Our current featured lesson is “Living in a Dream” by Sea Level. Click below for the lesson and sheet music.
“Living in a Dream” piano lesson
Happy New Year from Chuck and the irocku Team.
Let us know what you want us to work on for the New Year. We’re considering a new Gospel Rock Essentials series. And perhaps some more blues tunes, maybe “Stormy Monday” and “Statesboro Blues” or possibly The Rolling Stones’ ballad “Wild Horses”. Are there any particular songs, styles or techniques you’d like to tackle this year?
Here’s a video of Sea Level live at the Capitol Theatre in 1977. This is the only live Sea Level video that we have been able to turn up.
Sea Level - Capitol Theatre - 1977
Here’s the setlist:
• Tidal Wave
• Rain In Spain
• Shake A Leg
• Hideaway
• Scarborough Fair
• Hot ‘Lanta
• Lawman
• Grand Larceny
• Tuning
• Country Fool
• Statesboro Blues (incomplete)
• Encore Break
• I’m Ready
“Living in a Dream” wasn’t on the band’s 1977 setlist as it was released a year later on their third album “On the Edge”. If you are ever fortunate enough to see Chuck live with his good friend and long time collaborator, Randall Bramblett, there’s a good chance you’ll get to hear a live performance of this masterpiece. For the rest of us we’ll have to rely on the original recording and a couple of blurry audience shot concert videos that you can find on youtube or on the sidebar of our lesson page. A few years back irocku hosted a workshop with music teachers from the NYC Department of Education. Chuck selected to teach “Alberta” and “Living in a Dream”. The masterclasses for both are included in our irocku lessons. It’s simply magical to watch Chuck’s hands float up and down the keyboard. As he talks about in the video, Chuck interprets the lyrics of the songs with his fingers. He doesn’t think in scales he thinks in terms of musical emotions. Although secretly he MIGHT admit that he knows a scale or two! Have fun with this one.
Help us spread the music by writing about irocku and providing our link on any forums, blogs, facebook pages or websites you are associated with. Every shout-out helps spread the cause!!!
Happy New Year.
Chuck, Howard, and the irocku team
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
Hello if you’re still taking requests could you do some more Exile songs , Loving Cup would be great! Thanks a lot , I’ve joined recently and started with “Nobody knows you when you’re down an out”, I’ve always wanted to learn the Unplugged version and glad I stumbled upon this site !
Thank you for the song suggestion. “Loving Cup” has a great piano line and would make for an excellent piano arrangement. We’ll add it to our list. We’re currently working on the version of “Wild Horses” off the ‘Stripped’ album. Keep rockin!
Thanks, much appreciated! I’ve searched online for ‘Loving Cup’ before and wasn’t able to find a good version, it’s got a great piano intro.
I’ve started ‘Shine a Light’ too now, the videos, exercises, drills etc are so useful.
Another song I’ve failed to find a good version of is ‘Wedding in Cherokee County’ (Randy Newman), I’ve learnt a few of his – I don’t think it’s that complicated but I can never get it to sound quite right, it’s the little licks / progressions between chords etc that make the difference and I struggle to work these out – if you’re able to fit that in too at some point that would be great.
Btw I haven’t listened to Stripped for a while, Chuck’s piano from about 45 seconds in on ‘Let it Bleed’ is fantastic, I’ve seen you have a tutorial for that so will try that too !
Andy-“Wedding in Cherokee County” is another great piano tune. We most likely won’t include it in our lessons catalogue, though, because the fundamentals and theory behind that song are well covered on the site already. In fact, you can apply many of the techniques from “Shine a Light” to “Wedding in Cherokee County”. You might also consider taking a private lesson with one of our instructors to learn some tunes that we don’t have on our list yet.
Ok thanks , that’s useful to know – I’ll keep practicing the drills and techniques and have another go at working it out myself.