Hi Everybody,
Here is a lesson on The Carpenters' version arrangement of Masquerade. You may know I have messed around with this for a few years, especially when Corina was here, This lesson is a lot more accurate as far as following Richard Carpenter's arrangement as it appeared on their 1973 album Now And Then.
This Masquerade is a Leon Russell tune that became a hit for The Carpenters in 1973. Karen's silky voice brought a beautiful timbre to Leon's smoky composition. Richard Carpenter's arrangement included some harmonic diversions and included a nice piano solo as well as a short flute solo.
This lesson is based on that and is how Neil would play it when accompanying a vocalist. There are quite a few jazzy chords and the right hand technique includes a percussive style, really a combination of fingerpicking and light strumming.