New York Minute – Jazz Swing – Intermediate (Grade 4)

Description

New York Minute is a lively piano duet in Eb major for established intermediate primo players at about the Grade 4 standard (ABRSM).

A 'New York Minute' is a saying (most likely from Texas), which comments on the hectic and frenzied pace of life in New York.

"I'll have that ready for you in a New York Minute!"

This piece is in 5-4 quintuple time and reflects this fast-paced idea with a swinging melody line played at a snappy 184 bpm tempo. You'll also find chromatic eighth note riffs and mischievous acciaccatura grace notes - 'crush' notes, which are played as quickly as possible before the following note.

Quintuple 5-4 time becomes more natural if you think of it as two dotted-crotchet quarter notes followed by two crotchets quarter notes:

Written accent articulations highlight this rhythm at various times in the piece, however, primo players may find it useful to accent the melody line in a similar way to help it flow.

The secondo to New York Minute accompanies the melody with a variation of the above rhythm. This creates a classic 5-4 swing style, for example, as played in Dave Brubeck's Take Five:

In the middle section of this piano duet, the primo and secondo switch roles; the secondo takes over the melody line and the primo accompanies using the second of the above rhythms. The primo player may find it useful to practice tapping this rhythm between both hands (alternately) before moving on to playing the actual notes.

Don't have a secondo to play this piece with? No problem - the sheet music comes with two recordings of the secondo part - one at the marked tempo, and the other at a slower practice tempo.

New York Minute is a fun-packed 'show stopper' number, which is sure to be a favourite for both players and audience alike!  Oh - and by the way, it should take you just less than a minute to play!