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Bare Necessities: 3 Problem Areas

Bare Necessities is coming along nicely. I can play the whole thing at 120, and most of it at 140 or 150. It's supposed to be at 200-something, so it's still not up to speed ... but I am definitely making progress. There are a few small "problem areas" where I still struggle. All three of them are in the ragtime section, and they are the focus for today's blog post. Just a warning that the accompanying videos are very boring because they show me drilling these sections. My hope is that they'll be helpful for someone down the road who is trying to learn this same piece.

Problem Area #1: Measure 55

This is the end of the verse that goes "just the bare necessities of life." I would put a photo of the measure here, but I don't want to break any copyright rules. So I'll describe it: The right hand is playing octave quarter notes, going down an A minor chord (E to C to A), finishing on G. The left hand is doing single-note jumps: It jumps from a low D to an F# in the next octave, and then it reaches down a major 7th to the G, and then up a minor 7th to F natural. So, not a ton of jumping, but, for some reason, I've had difficulty with this section.

Here is my drilling video for this measure:

Problem Area #2: Measures 60-61

These are my favorite measures of the whole piece! They're repeated again in measures 140-141. I love them so much. If you know the lyrics, it's the second part of the "Wherever I wander, wherever I roam" line. The left hand is playing a stride C chord while the right hand repeats the same little motif three times in a row, each time jumping down an octave. The left hand jumps down the octaves as well. It's delightful to listen to, but it's tricky to play! I really, really want to get this part right because I love it so much, so I'm putting the extra work into it.

Here's the drilling video:

Problem Area #3: Measures 74-77/154-157

These two measures are where Baloo sings "and maybe try a few." The arrangement has me doing a C chord in octaves, and then an A arpeggio, and then a jump back down to E ... and it's tricky. Here is a boring video of me working through it (and then rambling at the end):

I've done these same drills multiple times, and progress has been slow ... but I'm progressing. I made this video several days ago, and I'm now consistently making the jump and not missing the notes.

Finishing Up ...

I'm also continuing to work on the outro, which is coming along. It's no longer a "problem area," though. I've got it down pretty solidly, and now I'm just working on speed--which is a little tricky because of the octaves, inner notes, and syncopation (basically everything).

I'll conclude this little blog post with a video of me playing the stride sections of Bare Necessities. I hit a snag at measure 55 and apparently stop the video there. Sorry! I'll get it one of these days!

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