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Topic: Mikey's Kickass Piano Solos

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tubularbills Offline

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Posted: Jan. 13 2001, 00:50

Ok, everyone seems to comment on how good Mike is at playing the Guitar, and he is! A lot of his music that is guitar i've been extrememly impressed with.
However, i think he does an even better job on the piano.

Here are some examples:
TUBULAR BELLS:
The opening of it, duh. smile

The end of part 1 at "Grand Piano". Actually i'd say about 3/4 of part 1 has piano in it.

TUBULAR BELLS 2:
The opening of it, duh smile

again the end of part 1 , "Grand Piano". Not as much piano in this one as the original.

TUBULAR BELLS 3
The opening of it smile

(mixed in with the synth bells). But probably his best work is on "Top of the Morning". "Moonwatch" is good too.

There aren't really other albums were his piano music is as noticable as these 3. However, almost all of his albums do have some piano in them (except Guitars smile

)

Anyone else? Piano vs. Guitar!!!

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Terrible, Wonderful, Crazy, Perfect.

TimHighfield Offline

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Posted: Jan. 13 2001, 01:12

What about Platinum Live on the Complete? Or Lament for Atlantis on Songs of Distant Earth? Both have got some great piano (I think), although I haven't heard the former in a while.

-Tim-

Ugo

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Posted: Jan. 13 2001, 21:12

The piano on the live Platinum is not Mike...he's on guitar. smile

Anyhow, it's good.

But I think his best piano parts are (in no particular order): Top Of The Morning from TB3, Broad Sunlit Uplands from TMB, the Rachmaninov bits from Amarok and, of course, the TB theme and all its variations... smile

Yes, tubularbills, there's piano most of the way through Part 1 of TB, except in the section corresponding to TB2's Sunjammer or to TB3's Outcast.

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian

TimHighfield Offline

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Posted: Jan. 16 2001, 05:28

Ugo, was there piano on the original Platinum? Who played it? I need to know, I don't have it yet...

-Tim-

Ugo

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Posted: Jan. 16 2001, 18:57

Yes, Tim...lots of piano on the studio Platinum...Mike played it [who else? smile

]

The piano part in Charleston is especially cool IMHO.

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian

Thomas Andersson Offline

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Posted: Feb. 28 2001, 02:40

A lot of mike's piano work is pretty simple, even I could play it, for example the intros of TB1, 2 and 3. You can't say that about most of his guitar playing though.

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Posted: Feb. 28 2001, 03:12

I'd be inclined to agree with Thomas on this matter. I have the TB sheet music (arranged for piano) and I can sight-read most of it fairly easily (not both hands, though).

Also, when you have lots of studio editing and stuff, it becomes easier (i.e. I'm fairly certain that you require several hands to play Top of the Morning properly) to play complex pieces.

On one of the interviews here on Tubularnet, Mike stated that he wasn't that great on piano, it was guitars and bass that he had learned 'properly'.

tubularbills Offline

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Posted: Feb. 28 2001, 15:35

Adding both hands to TB is a somewhat more difficult (i have the sheet music as well).

As regards to Top of the Morning, to play just the piano parts (not the flute, or other instruments played in the song) requires only 2 hands, and no studio editing, trust me, i can do it (and I'm sure MO did it too).

Regardless if he learned the piano "properly" or on his own, i still think he plays it rather excellent, and i seem to enjoy his piano playing rather than guitar.

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Terrible, Wonderful, Crazy, Perfect.

Belthazar

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Posted: Feb. 28 2001, 21:00

I LOVE Top of the Morning... i was wondering if would be possible to get hold of some sheet music so I could play it myself...

By the way... did Mike play the opening from the track Heaven's Open?

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Belthazar
That's Bravo Echo Lima Tango Hotel Alpha Zulu Alpha Romeo

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

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Posted: Mar. 01 2001, 02:50

Balthazar - I'm not sure if there is official sheet music for Top of the Morning, but I recommend looking at the MIDI section of tubular.net and reading the notes of that. It's not quite as convenient as having real music, but you can still get the general gist of it. (You'll need a programme like Noteworthy Composer (www.ntworthy.com) to read the notes from the MIDI file, though.)

Does that help?

tubularbills Offline

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Posted: Mar. 01 2001, 14:45

There is official sheet music for it. It can be purchased at www.mikeoldfield.org. They have The entire album of TB2, TB3, and TB2 Concert Score.

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Terrible, Wonderful, Crazy, Perfect.

Belthazar

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Posted: Mar. 01 2001, 19:00

Buy?.... Good point.... maybe when I get a credit card smile

And MIDIs are also a good idea...

But thanks for the help...

--------------
Belthazar
That's Bravo Echo Lima Tango Hotel Alpha Zulu Alpha Romeo

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

11 replies since Jan. 13 2001, 00:50

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Mike Oldfield Forums » Tubular Talk » Mike's Styles » Mikey's Kickass Piano Solos