Billy Joel
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Born May 9 1949 in Bronx, New York
Began studying piano at the age of 4
Boxed through his teen years as a welterweight
Singer, Songwriter
Plays the piano, harmonica, guitar(electric and acoustic), and the
accordion
Best known for his first hit “Piano Man”
18 Grammy Nominations not including the ones he won
Won 6 Grammy Awards among dozens of other awards
16 platinum albums
Billy Joel
• Dropped out of high school to pursue a performing career and was in his
third band by the time he was 16 years old
• Inspired by seeing The Beatles (British Invasion) on the Ed Sullivan Show in
1964
• First album Cold Spring Harbor released in 1970 was not a commercial
success an led him to move to Los Angeles to lay low
• In Los Angeles , he got a gig working as a lounge pianist at The Executive
Room on Wilshire Boulevard under the pseudonym Bill Martin which later
led to his song “Piano Man” and the start of his career
• Many of his early songs related a growing frustration with the music
industry and Hollywood, foreshadowing his exit from Los Angeles in 1976
• As the years passed, Joel's style began to evolve, showing his range from
pop/rock to the bluesy-jazz styling's that are now associated with his
name
Music Style
• Influenced by various different styles growing up
• Growing up Billy loved jazz, rock and roll, boogie-woogie, soul music
• Joel has played many different styles of music throughout his career with
different bands including psychedelic rock, pop, rock, ragtime, doo-wop,
contemporary pop, soft rock and even some punk but he is best known for
his pop/rock and his bluesy-jazz styles,
• His fusion of two distinct eras made him a superstar, in the late 70’s & 80’s
• Changed bits of his playing style to conform to the popular style of music
at the time
• In his different albums, you can hear his style slightly differ due to his song
writing being a lot about personal struggles and what was going on in the
world at that time which influenced the type of music he was creating
Songs
• Piano Man-1973Billy Joel - Piano Man – YouTube
• Written in ¾ time signature, meaning 3 quarter notes per bar
• Has been called Piano Rock, Soft rock, Folk rock
• Instruments featured are : piano, harmonica, bass, accordion, mandolin,
drums and vocals
• Begins with a jazzy piano solo and then movies into its famous piano and
harmonica introduction
• Verses and chorus feature a descending walking bass line which is
common in baroque music and jazz
• Ends in a turnaround which is a passage at the end of a section that leads
into another section, which is often a repeat of some of the song
Songs
• Root Beer Rag-1974
Root beer rag
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Style: Ragtime
Instrumental
Very fast tempo
Listen for syncopation and octave changes
Syncopation in general terms is "a
disturbance or interruption of the regular
flow of rhythm": a "placement of rhythmic
stresses or accents where they wouldn't
normally occur."
Songs
• New York State of Mind-1976 3:15
• New York State Of Mind
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Style: Soft Rock, Jazz
Saxophone added
Slower Tempo
Syncopation
Blue notes, notes sung or played at a slightly lower
pitch than that of the major scale for expressive
purposes
• Song was never a hit or released as a single but has
grown to be a fan favorite over time
Songs
• The Longest Time-1983 2:53
• The Longest Time
• Style: Doo-Wop, A Capella
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Doo-wop features vocal group harmony
with the musical qualities of many vocal
parts, nonsense syllables, a simple beat,
sometimes little or no instrumentation,
and simple music and lyrics
Wo r k s C i t e d P a g e
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"Billy Joel." - Biography. 22 Apr. 2013
<http://www.billboard.com/artist/284376/billy-joel/biography>.
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"Billy Joel." Billy Joel. 22 Apr. 2013 <http://www.classicbands.com/joel.html>.
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"Billy Joel biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. 22 Apr. 2013
<http://www.biography.com/people/billy-joel-9354859?page=1>.
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"Billy Joel." Rollingstone.com. 22 Apr. 2013
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/billy-joel/biography>.
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"Billy Joel." Wikipedia. 22 Apr. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation. 22 Apr. 2013
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joel>.
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"The Official Billy Joel Site." The Official Billy Joel Site. 22 Apr. 2013
<http://www.billyjoel.com/>.