Web Piano Teacher Artist Series Shawn Cheek

Join the conversation Shawn and Shawna have about classical program music, show tunes, and where Billy Joel's Scenes from an Italian Restaurant find the point of intersection.  Scenes is an epic composition including rockabilly piano, New Orleans jazz, and  broadway styling that follows a classical structure and outline.  Inspired by the B side of Abby Road, Billy Joel set out to take the pieces of songs he'd written but not quite finished and weave them together into one theatrical song. He paints such a vivid picture, it's like you're reminiscing with him about friends you both went to high school with at your favorite spot in the neighborhood.     

As the title track for the album, Billy Joel shows us his depth by using poetic license to explain the 'shadow self'.  Perhaps the most exciting thing about Joel's music is he never limits himself by the basic structure of a pop/rock song.  Breaking all the molds with The Stranger, Joel mixes up the expectation of verse chorus verse chorus, and challenges our ear and mind to accept a song structured more like something Beethoven would compose. He even uses two different voicing styles, one the 'bad boy' during the verse and the other 'a nice guy' during the chorus. Which one is the stranger to Billy Joel, we might never know.  The interesting part is, much like ourselves, he's both and can probably easily toggle between the two within a matter of seconds.    

If this isn't your favorite song on the album, we suggest spending a little time with it, letting each unique part grow on you.  What's your favorite Billy Joel 'voice' - the bad boy or the good guy?

Billy Joel says he's never forgiven himself for not being Beethoven, but we believe just because Billy Joel can't do what Beethoven did doesn't mean Beethoven could do what Billy Joel does.  Journey with us as we dive into The Stranger, Joel's first commercially successful album, track by track.  Forty-five years after its release, The Stranger has stood the test of time by resonating with grandparents, parents, and children.  Why? Shawn will breakdown Joel's compositions and Shawna will talk about his ability to write lyrical stories that capture human nature at its core. When music crosses genre, has the complexity of a renowned classical piece, and tells timelessly relatable stories, it will settle deep into your heart, mind, and soul from one generation to another.  Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), sets up our thesis perfectly with the introduction of contrapuntal melodies reminicint of Bach.  Just like Homer's epic, Ulysses, Joel writes a lyrical coming of age story that touches on the internal struggle people have as life transitions from youth to adulthood.   

After listening to the Rumours album by Fleetwood Mac on repeat, Shawn and Shawna wrote an original song inspired by everything they learned.  Find out what songs from the album gave them their greatest inspiration and see how each of Fleetwood Mac's three distinct songwriting styles were woven into the lyrics, style, and composition.  This episode reveals some of the challenges song writing presents when you're pushed outside of your comfort zone.  

The final track on Rumours album, Gold Dust Woman, is written by Stevie Nicks.  Even though she wrote it before ever joining Fleetwood Mac, the song's vibe fit the band perfectly.  Stevie grew up immersed in fairy tale stories read by her mother, and experienced country music on the lap of her grandfather in honky tonk bars across the Southwest.  Just like many of her songs, Gold Dust Woman has a sound that's not quite country and not quite rock and roll which was a popular sound emerging out of southern California at the time.  In true Ken Caillat and Lindsey Buckingham form, this song is full of obscure "instruments".  Can you hear glass breaking throughout the song?  Mick Fleetwood was able to use his skill of rhythm on a whole other level for this song.  

Gold Dust Woman is quintessentially Stevie.  The lyrics are meaningful while somehow remaining mysterious, steeped in symbolism represented in little turns of phrases.   Later in life, Stevie gives more insight into the inspiration behind the words she wrote.  It's always interesting to recognize the initial inspiration of a song in the lyrics, but see that the artist doesn't keep a strict focus on just that one subject.  Perhaps that's why her songs are so popular, everyone can hear and relate to what they need to hear and relate to at any given moment in time. 

Most of the research for this episode was done by reading Ken Caillat and Steven Stiefel's book, Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album.  

Once again, Christine McVie, is the star of another track on the Rumours album.  She was writer, composer, and lead vocalist for Oh Daddy.  The song was partially about drummer and bandmate, Mick Fleetwood's pending divorce with wife Jenny, but also a little about the lighting engineer Christine was seeing while recording Rumours.  Producer, Ken Caillat, wanted to explore more of the erie, suspicious, dark sounds they used for Dreams earlier in their recording session.  Everything depended on Christine's organ, with the spinning Leslie speaker set on slow rotate, turning only a few times a minute.  

Once again, there's an interesting "mistake" intentionally left in the final edit of the song.  Why?  We have different opinions as to why. After listening, let us know your opinion.

Most of the research for this episode was done by reading Ken Caillat and Steven Stiefel's book, Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album.