Turning Tables by Adele was one the stand-out songs of the worldwide number one album 21. The piano introduction is really beautiful and the lyrics, all about a domestic dispute, convey the deep emotions that she must have been feeling when it was written. The single didn’t perform that well commercially but after Gwyneth Paltrow performed it on the TV show Glee it has become a bit of a cult hit. The tune has now become an essential...

The piano playing style used in all Latin American music is very much focussed around simple repeated patterns and chord changes. Unlike traditional western music, Salsa, Samba and all of the favourite Latin genres focus much more on the rhythmic side of playing. To illustrate this point, I don’t think I have ever met a musician from that part of the world who isn’t as comfortable on a percussion instrument (like shaker or agogo...

Love me Tender was released by Elvis Presley in the Autumn of 1956 and topped the Billboard charts for a full five weeks. The song was adapted from an old American civil war song, Aura Lee, and that’s where it’s strong sense of melody comes from. Any tune which soldiers sing has got to be simple and catchy! It is one of the most popular songs of all time and has featured in the top 500 songs according to Billboard for the last 50...

Bye Bye Blackbird is one of the most performed  tunes in the American Songbook. The music was written by Ray Henderson with Mort Dixon supplying the lyrics. The simple melody of this song made it immediately popular with the bebop and jazz crowds as it could be played at blisteringly fast tempos. One of the most notable recordings of this tune is on Miles Davis’s classic album Round Midnight. My personal favourite version though is from...

Moonlight Sonata was composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven in 1801 and to this day is still one of the most popular pieces in the classical piano repertoire. The composition has been played by all of the world’s top pianists with some notable recordings by Evgeny Kissin and Lang Lang. The piece is famous for it’s descending bass part in the introduction (written below)  which is also referred to as a Phrygian Progression. This motif was...