Just heard "How to be Me" for the first time, thanks for pointing me to it. Your translation into the piano arrangement is really subtle. I like the reflection of the choral parts and the contrast to the rhythmic uttered words/chords. But beyond, you give your own very special more jazzy note to the original muted guitar accompaniment. Great play!

Such intricate and expressive playing, wow!

Really interesting to listen to. Nice construction and progression.

Happy PIano Day!  (the 88th day of the year 03/28/2024)

This is a piano instrumental version of Ren and Chinchilla's "How to Be Me".  The original song is here: https://soundcloud.com/renmakesmusic/how-to-be-me-feat-chinchilla

The original has sparse instrumentation (simple strummed guitar chords and minimalist cello), but the added complexity of Ren and Chinchilla's codominant vocals make for a rich harmonic tapestry and a stimulating challenge to arrange a piano instrumental version.  For instance, one aspect of the song that I love is the use of the harmonic minor in a way that spans both a haunting classical (almost Chopinesque) sound as well as a soulful Jazz sound.  The raison d'etre of the harmonic minor is the V - i resolution. In early takes I settled on extending some of the V - i resolutions using a dom7flat9, which seemed to enhance the haunting classical feel and simultaneously felt in line with Ren's love of diminished chords (e.g., the diminished arpeggio in the Intro of "Hi Ren" which is arguably in fact a dom7flat9).  But then when listening back I noticed that in some places this chord extension did not mesh with the vocal harmonies and a dom7sharp9 a.k.a. the "Jimi Hendrix chord" sounded better).  This is just one example of the intricacies of jamming along with Ren's music.

Part of my motivation for posting this piano arrangement was the idea that Ren's music has enough complexity to stand on its own as instrumental music.  I was delighted when, later that day, Ren posted his first piano instrumental on youtube, a beautiful piece of modern classical music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqq3VcwPGseErHUa0-xLInQ

Here are the youtube channels for Ren:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RenMakesMusic

...and Chinchilla:
www.youtube.com/@chinchilla_music

How to Be Me (piano arrangement)

I grew up in the Florida Keys where both of my parents worked as musicians in the entertainment business.  My grandmother taught me to play the piano at an early age.  I ended up pursuing a career in mathematical research and teaching, but in my free time I enjoy composing music mainly for piano.

Comments

Siamak Sarmadian

h a r a

Ralph Bilouppie

Midisound

Amy Wallace

Fred Gosselin - Québec

tbone711

Konrad Spittelberg

Massimo Cellerino