Handful Of Keys

Handful Of Keys is probably Fats' most famous piano solo and probably best epitomises the essence of his stride piano style. He would record it many times throughout his career and along with Fats' teacher James P. Johnson's Carolina Shout, the piece has become a sort of budding stride pianist's rite of passage.

Of particular note are the teetering 5th to 3rds "Zez Confrey"-like motifs at E. Fats accents the first notes of each group so strongly and consistently that the first beat of the bar seems to shift a quaver early! A wonderfully ingenious and disorientating effect!

It also features the quintessential stride left-hand "counterpoint"-style bass line, a feature cleverly made use of in the vocal arrangement version from the Broadway musical tribute to Fats, Ain't Misbehavin.

During the same session, Fats also recorded another classic piano solo, Numb Fumblin' (see my previous transcription) and the tour de force group number, Minor Drag (also see my previous transcription). All in a day's work it seems, for Fats.

Apologies, but I've not used a moving playhead for this video due to synchronisation issues. It was impossible to satisfactorily synchronise and therefore very annoying and distracting, so I chose to leave it out. Please let me know in the comments if this is a preferred approach moving forward.

Here are the notes as best I can make out but always refer to the recording for the ultimate performance reference:

   • Handful of Keys (Remastered 2000)  

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