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I've been playing Linus and Lucy back in the late 1970s. (My friends called it "Charlie Brown." They did not realize the actual title.) I don't think the written music was published yet, as I searched far and wide as B.A.R.T. allowed me to (I was still in high school.) I recorded the LP onto a tape recorder, and used that as a guide.

Then Warner Bros. published "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in 1991. I bought that, but still could not get the left-hand part (where E-flat7 begins.)

It was not until Hal Leonard published the sheet music HL00352295 that I was able to completely play Linus and Lucy.

The music is not EXACTLY like on the LP recording, as it is transcribed. But, heck, it works!

If you have trouble learning this piece merely by reading, I suggest you learn it BY LISTENING.

Good luck, and have fun!

Thanks so much for your opinion :rolleyes: seebech'...here's mine...What a waste of time and energy to post that crap. If you don't want to buy it... THEN DON'T BUY IT AND GO ON!

Opus45...let seebechstein ride his high horse.

I agree shortcirciut...the begininning is kinda easy, with all the repeat measures, played the first 2 1/2pgs be memory last night...not exact, but close...in the dark. With lessons, this is enough right now.

btw HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads.

I appreciate the thought, but it isn't that I don't have four bucks. It's that I have a problem with paying people for something that they didn't create themselves.

This was my #3 reason for not buying the sheet music, I want to learn THE original version. Why can't the publishers make a perfect transcription from the original 1960s version recorded in the actual Charlie Brown Christmas special?

seebechstein,

I am sure you will appreciate that this particular thread is for those who do want to learn to play "Linus and Lucy", not for those who don't.

If the topics you mentioned in this thread by way of your amusing protest still interest you, would you mind creating a separate thread for that discussion? It is an interesting subject, for sure, worthy of a seperate thread.

Thank you very much seebechstein.

Sincerely,

I'm still waiting for mine. It's been shipped but hasn't arrived yet.

p.s. Your post just may be the motivating force I need to register for the practice log and do my bit for the Chicks. :p

I always want to learn. I think this thread is for me, because I want to learn the ORIGINAL, and there is no printed version of the original available, at any price.

The first page is free on the internet and I played through it many times, and it sounds fairly original. I have no idea if the original solos are transcribed correctly, and I highly suspect that they are not. If that doesn't bother anyone else, I would be surprised.

I want to sit down at the piano at Nordstroms and bang out Linus and Lucy and have people in the shoe department wondering, "Wow, did Guaraldi come back from the grave?"

I'm glad it is, considering the "chicks" are down by just shy of 400 avg minutes per member, they need you.

Getting back to the L&N music, does anybody know how to play that "swing" section. I have absolutely no jazz or blues experience to speak of, so I really don't know how to play through that. My version has a small window that shows 2 8th notes as being equal to a triplet of 1 whole followed by an 8th, but I am having a heck of a time applying that to the actual notes.

I'm not going to debate whether this is true or not, cause I wouldn't be suprised if it is. I do know, however, that this site I stumbled across claims otherwise.

Awesome seebechstein.

My sights are so much lower than yours, really...I just want to be able to bang it out period (any version, in any department). Consider hanging with us while we struggle through "Linus and Lucy", I'm sure you'll have much to contribute (even without a paid for published version).

(and by the way, my offer stands...you have a free copy of "Linus and Lucy" for the asking)

I do think the versions that are mentioned here are very accurate. It's definitely worth the money.

(Oh, and don't think that the Guaraldi heirs are in it for the money. I think they are more proud of the Grammys than money. Vince Guaraldi wasn't exactly a music superstar to the general public.)

That "window" is to let you know that you are not supposed to play the music straight out as written. The rhythm is of the "swing."

You can try to learn the notes first, and play it as written. When you get comfortable and confident, then you can play that section with the "Swing feel" just like the little window suggests.

What I did is learn the bass part (the little notes on the bass clef for the bass guitar) and not worry about the left-hand chords. I think "walking the bass" sounds better, since we're not part of a trio. If you intend to play in a jazz trio, then you can play the left-hand chords and let the bass guitar do his part!

Good luck!

EDIT: that shows 2 8th notes as being equal to a triplet of 1 QUARTER followed by an 8th.

Apparently I have to go back and study my first Alfed's book cause I can't tell the difference between a 1/4 and whole. :p

Thanks for the reply, but I'm still a little confused by the whole thing. Are you suppose to take only groups of 8th notes, or are you suppose to apply this pattern to every kind of beat whether it be groups of 8ths or 1/4's. I'm guessing, it's more about the beat relative to the measure, not relative to the group of notes? In other words, we are just suppose to "swing" every other 8th beat?

Here's the section I'm talking about:

Shortcircuit85:

I learned Linus and Lucy by ear back in the late 1970s, long before the sheet music and The Internet came out.

My classmate/bandmate loaned me the Vince Guaraldi LP albums that had different versions of Linus and Lucy. The version that was from the Charlie Brown Christmas sounded best, and I vowed to learn it, sheet music or not.

Now, as for the "swing" solo. I learned that by listening to the LP recordings. I got only the right-hand part but not the left-hand chords.

I did the same with the first solo (where E-flat7 begins.) I got most of the right-hand notes, but not the left-hand. Back then, I didn't hear any left-hand notes because appparently Vince played the left hand up around the middle C (as I have discovered in yet another version of Linus and Lucy.) Our version has the bass guitar part for the first solo, although a bit different from the recording.

My suggestion? Since I used the album recording to guide me through (due to the unavailability of the sheet music at the time) would it help that you try listening to the recording as well?

Shortcircuit85:

BTW, your version doesn't have the left-hand chords for the "swing solo." It shows only the "walking bass."

Actually, I bought Linus and Lucy off of Windows Media online for $0.99, but this section sounds slightly different than the sheet music. Though, it might sound like what it is suppose to if you apply the pattern correctly.

As far as figruing it out from the recording, I do not have an ear for music. As much as I love music, my ear is way off. I couldn't begin to figure something out from listening to it.

Shortcircuit85:

After studying your version, in the "swing solo" for the right hand (RH), concentrate on learning the single notes. If you see a chord up in the treble clef, that chord (in different inversions) is written for the left hand (LH) in my music.

I hope that helps!

Shortcircuit--

I just messed around with the few measures you posted, and boy it sounds nothing like I remember! In fact, it sounds like carp. I'm attributing most of that to the player.

However, on the question of swing... it's something you feel more than just count. You can only swing the 8th notes, and the swing beat is basically to hold the first 8th note down longer than you really would, then shorten the second note so the entire time taken is still only two 8th note values long. They're indicating to think of it kind of like a triplet, but I've also seen 8th note swing indicated as dotted 8th-16th, if that helps you.

But again, you're not really going to count it as much as you're going to feel it. The trick is to get that left hand rock solid, four beats. That's your bass or drum line in a jazz trio... the heartbeat. No fluctuation, no swing. 1-2-3-4. Then you play the right hand in swing. Just work it out so that when a right hand note or chord is supposed to land at the same time as a note in the left hand it does-- then you can mess around with everything else. The only thing that has to remain solid is the walking bass.

It's jazz, man! Loosen up!

Anyhow, I've played it a few times, and can't get it to sound right at all. But maybe it will help you to get the idea of swing. I'm playing it pretty slowly...

Linus and Lucy - square and slowly

Linus and Lucy - swing but still slow

Wow Shortcircuit! I can't even pretend that I learned any part of the score yet! I'm impressed that you got so far already! I think you'll be completely done before some of us even get our sheet music on our doorsteps!

Hi! I can't remember if I checked in yet with this group. I've been struggling at the back of the pack in the Chopin Group so I thought that this would be a little diversion--hey this has only 4 flats--which may confuse me.

I'm just about to order the music from the link that a few of you seem to have ordered from--sheetmusicplus. Is this pretty much the version everyone has?

Well, I'm sure it will take some time to reach me so I'll just have to keep track of the posts.