'Misty' dot song

[David Haynes]

I just discovered an embarrassing number of errors in the new ‘Misty’ dot song. They have been fixed. The current version is 1.2. (Thanks, Skip.)

[David Haynes]

Couple other housekeeping notes on ‘Misty’:

The print layout can be a little unpredictable – depending on your browser and your printer, perhaps some other issues I haven’t yet rooted out. In any case, I’ve had good luck with Mac/Safari/HP Envy printer – adjusting a couple print settings. I also know that Chrome seems to also deal with the print issues pretty well.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

ALSO: The link to ‘Misty’ and the link to the scale practice sheet can be found in a couple places. Firstly, on the page with the appropriate seminar lesson, but also on the right sidebar on any topic or lesson page.

[David Haynes]

I updated the ‘Misty’ dot song, adding a page at the end that is just the lead sheet. Should be easier to print and read – you could use this as your first effort writing fractions on a lead sheet. You don’t have to figure out the voicings obviously but you could experiment with different ways to voice or harmonize.

[Chris]

Hi David or anybody.
Im not at keyboard right now so might be resolved then but just had a panic;).
The melody note ,ie top note of chord usually pinkie,is the note emphasised in the chord-slightly or is there equal pressure on all the right hand fingers?
Thankyou

[David Haynes]

I wouldn’t get distracted by that detail. You need to hear the melody but your brain is going to tend to recognize it as the top note of your chord anyway. If you hear the melody yourself you’re probably fine. If you have doubts, record yourself and have a listen.

[Chris]

Thankyou for confirmation on that David,will do.

[karl]

I am feeling confused– I have been doing the scales as suggested– the seminar talks about practicing an hour a day– the scales are a rather short chunk– what do I do for the rest of the hour? Also– I see the dots and play them and see the chord names– I have no clue how I ever would be able to move to a point of knowing what chords to play after learning the dots. –Karl

[David Haynes]

Hi Karl,

The rest of the time you should be working on learning the dot song version of ‘Misty’. Careful, slow repetition is the key. It will seem like you’re not making any progress for a long time. You just have to be patient. Your brain will want to micromanage everything your hands do to begin with. Eventually your hands will learn on their own and start keeping your brain from meddling with everything. I know that sounds odd but it’s true. Check out Barry Green’s “The Inner Game of Music” for a more detailed look at the role of your active mind in mucking things up.

As far as dealing with chords, that should all be explained in the “Learning to Voice Songs” section in the Weekend Seminar. When you’re just starting on “Misty” none of that particularly matters but I will say that curiosity and trying things that may not explicitly be laid out for you is an important part of the learning process. Look at the sheet music format and follow your curiosity – or ignore the sheet music until you have “Misty” pretty well in hand. Either way can work but you still have to follow David’s practice routine. Just make certain when you sit down that you know which mode you’re in – practice or exploring. Both are important.

Everyone’s specific path is a little different. But if you’ve never played piano before you can expect to hear “Misty” a lot over the next few months. Give yourself a break if you’re getting burned out but there’s no shortcut to getting all those repetitions in.

[JAIME BROTONS]

I think that learning Misty all of a sudden is too demanding.
I have come to an arrangement with myself, but I need your opinion about it.
At the same time I am trying to memorize Misty – easy the left hand, more complicated the right – I go ahead with the “Learning to voice songs” lesson. Otherwise how can I voice Misty?
Is this alright with the method?

Thank you.

I have no problems with scales since I come from classical.

[David Haynes]

Hi Jaime,

You mentioned that you have some classical training. That will help you in some ways but hinder you in others.

Here is my view:

There is nothing particularly demanding about learning Misty in this manner – it’s just a matter of attentive repetition.

The scale question involves a little different perspective than you may be accustomed to. David proscribes two practice approaches: one using typical fingering and one using one finger. The goal of the first approach is just to get used to the thumb-under movement (you probably already are) and the goal of the second approach is to visually internalize the scale paths to the point where if someone says what’s the 3rd (or 5th,7th,9th, etc) of a Bb major scale, you’ll immediately see D. The paths and scale degrees are visually implanted in your brain.

The “Learning to voice” section didn’t used to be separated from the Misty part – I made that change because people were getting hung up on voicing before they could play Misty and it just became a distraction.

There’s no particular reason you can’t view that part of the seminar. ‘Misty’ is already voiced for you.

Keep in mind that this is a different way of thinking about song-playing than most classical trained musicians are used to.

Thanks for reaching out.

[JAIME BROTONS]

There is nothing particularly demanding about learning Misty in this manner

Well, I see it in a different way. I think it is going to take me several weeks. I’ll let you know.

There’s no particular reason you can’t view that part of the seminar. ‘Misty’ is already voiced for you.

I still find it difficult to learn.

Thank you for answer.

[David Haynes]

I just meant that it’s not technically demanding. Given some time your hands will learn the shapes and your ears will learn the sounds.

Still, as you note, it’s not “easy” in the sense that you’ll get it right away. If it takes you a “few weeks” you’ll be well ahead of most people.

That being said, I got so sick of playing it that I literally quit playing Misty for a couple decades. Recently I picked it up again and am now learning new ways to play the tune.

In any case, it’s not a contest. Enjoy the journey and trust yourself to figure things out in a way that makes sense to you. The Method is a guideline not a rigid set of rules.

[Hari Jayaram]

Thank you for these questions and answers here. I too came here because after restarting the course for the third time in 10 years ( had stopped prematurely after two weeks before) ..I felt the Jump from practicing scales to learning Misty is huge and am wondering if I missed something. Seems i did not, and I just have to stick it out. When I am playing the chords for Misty on a regular piano it sounds nothing like what’s on the recording ..possibly because of the sounds of David’s piano being more electronic.. I am having a hard time telling if I am playing the song correctly. That said, I have made it the furthest this time and loving it and want to stick it out. Is there a clearer recording of Misty as voiced in the printed sheets?

[David Haynes]

I think perhaps those of us who have learned “Misty” forget how long it really took and how many times we played it. All I can say is that it gets easier – but learning to voice on your own also takes a while (but is a HUGE benefit going forward.) Which reminds me of another important insight: some songs will be easier to voice than others. I don’t know exactly why but the point is if you get stuck you can always try a different song.

But back to your question about listening to “Misty”. The are some student recordings of “Misty” in the “Student play” page. (And lots of renditions on-line) If your fingers match the dot song drawings you’re playing the song as Suds intended. Playing it “correctly” is a different question. I’d strongly urge you to play the chords as David intended – unless you have some physical reason that gets in the way. But, as the student recordings demonstrate, you do have choices on how you’d like it to sound.

The one thing I always liked about the Method is, as you continue to learn, you can make you own choices about how you want any particular song to sound. Even “Misty”.

Most importantly, have fun. And feel free to try stuff. We all learn a little differently.

[Hari Jayaram]

Apologies I could not find where to start a new thread so am posting here.
I have made some progress on Misty up to the fifth bar “Kit-ten-up-a” part.

My progress is slow because I still dont understand the dot song notation fully . I am an absolute beginner and cant read music.Can you clarify what the text thats around the measure denotes.

The part on the left seems to be the chord struck –so for the Kit-ten-up-a-section is it :
1) the Eb7 chord which is denoted on the left. And corresponds to the dot notation on the measure
2) For the chord..whats the parts below the Eb7 on the left? What do the M , #11, 3 b9 and the horizontal line and b7 denote?
3) For the text on the right , I am guessing these are the individual notes . WHats the note with the parenthesis (C)?
4) The other notes , I gather are struck along with the EB7 chord and are Bb, G, Eb
5)What does the text in the bottom denote..guess this matches with the chord on the left?

I have tried to index my questions on the image below . Sorry for the number of questions because I couldnt find a more detailed explanation in the audio.
In addition to David S’s audio I am also trying to listen to the version from this youtube channel and am particularly stuck at “Kitten on a tree” because it does not sound like I am doing the right thing with either audio recording. Hoping that understanding the notation text better will help me get un-stuck.
Thank you for your help in advance

[David Haynes]

It might help you to review the “Reading the dot songs” lesson again.

As for the notation:
The “fraction” on the left of each keyboard diagram is the scale designation of the pictured notes. It’s not useful to you at this point but may be once you get to voicing songs yourself (the last part of the seminar).

On the right side, going from top to bottom are the melody notes. The parentheses () represent when the entire chord is struck – it will typically be the highest note on the diagram. The notes below that are “passing notes” that lead to the next chord. So you’ll “let go” of the top note to play the ones leading to the next chord (often your fingers are already on some or all of those notes – you’ll just have to see what fingering feels most comfortable to you.

Chord 4 (the Bbm7 chord) is the one that’s a little tricky – it’s a scenario you may see once in a while in other songs. You’ll notice the parentheses are around the second note (C). The melody note that chord starts on is D. (The chord numbers under the melody line at the top of the page may be a little off if you printed the page).

So for measure 4 you first play the Bb with your left pinkie and the Db with your right thumb – then on next beat play then entire chord (your right pinkie will be on the C melody. Your hand will be in position to play the entire chord – you’ll just only play the Bb and D first.

Hope this makes some sense – if not, just keep asking questions.

[David Haynes]

Hari – also, there are recordings of other students playing “Misty” on the web site. (See “Students play”)
That will give you a sense how everyone puts a little different spin on the song – sometimes intentionally sometimes not.

[Author]

Posts