The preview video shows exactly what is in the MIDI file, left hand and right hand visualized.
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First 30 secondsFull duration: 2:04 · unlocks after purchase
Happy Feet
Solo piano · recorded 1954MIDI file
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Happy Feet was written by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen for the 1930 film King of Jazz, and its bouncing title phrase made it a natural vehicle for hot piano. In Tatum's hands it becomes exactly that: a two-minute sprint of stride bass, cascading right-hand runs and harmonic sleight of hand that never loses the tune's grin.
The performance comes from the marathon solo sessions Tatum recorded for Norman Granz between the end of 1953 and early 1955, later collected as the Solo Masterpieces: well over a hundred performances set down in a handful of sittings, the fullest document of his art we have.
The transcription follows the recording note for note, with the two hands separated so you can slow the runs down and see how they actually fit together.
- Artist
- Art Tatum
- Genre
- Stride Piano
- Recorded
- 1954
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Duration
- 2:04
- Tempo
- 120 bpm
- Key
- Channels
- 2 · left and right hand
- Format
- .mid · Type 1
Art Tatum
Nearly blind from infancy, Art Tatum set a standard of jazz piano virtuosity that has never been surpassed. His runs, reharmonisations and stride technique stunned even classical virtuosos, and pianists still study his recordings note by note.