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 composer’s website
        Instrument: Kawai ES110 with Pianoteq 8 (Standard)
        Recording method: WAV file recorded by Pianoteq, converted to MP3 with Audacity
        Additional info: ‘Waltz in F minor’ 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 I’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. I’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 – my hands get easily cold so I often wear gloves even at home. Actually, I didn’t notice I was wearing them until I was halfway through the recording 🧐! 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 🙂

                    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). I’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!

                                Performer: sgisela
                                Piece: Do Tebe (to you), Vitaly Filipenko
                                Comment Policy: polite comments only

                                Source of music: sheet music
                                Instrument: Estonia L210
                                Recording method: iPhone
                                Additional info: I’ve had a very complicated last few weeks and haven’t gotten around to recording one of the pieces I’ve been working on. So I’m posting this older recording. I submitted a recording of this piece to PW about a year ago, but I continued to work on it a little bit, and while this remains far from a perfect recording, it is closer to how I hear it in my head, compared to the earlier recording.

                                I came across this piece when I was listening to my favorite classical music radio station, WFMT. They have a program called Introductions, which features young musicians living in Chicagoland. One week, they did a special on Ukrainian-American musicians and Ukrainian composers. One of the featured pianists, Myroslav Myhailenko, played this piece, and I loved it. But when I looked for it online, I couldn’t find it anywhere. There are a few recordings on YouTube, but I was at a loss for the sheet music. So I emailed the host of the program, and he very kindly asked the pianist if he’d be able to share the sheet music. Myroslav quickly sent it to me! And I’m so glad he did.

                                  Performer: ShiroKuro, Midwest, 25 years
                                  Piece: Reminiscence, Takashi Kako
                                  Comment Policy: Polite Comments only: no suggestions for improvement please.

                                  Source of music: Sheet music by the composer
                                  Instrument: Yahama C2 (acoustic grand)
                                  Recording method: iPhone on a shelf behind the piano.
                                  Additional info: This was my first take. I made one more recording after this which actually had fewer mistakes, except that I made a mistake in one of my favorite spots in the piece. So, since I don't have time to make and upload a recording tonight, I decided to use the first recording, even though it has more mistakes, because the mistakes are less critical IMO. 😃

                                  By the way, this is one of the three pieces I'm scheduled to play in the concert that I've been posting about. (Unless I decide it's better left off the program -- what do you think??) The concert is just under two weeks away now. The plan is to play this one last. Wish me luck.

                                  And thanks for listening!

                                    Performer: Pathbreaker
                                    Piece: Larghetto by Germaine Tailleferre
                                    Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes!

                                    Source of music: sheet music (Deux Pieces Pour Piano)
                                    Instrument: Yamaha N1X, Modern D
                                    Recording method: Cubase, Audacity
                                    Additional info: Still a work in progress. Hope you enjoy.

                                      Performer: diretonic
                                      Piece: Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) by A.C. Jobim
                                      Comment Policy: All comments welcome

                                      Source of music: My arrangement
                                      Instrument: Layered sampled pianos
                                      Recording method: Cubase
                                      Additional info: Recorded a few years back when arthritis was beginning to trouble me hence required a couple of performance edits. Listening now I feel the arrangement here and there is far too busy so I might have another stab at this soon.

                                        Performer: Navindra Umanee in the USA. On and off piano lessons since September 2019.
                                        Piece: The Entertainer by Scott Joplin arr. by Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus, and Amanda Vick Lethco
                                        Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes! Please let me know what you think of the tuning and sound of the piano as well!

                                        Source of music: Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course, Book 1
                                        Instrument: Ritmüller UH121R by Pearl River
                                        Recording method: I touched up the tuning on the piano using the amazing CyberHammer with the equally mind-blowing pianoscope app. I used close miking with the onboard mics on a Tascam Portacapture X8 near the bottom part of the harp and I had a matched pair of the Audix SCX25A mikes behind me. I mixed the mics using Audacity, and using Logic Pro, added a touch of reverb with Space Designer’s Piano Warmth and let Mastering Assistant work its magic. I decided to favor a player perspective for this upright.
                                        Additional info: I originally played this piece for my teacher's 2024 Halloween Piano Party and I recorded it at home for PianoTell. I can't wait to graduate from Alfred Book 1.