernie K-Doe that began the preceding year with "Mother-in-Law". And like "Mother-in-Law" Toussaint included a terrific, New Orleans-style piano solo in it that has a particularly slinky feel to it. Included in the solo are a number of pianistic tricks from Toussaint's bag of tricks, including "yodeling sixths", 'crushed' chords (containing a minor second), Left Hand tenths, double grace-notes, a tremolo, and more of Toussaint's own chord voicings - a New Orleans pianistic cornucopia.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Allen Toussaint's 16-bar piano solo - one of his best. If you'd like to play it exactly as he did, and hopefully learn some of his 'tricks' in the process, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Ernie K-Doe - "Hello My Lover" - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint

Ernie K-Doe - Mother-in-Law - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

A native of New Orleans like Allen Toussaint, Ernie K-Doe began recording in 1955 as a solo artist, but it would be 1961 before he teamed up with Toussaint, a pairing that produced "Mother-in-Law", a #1 hit on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts. The song was written and produced by Toussaint, who also played piano on it, including one of the most iconic piano solos in all of pop music. Toussaint recorded a sound that many pianists have tried to imitate.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Allen Toussaint's 16-bar piano solo in "Mother-in-Law", plus the first two bars after the vocal re-enters. A study in New Orleans' ultra-cool piano style, it includes Toussaint's use of both 3rds and 6ths, single- and two-note grace notes, octave fills, his own unique voicing, just the right amount of syncopation - and all with a terrific Left Hand part, supportive and complimentary without getting in the way.

If you've wanted to study Allen Toussaint's piano style and learn to play it, this classic solo is your chance. .

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Ernie K-Doe - "Mother-in-Law" - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint

Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Popeye Joe" was one of the most danceable of Ernie K-Doe's hits, written by K-Doe to take advantage of a current dance craze with the same name. Allen Toussaint produced it and worked his magic with the inclusion of a terrific piano solo, a formula that had worked for his hits with K-Doe since the first one, "Mother-in-Law".

In this solo Toussaint uses syncopated octaves, tri-tones, 'crushed' chords (containing a minor second), octave grace-notes, and a New Orleans-style 'flip'.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire 16-bar Piano Solo, plus the measures immediately before and after the solo - 18 bars total. If you love Toussaint's piano style and want to play exactly his notes, this is your chance.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Ernie K-Doe - "Popeye Joe" - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint

Ernie K-Doe - She's Waiting - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"She's Waiting" was another Allen Toussaint-produced hit for Ernie K-Doe in the early 1960's. Like K-Doe's biggest hit, "Mother-in-Law", Toussaint not only produced it but also played a terrific New Orleans-flavored piano solo. Beginning and ending with a classic turn-around figure (with Toussaint's unique voicings), the solo incorporates terrific use of thirds, sixths, octaves, and 'crushed' notes (minor seconds) - and as usual, a creative, understated Left Hand.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Allen Toussaint's entire 12-bar piano solo, plus the two bars preceding and following it, for a total of 16 bars. If you're studying Toussaint's style - one of the greatest piano styles that New Orleans has ever produced - this is exactly what you need to play the solo just as he did.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Ernie K-Doe - "She's Waiting" - Piano Solo by Allen Toussaint

Ethel Caffie-Austin - Amazing Grace - Solo Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of the greatest players of authentic old-time gospel piano plays one of gospel's greatest hymns - that is Ethel Caffie-Austin playing "Amazing Grace". Born in a rural West Virginia town to a Pentacostal preacher father, Ethel began playing piano at age six and by age nine was accompanying Pentacostal church services. She has been appointed the Minister of Music for the State of West Virginia, and is known as the First Lady of Gospel Music. There are very few, if any, better players of this terrific old joyous, uplifting style.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Ethel Caffie-Austin's wonderful solo piano (no vocals) performance of "Amazing Grace", complete with walk-ups, walk-downs, octaves, arpeggiations, gospel chords, stride-like Left Hand, plus Ethel's "signature lick" as she herself calls it. Ethel 'swings' this old gospel classic effortlessly, making all the complex gospel elements seem as easy as breathing. If you have ever wanted to play authentic old-style gospel piano, it doesn't get any better than this.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is a Ethel Caffie-Austin's "Amazing Grace" on YouTube.

Etta James - At Last - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"At Last" is simply one of the most beautiful romantic ballades in R&B and Pop history. Etta James' version, released in 1961, is the definitive version of this classic, originally written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the movie "Orchestra Wives". Celine Dion covered it in 2002, as did Beyonce in 2008, but no version has ever had the pure magic that Etta James' recording did (an excerpt of which was used as a Jaguar commercial in the 1990's).

The piano is very difficult to hear under the other instruments and string orchestra, but this is a note-for-note transcription of the piano part from Etta James' version. The song has some tricky, difficult-to-hear chord changes, but every one is of course notated precisely in this note-for-note transcription of the entire song - all 41 measures - including augmented chords, Major ninth chords, seven-flat-nine chords, sharp-nine chords, ninth chords, thirteenth chords, and various inversions.

And although this is not a transcription of the entire string arrangement, it does include the main string line that begins the recording before Etta's vocal enters (and ends the piece in the Out Section).

If you've ever wanted to play "At Last" but just couldn't get it to sound right - or just wanted to study the amazing chord progressions in it - here is your chance to play it exactly as Etta James recorded it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Etta James' "At Last" on YouTube.

If you want not only the piano part but also the bass guitar part (it may be an upright bass on the recording), a transcription is also available that contains the bass part note-for-note - every single bass note of the entire Etta James' recording. This transcription contains both the piano part and the bass part (three staves):

Faces - Stay with Me - Main 2 Electric Piano Riffs (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of rock's classics, "Stay with Me" (1971) by Faces had a particularly distinctive keyboard part, an electric piano played by Ian McLagan. This is a short transcription of just the two main Right Hand electric piano riffs - about 11 seconds total - that occur at :28 and 3:56 in the song. However, they will be useful to players wanting to precisely re-create that 'sound', or to perform it in their own band.

This is short, and thus, inexpensive - $3.95.

Difficulty: Easy

To listen, just click: "Stay with Me" - Riff 1 and Riff 2.

Floyd Cramer - Could I Have This Dance - Piano Part - Verses 1 & 2 (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Floyd Cramer was the most important Country/Pop pianist of the 20th century. After moving to Nashville in 1955 at the age of 22, Cramer revolutionized C&W piano-playing with his 'slip-note' style, which he said he got from Mother Maybelle Carter's guitar stylings. He quickly became Nashville's #1 session pianist, recording with everyone from Elvis to Roy Orbison to The Everly Brothers. "Could I Have This Dance", while not as famous as "Last Date", illustrates his wonderful slip-note style, showing in detail exactly how every embellishment was played on the recording.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the Intro and the first two Verses - the first 39 seconds of the song (20 measures). If you've been wondering exactly how Floyd gets his unique sound, this will show you how to play it yourself.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Floyd Cramer - "Could I Have This Dance" (1st 2 Verses)

Floyd Cramer - Last Date (transcribed & arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Floyd Cramer was the top session pianist in Nashville from 1955 until his death in 1997, recording with Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, and a long list of other top artists. He created the 'twangy' slip-note style that so many other pianists have tried to emulate - a style that he said was influenced by Mother Maybelle Carter, although she was a guitarist and autoharpist. In 1960 he wrote and recorded "Last Date", which became the largest hit of his own career as an artist. "Last Date" inspired a whole new generation of pianists to copy his slip-note technique.

I've transcribed the entire song and added a Left Hand part that allows the song to be performed as a solo piano piece, not requiring a rhythm section accompaniment. If you've ever wanted to study Floyd Cramer's style and really learn just how he created his unique slip-note style, this transcription/arrangement is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" on YouTube.

Floyd Cramer - One Day at a Time - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

This is a note-for-note transcription of Floyd Cramer's beautiful recording of "One Day at a Time (Sweet Jesus)", released on his Gospel Classics album in 1990. It contains not only his famous 'slip-notes' but also at least six other types of embellishments that comprise his classic piano sound.

It also includes his Left Hand part, of course, which is usually difficult to hear on his recordings. If you'd like to play a Gospel classic exactly as it was recorded by the genius of Nashville piano, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI file of this transcription is also available:

The Gaithers - Victory in Jesus - (transcr/arranged for Piano by Elmo Peeler.pdf

"Victory in Jesus" is a popular Protestant hymn written in 1939 by Eugene Bartlett in Tennessee. This arrangement is loosely based upon a performance of it by the Gaithers (on YouTube here).

The best licks from the original piano part were kept, including the bluesy ones, but then greatly expanded upon. An additional Chorus (and modulation up) has been added, with completely new material. There is much more of me in this arrangement than the Gaithers. Just listen to the example(s) below to compare.

My goal in this arrangement, slightly over 4 minutes long, was to recreate the Southern "white gospel" piano sound that I grew up with in Mississippi. At the end of every Sunday's church service, the Music Director, a portly baritone who played piano by ear magnificently, would play various hymns on the grand piano as the congregation would file out - filling the church to its rafters with his large, full, glorious piano sound. From the balcony above I would watch his hands, and marvel at his octave runs - in both hands - that propelled the music along.

This is my recreation of that early Baptist piano sound still in my head, while still keeping some of the elements of the Gaithers' pianist, who was more bluesy than my portly Musical Director.

If you enjoy gospel piano, which has so many overlapping elements of rock/pop/C&W, this arrangement should help you better understand how to play it.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: "Victory in Jesus" - arranged for Piano by Elmo Peeler

To hear it on an old country church-style piano, just click: "Victory in Jesus" - arranged for Piano by Elmo Peeler - on church piano

Garth Brooks - Squeeze Me In - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood released "Squeeze Me In" in 2002 on Brooks' Scarecrow album. It charted at #16 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart and was nominated for a Grammy.

An uptempo C&W song with a honky-tonk barroom feel, the "Squeeze Me In" piano part was played by Memphis session veteran Bobby Wood. The piano track is an eclectic mix of styles, containing elements of rockabilly, honky-tonk and R&B. This is a transcription of the version that was on Brooks' Scarecrow album.

Difficulty: Moderate

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI file

George Michael - Freedom 90 - Piano Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

George Michael released "Freedom 90" in 1990 on his Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 album. After 8 bars of percussion, the piano comes in and plays a 32-bar Intro before the vocals begin. That piano part utilizes the hands in a Left-Right-Left-Right pattern very much as though the keyboardist is playing conga or bongo drums on the piano. This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire 32-bar piano Intro, including the double-glissando (in thirds).

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: George Michael - "Freedom 90" (32-bar Piano Intro)

George Winston - Cloudy This Morning - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

George Winston is simply the most talented New Age pianist/composer on the scene. The first time I saw him was on TV playing a guitar duet with the late, great Chet Atkins. When they were finished, Winston put down his guitar, went to the piano, and played an amazing New Age piece of his own. When the camera showed his hands on the keyboard, they looked absolutely terrible - very bad hand position, almost claw-like, as though he'd never had a lesson in his life. If the sound had been turned down, one would have thought that it must sound amateurish. But the sounds that came out were quite the opposite; the piano playing was terrific. Winston displayed a very high level of creativity and it was clear that he was a creative force to be respected and admired. Clearly Chet Atkins was proud to share the stage with him.

One of the things Winston is good at is creating music that is not just pretty, but goes beyond that to paint a picture - a true soundscape. And "Cloudy This Morning" does just that. Although it's not particularly easy, it's a lot of fun to play, and will take the listener - and the performer - into Winston's own colorful world - a kaleidoscope of tones.

Although some of Winston's compositions have been transcribed, "Cloudy This Morning" (from his album "Forest") has never been made available before. This note-for-note piano transcription will let your own hands recreate just what George Winston's hands must feel like as he paints a picture of a cloudy morning, and the moods that go with it. This is your opportunity to not only play his music precisely as he recorded it, but to also study it and understand better the wonderfully creative mind that conceived it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is George Winston's "Cloudy This Morning" on YouTube.

Georgia Satellites - Whole Lotta Shakin' - Piano Solo & Out Section (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

When the Georgia Satellites decided to cover Jerry Lee Lewis' classic "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" they hired Ian McLagan to lay down the piano track. Even faster than Jerry Lee's version (177 vs 161 BPM), McLagan takes a high-energy 12-bar piano solo (13 including the pick-up) complete with octaves, hammered 4ths, two-handed triplets, and classic boogie riffs. Then the entire Out section is another piano solo, continuing the high energy of the first Solo. By careful electronic processing, the Out section was able to be transcribed all the way through the fade-out to the very end, 19 bars.

This is a note-for-note transcription of both the main piano solo and the piano solo during Out section - a total of 32 bars of the legendary Ian McLagan's rollicking, high-energy piano-soloing. If you'd like to play the solos in "Whole Lotta Shakin'" exactly as Ian McLagan did, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is the Georgia Satellites' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on YouTube.

Gerry & the Pacemakers - How Do You Do It - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"How Do You Do It" was the debut single by Gerry & the Pacemakers, released in the UK in 1963 and in the US in 1964. It went to #1 on the UK Singles Chart. This is a note-for-note transcription of the excellent tack piano solo.

Although the song itself has a Major Key sound, the piano solo is decidedly minor-key bluesy, complete with several 'flips' plus six 'crushed' notes where the D and E-flat (in the key of A) are played simultaneously to really enhance the bluesy effect.

This Piano Solo transcription also includes the two bars immediately preceding and the two bars immediately following the solo, so that you can get into and out of the solo just as it was recorded.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI file of this transcription is also available:

Gilbert O'Sullivan - Clair - Harmonica Solo with Bass (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan had a hit with "Clair", a song about a three-year-old girl for whom O'Sullivan had baby-sat. It contains a hauntingly beautiful harmonica solo, played by three-year-old Clair's father, Gordon Mills, who happened to be Gilbert O'Sullivan's manager and an award-winning harmonica virtuoso.

This is a transcription of just the 8-bar harmonica solo. It also contains the bass guitar part during the harmonica solo.

Difficulty: Easy

Here is the harmonica solo in Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Clair" on YouTube.

Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You - Main Guitar Riff (transcribed & arr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of the Gin Blossoms' catchiest guitar riffs is the 4-bar phrase that starts "Found Out About You". This is an exact transcription of that guitar riff - just those four measures. If you're a keyboard player, this is what you need to double that guitar line or to devise your own accompaniment. If you're not sure how to create your own accompaniment to the guitar riff, a 4-bar piano part is also included that can be used as a starting point.

Difficulty: Easy

To listen, just click: Gin Blossoms - "Found Out About You" (Guitar Riff)

Glenn Frey - Route 66 - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Route 66" was composed in 1946 by Bobby Troup, and first recorded by Nat King Cole, for whom it was a big hit. Since then it has been recorded by many other artists, including Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, and the Rolling Stones. Glenn Frey of the Eagles recorded it in 2012 with a Western swing feel and released it on his After Hours album. The pianist was Michael Thompson, a touring member of the Eagles, Don Henley's band and Glenn Frey's band.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part, which contains the equivalent of two solos - the actual 12-bar piano solo plus a 23-bar Instrumental Tag at the end. And the Left Hand supports the Right Hand lines with excellent 'jazzy' Western swing chords, including 9th & 13th chords, flat-9 chords, sharp-5 sharp-9 chords, and others. Plus, the two hands together are often voiced in nice, fat block chords reminiscent of the tightly-voiced block chords found in the horn section of a big band.

If you'd like to study "Western swing" in general, and learn the exact part on Glenn Frey's recording, you'll love this.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI file of this transcription is also available:

Here is Glenn Frey's "Route 66" on YouTube.  

Groundhog Day - Medley - Phil's Piano Solo & 18th Variation (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

The 1993 movie Groundhog Day won numerous awards, was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and has since become respected as one of the best comedy movies ever made. Bill Murray was its star, playing Phil, who in the movie learned through arudous practice to become a virtuoso pianist. The director was Harold Ramis, who had previously directed Murray in two very successful movies, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. Ramis wanted to focus more on the comedic aspects of the script, while Murray wanted to accentuate the philosophical aspects. This led to a falling out between the two, and they never spoke again until shortly before Ramis' death in 2014.

In the movie Murray's character Phil performs an impressive uptempo medley which starts out with a terrific piano boogie and then segues into a jazzy version of Rachmaninoff's 18th Variation from his Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire medley, not just the piano boogie. The official title was "Medley: Phil's Piano Solo/Eighteenth Variation from Rapsodie (sic) on a Theme of Paganini" and was arranged and played by Chicago-based studio musician Terry Fryer.

If you've ever wanted to play Phil's entire piano medley exactly as Bill Murray's character played it in the movie - including his version of the 18th Variation - this transcription is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Phil's Medley from Groundhog Day on YouTube.

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine - Piano Arrangement/Chord Chart (transcribed & arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

The Guns N' Roses' 1988 classic, "Sweet Child of Mine", has no piano in it. This is a simple arrangement based on the exact guitar and bass guitar notes. If you want to play "Sweet Child of Mine" in a band, or to accompany a singer, this is what you need.

The exact guitar notes that open the song, all the way up to when the vocal enters, are included in the Right Hand Part. The Left Hand is the Bass Guitar part, note-for-note. Please note that after the Intro, the Right Hand chords are represented by slashes with chord names above them, so you do need to have a working knowledge of chords and the ability to improvise. This is perfect as a "road map" of the entire song.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child of Mine" on YouTube.

Hank Williams Jr. - La Grange - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Based on a timeless blues-shuffle riff (also used in Canned Heat's "On the Road Again"), "La Grange" was written and originally recorded by ZZ Top in 1973. In 1983 Hank Williams Jr. recorded it on his "Strong Stuff" album, complete with a more-rock-than country piano solo. The Nashville session pianist threw in lots of rocking goodies: hammered tritone-based power chords, octaves, thirds, very-rapid-note Billy Powell-style repeated riffs.

This is a transcription of the 33-bar solo - 50 seconds of driving blues/rock piano soloing with a slight country edge. If you'd like to study this style of rock piano, and play the solo just like Hank Williams Jr.'s piano-player, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is "La Grange" by Hank Williams Jr. on YouTube. The piano solo begins at 3:13.

The Highwaymen - Me and Bobby McGee - Piano Solo & Riffs (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

When four legends of country music - Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson -  decided to go on tour together, they hired one of Memphis' long-time session players, Bobby Emmons, to do the job. One of the songs that featured Emmons in a piano solo was Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee".

And Emmons' solo does not disappoint. Throwing in lots of thirds, and ending in a descending two-octave run, the solo is a fun, tasteful 16-bar country/rock romp.

Also included are two important piano riffs that occur earlier in the song than the solo. One riff is two bars long, and the other a three-bar riff.

This is a note-for-note transcription of all sixteen bars of Bobby Emmons' piano solo - both hands (plus the five bars of the two riffs). Here is your chance to learn and study a wonderful, well-constructed rock-a-billy piano solo.

To see a customer's comment about this transcription, click here.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here are The Highwaymen performing "Me & Bobby McGee" on YouTube. The piano solo is from 3:42 to 4:08 on the video. The riffs occur around 1:51 and 2:17.

Horace Silver - Senor Blues - Opening 2-bar Piano Riff (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Señor Blues" is a composition by Horace Silver, American jazz (hard bop) pianist, composer, and arranger. It is a 12/8 Latin piece with a dark, exotic flavor that recalls no other jazz composer as much as Duke Ellington. The first two chords are E-flat minor and B7, resembling (whether consciously intended or not) one of Ellington's favorite harmonic gestures.

Please note that this is just the 2-bar Intro - the first 22 atmospheric notes - a tantalizing snippet to get you started on the right track. Someone asked me to transcribe this short phrase from a 1959 Horace Silver video, so I thought it might be of help to others.

Difficulty: Easy

Here is Horace Silver performing "Senor Blues" in that same 1959 video.

Howard Jones - No One Is To Blame (Live) - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Welsh musician Howard Jones wrote "No One Is To Blame" and released two different versions of it on his 1985 and 1986 albums, Dream into Action and One to One. The single became Jones' biggest hit in the United States, reaching #1 on the adult contemporary chart in 1986. A song with a lovely melody and chords, it contains thoughtful, poetic lyrics about love, both spiritual and carnal, and human limitations.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the beautiful piano part from his live performance with just piano and vocal on the Ken Bruce TV Show on June 5, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. One of Jones' pianistic strengths is his control, i.e., his ability to bring out the top melody line while subordinating the 'accompaniment', both in the Right Hand. Another strength is his chord voicings, e.g., his use of Dsus2, E7sus4 and E7(no 5) chords. This gives him a different piano 'sound' than the vast majority of rock pianists, who use less creative voicings.

All in all, he has a very impressive piano style that sounds simple at first listen but upon closer examination reveals itself to be quite evolved/sophisticated - a very talented musician indeed, not just an outstanding songwriter.

If you'd like to learn how Howard Jones plays this wonderful, very touching song, this transcription is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Click here to watch Howard Jones performing this version of "No One Is To Blame" on YouTube.  

The J. Geils Band - Give It to Me - Piano & Bass Parts (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

When The G. Jeils Band released "Give It to Me" in 1973, they gave pop music one of its most danceable hits, fueled by an infectuous rhythmic  2-bar piano phrase that rides atop a wonderfully-syncopated reggae bass line.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part for the radio version - a little over three minutes long - all 90 measures. Also included is the bass guitar line, so this transcription will be very helpful for those that might be playing this song with a bass player.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is The J. Geils Band performing "Give It to Me" on YouTube.

Jackson Browne - I Thought I Was a Child - Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

A first-rate songwriter, Jackson Browne is also a talented pianist, whose style is quite recognizable but not well understood among keyboard players. "I Thought I Was a Child" (from his "For Everyman" album) starts off with a nice long piano introduction that displays his classic piano sound - clangy, almost guitar-like in its use of open 4ths, suspensions, and added seconds.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano Introduction from "I Thought I Was a Child" - all 44 seconds of it. This is a wonderful chance to study Browne's piano style and play his exact notes.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jackson Browne's "I Thought I Was a Child" on YouTube.

Jackson Browne - Looking into You - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jackson Browne's very first album, self-titled "Jackson Browne", contained some great songs, including "Jamaica Say You Will", "Doctor My Eyes", and "Rock Me on the Water". However, Browne says that his favorite songs on that album are the "low-intensity" songs, including "Looking into You".

On some of his recordings he preferred to use session pianists, often Craig Doerge. However, on this song, one of his earliest, Jackson himself played piano. Not a flashy pianist, he plays an understated style that is usually in the warm mid-register of the keyboard, and gets a lot of music out of relatively few notes. The key to his style is all about being sensitive to register and voicings. Also, his left hand doesn't always play the the root of the chord, subtly sneaking in unexpected inversions.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire song - all 179 bars - 4:20 long. If you like Jackson Browne's style but can't quite figure out what his voicings are or what his left hand is doing, this is exactly what you need to play "Looking into You" just as Jackson Browne himself recorded it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jackson Browne's "Looking into You" on YouTube.

Jackson Browne - Rock Me on the Water - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of Jackson Browne's biggest hits was "Rock Me on the Water", released in 1972. The track is unusual in that there is no guitar, only a top-notch three-piece rhythm section: Russ Kunkel, drum; Leland Sklar, bass; and Craig Doerge on piano. David Crosby sang harmony.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire album version - all 4:13 of it - 105 bars of terrific rock/gospel piano by one of L.A.'s best session players, emulating Jackson Browne's own piano style while adding Doerge's professional touches. Full of gospel-like rolls, church-like voicings, and the tasteful use of 6th's, the piano part starts with simple 3-note chords and builds to a terrific Out section with fat, 4-note chords rockin' so much that the absence of guitars isn't even noticed.

If you like the piano style on Jackson Browne's recordings, you'll enjoy learning the terrific, fun licks on this rock classic.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jackson Browne's "Rock Me on the Water" on YouTube.

Jacob Tolliver - Boogie Woogie Country Man (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jacob Tolliver, a piano-player from Portsmouth, Ohio, lives and breathes Jerry Lee Lewis' music. After his YouTube video of "Whole Lotta Shakin'" went viral, he was cast in the Las Vegas show Million Dollar Quartet, and from there he went on to be the opening act for Jerry Lee. There are at least a couple of videos on YouTube of Jacob performing for The Killer at his home on his 85th birthday. Jerry Lee definitely gave Jacob his blessing and really enjoyed Tolliver's performances.

A video of Jacob playing "Boogie Woogie Country Man" in the original hardware store setting has gotten about a million views on YouTube. This is a note-for-note transcription of that performance, in which Tolliver uses five different Jerry Lee Lewis left hand patterns plus a bridge section where he does the very-highly-raised lifting of his hands like The Killer himself used to do.

If you'd like to study Jerry Lee Lewis' style, learning to play Jacob Tolliver's versions is a good way to learn some of Jerry Lee's pianistic tricks. This is a fun boogie-woogie that has great visual appeal for the audience.

Difficulty: Challenging

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI file

Jacob Tolliver - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

A couple of years a video was posted onto YouTube titled "Crazy Random Guy Rocks Out in Hardware Store", and has received almost 3,000,000 views! The pianist with the backwards red cap wailing on "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" is Jacob Tolliver, and the hardware store is Market Street Hardware in Portsmouth, OH.

He is currently performing in the Las Vegas production of the Million Dollar Quartet, portraying Jerry Lee Lewis. In late 2014 Jerry Lee was asked by Keyboard Magazine about Jacob Tolliver, and the Killer replied, "He's pretty good isn't he? I think he's great."

Because Tolliver really is talented and his version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' has made so many ripples, from YouTube to American Idol to Las Vegas, I've transcribed his entire Hardware Store performance.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jacob Tolliver ("Crazy Random Guy") performing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on YouTube.

James Taylor - Steamroller Blues (Live) - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

James Taylor wrote "Steamroller Blues" in 1969 and released the studio version in 1970. In 1975 he recorded a Live version at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles and released it in 1976 on his Greatest Hits album. The Live version added an acoustic piano part played by L.A. session musician Clarence McDonald, including a terrific, very bluesy piano solo.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the piano solo in "Steamroller" (Live), complete with all the Left Hand chord voicings, of course. The solo starts with descending chords in the Richard Tee R&B style and proceeds into wonderful "flips", Gospel-flavored licks, a bluesy tremolo, octaves, and builds into large two-handed chords, ending with a descending glissando - a concise seminar on blues licks that all pianists should have at their fingertips.

If you'd like to study how this excellent solo was played, and perform it exactly as it was recorded, this transcription is just what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is the piano solo on James Taylor's "Steamroller" (Live) on YouTube.

Jason Mraz - The Woman I Love - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

When Jason Mraz recorded "The Woman I Love" in 2012, he chose one of Los Angeles' best session keyboardists to play the acoustic piano part, Jeff Babco. The track has a terrific up, happy feeling, with a wonderful 8-bar piano solo in the middle of it.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the excellent acoustic piano solo in "The Woman I Love".

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Jason Mraz - "The Woman I Love" (Piano Solo)

Jay McShann - Going to Kansas City - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1982 Blues Hall of Famer Jay McShann, based in Kansas City since he was twenty, recorded one of the most memorable performances of the uptempo blues classic, "Going to Kansas City". Released on his "Best of Friends" album with guitarist Al Casey, the recording contains three guitar solos before McShann's three piano solos.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part - 4:29 in length, all 143 measures. Plus, I transcribed Casey's three guitar solos and arranged them for piano in McShann's style. So this includes six piano solos, back-to-back - full of wonderful blues 'rolls', flips, tremolos, chordal stabs, classic Kansas City-style fills, and four different Left Hand patterns.

If you've wanted to play "Going to Kansas City" with an authentic K.C. blues feel, or just want to learn more about uptempo blues playing in general, this transcription is exactly what you need. Let Jay McShann be your teacher.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jay McShann's "Going to Kansas City" on YouTube.
Click here to listen to my transcription, which contains the three guitar solos arranged for piano.

Jeff Beck Group (Nicky Hopkins) - Girl from Mill Valley - Piano Part (Transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Nicky Hopkins was rock's greatest session piano player, recording with The Beatles, the Who, the Kinks, Jeff Beck, Jerry Garcia, Cat Stevens, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker and many others. Classically trained, Nicky always brought an elegance to his rock playing, nowhere embodied more beautifully than his own original composition, "Girl from Mill Valley", recorded with the Jeff Beck Group in 1969.

In 9/8 meter, it's a gospel-rock waltz within a waltz. Written for an unrequited love, this emotional ballade uses some of Hopkins' most effective techniques: tremolos, melody in sixths, creatively-voiced 'walk-downs', IV-chord bumps, high tinkley strums, octave runs - and on top of it all, starting about halfway through, he overdubs a second piano part with even more gospel riffs.

This is a note-for-note transcription of both piano parts combined into one - nothing has been left out. If you've wondered how Nicky Hopkins achieved his legendary sound - how he voiced chords, how he constructed his licks, his rhythms - this extraordinary transcription is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Nicky Hopkins' "Girl from Mill Valley" on YouTube.

The Jeff Beck Group - Going Down - Piano Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jeff Beck is certainly one of rock's greatest guitarists. In 1995 when I was conducting/arranging/playing all of Rod Stewart's 'Unplugged' concerts, he was our opening act at The Gorge. I had the pleasure of watching his extreme virtuosity from the side of the stage just feet away - quite amazing musicianship.

Beck, who has always worked with only the finest musicians, has described Max Middleton as his most significant collaborator during the most commercially successful period of his career. Middleton's fluency in jazz chords forced the blues-rock guitar virtuoso to extend himself and his music in new and unexpected directions.

"Going Down", released in 1972, contains one of rock piano's most recognizable descending-octave riffs, underpinned by a driving Left Hand boogie pattern. The song begins with a strong solo piano Intro - Middleton by himself - that sets the tone for, and leads into, that classic descending riff.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the 23-bar piano Intro in "Going Down", starting with a brief out-of-time free-form section, then riffing through several strongly-rhythmic sequences and modulating, after which Middleton establishes the Right Hand tremolo figure supported by a powerhouse boogie-woogie Left Hand pattern rarely used since the 1930's (perhaps because of its difficulty). If you've ever wanted to play "Going Down" just as it was recorded by the Jeff Beck Group, this Intro is a perfect place to start.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is The Jeff Beck Group's "Going Down" on YouTube (the piano Intro is the first 34 seconds).

The Jeff Beck Group - Going Down - Left Hand Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1972 The Jeff Beck Group released their version of the blues classic, "Going Down". The pianist was Max Middleton, who was classically-trained. His right hand parts are more easily copied than his left hand pattern, which was influenced by Jerry Lee Lewis' left hand patterns. Very few pianists play this challenging 24-bar Left Hand pattern correctly, which is difficult to pick out but necessary to play correctly to accurately capture the feel of the recording.

This note-for-note transcription does not include any Right Hand parts, but is precisely the 24-bar Left Hand pattern, which, at 175 BPM, is challenging to get up to speed, but a lot of fun to play. If you'd like to learn it, here it is, exactly as Max Middleton recorded it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is the Jeff Beck Group's "Going Down" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless - Piano Part with Guitar Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Breathless" was the third record by Jerry Lee Lewis, released in 1958 when he was 22. At the peak of his pianistic powers, the song is full of his youthful energy and exuberance. Recorded with just guitar, bass, and drums as accompaniment, Jerry Lee's piano is the driving force.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part, including the energetic 12-bar piano solo, filled with pounding chords, tremolos and glissandi. Also included is the guitar solo (on a 3rd staff over the piano part). If you'd like to play "Breathless" just as Jerry Lee recorded it in 1958, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Breathless" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Cold, Cold Heart (1958) - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis first recorded Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" in 1958 but it wasn't released until many years later, 1983, on "The Sun Years" compilation on Charly Records. It included an excellent 10-bar early-Jerry Lee piano solo.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the Piano Solo, plus the 2-bar turn-around and lead-in, and the first two bars of subsequent verse (to show how he accompanies himself during the Verse) - a total of 14 measures of early, classic Jerry Lee. Even the tremolos are written out, note-for-note. If you're studying The Killer's style, this will be very helpful - plus it's a lot of fun to play, exactly as recorded in 1958.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Cold, Cold Heart" (1958) on YouTube. The piano solo starts at 1:44.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Cold, Cold Heart (1961) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis first recorded Hank Williams' classic "Cold, Cold Heart" in 1958 but it wasn't released (until 1983). In 1961 he re-recorded it with a different, faster arrangement and released it as a single.

The piano Intro starts immediately with serious right-hand tremolos and sets the stage for classic Jerry Lee comping and soloing throughout the song.

The 19-bar solo starts with a series of tremolos that lead into a virtuosic ascending/descending scale/arpeggio run ending with an ascending/descending glissando. More tremolos follow, punctuated by runs and cool rhythmic figures, and ends with a recap of the tremolos that began the song's Intro. Really terrific country-rock piano-playing by a master still at his peak (26 years old).

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire recording - all 90 measures. Listen to the YouTube link below and notice that the tremolos for the most part aren't the plain & simple variety but are more elaborate and 'fancy-fied'. Every note is written out, including the tremolos, so that you can learn it exactly as it was recorded. If you study Jerry Lee's piano-playing and would like to better imitate his style, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Cold, Cold Heart" (1961) on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Cold, Cold Heart (1969) - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1969 Jerry Lee Lewis recorded Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" for the third and last time. This version had a different arrangement than the previous two (1958 & 1961), and was released on his "Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 2" album.

This is a note-for-note transcription of just the 10-bar Piano Solo, which is similar to the solo in his 1961 recording but different enough to warrant its own transcription. In it he transitions smoothly from a tremolo in 3rds to one in 6ths, then follows them with an excellent right-hand walkdown in 'yodeling' 6ths before concluding with a final tremolo and glissando.

If you're studying Jerry Lee's style, you should get all three transcriptions (1958, 1961, 1969) of his "Cold, Cold Heart". They each bring something different to the table.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Cold, Cold Heart" (1969) on YouTube. The piano solo starts at 1:34.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Crazy Arms (1956) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In November 1956 21-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis and his daddy, Elmo Lewis, sold 30 dozen eggs to pay for the drive from their home in Ferriday, Louisiana to Memphis, to meet Sam Phillips, the Memphis-based producer of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. Before the year was over, young Jerry Lee had his very first single released on Sun Records, his own version of Ray Price's song, "Crazy Arms".

In this very early recording - and his early recordings show his playing at its best - Jerry Lee uses a Country-and-Western/honky-tonk swing piano style. Occasionally he uses a Left-Hand-then-Right-Hand style that he would use on his next single, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", but without the 12/8 'swing' of "Crazy Arms".

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire 1956 piano/vocal recording of "Crazy Arms", complete with Jerry Lee's terrific 16-bar honky-tonk rockin' piano solo in the middle. If you've wondered what Jerry Lee does with his Left Hand, or how he voices his tremolos, turn-arounds, and chords, and what notes he uses during his single-note runs, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing a 1956 version of "Crazy Arms" on YouTube with drums and bass - not this transcribed version, which is unfortunately not on YouTube. The piano-playing is actually better on the transcribed version, including the piano solo.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis, one of rock-and-roll's very best pianists, played in public for the very first time when he was 14, sitting in with a local C&W band in a Ford dealership parking lot, playing "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee". When later, at the age of 21, he began recording for Sam Phillips' Sun Records in Memphis, his first releases were "Crazy Arms" (1956) "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (1957), and then "Great Balls of Fire" (1957). In 1957 while still at the peak of his pianistic powers, he recorded "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", although it would not be released on an album until 1970.

"Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" is one of Jerry Lee's best recordings, piano-wise. With his chops being in top form, it contains not just one but two piano solos, full of his signature boogie-woogie riffs, hammered open-5th chords, tinkling high notes in the piano's highest octave, fast descending thirds, tremolos, and three different Left Hand patterns - all in one song!

Also, the guitar player takes a very fast solo using lots of triplets (against Jerry Lee's 4/4 background). I've transcribed the guitar solo and modified it into a virtuoso piano solo, keeping many of the guitarist's original licks.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Jerry Lee's entire 1957 recording of "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" - all 119 measures - plus the guitar solo arranged for piano. If you'd like to study The Killer's piano style, this early recording is an excellent textbook example of what made Jerry Lee Lewis the rock-and-roll piano legend that he is.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" on YouTube. 

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire (1957) - Complete Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

By late 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis had already released two singles, "Crazy Arms", and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". When his third single, "Great Balls of Fire" was released in November 1957 it went through the roof, selling a million copies in ten days, and eventually almost six million records - his biggest hit ever. The piano part was a high-energy pumping, rocking piano style that had never been heard before. And when Jerry Lee played it live, his hands were a blur, setting a new standard for piano technique in rock music. He had shown pianistic talent at age five, and had practiced diligently when his parents bought him his own piano.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part in the original 1957 recording of "Great Balls of Fire", including the 16-bar piano solo, complete with rolling riffs in thirds, tremolos in 6ths, boogie-woogie-type chord voicings, and lots of glissandi and repeated,pounding high 6th's. If you've ever marveled at the energy and pure drive that Jerry Lee Lewis achieved on "Great Balls of Fire", this is your opportunity to learn and play the entire song exactly as he recorded it at the age of 22.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI File of this transcription is available here:

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Great Balls of Fire" (1957) on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire (1989) - Both Piano Solos (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Great Balls of Fire" was a huge rock-and-roll hit for Jerry Lee Lewis in 1957, But by 1989 when Dennis Quaid was starring in a movie about The Killer's life story, Jerry Lee had pretty much abandoned rock-and-roll for Country & Western twenty years previously. However, the movie's producers convinced Jerry Lee to re-record a number of his biggest hits to be used in the soundtrack of the movie, which was titled Great Balls of Fire!.

This is a note-for-note transcription of both piano solos in the 1989 re-recording of "Great Balls of Fire", which was performed at a faster tempo than the 1957 original recording, perhaps as Jerry Lee's way of saying that despite being 32 years older, he was gonna ramp it up a notch - 14 BPM faster, to be precise. This later performance is more driving, and less 'rolling' than the earlier version.

The first Piano Solo is 16 bars long, and then the second Piano Solo starts at the Out Section and lasts for 18 bars, until the end of the song.

If you'd like to see exactly how Lewis' playing evolved over those three decades, this is just what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Great Balls of Fire" (1989) on YouTube. The first piano solo begins at :51 through 1:13, and the second piano solo begins at 3:54 and continues until the end.

Jerry Lee Lewis - It'll Be Me (1957) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1957, one year after Jerry Lee Lewis burst onto the music scene, he released his biggest hit, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". Completely overshadowed by the A-side smash hit, the B-side was "It'll Be Me", a wonderful high-energy rocker that blazed at 220 BPM, complete with a terrific 16-bar piano solo. The odd thing is that when Jerry Lee's first album was released a year later in 1958, it contained a completely different, less exciting version of "It'll Be Me", slowed down a bit, with a less-virtuosic piano part.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire original 1957 recording of "It'll Be Me" - all 160 measures, including The Killer's terrific 16-bar piano solo. If you enjoy studying, learning and playing Jerry Lee's songs, this transcription of "It'll Be Me", is just what you need to play it exactly as it was recorded.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "It'll Be Me" (1957) on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Lewis Boogie - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis wrote only two of the hundreds of songs that he's recorded, and this is one of those two. Written in 1956, a year before his first hit, "Lewis Boogie" was recorded in 1957 and released in 1958. One of his earliest recordings for Sun Records, it has the youthful energy and exuberance of a young man singing about - and showing off - his ability to play boogie-woogie on a piano.

One of the most fun parts is the Killer's piano solo, which starts with four bars of consecutive thirds in the Right Hand, as if to say, "OK, now do I have your attention?" To make it a little easier, I've included my own suggested fingering for those four bars.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire "Lewis Boogie" as recorded in 1957. If you love playing Jerry Lee's style but couldn't quite figure out his namesake boogie, this is exactly what you need to play it perfectly.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Lewis Boogie" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Mean Woman Blues (Live) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1964 Jerry Lee Lewis traveled to Hamburg, Germany to perform at a famous night club. The record that was issued of that legendary performance, "Live at the Star Club, Hamburg" is generally regarded as one of the greatest live rock and roll albums ever made, showcasing Lewis's phenomenal skills as a pianist and singer, which had been honed by relentless touring.

AllMusic said of the album: "Words cannot describe - cannot contain - the performance captured on Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, an album that contains the very essence of rock & roll... Live at the Star Club is extraordinary - the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record... He sounds possessed, hitting the keys so hard it sounds like they'll break, and rocking harder than anybody had before or since... Rock & roll is about the fire in the performance, and nothing sounds as fiery as this; nothing hits as hard or sounds as loud, either. It is no stretch to call this the greatest live album ever, nor is it a stretch to call it the greatest rock & roll album ever recorded. Even so, words can't describe the music here — it truly has to be heard to be believed."

Rock writer Joe Bonomo calls "Mean Woman Blues", the opening number on the album, as "nothing short of a concert in itself".

This is a note-for-note transcription of "Mean Woman Blues" - all 4:01 - the complete 184 bars. If you've ever wondered how Jerry Lee achieves that great sound of his, from the Left Hand voicings to the Right Hand solos, this is just what you need to play "Mean Woman Blues" exactly as Jerry Lee played it Live at the Star Club in 1964.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Mean Woman Blues" (Live at the Star Club) on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - No Headstone on My Grave - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler)

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded "No Headstone on My Grave" during his 1973 London sessions, using a lot of celebrity session musicians, including Peter Frampton, Alvin Lee, Chas Hodges, Gary Wright, Matthew Fisher, Klaus Voorman, Kenney Jones, and others. The album title was literally The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists.

But unhappy to be recording in London instead of Tennessee, and unhappy with the musicians, whom he didn't know, he was drinking a lot and taking pills. All of those factors made him angry - sort of like a petulant child - and that anger came out as very aggressive piano-playing, as seen in the piano solo especially.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire long (5:20) piano part in "No Headstone on My Grave". If you love playing Jerry Lee's technically-challenging solos, you'll enjoy learning this transcription.

Difficulty: Challenging

Click here to listen to Jerry Lee Lewis' "No Headstone on My Grave" on YouTube  

Jerry Lee Lewis - Real Wild Child - Piano Part (transcribed & arr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis was never better than he was in his earliest days, a rock-and-roll dynamo that played the piano - rocked the piano - like it had never been before. He recorded three different versions of "Real Wild Child", also called "Wild One", as far back as 1958.

This version contains a classic, rocking Jerry Lee piano solo, brimming over with The Killer's extraordinary pianistic energy. Part of the solo sounds at first like he's just hitting rhythmic clusters of notes, but upon close listening, they can be notated.

This is a transcription of the entire recording - all 90 measures. If you'd like to become better at imitating Jerry Lee's unique style, learning this transcription/arrangement of "Real Wild Child" will be a good step in the right direction.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Real Wild Child" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - She Was My Baby (He Was My Friend) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the founding fathers of rock-and-roll piano-playing, and "She Was My Baby" is 'The Killer' at his honky-tonk best. Released in 1964 when his piano chops were still near their peak, this very danceable track throws in all of Jerry Lee's tricks: tremolos, single note runs, glissandos, a pumping Left Hand - plus a terrific solo.

This is a note-perfect transcription of the piano part for the entire song - all 65 measures. If you'd like to rock the 'juke joint' like Jerry Lee did, here is your chance to play "She Was My Baby" exactly as he recorded it. Everything is included except the sawdust on the floor.

To see a customer's comment about this transcription, click here.

Difficulty: Medium

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "She Was My Baby" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - That Lucky Old Sun - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of the greatest rock-and-roll pianists of all time, Jerry Lee Lewis was the subject of a movie in 1989 about his life, "Great Balls of Fire", starring Dennis Quaid. For the movie soundtrack, Jerry Lee re-recorded three songs, including "That Lucky Old Sun", which features just his piano and his voice - no other instruments.

Although Jerry Lee was known for his up-tempo piano-pounding - really great rock virtuoso playing - this song is an example of the slower side of Lewis - the slow-dancing-at-the-honky-tonk side. Filled with his signature tremolos, glissandi, and bursts of scale/arpeggio runs, "That Lucky Old Sun" is 'The Killer' at his classic, slow-tempo best, complete with an instrumental Piano Solo section.

This is a note-for-note transcription of every note that Jerry Lee played in the entire song - all 73 measures, 4:36 long. If you'd like to recreate Jerry Lee's honky-tonk style, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "That Lucky Old Sun" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Trouble in Mind - Both Pianos (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1973 Jerry Lee Lewis, who had never recorded outside of Tennessee, recorded an album in London using some of the finest UK session musicians: Albert Lee, Alvin Lee (Ten Years After), Peter Frampton, Gary Wright ("Dream Weaver"), Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum), Klaus Voorman, Kenny Jones, and Tony Ashton. The album, "The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists" included the 1924 blues classic, "Trouble in Mind". Quite long, at 5:47, it has Tony Ashton playing a second piano along with Jerry Lee's main piano.

The result is a powerhouse of a recording, with three piano solos - the first by Jerry Lee, the second by Ashton (with Lewis' help), and the third one by Jerry Lee, a real showstopper - and some terrific blues playing by both pianists. Jerry Lee starts it alone, and Ashton slowly eases some right hand fills into the mix, finally bringing his left hand in about a quarter of the way through (in the first Solo). Jerry always maintains the upper hand, and after the last, ivory-melting solo - one of the most virtuosic of any solo he ever recorded, with rapidly alternating hands - the Killer gloats to Ashton, "What do you think about that piano break, my boy?". The Killer was never known for taking prisoners.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire recording - every note of both piano parts (the most notes of any of my transcriptions - this is a big one). Included is the master score, which contains both piano parts together, plus Jerry Lee's individual part and Tony Ashton's individual part - a total of 3 PDF files.

If you want to study Jerry Lee's style on slow 12/8 blues - plus his great solos - this extraordinary transcription is just what you need.

I've also created an arrangement that includes the best licks of both pianists, merged into one piano, without adding any new material. If you'd like to play "Trouble in Mind" and sound like both Jerry Lee and Ashton together, this arrangement is what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Three options are available:

1) transcription of the original 2-piano recording - Sheet music (3 PDF's: score + individual parts)

2) 2-pianos-in-1 arrangement - Sheet music

3) 2-pianos-in-1 arrangement - MIDI file

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "Trouble in Mind" on YouTube, with Tony Ashton on 2nd piano.

Here is a recording of the MIDI file of my 2-pianos-in-1 arrangement.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Trouble in Mind - 2 Pianos in 1 (transcribed-arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis' historic 1973 recording of "Trouble in Mind" used a second piano, played by Tony Ashton. This is an arrangement that combines the best of both piano parts into a Solo Piano part, without adding any new material.

Difficulty: Challenging

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI file

Here is a recording of the MIDI file of my 2-pianos-in-1 arrangement.

Jerry Lee Lewis - What's Made Milwaukee Famous - Piano Part (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"What's Made Milwaukee Famous" was recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1969, and by Rod Stewart in 1972. In 2006 they recorded it as a duet on Jerry Lee's "Last Man Standing" album with only Jerry Lee's piano accompaniment, which is so honky-tonk that you can almost feel the sawdust on the floor.

Jerry Lee uses a different Left-Hand pattern than his uptempo rock songs use, opting for a near-waltz Left Hand pattern. His Right Hand uses almost every honky-tonk technique imaginable, from tremolos to glissandi to 'strums' to 4-note chords during the Piano Solo.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part. If you'd like to learn Jerry Lee's honky-tonk tricks, this C&W classic is a great place to start.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here are Jerry Lee Lewis and Rod Stewart performing "What's Made Milwaukee Famous" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - When the Saints Go Marching In - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).zip

In November 1956 21-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis traveled from his Louisiana home to Memphis to meet Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records. Less than three months later Jerry Lee recorded "When the Saints Go Marching In" at Sun Records, which would appear on his very first album in 1958.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Jerry Lee's piano part - a textbook study in "Southern white gospel" - from the Intro's arpeggio to the very last high F6 chord at the end, including his terrific piano solo halfway through. And the solo is a good one - classic Jerry Lee - with a creative use of an F13 chord in the right hand, three glissandi, and a terrific extended run - 55 fast 8th-notes in a single run without a break!

If you'd like to play "When the Saints Go Marching In" exactly as 21-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis recorded it - or just study The Killer's style in general, including what he does with his Left Hand during a solo - this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "When the Saints Go Marching In" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis had been performing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" in his stage act and recorded it at his second recording session for Sun Records in February 1957. He later said, "I knew it was a hit when I cut it. Sam Phillips thought it was gonna be too risque, it couldn't make it. If that's risque, well, I'm sorry."

Originally recorded in 1955 by Big Maybelle (produced by Quincy Jones), Lewis's version was based on a propulsive boogie-woogie piano pattern. His second release (after "Crazy Arms"), it became an immediate hit, catapulting Jerry Lee to rock-and-roll stardom.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire 1957 recording, including the now-classic droning Left Hand/Right Hand pattern that kicks off the song, and Jerry Lee's electrifying piano solo with hammered 6ths, pounding triplets, glissandi, single-note runs, dissonant 2nds, and octave fills. If you've wondered how to play "Whole Lotta Shakin'" just like the original record, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

A MIDI File of this transcription is available here:

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - You Win Again (1957) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded "You Win Again" in 1957 when he was 22, and released it as the B-side of "Great Balls of Fire". At the peak of his pianistic powers, he performed an excellent 16-bar piano solo that was a dialogue between his hands. Starting with a melody in the bass with the left hand, the right hand answers with chords, which are themselves answered by a left hand line. Tremolos ensue, followed by a further left hand/right hand dialogue, a slow upward glissando, more tremolos, and more left-right dialogue before ending with a classic Jerry Lee turnaround.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire song. Listen to the YouTube link below; and if you like all those classic Jerry Lee Lewis piano licks and would like to learn them - and in the process better understand his style - this is exactly what you need to play it exactly as The Killer recorded it in 1957.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis performing "You Win Again" (1957) on YouTube.

Jerry Lee Lewis - You Win Again (Live TV - 1979) (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jerry Lee Lewis first recorded Hank WIlliams' classic "You Win Again" in 1957. Twenty-two years later in 1979 he performed it live on the TV show Pop Goes the Country (hosted by Ralph Emery) with one of his very best - and most virtuosic - piano solos.

This is a note-for-note transcription of that 1979 live TV performance - the entire piano part, complete with two-handed arpeggiated runs, lightning-fast right hand runs, two-handed tremolos, regular tremolos, karate-chop bass notes using the side of his left hand, and even a fast right-hand ascending run while his left hand simultaneously plays an ascending glissando. In this live TV performance Jerry Lee is in top form and shows why he was nicknamed The Killer.

If you'd like to play "You Win Again" exactly as Jerry performed it, or study his amazing piano technique, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' 1979 live TV performance of "You Win Again" on YouTube.

Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath - Piano Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of Jethro Tull's most classic recordings is "Locomotive Breath" (from the "Aqualung" album), complete with a very creative piano Intro composed by classically-educated pianist John Evan in the studio while the other band members were out to lunch.

The Intro starts out slowly in free timing, with lots of minor-key atmosphere, and proceeds through some creative chord progressions/voicings and a fast run, until the second half of the Intro, when the steady beat kicks in and the piano riffs with the guitar for the remainder of the Intro.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano Intro - all 1:20 of it. If you've wanted to play the "Locomotive Breath" piano Intro exactly as it was recorded, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jethro Tull performing "Locomotive Breath" on YouTube. The piano Intro lasts until 1:20.

Jimmy Buffett - Son of a Son of a Sailor - 2nd Chorus Organ + Harmonica Solo (transcribed. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Son of a Son of a Sailor" is the title track on Jimmy Buffett's eighth studio album, recorded in 1977 and released inn 1978. This is a transcription of the organ part during the second Chorus, plus the harmonica solo by Greg 'Fingers' Taylor.

Also included is the bass guitar line for those two sections. The organ part can be a little difficult to hear on the recording. If you'd like to get it just right, plus play the harmonica solo on your keyboard, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Easy

Here is the second Chorus and harmonica solo on Jimmy Buffett's "Son of a Son of a Sailor" on YouTube.

Jimmy Hall - Too Tall To Mambo - Piano Intro & Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Born and raised in Alabama, Jimmy Hall is the lead singer, sax and harmonica player for Wet Willie. His 1996 album, Rendezvous with the Blues, included "Too Tall To Mambo", a New Orleans-influenced uptempo track featuring Clayton Ivey on piano.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the 5-bar piano Intro and the 24-bar Solo (plus two bars immediately before and after the solo). The piano solo includes octaves, tremolos, blazingly-fast runs, cool-voiced flat7/sharp5 chords, 'jazzy' left-hand chord stabs - lots of terrific New Orleans-style piano elements.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jimmy Hall's "Too Tall To Mambo" is on YouTube.

Joe Cocker - Delta Lady - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Originally written by Leon Russell - and inspired by Rita Coolidge - "Delta Lady" was released on Joe Cocker's second album, "Joe Cocker!", and is one of Cocker's greatest recordings. His electric vocal part and Leon Russell's gospel-influenced piano created a timeless rock classic.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire studio version - all three minutes of Leon's amazing, rocking piano part, that drives the track from the very first opening piano chord. And the inspired sequence of descending quarter-note chords halfway through each Verse is never played correctly by cover bands/pianists.

If you'd like to study Leon Russell's chord voicings and church-influenced rhythms on Joe Cocker's "Delta Lady" - all 95 bars of the entire song - here is your opportunity.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Joe Cocker performing "Delta Lady" on YouTube.

Joe Cocker - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Organ Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Released on Joe Cocker's very first album in 1969, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" had an inspired Hammond organ solo by Tommy Eyre, a keyboard player from Cocker's hometown of Sheffield. In Cocker's original Grease Band, Chris Stainton played bass and Eyre played keyboards, and it was he who also played the organ intro on "With a Little Help from My Friends". Years later he played piano on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street", and served as keyboardist/musical director for most of the hits by George Michael's Wham!.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Eyre's highly-creative, jazz-influenced 24-bar organ solo - a full minute of inspired soloing, choosing many notes quite outside of the standard 'blues scale'. If you'd like to study how a master performer solos for a full minute over just two chords, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

To listen, just click: Joe Cocker - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" - Organ Solo

Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright (Live) - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Feelin' Alright" is one of rock's classic dance songs. If an audience is going to ever get out of their seats and dance, it will be to "Feelin' Alright". Although written by Dave Mason of Traffic, Joe Cocker's 1969 recording is the definitive version.

The following year when Cocker kicked off his Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour with two nights at Bill Graham's Fillmore East night club in New York City, the concerts were recorded and released as an album. Leon Russell was Musical Director for the tour, and played guitar on "Feelin' Alright". Chris Stainton, who'd been with Cocker since 1966, played piano on this track.

Stainton's piano part throughout the entire song draws heavily from the studio version, played by Artie Butler, but with Stainton's own ideas. His piano solo near the middle of the song resembles Butler's solo very little, except the notable use of the same classic C9 and F13 voicings in the Left Hand. Stainton has his own bag of tricks, with liberal use of octaves, including an octave run that begins on the highest C-octave on the piano and descends over four bars, using the C minor pentatonic scale, until it's in the mid-register. Another octave run, this time an ascending chromatic scale, builds the solo into the piano breakdown. At that point everything stops except the piano (and percussion), which plays eight bars of funky riffs, before the singing and other instruments resume.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Chris Stainton's 32-bar piano solo - all 45 seconds of it.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Joe Cocker - "Feelin' Alright" (Live) - Piano Solo

Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright (Studio) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1968 the very first song on Joe Cocker's very first album was "Feelin' Alright", an electrifying performance by both Cocker and the rhythm section, that would propel Cocker to the heights of rock superstardom. Originally written and recorded by Dave Mason, the song was the choice of Cocker's producer Denny Cordell, who hired 26-year-old pianist Artie Butler to lead up the rhythm section. After thinking about the piano part for a few days, Artie evolved a rocking, Latin-influenced piano part, and then hired Carole Kaye to play bass and Paul Humphrey on drums. The rhythm track is one of the greatest rhythm tracks in rock history - musical magic just happened that day.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Artie Butler's piano part for the entire song - all 93 bars, over four minutes long, including the amazing 12-bar solo and piano breakdown. One of the remarkable aspects of the piano part is that the Left Hand and Right Hand rarely play at the same time. It's similar to playing conga drums on a piano keyboard.

Even though "Feelin' Alright" (or "Feeling Alright") is one of the most frequently-played songs by cover bands, no keyboard player ever gets the part right. If you'd like to play "Feelin' Alright" exactly as Artie Butler plays it on Joe Cocker's studio version - an amazing study in keyboard rhythm, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Joe Cocker performing "Feelin' Alright" on YouTube.

Joe Cocker - That's Your Business Now - Piano Solo with Bass Guitar (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Joe Cocker's right-hand man for years since early in his career was Chris Stainton, who teamed up with Cocker in 1966, three years before Cocker's first album. An extremely talented and creative musician, Stainton at first played bass and later piano for Cocker. When Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart shared the bill during large European open-air concerts in the 1990's (I was there as Musical Director for Rod's 'Unplugged' orchestra), Chris was still Cocker's pianist.

"That's Your Business Now" appeared on Cocker's second album, "Joe Cocker!", and was co-written by Cocker and Stainton, who plays a wonderful honky-tonk tack piano solo during it.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Chris Stainton's piano solo in "That's Your Business", including, of course, all the fun tremolos, octaves, and grace notes. Also included is the Bass Guitar part, played by Alan Spenner, during the piano solo. Some adventurous pianists may want to incorporate parts of the bass line into the Left Hand part.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Joe Cocker - "That's Your Business Now" - Piano Solo

Joe Cocker - The Letter - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"The Letter" is one of Joe Cocker's biggest hits, and many musicians are aware that the extraordinary piano part was played by The Master of Time & Space himself, Leon Russell. What many are not aware of is that shortly before the famous live version was recorded in 1970 at the Fillmore East, a studio version was also recorded, with Leon leading the band and playing piano, as he did on the live version.

The studio version was not released until 2005, on the Deluxe Edition of the 35th Anniversary release of Mad Dogs & Englishmen. For rock pianists this was a God-send, as it allowed Leon's riffs to be heard much more clearly than on the live recording. The arrangement is the same; the piano riffs are largely the same, just more of them (because they can now be heard).

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part - all 182 measures. This is an opportunity to study Leon's classic swamp-rock style and play one of Joe Cocker's most rocking songs, exactly as Leon Russell himself played it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Joe Cocker performing "The Letter" on YouTube.

Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful - Piano Part by Nicky Hopkins (transcribed by Elmo Peeler)

Recorded by Joe Cocker in 1975 "You Are So Beautiful" is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful rock ballads ever. Billy Preston wrote the music for the song, and for Joe Cocker's version Nicky Hopkins played piano and Jimmy Webb arranged the string section - an extraordinary meeting of brilliant musical minds. The recording is essentially just Cocker's vocal, Nicky's piano, and Webb's string section. Although there's also a bass, there are not guitars or drums - just the beautifully exposed piano and vocal.

Joe Cocker himself said, "I couldn't believe this piano part; that's when I did the vocal that stayed on the record. I sang it to wrap around that piano line. It would not have been that song without that piano part. Nicky's thing and the vocal just kissed each other; it was special."

And Nicky, who'd recorded the piano track without Cocker even present, consistently picked "You Are So Beautiful" as one of his own all-time favorite performances.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Nicky Hopkins' classic piano part on "You Are So Beautiful". The chord choices in Billy Preston's composition are beautifully lush, and the voicings that Nicky Hopkins uses are terrific - from subtle understatement to dramatically sophisticated. For example, have you ever tried to pick out the chromatically-altered chord near the end (2:03) when Cocker sings "You're everything I need" - the chord under "need"? Great stuff from those magical hands of Nicky Hopkins.

If you'd like to play "You Are So Beautiful" exactly as recorded by the great Nicky Hopkins, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Joe Cocker's recording of "You Are So Beautiful" on YouTube.

Joe Zawinul - Zawinul's Jazz-Blues Improvisation (1963) - Piano & Bass (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Joe Zawinul is probably best known to the wider public for his composition "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy". But professional musicians and jazz connoisseurs know him as the genius jazz-fusion-rock player/composer who began his studies at age seven at the Vienna Conservatory and went on to record two albums with Miles Davis (In a Silent Way & Bitches Brew), founded Weather Report with Wayne Shorter and helped create the jazz fusion genre. He was named "Best Electric Keyboardist" twenty-eight times by DownBeat magazine.

In 1963 at the age of 31, Zawinul performed as a trio (acoustic piano, drums, bass) with two other members of the Cannonball Adderly Sextet. One of those performances was videotaped, a nice long (4:17) improvisation on an 8-bar jazz/blues phrase alternating with a second 8-bar jazz/blues phrase. That 16-bar 2-section grouping repeats five times.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire 4:17-long jazz/blues improvisation - all 84 bars. It shows Zawinul playing with the meter, crossing the line from 12/8 into 4/4 and then back again, all very organically, never joltingly. And it shows his wide range of articulations: legato, staccato, tenuto, portato, etc. And, of course, his left hand voicings exactly as performed on the video.

Also included is a transcription of the string bass part, as played by Sam Jones. Three PDF files are included:

1) Piano & String Bass
2) Piano only
3) Bass only

The MIDI file package includes a MIDI file of the Piano plus a MIDI file of the String Bass.

If you'd like to study the way that Joe Zawinul improvised jazz/blues on an acoustic piano in his pre-Weather Report days, this transcription is just what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI files (includes a MIDI file of the Piano plus a MIDI file of the String Bass)

John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band - On the Dark Side - Intro Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1984 "On the Dark Side" was propelled to the #1 spot on U.S. charts by its appearance in the movie "Eddie and The Cruisers". Overnight The Beaver Brown Band, which had been a bar band in the Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island region, had the Number One record in the country. Bobby Cotoia, the band's pianist, suddenly found his opening riff being learned, or at least attempted, by almost every aspiring young keyboardist.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the piano part during the song's Intro - about the first minute of the song, which includes the atmospheric piano part followed by the rhythmic chords, until the vocals for the verse enter.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band - "On the Dark Side" (Intro)

John Lennon - Imagine - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

John Lennon thought that "Imagine" was as good as any song he ever wrote with The Beatles. Certainly one of the greatest rock songs ever, a true Classic, Rolling Stone considers it to be in the Top 3 of the Greatest Songs Of All Time.

The piano part - one of the most recognizable piano riffs ever conceived - was first played by John Lennon; but he wasn't completely happy with his own performance so he asked Nicky Hopkins to record over it, using the same notes, but with a more polished performance. The result is that the piano part is a bit murky and it's difficult to hear every note with precision. No sheet music has ever accurately notated it.

However, in 2003 "The Lennon Legend" DVD was released. For the audio part of the remastering of this DVD-project, instead of using the 2-track (mixed) tapes as normally used in these cases, the producers went back to the original multi-track session tapes and remixed the songs from scratch. This resulted in a much clearer piano part that can be transcribed note-perfectly. If you'd like to perform this wonderful, minimalist piano part precisely as John Lennon conceived and Nicky Hopkins performed it, here is your opportunity.

This is the piano part for the entire song - all 56 measures, note-for-note.

To see a customer's comment about this transcription, click here.

Difficulty: Easy

To listen, just click: John Lennon - Imagine (Instrumental Version - Verse 1)

Johnny Rivers - Rockin' Pneumonia & the Boogie Woogie Flu - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1972 Johnny Rivers hired the Wrecking Crew, the legendary L.A. rhythm section, to record his version of Huey 'Piano' Smith's classic "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu". Larry Knechtel, the pianist who had won a Grammy for the piano part in "Bridge over Troubled Water", nailed it on the first take, and gave the world one of rock's most rockin' tracks.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part, from the opening piano Intro to the very last note buried deep in the fade-out, including the two piano solos. From the New Orleans-style piano 'flips' to the honky-tonk tremolos (voiced with a tritone), to the descending thirds in the fade-out, this transcription is just what you need if you've always wanted to play "Rockin' Pneumonia" like the great Larry Knechtel, or if you just want to study how outstanding piano solos are constructed.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Johnny Rivers' "Rockin' Pneumonia" on YouTube.

Here is just the fade-out that is normally inaudible.

Jon Cleary - Po' Boy Blues - Ascending Chromatic Run (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jon Cleary is an Englishman who has lived and made music in New Orleans for over twenty years, mastering the piano styles of Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, and Dr. John. His band, Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, won the Grammy Award in 2016 for Best Regional Roots Music Album, "Go Go Juice".

In "Po' Boy Blues", released in 2016 on his "Live at Chickie Wah Wah" album, Cleary throws in a remarkable highly chromatic, ascending run, where his Left Hand reaches over his Right Hand, leading the way up the keyboard.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Cleary's ascending chromatic run in "Po' Boy Blues". Whether you want to learn it in order to use it in your own improvisations, or to study as a challenging technical exercise to improve your ability to play chromatic-style runs, this will show you exactly what Cleary is doing.

Difficulty: Challenging

To listen, just click: Jon Cleary - "Po' Boy Blues" - ascending chromatic run

Jon England - I'll Take Manhattan (Eddy Duchin Style) - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of the greatest popular pianists of the 1930's and '40's was Eddy Duchin, known for his elegant style and velvet touch. "I'll Take Manhattan" is one of the songs associated with Duchin, a version of which (played by Carmen Cavallaro) is in the biographical movie, "The Eddy Duchin Story" (1956).

As his own homage to Eddy Duchin, English pianist Jon England has recorded "I'll Take Manhattan", which incorporates a number of Duchin's pianistic techniques: rippling two-hand arpeggios, 2-octave-apart melody line, lush five-note block chords, sparkling grace notes, and others.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Jon England's "I'll Take Manhattan" in the style of Eddy Duchin. If you'd like to study the pop piano style of high society in the 30's and 40's generally, or Eddy Duchin in particular, this should prove very helpful.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jon England performing "I'll Take Manhattan" on YouTube (from the beginning up to 1:28).

Jonathan Edwards - Shanty - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Most people remember Jonathan Edwards for his 1971 hit, "Sunshine (Go Away Today)", but another hit of his, "Shanty", deserves to be remembered for its excellent piano part and solo, played by session wizard Jeff Labes, who also recorded a number of Van Morrison's hits, including "Moondance".

This is a note-for-note transcription of Labes' wonderful 8-bar piano solo, which combines rock licks with a fluid, jazz-influenced sense of rhythm. If you'd like to play the "Shanty" piano solo exactly as it was recorded, or if you just want to study an excellent rock solo, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jonathan Edwards' "Shanty" on YouTube. The piano solo starts at :53.

Jonny Lang - Still Rainin' - Piano Part (transcribed-arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jonny Lang, a talented blues/rock guitarist from North Dakota, heard his first blues band at age 12. Afterward, he asked the lead guitarist to teach him guitar; and after only a year of lessons, the band asked him to join them, changing their name to Jonny Lang & The Big Bang. At 15 he recorded his first blues album, and at 17 his third album, "Wander This World", was nominated for a Grammy.

"Still Rainin'", written by outstanding pianist Bruce McCabe, is the first track on "Wander This World", and has a fun piano part, played by McCabe. Starting off with funk/rock piano fills (through a synchronized digital delay), the song progresses to driving, rocking piano "power chords" (open fifths), octave fills, and more blues/rock licks.

This is a transcription of the piano part for the entire song - all 119 measures, 4:49 long. If you'd like to play "Still Rainin'" just as it was recorded, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Jonny Lang's "Still Rainin'" on YouTube.

Jools Holland - Rotten Row Revisited - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Jools Holland is an English pianist who hosts two TV shows: "Later... with Jools Holland" and "Hootenanny". A founder of the 1970's band "Squeeze", he now tours with his own band, "Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra". One of Holland's favorite musical genres is boogie-woogie, and he has recorded a number of songs in that style.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Holland's "Rotten Row Revisited", from his 1995 CD, "Boogie Woogie Piano" - the entire song, all nine verses. A fast (194 BPM), up-tempo piano boogie, "Rotten Row Revisited" is full of various boogie-woogie licks, including chord stabs, single-note runs, thirds, trills, and others. If you'd like to play "Rotten Row Revisited" exactly as Jools Holland recorded it, or just study a spirited 1985 version of classic boogie-woogie, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Jools Holland - Rotten Row Revisited (First 3 Verses)

Journey - Feeling That Way - Intro & Verse 1.pdf

"Feeling That Way" was originally composed by keyboardist Gregg Rolie as an instrumental but was shelved, rewritten a couple of times, and finally released in 1978 on Journey's Infinity album.. After a 2-bar piano Intro, Rolie sings the first Verse, and then Steve Perry comes in for the Pre-Chorus.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Gregg Rolie's piano part for the Intro and the first Verse. The first two bars of the Pre-Chorus are also included, for a total of 13 bars.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Journey's "Feeling That Way" on YouTube.

Kid Rock - All Summer Long - Piano Tag (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Two years before his death, Billy Powell, the original keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, played the piano part on Kid Rock's "All Summer Long". Much of the piano part on that recording was sampled from Powell's "Sweet Home Alabama" part, but he added a very brief tag onto the end of "All Summer Long". This is a note-for-note transcription of just that very brief piano tag by Billy Powell - one of the last things he recorded.

This is short, and thus, inexpensive - $3.95.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Kid Rock - All Summer Long - Piano Tag

Kid Rock - Cowboy - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Kid Rock's "Cowboy", released in 1999 on his Devil Without a Cause album, contains a honky-tonk/saloon-style piano solo, played by Jimmie Bones, a regular band member of Twisted Brown Trucker, Kid Rock's regular backing band.

Complete with tremolos and twangy fills, the piano solo is perfect for those that like sawdust on their bar-room floor.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is the honky-tonk piano solo on Kid Rock's "Cowboy" on YouTube.

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie - Elec. Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of rock's greatest classics - in fact, the world's most recorded rock song with over 1,600 versions. Written by Richard Berry, who sold the rights to it for $750 in 1959, it was inspired by Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon".

In 1963 a Portland, Oregon band paid $50, split among themselves, to record the song, which contained a couple of errors: the singer came in early after the guitar solo, and the drummer yelled an obscenity (at :53) when he dropped a stick. Nevertheless, it went from a regional hit to a national tidal wave - no high school dance or Frat house party was complete without the band playing "Louie Louie".

Since it only contains three chords, why transcribe the electric piano part? Primarily because of the rhythms. There are a couple of places in the 3-chord riff that are never played exactly right, one being the rhythm in the last half of the Verse pattern. This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire electric piano part for "Louie Louie" - all 83 bars. Also included, for comparison, is that last half of the Verse pattern as played by The Kingsmen on 'Shindig' in 1965, after their original keyboardist, Don Gallucci, had left the band.

If you'd like to play "Louie Louie" exactly as The Kingsmen recorded it - not just close, but precisely correct - this will show you how.

Difficulty: Easy

Here is The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" on YouTube.

Lari White - Lead Me Not - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1993 when Rodney Crowell produced Lari White's debut album, "Lead Me Not", he used Bill Payne to play piano on all but one of the tracks - a wise choice to use the veteran Little Feat founder and experienced session musician.

Payne's solo gospel piano begins the title song and continues as the only accompanying instrument for the first 1:16 of the song, when the rhythm section enters. Throughout the song the piano remains the main instrument, complete with lots of walk-ups, octave fills, #IV-diminished chords, high strums and other gospel techniques, plus a whole-step modulation.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Bill Payne's entire piano part for "Lead Me Not" - all 125 measures (4:06). If you enjoy gospel piano and would like to play "Lead Me Not" exactly as it was recorded, while learning more about Payne's clean, professional approach to the genre, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Lari White's "Lead Me Not" on YouTube.

Laurent Callens - Adiemus (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Adiemus", a World-music song written in 1994 by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, premiered in a 1994 Delta Air Lines television advertisement, and was also used in some Delta in-flight videos. It was officially released on Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary in 1995. The main idea was to create a modern song using classical forms, such as rondo and ternary. Written in D minor, it's a mix of African-tribal and Celtic-style melodies.

A remarkable self-taught French pianist, Laurent Callens, the 3rd-most-listened-to French musician with more than five million views, has posted onto YouTube his own piano solo arrangement of "Adiemus" - a very Romantic version with flowing arpeggios, tasteful rubato, and a wide dynamic range from pianissimo to fortissimo.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Callens' version of "Adiemus". Starting softly with the melody in single-notes, it builds to a very dramatic fortissimo climax with Left-hand arpeggios supporting Right-hand octaves and full 4-note chords, which then slowly ebbs away into a subdued Coda, ending with a whisper.

If you'd like to play "Adiemus" exactly as Laurent Callens plays it, this is just what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Laurent Callens performing "Adiemus" on YouTube.

Led Zeppelin - All My Love - Synth Parts (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"All My Love" was composed by John Paul Jones and Robert Plant in memory of Plant's 5-year-old son. Recorded in 1978, it was released in 1979 on Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door" album. Jones arranged the string section, then played the string parts on a Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer. He also used the GX-1 to record the SynthBrass solo.

Led Zeppelin performed "All My Love" only 14 times - all during their last European tour in 1980. In concert Jones would play different string parts during the String Section Solo and the last (5th) Chorus than on the studio recording. By contrast, he'd play the SynthBrass solo live the same as the studio version.

This is a note-for-note transcription of all the string parts and also includes the SynthBrass Solo - exactly as played by John Paul Jones. If you'd like to play the String Orchestra parts exactly as recorded, plus the SynthBrass Solo, this is just what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Two options are available:

1) All synth parts from the studio recording (Strings and SynthBrass Solo) Here is Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" on YouTube.

Here is Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" (studio version) on YouTube.

2) All synth parts from the studio recording plus Strings from Live Performance and some Bass Guitar lines. My second score contains those studio synth parts plus the live-concert SynthString lines from the 1980 tour and key parts of Jones' very melodic Bass Guitar track (studio version), essential to recreating the song effectively in a cover band.

Here is Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" Live in Concert on YouTube.

Led Zeppelin (Ian Stewart) - Boogie with Stu - Piano Part (transcr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Ian Stewart was one of the best rock pianists ever, not because of great technical ability but because "his left hand came out of the Congo" as Keith Richards described Stewart's ability to play primal boogie-woogie. "He blew my head off when he started to play. I never heard a white piano like that before."

One of the founders of The Rolling Stones, along with Brian Jones, Stewart loved above all else the music of the original boogie-woogie masters of the 1930's and '40's: Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade 'Lux' Lewis. Before passing at age 47 he had recorded with not only The Rolling Stones but also the Yardbirds, Pete Townshend, Howlin' Wolf, Led Zeppelin, and others.

The opposite of flamboyant, he didn't like the spotlight and preferred being part of the rhythm section to being the star. And although he recorded a lot, it was almost never as solo piano (with the exception of "Key to the Highway"). As Jimmy Page said, "Stu wouldn't record; he wouldn't do solo stuff."

However, when Stu, as his bandmates called him, was engineering a recording session with Led Zeppelin in 1971, he started to jam on an old, dilapidated, out-of-tune piano that "was totally unplayable," according to Jimmy Page. Liking what he heard, Page tuned his mandolin to the piano and the band recorded an almost-4-minute jam, which was a 12-bar blues pattern repeated nine times. After adding vocals and other overdubs, it was released as "Boogie with Stu" on Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti" album in 1975.

The good news for Ian Stewart fans is that when the vocals and all the other instruments are removed, "Boogie with Stu" stands by itself as a terrific - sensational, really - boogie-woogie piano solo! Without the drum Intro and Outro, the piano boogie itself is 3:15 long, and full of Stu's own licks/riffs, which may have started with Ammons/Johnson/Lewis but evolved into one of the most creative rock piano styles ever.

"Boogie with Stu" is filled with pianistic tricks: tremolos (3rds, 6ths, octaves), 'crushed' minor- and major-second dissonances, highly-syncopated rhythms, great octave passages, 'hammered' 3rds & 4ths, flips, etc. - plus a wonderful, thumping, driving, 'out-of-the-Congo' Left Hand boogie pattern.

Ian Stewart's piano style has never been revealed in this detail before. If you'd like to study Stu's unique boogie-rock style, this note-for-note transcription of the entire "Boogie with Stu" - all 108 measures - is the perfect opportunity.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is "Boogie with Stu" on YouTube.

Led Zeppelin - Your Time Is Gonna Come - Organ Part (transcribed/arr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

A classic from Led Zeppelin's very first album, "Your Time Is Gonna Come" is a tour-de-force for the group's brilliant bassist/organist, John Paul Jones, beginning with an atmospheric, free-form organ Intro that is actually two organs playing different parts at the same time - a pipe organ with pedals plus a Hammond organ through a Leslie speaker.

After almost a minute, drums and vocals enter and kick off the next 3:44 of the song. The chords of the Intro are never used in this second section, which is based on an entirely different chord progression. The end result is that it's almost like two songs in one - definitely a treat for rock organ lovers.

This is a transcription/arrangement of the 'A' section, the 50-second organ Intro, that combines the two organs into an arrangement for one organ, plus a note-for-note transcription of the 'B' section, i.e., the last 3:44 of the song.

Also included are suggested Hammond organ drawbar registrations to approximate those on the recording.

If you'd like to play "Your Time Is Gonna Come" exactly as John Paul Jones recorded it - a textbook example of classically-influenced rock organ playing - this is exactly what you need, the entire song, all 90 measures.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Led Zeppelin's "Your Time Is Gonna Come" on YouTube.

Lee Michaels - Tell Me How Do You Feel - 17-bar Organ Phrase (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Lee Michaels was one of rock's greatest Hammond B-3 players. Born in Los Angeles, Michaels began his career with The Sentinels, formed with drummer Johny Barbata (later of The Turtles, Jefferson Airplane & Jefferson Starship).

After moving to San Francisco in the 1960's Michaels - called "the ultimate power organist" - began doing session work, including for Jimi Hendrix, and performing as a two-man band: himself on organ and playing bass on the pedals, and a drummer, 'Frosty'.

His most legendary album, 'Lee Michaels' (1969), was recorded live in the studio with just organ and drums, and includes a 20-minute version of Percy Mayfield & Ray Charles' "Tell Me How Do You Feel".

This is a note-for-note transcription of a 43-second section from that recording which contains some of Lee Michaels' signature organ licks. This transcription, which includes the bass pedals, will help you to better understand this organ virtuoso's style and 'sound'.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Lee Michaels - "Tell Me How Do You Feel" (17-bar Organ Phrase)

Leon Russell - A Song for You - Piano & Baritone Horn Parts (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Leon Russell is not only one of rock-and-roll's greatest piano players, he is also one of pop/rock's very best songwriters. Released in 1970 on his very first album, "A Song for You" is one of the very best love songs ever written - touching, romantic lyrics and a great piano part. Leon combines classical techniques, such as minor key scales/chords and chromatic runs, with pop/rock piano voicings, including the tasteful use of warm, supporting bass octaves in the lowest registers of the piano keyboard. And he uses far more creative chords/harmonies than are ever published in lead sheets of this song.

This is a transcription of the piano part for the entire song - all 4:08 of it, including the wonderful solo, of course. The brass instrument (probably a baritone horn) that accompanies the piano so hauntingly is also transcribed note-for-note. If you'd like to learn how Leon Russell voices chords, and what notes he chooses in his playing/compositions, this is your opportunity.

Difficulty: Medium

Two options are available:

1) piano part only

2) piano part plus the baritone horn part

Here is Leon Russell performing "A Song for You" on YouTube.

Leon Russell - Crystal Closet Queen (Studio) - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Out of great respect for one of his musical heroes, Richard Penniman, Leon Russell wrote "Crystal Closet Queen", his homage to Little Richard. He often performed it in concerts, and recorded it twice, a studio version in 1971 and a live-concert version in 1973.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Leon Russell's piano part in the 1971 studio version "Crystal Closet Queen", from his Leon Russell & the Shelter People album.

This track demonstrates Leon's rocking/driving style perfectly, including his use of octaves and Little Richard-style pneumatic drill-fast repeated chords, which are notated in detail, of course. Every note is included, from the first grace-noted V chord to the last notes in the fade-out.

Leon intended to honor Little Richard not only through clever tongue-in-cheek lyrics but also by using elements of Richard's own piano style mixed with his own. He succeeded beautifully. Terrific rock-and-roll piano-playing. If you'd like to play Leon's classic rocker about Little Richard, this is just what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Leon Russell's "Crystal Closet Queen" on YouTube.

Leon Russell - I Put a Spell on You - Piano Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1970 Leon Russell released his first solo album, titled "Leon Russell". One of the now-classic tracks on that album was "I Put a Spell on You", which starts off with a couple of 'false starts' that proceed into a solo piano Intro to the song. Although the Intro is only 21 seconds long, it is full of classic 'Leon' piano licks: cool runs, Left Hand octaves, and that 'Leon sound'.

This is a note-for-note transcription of just that 21-second Intro. Although brief, it is an excellent study in what makes Leon Russell's piano-playing sound like it does. If you'd like to kick off Leon's "I Put a Spell on You" exactly as he recorded it, here's your chance.

Difficulty: Medium

Here is Leon Russell performing "I Put a Spell on You" on YouTube. The Intro is from :35 through :56.

Leon Russell - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf.pdf

In 1970 Leon Russell was at his pianistic peak, recording his eponymous Leon Russell album and then releasing his Leon Russell and the Shelter People album the following year. If you want to hear Leon at his swamp-rock best, it's hard to beat that time period and those two albums. During that time he also recorded his own version of Bob Dylan's classic song, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". However, it was not released until 1989, almost two decades later, when it appeared as a bonus track on the CD re-issue of Leon Russell and the Shelter People in 1989.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Leon's complete piano part in that rarely-heard but outstanding recording of a Dylan classic, interpreted by one of rock's greatest pianists. It includes Leon's crushed-grace-note technique, where he'll hit a three note cluster, and then immediately release two out of the three notes - just one of his important swamp-rock techniques. It also includes his use of a modified "IV-chord bump" technique where he substitutes a suspended chord for the IV-chord in the 'bump', plus his excellent left-hand octaves and other Leon pianistic 'goodies'. If you're trying to learn to play more like Leon Russell - and who isn't - this should be a good help.

Difficulty: Moderate

Click here to hear Leon Russell's version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" on YouTube.

Leon Russell - Old Masters (Masters of War) - Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1963 Bob Dylan wrote "Masters of War", comprised of eight verses (with no chorus). About seven years later Leon took just the first verse, sang it to the melody of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and called it "Old Masters". Intended to be on Leon's eponymous 1970 album, it was removed at the last minute, and not released until 1989 on the Gold CD version of the Leon Russell album (along with other rare tracks, such as the piano solo version of "Shootout on the Plantation").

The track is just Leon's piano and vocal; this is a note-for-note transcription of the piano part. The first half is in 4/4, and then about halfway through, Leon breaks into a Gospel-influenced 12/8. If you'd like to play Leon Russell's powerful version of Bob Dylan's most famous anti-war classic, this is exactly what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI file (with Tempo Map)

Leon Russell - Roll Away the Stone - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Leon Russell had a very good year in 1970: he led Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tour, he met Elton John, and he released his first solo album, Leon Russell. "Roll Away the Stone", included on that album, is simply Leon at his rocking/driving best - full of the octave fills and syncopated rhythms that defined Leon's style.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the studio version of "Roll Away the Stone" - all 92 measures - and contains detailed notation of all of Leon's "smudged octaves", when his right hand's 4th finger slightly catches a note adjacent to the 5th finger's note. Of course there's also precise notation of the totally cool alternating-hands descending-chords riff that is unique to "Roll Away the Stone", never used in any other song by Leon (or anyone else). Every note is included, including the Left Hand part (of course) and the glissando-in-thirds.

If you'd like to play the amazing piano part in "Roll Away the Stone" exactly as Leon Russell recorded it in 1970, this is just what you need. It really is one of his very best piano parts.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Leon Russell's "Roll Away the Stone" on YouTube.
Here is that unique alternating-hands descending riff on YouTube. And again here.

Leon Russell - She Belongs to Me - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of the greatest rock piano players of all time, Leon Russell grew up in Oklahoma, in the heart of the Bible Belt. Exposed at an early age to Southern gospel music, he incorporated gospel rhythms and licks into his own rock-and-roll piano playing.

"She Belongs to Me", written by Bob Dylan, is normally performed as a smooth, relaxed ballade. Leon's version, by contrast, rocks it like a Pentecostal church service, complete with a driving Piano Solo in Leon's classic style.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano part, from the gospel piano Intro, to the octave-filled Solo, to the instrumental Out section - this is Leon Russell at his gospel-rock best.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Leon Russell's "She Belongs to Me" on YouTube.

Leon Russell - Shoot Out on the Plantation (Studio version on 1970 Album) (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

This is the original version of "Shoot Out on the Plantation" that was released in 1970 on Leon Russell's first studio album, Leon Russell. It had all the elements that defined his unique style: the syncopated rhythms, the blurring of the line between major and minor tonality, the clangy Perfect 4ths, the terrific octaves. If one had to choose only one song of Leon's to study his style, it could be this one.

This version, recorded in the studio with his rhythm section, has a completely different piano part than the rare Gold CD bonus track Solo Piano version released in 1989. Both tracks show Leon's piano-playing at its best - great rhythms, great chords, great octaves.

If you want to study Leon's iconic "swap rock" piano style, you should get both transcriptions - this version plus the Solo Piano version. They both are Leon in his prime.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI file of this transcription is also available:

Here is Leon Russell's "Shoot Out on the Plantation" on YouTube.  

Leon Russell - Shoot Out on the Plantation (solo piano version - Bonus track on 1989 Gold CD) (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Shoot Out on the Plantation" came out on Leon Russell's first studio album, Leon Russell, in 1970, and had all the elements that defined his unique style: the syncopated rhythms, the blurring of the line between major and minor tonality, the clangy Perfect 4ths, the terrific octaves. If one had to choose only one song of Leon's to study his style, it could be this one.

However, what most people don't know was that around the time that he recorded "Shoot Out", he also recorded another version, one that had all the elements distilled down to just his solo piano and voice. Called the "Solo piano version" it wouldn't be released for almost twenty more years. In 1989 on the Gold Audiophile CD (GZS-1049) version of the same Leon Russell album, it was included as a Bonus Track.

This is a note-for-note transcription of that very rare "Solo piano version" of "Shoot Out on the Plantation". Recorded in the studio on 1970 it has Leon putting all the elements of a rhythm section right onto the 88's - it's Leon's style on steroids. I know of no other piano/vocal recording of his that captures all of his pianistic bag of tricks as well as this version - great rhythms, great chords, the best octaves in the business, and not just in the Right Hand. Without a drummer or bass player, he more than makes up for their absence with a great Left Hand part, including the best Left Hand octave runs of his entire discography.

If you want to duplicate Leon Russell's amazing style at its very peak, and to study just how he pulled off his amazing rock-piano feats, this transcription is exactly what you've been looking for.

Difficulty: Moderate

A MIDI file of this transcription is also available:

To listen to the MIDI file, just click: Leon Russell - "Shoot Out on the Plantation" (Solo piano version)

Leon Russell - Tryin' To Stay 'Live - Piano Intro (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Between 1967 and 1969 Leon Russell recorded the tracks for "Asylum Choir II", released in 1971. One of those tracks, "Tryin' To Stay 'Live", starts off with a 16-bar, 25-second Intro that is classic, text-book Leon Russell piano-playing: an entire series of Right-Hand octaves (plus a few chords and grace-notes) accompanied by thumping octaves in the Left Hand.

This is a note-for-note transcription of just that 16-bar Intro, and reveals exactly how Leon got that classic Leon Russell-octaves type of sound that so many other pianists have tried to copy. If you'd like to study just how Leon could construct the gospel-rock piano parts that he's famous for, this is a classic, unbeatable example of the piano master's famous style.

Difficulty: Medium

Here is Leon Russell performing "Tryin' To Stay 'Live on YouTube. The Intro is from :05 through :30.

Liberace - Boogie Woogie - from "Here's Liberace" - Piano Solo (transcribed & arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Liberace became famous because he could play, with a capitol P. Possessing the technique of a classical concert pianist, he loved showing off his technical prowess, especially in that most pianistic of styles: boogie-woogie. One of his favorite boogie-woogies was one very loosely derived from Pinetop Smith's "Pinetop's Boogie". He played this showy, technically challenging boogie since the early 1950's at least, and perhaps as early as the 1940's.

This is a note-for-note accurate transcription of Liberace's "Boogie Woogie" that was recorded live at the London Palladium and released in 1980 on the album, "Here's Liberace". It was part of a three-song medley, "Jalousie/Boogie Woogie/You Made Me Love You".

To play this extroverted Liberace classic well, one must have a strong left hand capable of playing two different classic boogie-woogie left hand patterns (the left hand pattern in Verse 1 is different from the left hand pattern found in all the other verses), plus an extremely articulate and fluid right hand.

Difficulty: Challenging

To listen to Liberace play this boogie-woogie solo, click here: Boogie Woogie (from 'Here's Liberace')

To see Liberace play a very similar version of this boogie on YouTube, click here: Boogie Woogie (from a 1969 TV show)

Liberace - Bumble Boogie - Solo Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Of all the compositions inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Flight of the Bumble Bee", none is more virtuosic than Liberace's own arrangement - a blur of fingers. On his own very successful TV show in 1953 Liberace performed his "Bumble Boogie" for the first time on live TV. At 34 and at the height of his pianistic powers, both his arrangement and performance were sensational. "Bumble Boogie" and "Chopsticks" became two of his most-requested pieces at his live concerts.

An accurate version of Liberace's "Bumble Boogie" has never been available before - until now. This is a note-for-note transcription of that classic 1953 TV performance, complete with Liberace's own fingering (as seen in a blur) - all the 5-octave chromatic runs where 1 out of every 12 chromatic notes is flashily played with his left hand, the 2-handed low-register "buzzing", the fast right hand octaves during the Bridge, the driving, locomotive-like left hand patterns, and of course, the main right hand bumble-bee chromatic figures.

Also included is my own technical exercise to help you master the difficult right hand main pattern.

If you ever wanted to study Liberace at his prestissimo best, this is just what you need. Play Liberace's "Bumble Boogie" exactly as he did.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Liberace performing his "Bumble Boogie" on his 1953 TV show on YouTube.

Liberace - Chopsticks - Piano Solo (transcribed & arranged by Elmo Peeler).pdf

One of Liberace's greatest show-stoppers was his virtuoso arrangement of "Chopsticks". Starting with the simple two-handed pecking that every school child knows, Liberace's "Chopsticks" proceeds through classical references to Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, to Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, to other Liszt, then a re-statement of the original simple Chopsticks theme before ending with a dramatic, piano concerto-like descending double-octave arpeggio.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piece - all 115 measures, 9 pages, and who-knows-how-many notes - in fact, this probably contains more notes than any other transcription. Liberace's technical 'tricks' are many: shimmering 'strums' and other embellishments in the higher registers, elegant 'society' two-handed chord voicings, lightning-fast octaves, blazing 16th notes (178 BPM), lots of arpeggios that could be played with only the Right Hand but are instead played with both hands alternating, and other wonderful techniques - all packed into two and a half amazing Liberace minutes.

This is your chance to learn the most amazing arrangement of Chopsticks ever, precisely as Liberace himself played it.

Difficulty: Challenging

A MIDI File of this transcription is available here:

To see a customer's comment about this transcription, click here.

To see Liberace play this exact version of "Chopsticks" on YouTube, click here.

Linda Ronstadt - Back in the U.S.A. - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Linda Ronstadt's version of Chuck Berry's classic "Back in the U.S.A." was released on her ninth studio album, Living in the U.S.A., which went double-platinum (over 2,000,000 in sales). Ronstadt had heard Berry's original recording while riding around Los Angeles with Glenn Frey, who had it on a home-made cassette tape. She liked it immediately, telling Frey, "Boy, that would be a great song to sing. I think I'll do that one."

For her own version Ronstadt used pianist Don Grolnick, whose piano track was heavily influenced by Johnnie Johnson's style in Berry's original. This is a note-for-note transcription of Don Grolnick's 12-bar piano solo. Although only twelve bars, Grolnick packs it full of great boogie-woogie riffs: hammered 4ths, thirds, octaves with octave grace-notes, tremolos-with-a-fifth-added, and other pianistic goodies. It's not the easiest solo to play but it definitely rocks.

If you've ever wondered exactly what the licks are in this solo, or just want to continue learning how to play boogie-woogie, this will be a big help.

Difficulty: Challenging

Two options are available:

1) Sheet music

2) MIDI file

Little Big Town - Girl Crush - for Piano (Transcribed & Arr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

"Girl Crush" is a beautiful love song, with very clever lyrics, that has been a huge hit for Little Big Town; and the rhythm section is built around a flowing, arpeggiated guitar riff - there is no piano on the track at all.  So the problem for keyboard players is what to play.

How can a pianist play an effective piano/vocal accompaniment for a singer on this song? Or what should a pianist in a band play?

To create a nice piano accompaniment that stays true to the original recording, I've transcribed the guitar part note-for-note throughout the entire song, and then given that line to the piano. The Left Hand uses some subtleties found in the bass guitar part on the recording. And near the end when the organ and guitar play a nice line, those riffs are also incorporated into the piano part.

This transcription/arrangement does not play the melody at all. It is intended as a piano (or electric piano) accompaniment for someone singing the lyrics, or as an effective, good piano part to play within a rhythm section in a band.

Difficulty: Easy

Here is Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" on YouTube.

To listen to my transcription/arrangement of "Girl Crush", click here.

Little Feat - Willin' - Piano Solo & End Run (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

Bill Payne, co-founder in 1969 of Little Feat, is one of the most respected session players in the business. Born with perfect pitch and possessing excellent rhythm and technique, his solos are consistently done with taste and precision. His piano solo in "Willin'" is a textbook example of his keyboard artistry.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Bill Payne's piano solo in Little Feat's "Willin" from their 1972 album "Sailin' Shoes". Also included are four different piano 'riffs' that occur during the song, including the run at the very end. If you'd like to study and play a beautifully-constructed solo from a master, this is your opportunity.

Difficulty: Moderate

To listen, just click: Little Feat - "Willin" (Piano Solo)

Little Richard - Great Gosh A'Mighty (Live) - Piano Part (transcr. & arr. by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1985 after seven years of only performing gospel music, Little Richard returned to rock and accepted a role in the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills. He and Billy Preston wrote the faith-based rock-and-roll song, "Great Gosh A'Mighty" for its soundtrack.

A high-energy rocker, "Great Gosh A'Mighty" contains many of the same elements of his earlier dynamic hits: a droning, pounding Left Hand, a driving, mid-register Right Hand, and occasionally using the high registers for pneumatic-hammer-fast octave triplets and runs.

This is a note-for-note transcription of Little Richard's piano part for the entire song, as performed live on the Joan Rivers TV Show. If you've ever wanted to study Little Richard's dynamic, high-energy piano style, this is a good place to start.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Little Richard's live performance of "Great Gosh A'Mighty" on YouTube.

Little Richard - Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Live) - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

When Little Richard was 23, he had been recording for four years without a hit. Fortunately, his friend Lloyd Price, who'd written and recorded a #1 R&B hit "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", encouraged him to send a two-song demo to Price's record company, Specialty Records. Nine months later Little Richard had his own smash hit, "Tutti Frutti". Almost 40 years later, in 1994, the two appeared together on the Sally Raphael TV Show and performed "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" - just the two of them - no band, just Richard seated at the grand piano and Lloyd standing beside the piano trading verses.

With no rhythm section and only a piano to propel the song, Little Richard throws in many of his trademark techniques: a driving boogie-influenced Left Hand, pounding high-register chords, cascading clusters, and glittering glissandi.

This is a note-for-note transcription of that 1994 Live TV performance - the entire piano part (with even the clusters notated). If you've wanted to better understand Little Richard's driving, electric piano style, this will prove very helpful.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Little Richard's live 1994 performance of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" on YouTube.

Little Richard - Slippin' & Slidin' - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

The mid-1950's saw an electrifying singer/piano-player burst onto the R&B and rock-&-roll scene - the flamboyant, irrepressible Little Richard. In the short space of three years he had 18 hit singles, including "Slippin' and Slidin'" from his very first album (1955), which was released as a single in 1956.

The song contains ten 12-bar phrases, only four of which are with vocal, the other six being an instrumental Intro plus five sax/piano sections. Little Richard's piano kicks it off with energetic octaves and boogie-woogie licks, and ends it with driving high-register repeated chords (with some good accents - all notated, of course).

This is a note-for-note transcription of Little Richard's entire piano part in his original version of "Slippin' and Slidin'" - it's hard to get much better early R&B/rock&roll. If you'd like to re-create "Slippin' and Slidin'" on the piano yourself, or just want to study the style of an historic player and recording, this is what you need.

Difficulty: Moderate

Here is Little Richard's "Slippin' and Slidin'" on YouTube.

Loggins & Messina - Your Mama Don't Dance - Piano Part (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

The most important instrument in Loggins & Messina's biggest hit, "Your Mama Don't Dance" (1972), was the terrific piano part, driving the rhythm section and answering the vocal phrases with great licks. The L.A. session ace who played it, Michael Omartian, went on to become the first record producer to have #1 records in three consecutive decades - the 70's, 80's, & 90's - and has contributed his talents to over 350,000,000 albums sold worldwide as a producer, composer, arranger, artist or musician - including seventeen Grammy nominations.

This is a note-for-note transcription of the complete piano part in "Your Mama Don't Dance", from the very first tremolo in the Intro until the very last 2-handed tremolo during the final chord. By electronic processing even the normally inaudible piano part during the Sax and Guitar Solos was able to be brought out and notated.

If you'd like to learn how to play the piano part in "Your Mama Don't Dance" exactly as it is on the recording, this is just what you need.

Difficulty: Challenging

Here is Loggins & Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" on YouTube.

Loggins & Messina - Your Mama Don't Dance - Sax Solo & Bass - for Piano (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf

In 1972 Loggins & Messina released "Your Mama Don't Dance", which included a terrific sax solo, played by Jon Clarke on a baritone sax in its higher register. This is a note-for-note transcription of that 12-bar sax solo, written out for piano with the bass guitar part in the Left Hand.

Also included is the transposed score for sax in case you want to play it on the sax. And in addition to the bari sax score, scores for both tenor and alto saxes are also included for a total of four scores: piano/bass, bari, tenor and alto saxes.

Difficulty: Moderate