I was sad to learn of the passing of Burt Bacharach this week. A master of injecting the hippest harmonies into compositions with super singable melodies, I’ve always loved studying his songs.
In 2010, I played his composition ‘Alfie’ on my final graduate exam concert at the Amsterdam Conservatory. I knew there was a recording somewhere, so after digging through some of my old hard drives I found it and decided to make a transcription video. Here’s Alfie by Burt Bacharach, as a solo piano arrangement:
It was kind of a strange experience transcribing myself 14 years ago. I think the performance was stored somewhere deep down in my brain, but since it wasn’t a written out arrangement, and not exactly set in stone, it still took me quite some time to write it all out. But now I that I’ve familiarized myself with the tune, I might start bringing it back in rotation.
Hope you enjoyed this, and thank you Burt Bacharach for all the inspiration and great music.
2 Responses
What a beautiful arrangement, J. So melancholy; fit for a rainy day..
Thanks, Lisa, glad you enjoyed it!