MarieJ that was lovely, as always!
I love it when I can hear something new on the (internet) radio, go buy the score online and starting playing it!

    Sam that was great! It sounds finished to me 🙂

    Also, I have to mention those lovely flowers and vase you have by the piano! Almost as beautiful as your playing!

    • Sam replied to this.

        navindra That was great!!! Very well played. And you piano sounds great too!

        Also, I love your pumpkin shirt! 🙂

          ShiroKuro I made that vase. My other hobby is woodworking. That is a segmented vase - cherry, maple, and walnut - hundreds of segments, turned on a lathe.

              rsl12 That was AWESOME!! And yes, it was very entertaining! (Somehow, I think your nursing home performances will be a lot more fun than my retirement center concert... 😛

              Anyway, I loved it! I didn't hear any flubs either.

              BTW did you memorize the music and the lyrcis?? That's quite a feat!

                  Sam I made that vase. My other hobby is woodworking.

                  I wondered if you'd made it (I have seen some of your other beautiful creations).

                  It's lovely, and complements the piano so nicely!

                    TC3 thank you, I think ideally the chords wouldn’t be rolled but my hands are quite small 🤣

                    • TC3 likes this.

                      Rubens that song brings me back to the original Frasier series. Good job!

                      When I started working on this, one of my first thoughts was to find Kelsey Grammer's version, since I was sure I had heard it before (or maybe Sideshow Bob singing it) but I couldn't find anything on Youtube. But you got me to search for "Frasier I am the model" and out popped a result! Thank you! I had never heard this before. I wish it were the full thing, but I'll take what I can get!

                      PS: The Family Guy take is pretty funny.

                      keff Bravo Major General!

                      Thank you!

                      Nightowl your performance was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!! 😃 🤩 😍 The speed of playing was incredible and singing all those complex tongue twisting lyrics at the same time made this even more impressive - my mind is completely blown!!! How do you do that?!?

                      You're making my ego grow much too much. Thank you! I've been working on the vocal part for two months, so the secret is really just time. First memorizing, then not tripping over the words, then getting faster, then making it smooth and lyrical, and then fixing a bunch of details.

                      The piano score is very repetitive, so I only had to learn a handful of measures. With experience, the process of memorizing and playing chords and scales, which is what 95% of the score is, is much easier.

                      Switching between my singing-focused brain and piano-focused brain continues to be a major problem for me, but I think I'm getting better. Thank you again for your very warm compliments!

                      ShiroKuro That was AWESOME!! And yes, it was very entertaining! (Somehow, I think your nursing home performances will be a lot more fun than my retirement center concert... 😛
                      BTW did you memorize the music and the lyrcis?? That's quite a feat!

                      I've been told that retirement communities are a very easy-to-please audience, so that makes it a good goal for us amateurs! I'll be thinking of you at the end of November, as you will be realizing my goal before I do!
                      Memorizing the lyrics took time--I did about one verse a week to get the initial memorizing done, and then a few more weeks to get the verses smooth. The piano part memorization was much easier, as it's much more repetitive!

                                Rob
                                This is a heartbreakingly beautiful composition. Reminds me a bit of Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla, perhaps because it is in the same mood and key. Your playing is expressive and captivating, and your piano has an exquisite tone, but that's not surprising considering that it's s Kawai ES920, which I used for my own performance 😁.

                                • Rob replied to this.
                                • Rob likes this.

                                    Schubertian2 Thank you Navindra - what a lot of good work you do!

                                    Thanks a lot for this comment. I saw it before leaving for work this morning and I can honestly say it put a smile on face and made my day. 🙂

                                    Congrats everyone! I've enjoyed everything I've listened to so far and will slowing start sharing my comments. 🙂

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

                                      javiercorre Wow! Just wow.

                                      You've been practicing for only 5 years and not only can you play Scarlatti, you can play two whole Sonatas worth from memory. Absolutely astounding. Bravo! 👏

                                      I really enjoyed just how nimble your touch is and your musicality kept me entranced. You're definitely ready for your exam! Good luck and hopefully you can share how it goes! 👏

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

                                        Sophia Thank you for your kind words.

                                          WieWaldi I am pleased that you liked it. Thank you.

                                            Schubertian2 — Ballade 4 – That was admirable! What’s most impressive to me is that it is your own interpretation through and through, that you’ve worked on it only with your teacher and based only on the score. And it does capture the nature of a ballade. Beautiful.

                                            Schubertian2 I wonder if I could start a separate thread just to go over all that I learned from working on this and my ideas about what a 'ballade' is. It would be much too long here.

                                            Please do, I would love to read that!

                                                  WieWaldi — Quick Five Blues – Great job! Your playing seems so laid-back, and sounds really bluesy, wonderful. I follow your and Sophia’s beginners blues thread and think you both are making tremendous progress!

                                                    Nightowl - What A Wonderful World – It may be a simplified arrangement, but it still is a difficult piece, and you’ve managed to play it well! You’re making a good, steady progress, congratulations! And it is so endearing that you have this amiable furry audience. Does it help with recording anxiety? I think I must try it too 🙂

                                                        rsl12 on the topic of memorizing… I’ve read various snippets about research on how the brain physically changes as a result of how it’s used. For example, that bilingual people have a heavier prefrontal cortex, or the studies of the physical differences in the brains of London cab drivers…

                                                        I would love to know what physical differences would be observed in the brain of someone like me, who hardly ever memorizes and always plays from the score, vs someone who memorizes solo piano music, vs someone like you who memorizes both piano parts and lyrics.

                                                        /threaddrift 😅

                                                            Gooseberry
                                                            I don't know what would be the appropriate place - maybe here under notes "Me and the Fourth Ballade". LOL.