Sam I love the storytelling and your interpretation of this piece! I think you have nice control of the tempo and I enjoyed the pacing plus your musicality. You kept the piece interesting!

And wow, even with your broken femur, it seems you picked yourself right up and didn't even miss a beat in terms of hosting the PW recitals as well as participating. Truly an admirable role model for us all. Thank you for your support and all that you've done for the piano community. You're a legend! 👏

On a side note, it's interesting to see your new piece of tech. I feel like lately many people are making the leap to tablets for sheet music. Maybe I should as well?

hebele Only 5 months of self-learning, wow!! I enjoyed that very much. What a great piece you picked to showcase your progress — congrats and well done!

MarieJ I always enjoy your choice of repertoire and this did not disappoint! And wow, your fabrics are incredibly beautiful! Congratulations both on the piece and the amazing art! Thank you for sharing! 👏

--
Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
TIME

          navindra I feel like lately many people are making the leap to tablets for sheet music. Maybe I should as well?

          You haven't yet?? I'm very surprised. I think you will like it! 🙂

              plop_symphony Wow, very beautiful and sparkling rendition. Fantastic tribute! Your piano sounds so good... which Pianoteq instrument was it?

              thepianoplayer416 Short but sweet! Well done with a nice little trill at the end to top it all off! 👍

              BicBic Very impressive indeed, bravo! I enjoyed those octaves a lot! 👏

              Nightowl Wow, that's a nice looking piano and congrats on the playing, your perseverance, and reaching level 2! You did great with the digital recording! This is further fueling the fire under me to finish my level 1 book... 😃

              --
              Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
              TIME

                        navindra Sgisela Mindblowing! I really loved the fast-paced rhythm and how you brought this piece alive musically.

                        The video is very well done! I had no idea the plush doll was a special effect until it changed... what software do you use? How much work was it to blend it in like that? I really loved all the imagery on this, it really contributed to my enjoyment of the piece.

                        And wow, that piano sings! That voice could bring one to tears. I love that bass.

                        Absolutely riveting performance! Bravo!

                        Thanks, @navindra ! About the video, I used iMovie. I don’t have any special skills with video editing, but the program make it quite easy to do this king of editing. I also used Dall-E to generate some of the toy graphics, but the nutcracker was available for purchase on Amazon, and the advert had pics from different angles.

                          Rob Sunday Morning - The music, image and composition title are just perfect. I can't think of a better Sunday morning.

                          diretonic Borrowed Blues - Love it! You're also keeping alive the time honored musical tradition of borrowing it from Dr. John who borrowed the style from another 'cat'.

                          Rubens @Josephine Waltz Op. 70 no. 2 - Impressive collaboration! It sure sounded seamless to me. Bravo to both of you.

                          Serge88 Misty - That's an interesting arrangement. I've never heard one with a solo section included and I love that smooth ending that you played so well.

                          twocats Rustle of Spring - Beautiful. I first heard this piece in a movie years ago, but have rarely heard it since. Thank you for sharing it.

                          navindra Bluebird - I loved the way the video came about. It reminds me of some of the more casual settings in Alexis Ffrench music videos I've seen on YouTube. You did an outstanding job of playing the piece and appearing calm and unfazed by all the distractions going on around you.

                          Thank you for putting this recital together and also starting Piano Tell forum. Your skills that probably make the technical side of the work easy or at least pleasantly engaging for you. The 'herding cats' part can't be easy, but you seem to calmly take it in stride at the same time.

                                        navindra Thank you! I used the C. Bechstein on Pianoteq. I chose it as my free instrument over the Steinways!

                                          navindra Thanks Nav, but I'm confused when you imply that you are working from a level 1 book, because your playing is very advanced and I thought that you've been playing for several years? Do you currently play by ear or are you just bushing up on the basics?
                                          I'm pleased with the sound quality on my recording, as my previous recordings sounding very muffled, but I managed to adjust the microphone setting on my laptop and it seemed to do the trick. 🙂 (This was an achievement for me - I'm not exactly a tech wizard! 😆)

                                          "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                              bSharp Very nice! It's interesting how this piece "just starts" but then it builds up from there. Very atmospheric and very emotional. I really enjoyed your range of expression and it's pretty awesome that you can play this from memory. It ends just as abruptly as it started! Bravo! 👏

                                              I'm thinking I should learn an Einaudi piece... any recommendations for a first piece?

                                              WieWaldi Wonderful! I enjoyed your rhythm a lot and nice job with the tempo overall! You did a great job bringing out the story and I found myself humming along with your melody line. I'm definitely going to go check out the original version of this now!

                                              --
                                              Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                              TIME

                                                    Nightowl While I'm no longer a beginner, I'm definitely far from advanced... but yes, I feel quite bad about this.

                                                    I started taking lessons in September 2019 with Alfred's AIO Level 1 but after about a year my lessons got rudely interrupted and I went for over a year without lessons. At some point, I started Supersonics on my own and I realized I much prefer that over Alfred.

                                                    Eventually, I resumed video lessons and Alfred with 15 minutes a week, so not a whole lot.

                                                    Looking at The Entertainer, I first started working on it in January... and now it's August and I'm not even done with it. Part of the reason is that part way I stop working on the book and instead focus completely on pieces that take my fancy. It also takes me several weeks before my teacher is satisfied with how I'm doing on any given Alfred piece and in this case we also had a summer break.

                                                    And only now have I realized the tactical error I made... instead of focusing completely on a piece for weeks or months at a time, I should have employed interleaved and spaced practice methods. So I could have had ample time to make more progress on Alfred's while also working on pieces I actually like.

                                                    Oh well. Live and learn.

                                                    I'm excited for September because I'll finally be resuming lessons properly at 30 minutes a week. When I'm done with Book 1, I'll ask my teacher if we can switch to Supersonics instead. I might still buy Book 2 to leaf through though.

                                                    --
                                                    Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                                    TIME

                                                        Nightowl Thanks Nav, but I'm confused when you imply that you are working from a level 1 book, because your playing is very advanced and I thought that you've been playing for several years?

                                                        Same here. @navindra, I was always assuming you play for 15 years or more... something like that... And you have a lot of good videos uploaded that won't sound like someone playing only 5 years.

                                                        navindra And only now have I realized the tactical error I made... instead of focusing completely on a piece for weeks or months at a time, I should have employed interleaved and spaced practice methods.

                                                        Same error here. I was thinking from the beginning if I learn just a piece, this will provide me with so many technical challenges during learning that I get the basics from alone. After 7 months in total, I played a beginner version of the Entertainer, and I was very proud of it. But I couldn't play anything else. Everything was baked into my muscle memory and I couldn't read the notes properly. I scribbled a ton of note names into my sheet music.
                                                        After finishing the Entertainer, I was so frustrated how big long it would take to learn a new piece because I realized I had no proper technique, and it would take ages again. Then I stopped playing due to frustration and picked it up 11/2 years later with the Beginner's Blues Course from Christian. Still, the Entertainer is my most difficult piece or exercise I ever played.

                                                        Btw: I can't play the Entertainer today anymore. Forgot everything and muscle memory got deleted.

                                                              navindra I'm thinking I should learn an Einaudi piece... any recommendations for a first piece?

                                                              Give Nuvole Bianche a try 🙂

                                                                SalmonJack Wow! Bravo on this multi-talented feat! 👏

                                                                Your music almost had me in a trance as I watched you create art with this fascinating blending technique. Not only did you compose this, but you have a massive backstory to it all. The writing, the art, the music... it's all super impressive! Well done! 👍

                                                                (And that piano looks pretty cool too...)

                                                                --
                                                                Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                                                TIME

                                                                  I wanted very much to participate in this first Piano Tell Recital, but due to unforeseen and sad circumstances, it was impossible. But I have listened to all the submissions and… wow! What a great success of a wonderful recital!!! So many excellent renditions of beautiful and very enjoyable music, some charming surprises, and a lot of material for me to learn from and be inspired by. Thank you and congratulations to everybody!

                                                                  Calavera Absolutely epic and astounding performance! I enjoyed that very much and I've listened it a few times now. Although I've not listened to the original version yet, I felt like this could have been the original performance. Bravo! Standing ovation for me. 👏

                                                                  --
                                                                  Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                                                  TIME

                                                                    rsl12 Awesome! From the slick intro to the catchy rhythm and live vocals... wow! On top of that, taking suggestions for lyrics and basically improvising your own song from that... simply next level. 👏

                                                                    My kids were laughing their heads off the entire time they watched your performance... you're already a true entertainer! I'm not sure where you go from there... 😃

                                                                    The most amazing and admirable thing from my end is witnessing just how you took this vision for where you want to be as an entertainer and actively making that vision real with such focus and tenacity. Thanks so much for sharing the details of your journey on this and showing all us aspiring learners just how it's done. 👍

                                                                    --
                                                                    Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                                                    TIME

                                                                        TC3 Great showcasing of this piece and arrangement. Plus, I really like your stylized video, your white piano, and lovely music room. It all came together very nicely.

                                                                        This one also seems deceptively difficult to pull off. I was tempted to get the book, but I think the difficulty level would be a little beyond my grasp.

                                                                        Thanks for bringing some fun boogie to this recital! 👏

                                                                        iternabe Wow! Self-learning for only 7 months and you pulled that off with panache! That piano sounded really good as well. This is some tremendous work on your part! 👍

                                                                        @Seeker I'm tagging you on this one because Iternabe seems to have pulled off recording a top view with no difficulty using only a webcam. It looks quite professional to me.

                                                                        ShiroKuro Wow, your piano sounds absolutely incredible! I can appreciate now why you love your C2 so much. Plus, your playing undoubtedly elevates it to a whole other level.

                                                                        This piece is absolutely beautiful and you brought it to life in the best way possible. I felt transported by your performance and it's a notable highlight for me in the recital so far. Thanks a lot for deciding to share this. Bravo! 👏

                                                                        --
                                                                        Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
                                                                        TIME

                                                                                navindra Thanks for the kind comments! FYI, that book has pieces at a variety of levels.

                                                                                Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.

                                                                                  @navindra thank you so much for your kinds words!!! It's so motivating to hear!!!
                                                                                  Also you reminded me that I need to finish listening and commenting on the rest of the recital! 😅

                                                                                  navindra My kids were laughing their heads off the entire time they watched your performance... you're already a true entertainer!

                                                                                  Really?! Well that's a good sign!

                                                                                  navindra The most amazing and admirable thing from my end is witnessing just how you took this vision for where you want to be as an entertainer and actively making that vision real with such focus and tenacity. Thanks so much for sharing the details of your journey on this and showing all us aspiring learners just how it's done. 👍

                                                                                  If only I could be so organized in all other aspects of my life!

                                                                                  Thank you for the very nice comments Navindra. It really made my day.