PianoTell Recital #1 Is Now Live!

navindra · 2024-08-15T13:55:00+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell's 1st ever recital! Click for an index to all the performances: Player1 — Energico rogerch — Improvisation 6 keff — A Nightingale Sang...

Sgisela

twocats interesting. I tried some later ones and they worked for me.

twocats

Sgisela weird! Wondering if it's related to my browser. Well if @navindra would like help converting them all to hyperlinks, I think that would be a more straightforward way to have a table of contents and am happy to help 🙂

Nightowl

navindra

Player1 — Energico
A nice piece, smoothly played. Awesome job!
rogerch — Improvisation 6
50 years of playing has certainly paid off. A lovely piece of improvisation, very professional.
keff — A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
A lovely piece, played in a very relaxing manner.
Sophia — Fascination
Another impressive recital from someone who oozes musicality from every fingertip. We both play from the same book, but your playing is in a different realm.
Sgisela — Joropo
A crazily difficult piece, played confidently at speed. Respect!
pseudonym58 — Images (5) for orchestra
So far I've only listened to the first piece - a very atmospheric piece which you played extremely well. Your professional musician experience is evident in this performance.
Sam — Perpetual Motion #1
As usual, you played beautifully. This piece was new to me, but won't remain so, as I'm inclined to press the replay button so you play it again, Sam!

I will add more comments once I've listened to further pieces.

bSharp

twocats I had never heard this piece before, thanks for sharing! Sounds very challenging, you played it well.

twocats

bSharp I had never heard this piece before, thanks for sharing! Sounds very challenging, you played it well.

Thank you! Rustle of Spring is actually not as hard as it sounds because the right hand plays the same arpeggiated chords repeatedly. If you can play arpeggios and chromatic scales it's a fun crowd-pleaser piece to learn!

Apparently it was very popular in the 40's to 60's and several people mentioned to me that their parent or grandparent used to play it 🙂

rogerch

1. Player1 — Energico
Nice playing of a fun piece! The runs in the right hand sound really good, and the answering left hand gives your playing a nice call and response feel. I like your expressive playing! Also the sCAT part sounds great and goes well with your playing!

3. keff — A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Thanks for sharing your lovely playing of this beautiful piece!

4. Sophia — Fascination
I’m impressed by your confident, expert execution. The boom-chuck-chuck in the left hand and the dynamics in the right hand work well together produce a great waltz feel. Very nice!

5. Sgisela — Joropo
I love this! I was impressed by this for the fast pieces recital and I enjoyed listening again. It’s a lovely piece and your playing is exquisite. This time around I was struck by what a great job you do articulating this piece with sparing use of the pedal so that the individual notes really stand out. Thanks for sharing!

6. pseudonym58 — Images (5) for orchestra
What a huge project to transcribe, learn, and perform these pieces! I am impressed! I remember some of these from your Member Recordings posts and it’s great to hear them again here!

I’m not familiar with the orchestral versions, but your arrangements sound convincing and Debussy-like to my ears. Your playing sounds professional: very clear with great expression and dynamics. The result is great to listen to, thanks for sharing!

My favorite piece from the set is #4: Iberia III. I hear a fun bouncy piece. A great arrangement and I love the way you play it!

I’m curious: when you were learning to play the arrangements, did you go back and make revisions? For playability, consistency with the orchestral version, better sound, or any other reasons?

7. Sam — Perpetual Motion #1
What a great piece! I like how it alternates between really lovely and kind of spooky. Very interesting to have such different moods with the left hand playing the same notes. You play very well and the tempo sounds good to my ears. I’m glad you were able to play and I hope you make a full recovery!

8. hebele — Downtown Abbey theme
You are doing great. This sounds really good! To my ear the dynamics sound good. You emphasize the melody over a subdued accompaniment, and vary the loudness within each phrase. I like the accents on some of the high notes at the end. Well done!

9. MarieJ — Week #7
I like your tasteful, delicate playing of this contemplative piece. The music is lovely and you give it space to breathe. Thanks for your playing!

10. plop_symphony — A Lincoln Tribute
Very well played with lots of great detail! I like the soft repeated bass notes and the dynamic contrast. The soft sections are delicate and subdued, with nice crescendo to the more energetic sections.

11. thepianoplayer416 — Air in D minor
Short and sweet! I’m glad you were able to participate in the recital. Great legato playing, nicely played!

pseudonym58

rogerch
Thanks for your compliments. I did make quite a few changes as I went along, as I am not a very experienced player on the piano. Most of the changes involved adjusting the voicing and sometimes thinning a texture for better transparency. Obviously I was not going to be able to include everything that was in the full orchestra score, including sometimes as many as 16 (divisi) string parts! I also sometimes had to slightly simplify to make things playable, considering the limitations of my technique. You can find the original score at IMSLP, which is where you can find my arrangements as well. I really hope that others will take an interest and possibly perform and record them.

thepianoplayer416

rogerch
Thanks for your comments.
This piece (Air in D minor) was a gem waiting to be discovered. A lot of students would play "Minuet in G" from the "Notebook for Anna M Bach" or Bach "Prelude in C" from WTC-1... anything with the Bach name. By definition "Air" is a piece with singing qualities. However, in the 17th & early 18th century the keyboard instruments were clavichord & harpsichord. Some would play the notes well articulated (more separate) like a harpsichord. My approach is to let the piano sing and the notes connect like piano playing.

Player1

Sophia

Thank you. The triplets were difficult in the beginning even playing them slowly. Eventually I figured out the way to do it fast then I had to learn how to slow down to tempo. I can easily play them as 32nds if I want to.

Besides the hesitations, if you listen to the 2 descending parts and compare the speed of each of them, you'll notice that the higher octave run (the second descending scale) is a lot slower than the first one. I don't know why because they're exactly the same just a different octave. I just have to reach further right for the second one. I tried to go faster on it but my fingers just won't move any quicker. I suspect that it's my tremor invisibly getting in the way but who really knows.

The lesson for this piece was moving the thumb under for faster scales. I had to figure out how to do that AND do the "wrist bounce" with my RH at the end. If you watch other videos of this you'll see a lot of them where the player just uses 4 fingers instead of 3 then tucking the thumb under for the 4th note. The 2-handed SMZ at the end is also missed by a lot of people. Mostly they play both notes with the LH instead of looking at the score and seeing the notation for both RH and LH. Little things but they mean a lot because eventually I'll need to know this stuff to keep advancing.

I haven't recorded anything since this piece. I need to get back to playing. I almost sat down at the piano yesterday but didn't. The desire to play is getting stronger so I will return eventually.

Player1

@rogerch

Thanks, it means a lot to me that you liked how it came out since your playing is lightyears ahead of mine.

Player1

@Nightowl Thanks.

Your submission was great. Very controlled and on the money.

Eventually you will get beyond the "up/down" choppy arranged stuff you're playing now. When you do, you'll really start to fly. Then it'll be like...

Who? Who, Who, Who's your daddy?

You wait. You'll see.

Nightowl

Player1 Thanks P1, I appreciate your encouragement.

@Sophia thanks for your support, my progress is very slow now but I know I just need to be patient.

Nightowl

8. hebele — Downtown Abbey theme
Very nicely played, you've made great progress in 5 months - keep going!
9. MarieJ — Week #7
Lovely relaxing music with beautiful shots of your artwork. You are a very talented lady.
10. plop_symphony — A Lincoln Tribute
Great performance after 1.5 years - keep going.
11. thepianoplayer416 — Air in D minor
A very competent performance - well done.
12. BicBic — Prelude in B flat minor - No.16 from Op.34
Confident playing of a tricky piece - impressive.
13. Nightowl — Plaisir D'Amour
My own performance is a bit pathetic when compared to the other excellent performances in this recital, but if you increase the playback speed to 1.25 it sounds much better! 😁 Apologies for making this pretty piece sound somewhat dirge-like, I defo need to work on increasing the tempo.
14. bSharp — High Heels
Impressive playing.
15. WieWaldi — Rainbow Connection
A delightful piece, played beautifully.
16. SalmonJack — Alia
A beautiful composition, played well, with creative video work. You are clearly very talented in more ways than one.
17. Calavera — Chrono Cross - Scars of Time
A very dramatic and cinematic piece, which seems too good for a video game. 🙂 You played this piece excellently.
18. rsl12 — Always Chew Your Food
Well played and the lyrics made me smile. I enjoyed the first verse but was less keen on the imagery conjured up by the second verse - it really made me cringe, but no doubt it would make children laugh. Thanks for an entertaining performance.

thepianoplayer416

Nightowl
Thanks for your comment. I spent a few months away from home. Came home exhausted with jet lag. I've been working on the pieces I submitted to online recitals before but nothing new. I didn't expect to participate in an online recital until I came across the Air in D minor by Henry Purcell.
Practiced it for a few days on a Yamaha keyboard at a slightly slower tempo. After the first recording decided to redo it at the conservatory where I have my lessons at the current tempo. Sounded just right.

rsl12

Nightowl Well played and the lyrics made me smile. I enjoyed the first verse but was less keen on the imagery conjured up by the second verse - it really made me cringe, but no doubt it would make children laugh. Thanks for an entertaining performance.

My original version had a lot more blood! I think the lyrics were something like "his finger fit with ease / and blood splattered the keys" It looks like I made the right choice!

Sophia WOW!!!! For a moment I thought I had entered the movie Toy Story - I love, LOVE, LOVE that theme. Your singing has improved SO MUCH, wow, a HUGE leap from the previous recital. And the piano complemented it so nicely... I could listen to that type of music for hours! Love the lyrics too, did I mention it should be used in a movie? 😛 And who can help but smile back when a performance ends with such a happy smile... loved it from start to finish!

Aw thank you! I want to smile more, but I'm afraid of ruining my mouth shape that I've been working so hard at. It's like I have cotton balls in my mouth. Hopefully soon I'll figure out how to sing and have human expressions at the same time!

PS check out Trout Fishing in America. It sounds like it's up your alley. Here are a couple more bangers:
My Hair Had a Party Last Night
The Window
Sam's Last Boogie

Nightowl Thanks P1, I think you're right, I do tend to linger too long on some pieces. I can play the piece a little faster, but when I do that the mistakes happen. I feel that playing it so slowly makes it sound a bit dirge-like and in truth it's a bit painful to listen to - something I should not really inflict on people! My recital is way below the standard of all the other submissions, but that is understandable as most of them have been playing much longer than me - some of them have played for decades! Everyone is very kind though, so it's a positive experience for me.

It might make you happy to hear that everyone cringes listening to themselves. I certainly do. I hear all the silly mistakes I wish I hadn't made unless I force myself to be less critical. The good news is if you keep doing it, the mistakes seem less harsh, and you can start enjoying what you produce. Also, your recordings become like a diary, and you can listen to old recordings and hear how much progress you've made over time. Also, my enjoyment of listening to these kinds of recitals is very different from my enjoyment of hearing a professional. I am not super interested in immaculate, perfectly recorded pieces. I like hearing people who have made progress through struggle.

twocats you made me laugh out loud with your special lyrics! But seriously, I'm so impressed that you improvised all that AND sang along.

Thank you! I had finally gotten a handle on improvising, but singing is really putting my brain on overdrive, so I'm glad you recognize my struggle!

WieWaldi

Thank you for the very kind words to Nightowl Sophia rogerch TC3 ShiroKuro Sam BicBic rsl12 lilypad and everyone else who listened.

rsl12 For a beginner piece, it's pretty long,

Honestly, this piece isn't that long. It just repeats :|| haha

lilypad I lived in a remote area with no TV reception when the show aired. From the little bits of the show that I've seen, I'd have to be the Cookie Monster.

I remember the Muppet Show when I was a very little child. Was always afraid of the big monster puppets. I loved the cookie monster, too - he was just chasing cookies in a very childish way. My favorites were Beaker and Miss Piggy.

TC3 ...That’s a good tune to pull out if people put you on the spot and say “Oh, you play piano? Play something for me!”

Unfortuntely, I can't. This one I played by read-playing only. The muscle memory might be there, but I don't remember the first note to start with. For playing something out of nothing, I have Linus&Lucy 🙂

Josephine

navindra

Very well played, and such a great video! The filming from different angles and inside the piano, the background noises in the beginning and the end, very creative. I really enjoyed your performance.

navindra

Player1 Thank you! 🙂

bSharp Thanks you! This was at the Pointe aux Piments beach. It was a tad rocky compared to other beaches in Mauritius, but we had a great time! 🏝️

Josephine Thank you very much! I'm glad the video all came together despite having little control over the surroundings!

Sophia Haha, I wish! Some kind folks did clap and someone asked me if it was Einaudi. I do sometimes think it would be a dream of mine to be able to confidently sit at a piano and have a nice entertaining repertoire that I could just play. Not easy!

Sgisela Thank you! It's funny, I can be very nitpicky about pianos, tone, tuning, etc, but the state of the strings on this piano was no detriment at all... it was a ton of fun. I do have a soft spot in my heart for old or beat up pianos... I'm not sure what it is but I always enjoy them very much.

keff Thank you!

rsl12 Thank you! It was more than one take for sure. I really wish I could pull off a single take, but I've got a lot of work before I get to that point. I recorded a handful of takes and picked the best compromise. Definitely fewer takes than I usually do though. 😃

Nightowl Haha, I think if I changed my profile pic, I'd perhaps run the risk of appearing to impersonate @Sam a little too closely! Thank you!

TC3 kudos on MacGyvering

Haha, that's a high compliment for me, considering how many hours of MacGyver I watched as a kid. I really need to learn that theme as well. 😃 This one is by Alexis Ffrench actually.

rogerch Thank you!

Rob Thanks a lot, Rob!

WieWaldi Wow, thanks a lot! It was more than one take for sure, though less than I would usually do. Thanks a lot for noticing the tempo variations and I'm glad the video came together the way it did! 🙂

Player1

Nightowl

You're a good player. Your hand and finger dexterity are excellent and let you play wonderfully at your level, you just have to learn to move on instead of trying to perfect one piece to the exclusion of everything else. Once you get more time and experience behind you, you can always revisit these early pieces and play them the way they should be played. At that point it will be easy and simple to do.

Josephine

twocats

A beautiful piece and beautifully played! I tried to learn it last year but it was too difficult for me. But I have a great teacher now, so maybe I can play it in the future 😄

twocats

Rubens now that you mention it, it does feel very Russian! I can't even tell you what I think Russian style sounds like, but maybe more intense and muscular? I also had a Russian teacher, and then later a Polish teacher (tempered by a very mellow American professor in between).

Josephine A beautiful piece and beautifully played! I tried to learn it last year but it was too difficult for me. But I have a great teacher now, so maybe I can play it in the future 😄

Thank you! Once you're feeling confident with arpeggios and chromatic scales I'm sure you'll be able to play this piece 😃

Sophia Your playing is so beautiful - and when I realize you just recorded that on the last day or so I'm actually turning green with envy 🙂

I did re-learn it recently (in March, so actually seasonally appropriate) so I'm glad it didn't take very long to get it back. With all the talk of neuroscience techniques it turns out that "learning stuff in your formative years" sticks around better than any works I learned in the past couple of decades. Thank you for your kind words!!

Nightowl

Player1
Thanks P1, I think you're right, I do tend to linger too long on some pieces. I can play the piece a little faster, but when I do that the mistakes happen. I feel that playing it so slowly makes it sound a bit dirge-like and in truth it's a bit painful to listen to - something I should not really inflict on people! My recital is way below the standard of all the other submissions, but that is understandable as most of them have been playing much longer than me - some of them have played for decades! Everyone is very kind though, so it's a positive experience for me.

bSharp

Rubens What an exciting project. I couldn't tell who was playing what, but it sounded great!

Sophia

@bSharp
Wow, played entirely from memory - that's incredible! Very pleasant to listen to, thank you!

@WieWaldi
That was adorable! I want to learn that piece too eventually ^_^ So far I have only heard you play blues licks or easy sight reading exercises, so this was a real treat... obviously you are a rowlf of all trades 😃

@SalmonJack
Your description fit the imagery so well... something that is growing, growing and growing and never ceases paint a complete picture. You just add to it until it's finished... and then you just want more of it 🙂

@Calavera
Very pretty! It builds up to a nice climax and then quiets down... only to treat us to a second highlight - with an abrupt finish. Well well done! 🙂

Sophia

@rsl12
WOW!!!! For a moment I thought I had entered the movie Toy Story - I love, LOVE, LOVE that theme. Your singing has improved SO MUCH, wow, a HUGE leap from the previous recital. And the piano complemented it so nicely... I could listen to that type of music for hours! Love the lyrics too, did I mention it should be used in a movie? 😛 And who can help but smile back when a performance ends with such a happy smile... loved it from start to finish!

@TC3
Another piece where you just can't help thinking happy thoughts while you listen... wow TC - you DO put the joy in boogie and blues 😃 Loved it, thanks so much for your great performance!

@iternabe
I always enjoyed that piece. In fact our washing machine uses that melody each time it finishes the laundry... and I always let it play right to the end because I never get tired of it 😃 Yours is a very nice arrangement too. Really impressed with your 7 months of learning - in your case too, your persistence paid off!

@ShiroKuro
We just purchased new speakers for my PC - and they are actually rather high end, meant be used with hifi equipment. So I could admire the music in its full glory and the quality wasn't bad at all! Thanks so much for sharing... what you call "just a practice recording" is probably the summit of what I'll ever be able to reach... if that 😃

TC3

pseudonym58 Thank you! I'm working through The Joy of B&B volume 1 right now, then volume two, and after that I'll definitely look into that volume

Sophia Thanks! I do try to have fun, though it's harder when the red light is on ...

Nightowl You are too kind. I can hear some inaccuracies still, but it was the cleanest take I managed that afternoon ...

rsl12 Thanks for listening! Yes, it's a neat progression, I'll take a look later but it's mostly triads (major or minor) moving down by halfsteps. It's probably a simplified version of a circle of fourths with tritone subs that allow the descending bass.

Player1 I'm lead to believe that there is one orange brain cell out there somewhere ... 😃

rogerch Thank you! You put your finger on the exact reason why I've been working on this piece, to practice dynamics. They're a bit better when the red light isn't making me tense up ...

WieWaldi

Sophia @rsl12
WOW!!!! For a moment I thought I had entered the movie Toy Story - I love, LOVE, LOVE that theme. Your singing has improved SO MUCH, wow, a HUGE leap from the previous recital. And the piano complemented it so nicely... I could listen to that type of music for hours! Love the lyrics too, did I mention it should be used in a movie? 😛 And who can help but smile back when a performance ends with such a happy smile... loved it from start to finish!

LOL - Toy Story was also my very first thought while listening to it. And I was NOT reading this comment before. @rsl12 - you should send a demo-tape to Pixar.

iternabe

Sophia @iternabe
I always enjoyed that piece. In fact our washing machine uses that melody each time it finishes the laundry... and I always let it play right to the end because I never get tired of it 😃 Yours is a very nice arrangement too. Really impressed with your 7 months of learning - in your case too, your persistence paid off!

@Sophia Thank you! We don't have Samsung washing machines. But my wife did notice one day I was practicing
"the rice cooker tune" (Minuet in G) 😆

Nightowl 20. iternabe — The Trout
You absolutely nailed it there! Amazing playing, for a player who only began 7 months ago.

@Nightowl Thank you!

rogerch 20. iternabe — The Trout
Nice playing of a fun piece! I especially like the articulation in your playing, with short notes and long notes, staccato and legato. The dynamics are well done. Sounds great!

@rogerch I am paying attention to the details on the sheet music. The method book and YouTube lesson also helped me a lot to understand those details and how to play them. The dynamics is something I find needing the most practice. So I am really glad that the result come through in the recording. Thank you!

plop_symphony 20. iternabe — The Trout

Great playing! It looks and sounds like you've got excellent control over the force at which you strike the keys.

@plop_symphony You are too kind. I wouldn't call my control "excellent", far from it. But I do notice it improved a lot since I started learning piano. I credit it partly to daily scales practice while trying to play as soft as possible during slow runs.

rsl12 20. iternabe — The Trout
You played that piece pretty much perfect! Good rhythm and dynamics. PS Nice video setup!

@rsl12 Thank you!

TC3 @iternabe : Well done, you nailed it. The more I hear from the Faber books the more I think I should have started with them. Keep up the great progress!

@TC3 Thank you! I do like the pieces in the two Faber books I am using. I feel they are tastefully arranged. And each piece presents just the right amount of new challenge to move me forward.

Rob @iternabe I didn't realise that Faber had such good tunes. I especially liked your light touch.

@Rob Thanks! This is from Faber's companion series book to their method book. I've got the Classical one, but they have Popular and Christmas books, too.

Sgisela 20. iternabe — The Trout. Wonderful job! This is fantastic progress for 7 months. I think you did a great job bringing out the character of the piece.

@Sgisela Thank you! I think the arrangement by Faber did a great job, too, and I do strive to play as it is printed. I've casually heard the Trout quintet before. While learning this piece, I looked up the quintet again, and also found that the title actually comes from a popular song with some kind-of funny lyrics 🙂

WieWaldi iternabe The piece might be at an easy level, but you compensated it with a very clean playing. And the nice thing about your submission are the dynamics and the fluidity of your playing. It is really a joy to watch your videos (not just the recital piece) and you are doing remarkably well with your progress.

@WieWaldi Thank you! I do pay a lot of attention to dynamics during practice. It's really satisfying to hear that you noticed it. I am about halfway through the Faber Classics book 1 and really enjoying the journey. More videos will be forthcoming regularly.

Rubens

twocats
I'm glad I got you out of retirement from your solo performing career.

Player1

Nightowl
Your playing isn't "below standard," you're exactly right on the money for your playing level. You get the feedback you deserve based on your playing, not because anyone is fluffing you. That would be a cruel thing to do to anyone.

The arrangements in the method books are meant to teach, not play for entertainment. That's why they're awkward and don't sound very good. You only need to practice them until you can play them all the way through and have learned the technique they're teaching with that piece. That means being able to play 75-80% of a piece without mistakes, at tempo, is good enough to move on.

I believe that a piano student should be doing 3 things:

Their lesson pieces on a weekly or semi monthly basis, 75-80% learned and played to tempo.
A performance piece that can be learned and polished to PW/PT recital submission quality within 2-3 months.
A stretch piece that can take as long as 6-8 months to learn and polish which can be played without mistakes at a "formal" recital. (Not that you have to do that, just be able to play it to that standard.)

You're trying to make your lessons pieces into #2 and #3. It's not necessary or desirable to do that. Learn what the lesson piece teaches and move on at a consistent pace. For #2; find something just a bit beyond where you are and split 2 or 3 sessions per week for both your lesson and this piece. The stretch piece is supposed to be special and something you really want to learn to play. You have to do a little bit of research to find something in this category because you have to gauge your playing progress and then project where you think you'll be in 5-6 months so you will have most of the skills to play the piece you select. This is hard but not impossible. You have to add 1 or 2 extra sessions per week for this one.

So, a plan emerges. You're (I think) around midway through book 2. Look at the last piece in the book. You can start learning the original score for that if you want, or find something equal to it by checking all of the internet sources for similar grade level pieces. That's your #3. You have 6-8 months to learn it. By the time you do, you'll be at or near the end of your Alfred's book so the timing will be right.

Now look through your supplemental books and find something midway through one of those. That's your #2 piece. This should be equivalent to 3 or 4 lessons pieces ahead of where you are. You can also check the various internet sources for grade level stuff to find something in this range if there's nothing appealing in your supplemental books.

If you get stuck, ask for recommendations. There is so much knowledge here that not taking advantage of it is almost a crime. For instance, I think you could easily learn the original score of Bach's Minuet in G Major (Petzold) by Thanksgiving if you put your mind to it, certainly by the end of the year even if you got lazy in your practice sessions.

This got too long winded. Sorry.

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