Performer: Arnold Lau, Washington DC - just under 2 years
Piece: The Midnight Ball by Naoko Ikeda
Comment Policy: Critical Comments

Source of music: Strange Sounds, anthology published by Willis Music
Instrument: Yamaha P-71
Recording method: MIDI via Pianoteq (C. Bechstein DG282)
Additional info: Happy (belated) Halloween! Not that I really celebrate it, but it's kind of a thing stateside. I tried learning this piece last year for the same occasion, but it was a bit too difficult at the time. Fortunately it came together in less than a week this year. I record all the pieces I learn as a way of marking my progress and post them on my YouTube channel, so check out some of my other performances on there.

    Performer: Schubertian, Dallas Texas, all my life, off and on, I'm 73 - I have had good good good teachers and bad bad bad teachers
    Piece: Ballade 4, Chopin
    Comment Policy: anything goes

    Source of music: Wiener Urtext, National Edition, and also the stichvorlage, and early editions online
    Instrument: Estonia parlour grand
    Recording method: Samson C01U Mic very near the soundboard, GarageBand
    Additional info: I am a dedicated amateur. I have worked on this for 6 months with my teacher Alessandro Mazzamuto in Dallas. Now that I am retired I can dedicate a lot of time to practicing. I really love this piece of music. My 'interpretation' is not based upon anything outside the score itself - no YouTube, no prof performances or recordings, no podcasts, no biographies. I have tried to solve all the riddles logically or practically just like I used to do at work (electrical engineering)

      Performer: WieWaldi, Germany (near Bavaria), 23/4 years of active practicing
      Piece: Quick Five Blues - Christian Fuchs
      Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

      Source of music: Sheet music linked in this YouTube Tutorial
      Instrument: Kawai CN-29 (Upright Piano sample)
      Recording method: Headphone-jack to PC (OBS-Studio)
      Additional info: Lesson six of Easy Blues Piano course is called the Quick Five Blues, it has four choruses, and is printed on three pages. I recorded it for recital two, and it has at least one missed note.

        Performer: Nightowl, UK, began playing last November using Alfred's AIO books. Currently going solo but considering finding a teacher at some point.
        Piece: What A Wonderful World by G D Weiss and B Thiele, Arranged by G P Tingley
        Comment Policy: General Comments only: Polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement.

        Source of music: Alfred's Greatest Hits: Level 1
        Instrument: Donner DP80
        Recording method: Chromebook
        Additional info: This song was a number 1 hit for Louis Armstrong in the UK, in 1968. It is a nice relaxing piece to play (until you press the red button, of course!) and makes a pleasant change from some of the dull pieces in the method books. I had a bit of a brain freeze around the halfway point so there is a pause which seems to go on forever - my brain is so annoying sometimes. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ Also, I realised too late that my bench was making creaking noises - I need to tighten up the bolts. ๐Ÿ™ƒ Recording pieces certainly reveals weaknesses, but it is a good way to mark progress in what can feel like a slow journey. My one year pianoversary is on 20th November and I am currently working through Alfred's AIO Book 2.

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

          Performer: Sophia Burns, started in January 2024
          Piece: A Classy Rag
          Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

          Source of music: Alfred Adult All-in-One Course Level 3
          Instrument: Yamaha Clavinova CLP-811
          Recording method: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
          Additional info: I had just started the 3rd Alfred book and found this lesson rather challenging at first, so I spent a little extra time on it. It took me one week to learn, then another week to play it smoothly and yet another week to bring it up to speed. And then suddenly I realized a recital piece was born ๐Ÿ™‚

            Performer: rogerch
            Piece: Slow Steps by rogerch
            Comment Policy: General Comments only: Polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement.

            Source of music: improvised
            Instrument: Steinway M
            Recording method: Zoom H1essentials
            Additional info: I recently sight-read a piece that included a minor fourth chord. I liked the sound of it so I improvised with a minor fourth resolving to the tonic and I'm pleased with the result!

              Performer: thepianoplayer416, Canada, 10 yrs
              Piece: When You Wish Upon a Star by Ned Washington & Leigh Harline
              Comment Policy: General Comments only: Polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement.

              Source of music: online sheet music download
              Instrument: Steinway grand
              Recording method: Canon EOS-M200
              Additional info: It's a piece I worked on 2 years ago at a slower tempo. During the height of the pandemic, the city was in a partial lockdown. The conservatory where my lessons were held was shut for several months before the administration decided to connect the teachers with their students through Zoom. Found pieces outside the assigned repertoire to keep my music going.

                Performer: Sam from Georgia USA - been playing about 15 years now
                Piece: "The Never Finished Piece" By Sam
                Comment Policy: General Comments only: Polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement.

                Here is the youtube video:

                Source of music: Original composition
                Instrument: Yamaha C3
                Additional info: I have been working on this piece off and on since 2015. Every time I pick it up I change things and add stuff. I will probably never finish it, which is where the title comes from. Harmonically I am stuck in the early 19th century! We had an original themed recital at PW last month, so this was polished up and changed yet again for that - if you have heard it already, sorry!

                  Performer: MarieJ from Brisbane, Australia. I've been flying solo on my piano journey since December 2011.
                  Piece: Waltz in F minor by Tim Neumark
                  Comment Policy: General Comments only: Polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement

                  Source of music: Sheet music from composerโ€™s website
                  Instrument: Kawai ES110 with Pianoteq 8 (Standard)
                  Recording method: WAV file recorded by Pianoteq, converted to MP3 with Audacity
                  Additional info: โ€˜Waltz in F minorโ€™ introduced me to the wonders of the digital age: In a matter of minutes from first hearing the composer playing it on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio Iโ€™d located his web page, purchased the sheet music from him, downloaded the PDF into forScore, and was stumbling through the score at my piano.
                  Still obviously a work-in-progress, this submission draws further on the wonders of the digital age. It comes to you thanks to my DP, Mac and iPad, and four incredible apps: forScore, Pianoteq, Procreate, and iMovie. Iโ€™ve had enormous fun, and learned SO much on the way.

                    Performer: Player 1
                    Piece: Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar (Theme from the docu-movie Civil War)
                    Comment Policy: Feedback type desired (see below)

                    Source of music: Faber Adult Piano Adventures, Popular Book 2
                    Instrument: My Casio
                    Recording method: Samsung S9 Android
                    Additional info: At one time I tried to play this and thought it was too difficult so I passed on it. Now, needing something quick to learn and record for this recital, I opened the book and decided to give it another try. After a year and a half of learning and practicing, it's not difficult at all now.

                    I didn't polish it much because it's not really worth spending that much time on it at this stage of the game. But it's a decent performance all the same.

                      Performer: Rubens from Canada. I've been playing since 1983
                      Piece: Sonata no.2, Op.36 (1913), 2nd movement, by Sergei Rachmaninoff
                      Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

                      Source of music: Unknown edition that I found online (it's public domain)
                      Instrument: Kawai ES920
                      Recording method: USB recording
                      Additional info: I initially wasn't sure whether to share this recording. But then I heard about a friend who is going through difficult times I changed my mind, because to me this music is about loss, but also hope. It's a piece that has given me comfort through difficult times of my own, so why not share it. There is a special moment near the end of the piece here, at 05:50, a moment of catharsis where the mood shifts from the darkest despair to unexpected hope, magically. From then on it seems the cold and harsh winter night has finally turned into a warm blanket... of snow.

                        Performer: Summer, United States, 9 years experience
                        Piece: Sonata No.3 in A Minor by Sergei Prokofiev
                        Comment Policy: Critical comments: Anything goes!

                        Source of music: imslp.org
                        Instrument: Piano
                        Recording method: IPad lmao
                        Additional info: This piece is really difficult. Really fun sonata to play once you get it down, though!

                          Performer: Gooseberry from Poland. I started learning to play the piano in 2021.
                          Piece: Pigalle by Virginio Aiello
                          Comment Policy: General Comments, polite, supportive, suggestions for improvement

                          Source of music: Sheet music purchased from Sheet Music Plus
                          Instrument: Yamaha CLP 735
                          Recording method: iPhone
                          Additional info: Sorry for the gloves โ€“ my hands get easily cold so I often wear gloves even at home. Actually, I didnโ€™t notice I was wearing them until I was halfway through the recording ๐Ÿง! But as I had decided that I would have only one take, just as if it were a real live recital, that was it.

                            Performer: Rob
                            Piece: Lost by Rob
                            Comment Policy: Anything goes.

                            Source of music: Own composition
                            Instrument: Kawai ES920
                            Recording method: Cubase + VSTi
                            Additional info: A re-recording of a short piece composed about fifteen years ago.

                              Performer: TC3
                              Piece: "Worried Life Blues" by Big Maceo Merriweather
                              Comment Policy: Constructive criticism welcome -- don't be rude, though ๐Ÿ™‚

                              Source of music: my own arrangement, more or less (see below)
                              Instrument: Roland GP609
                              Recording method: Zoom H4n Pro (built-in stereo condenser mics aimed at the soundboard), a Shure PGA52 (underneath the piano to capture more bass), and a Shure SM58 (for the vocals).
                              Additional info: This is nowhere near ready for prime time, but I did promise I'd submit something ... The tune is by one of the Chicago blues greats, Big Maceo Merriweather. I've cobbled something together by listening, peeking at some transcriptions, changing and simplifying where needed, and semi-improvising (especially the call-and-response piano bits, which are just from a set of stock licks and scales, mixed and matched). Iโ€™ve opted to keep it pretty simple (note the quarter-note barrelhouse LH pattern for most of the tune), as I intend to play with this my "garage band" (my wife on drums and a pal on guitar), and I don't want it to end up sounding too busy or dense (Big Maceo himself plays with Tampa Red on guitar). It all needs some polishing, but it's getting there.


                              Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.

                                Performer: lilypad from Vancouver, WA, USA. 8 yrs as a child; then since retiring in 2004
                                Piece: God Bless the Child by Arthur Herzop and Billie Holiday
                                Comment Policy: General Comments

                                Source of music: Sheet music book "The Best Jazz Standards Ever"
                                Instrument: Yamaha digital CLP-635
                                Recording method: Digital/USB/Audacity to normalize
                                Additional info: I first heard this back in the late 1960's when Blood, Sweat & Tears came out with it. After making my first recording, I realized that the rhythm was too steady and not like the version I have in my head. I listened to the Blood, Sweat & Tears recording and tried to incorporate their rhythmic nuances. The results were very tentative sounding compared to my original confident and boring rhythm version. I decided to stick with my first recording.


                                  Performer: BicBic, currently in Utah. Played through school etc, current restart of piano is now ONE whole year!
                                  Piece: Scriabin - Prelude no.4 in E minor from Op 11
                                  Comment Policy: Anything goes

                                  Source of music: IMSLP
                                  Instrument: Digital Yamaha P-140
                                  Recording method: Line out to Audacity, combined with iphone video in Powerdirector
                                  Additional info: I haven't played much Scriabin. I suppose most of his pieces are a bit too tricky for me! Learning the notes of this prelude is the easier part I think, trying to get the musicality is much harder and I don't think I'm quite there. Very enjoyable to play and learn!

                                    Performer: Javier from Mexico. I've been practicing for 5 years
                                    Piece: Sonatas K. 208 and K. 380 by Scarlatti
                                    Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

                                    Source of music: IMSLP
                                    Instrument: Yamaha B1
                                    Recording method: Pixel 8 Pro
                                    Additional info: I'm performing these pieces on my piano recital/exam on november 22 so this was a great performance practice.

                                      Performer: SalmonJack from Hood River, OR, USA. Playing sporadically since 1973. Picking up the pace these days.
                                      Piece: Bliss Ten by SalmonJack
                                      Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

                                      Source of music: My own composition.
                                      Instrument: Kawai MP9000
                                      Recording method: Kawai MP9000, Logic Pro, MacBook Air
                                      Additional info: Two advantages of writing your own music is that 1) no one can compare my playing to anyone else's and 2) no one can definitively point out the mistakes. (It's a fine line between a mistake and pure genius). I find blissful solitude while hiding in my studio creating music.

                                      I started this piece with an interesting contradiction I found in the I-V dyad (in my case, D): you can't tell whether you're in the major or minor key without more context. The first section, even just the first four measures, provide context for both. I'm not sure why that lit me up, but it did.

                                      I will play this piece better in the future but for now I have to step away from it to get some perspective.

                                      More blissful solitude. Take ride on the Columbia River. My boat is a Finn, an Olympic racing class from 1952 to 2020, a boat I've sailed for more than 50 years. If you want to read about the nut cases like me who sail this thing you can find an excerpt from my novel at http://paganusersmanual.com/finns.

                                        Performer: rsl12 (USA). Piano has been a hobby for decades. First half of my piano life was focused on classical, but now I'm into jazz.
                                        Piece: "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" by WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.
                                        Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

                                        Source of music: Arrangement by CD Sheet Music
                                        Recording method: I've decided my Blue Yeti microphone works best on top of the piano, right in the middle.
                                        Additional info: I've been taking voice lessons for a few months (as part of reaching my fun goal of being able to entertain at nursing homes). I'm doing this song in an in-person recital on the 17th, and I've been practicing the voice part for about two months (I'll have a pianist). When I found out about this Pianotell recital three weeks ago, I decided to learn the piano part as well. Singing this song was challenge enough, even without piano! I hear lots of faults in the recording that I could correct with more time. The piece is very fun, so I'll try to improve it and keep it in my repertoire. I hope it's entertaining, even with all the flubs!