ErnieAd thanks for sharing this lovely clip. I also like that fireplace background which adds to a cozy Christmas vibe.

    ErnieAd Welcome to piano tell! You are absolutely doing it right. That was lovely playing!

      Thanks for moving it. This site is more applicable and I didn't know it existed. Have a blessed Christmas!

      Still catching up with my watching, but just wanted to say welcome to the forum @ErnieAd 🙂

      Rob I do vaguely remember reading it was Holst - do you know if he wrote both versions or just our preferred ??

      • Rob replied to this.

          Rob I’m always impressed by the tech that goes in to producing things like this (I’m not entirely sure what a VST is!) - I struggle to figure out just how to record myself 😂 Glad you were able to be back home for Xmas and hopefully no such dramas this year. Bushfire with lost houses just before Xmas last year tho - was that in WA?

          • Rob replied to this.
          • Rob likes this.

              BicBic Holst composed our preferred. The other version is by Harold Darke, and is the one used at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge.

                ErnieAd another of my favourite carols!!! I loved this. The arrangement and your playing were wonderful. Where is the music from, was that your own arrangement / version?

                  BicBic Thank you.
                  We are just North of Perth, WA. I think about eighteen homes were destroyed in that fire, which originated around Wanneroo area.

                      Rob I remember hearing about it (former and future Perth resident here) - thankfully seems to be a quieter start to the season this year

                      • Rob likes this.

                        rogerch I want to hear more!

                        So I came up with my version today of O Holy Night, and may end up playing it and posting here this weekend, if you’re up for it!

                            rogerch
                            Rob

                            okay sounds good. i practiced it quite a bit tonight. kept changing my decisions on composition. i'll post something this weekend, regardless of the outcome. since i make it up by ear, every iteration always sounds different! 🙂

                                  HeartKeys I’m looking forward to it!!

                                  I attempted a bit more of my theme and variations last night. I’m now on variation 3. It’s quite slow going 🤣 even tho the theme is only a 16 bar chorale, but I just don’t really know what I’m doing!

                                    Light jazz version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas arranged by a member of my piano group.

                                      Performer: HeartKeys, USA, Play for fun by ear
                                      Piece: O Holy Night (with a bunch of random stuff)
                                      Comment Policy: Anything goes

                                      Source of music: improvising to this classic.
                                      Instrument: VSL Steinway D-274. I also experimented with NI Claire, VSL Bosendorfer Imperial, and VI Labs Modern D. Claire had some nice effects, but too much artifacts. Modern D was not "insane enough" sounding for the crescendo parts of this song.
                                      Additional info:

                                      • Audio output was very low for some reason, so you'll need to turn volume up.
                                      • Build-up at 2:40.
                                      • Pardon the dynamic/tempo challenges, especially at 2:20, where this is my first attempt ever, at playing melody with left hand.
                                      • 2024 was my first year ever trying to play "correctly" with regards to technique. As far as the composition, I naturally have myriad ways for a song to go. I conceived of this version on Friday, and kept changing my mind of what to do.
                                      • Also, since I don't read music (I just make it up by ear), pardon those moments when the notes aren't 100% accurate. I won't pretend I know how to play any Debussy or Schubert stuff, but I was inspired by their main melodies.
                                      • For the ending, I have zero idea how I came up with that. ADHD or something. I'm sure it's from some movie that hit me out of nowhere (perhaps Interstellar and Rachmaninoff Prelude in G Minor).

                                      Anyway, enjoy!

                                        rogerch This is my first time hearing you play off a lead sheet. It sounds like you have the basics down (not surprising, given what I've heard of your improv).

                                          keff Nice job on the arrangement. Nice segues into the different styles/tunes, and nice voice leading. Not that it's a competition, but I like your arrangement better than your colleague's--his sounded like complexity for the sake of complexity.

                                          TC3 I'm always jealous to see your wife will make music with you!!

                                          navindra Nice job with the production. Like the other people here, I wonder how disastrous the piano party was. But maybe it's better you edited it--the way it is, it brings warm Christmas thoughts. But is it traumatic for you to watch even that snippet?

                                          Rob A faint tingle far back in my memory--this carol, and the fact that Holst wrote one. Thanks for reminding me--I'm always on the lookout for well composed (and well-arranged!) Christmas songs.