Saturday, August 25, 2007

How to Play Baba O'Riley on Piano

There's a great way to play it that mimics the synth sound and all the accompanying chords as well. Not really for beginner pianists, though.  Check out thisvideo for how it sounds, it will help while you're trying to play it. That version is in G, not in F, as the following directions will be. It's probably a little easier to play in G, but either can be done.

Start with your left thumb and your right thumb on the F below middle C. You'll be playing 16th notes and alternating between this F in your left hand and each other note of the synth sound. So (in 16th notes, with the lowercase noting your left hand and uppercase noting right hand) you'd play FfCfFfCf over and over). This reproduces the synth sound pretty well and sounds like the first 45 seconds on the video.

Play the chords over that riff. F--C--Bb. Use the pedal to sustain the sound of the chord. Basically, as you play the riff you're playing the chord as the first 16th note rather than just the "F" note in the right hand. It takes some work to get used to.

Add the left hand an octave lower if you want to mimic the sound of the guitar coming in and emphasize the chords. You'd play octaves of F, C and Bb with your left hand on that same first 16th note when you're playing the chord in your right hand.
If you listen to the video track it helps get a sense of how it will sound. This makes it a lot easier to figure out how to play it.