rsl12 Also: I'm announcing Recital #4 on r/piano, to give them a month to prepare.

Hahahaha I would have started panicking now... but... it so happens that I managed to get a semi acceptable recording of my next recital piece today, as a farewell to Mr Alfred!

    rsl12 Thanks everyone. I think it looks much, much better!

    Actually it is the same as it was.
    To be fair, we got rid of this General Comment.


    Salute! General Comment!

    Sophia Lucky you! My piece is coming together, but there are still trouble spots. Congratulations on finishing the book! Are you moving on to boogie-woogie finally? (I saw Christian had some video about it that I know you could handle.)

      rsl12 Congratulations on finishing the book! Are you moving on to boogie-woogie finally?

      Thanks! Actually, technically I haven't finished it yet. There is still a huge Bach piece (this one). But I never liked the piece and it's even more horrendous on piano than I anticipated, so...... I might cave and call it quits πŸ˜‚

      Yes still moving towards my boogie woogie goal... but I realize I just need to go through all the steps in between, so I'm now following Christian's Easy Blues course (after I finished his Beginner's course).

      But I also want to continue with all the regular "stuff", so I'll probably go back to my John Thompson books and continue with those, in conjunction with learning blues. Because I was raised in the old skool thought of "only classical music is proper music" and I find it really hard to shake that - despite knowing better of course 😁

        I think it's a good idea to attack both classical and other genres! I do both as well, as you will hear in a month...

          rsl12 as you will hear in a month

          I can't wait!

          rsl12 Also: I'm announcing Recital #4 on r/piano, to give them a month to prepare.

          Oh gosh, I guess I should participate this time and play the Bach Italian Concerto! I will have to get out my "proper recorder" and it's a whole production to "properly record", honestly I dread the recording process more than anything else!

          I had sort of forgotten that the next recital is in May, which is now just around the corner! Well, I think I should aim for Hana Bi… we’ll see.

          @Sophia which version of the Toccato in Dm is that? Is it this one?

            ShiroKuro which version of the Toccato in Dm is that? Is it this one?

            That's the one, Shiro πŸ™‚ Four pages of it, so give me one good reason why I shouldn't skip it πŸ˜ƒ

              Sophia Four pages of it, so give me one good reason why I shouldn't skip it πŸ˜ƒ

              πŸ˜† πŸ˜† πŸ˜†

              Joking aside, I think it's an awesome arrangement, and it looks very challenging, so I have no doubt it's a great thing to work on for pedagogical purposes.... But if you hate it.... πŸ˜…

              Yeah, sigh. It definitely reminds me of the "spinach and brussels sprouts are good for you" days...
              Apparently this is not an arrangement, the Alfred books says

              Or do you mean it's adapted for piano, because originally it was written for organ? Either way, I'm not loving it. So now I face the difficult decision whether I want to be a Serious Pianist who Plays Bach:

              Or have fun with more frivolous stuff...

              Hmmm mmm m that's a tough one πŸ˜‚

                Sophia it sounds like it's an organ transcription for piano.

                You can be both serious and fun! But if you're hating it, then maybe it's not for you (for the moment, at least) πŸ™‚

                Sophia If you listen to the video I posted and don't like how it sounds, then I would say it's ok to move on from this piece. If you listen to the video and think it sounds cool, then there's probably some benefit to sticking it out a bit more.

                But I am firmly of the belief that life is too short to play (or study) music I dislike.

                Or, if you like the piece well enough, but working on it feels like a slog, put it aside and plan to come back to it (but I think you actively dislike it, right?)

                Good advice πŸ˜ƒ Yeah, I think I will put it aside for now. Then when I am a concert pianist, 50 years from now when I'm a centenarian, I will probably just play it straight from the sheet music πŸ˜ƒ Which means..... which MEANS........ I can post in the Alfred thread that I actually finished the book!!! Ooooh I can't believe it!

                  Sophia Four pages of it, so give me one good reason why I shouldn't skip it

                  The first 30 seconds is the most iconic keyboard intro of all time. And still holds today. But you should really play it with organ sound, makes it more dramatic!

                    WieWaldi most iconic keyboard intro of all time

                    Yeah, right. That's what June Cleaver told Beaver... he didn't buy it either.

                    Sophia, how is Wie Waldi supposed to understand a Beaver reference?????? He was born at the wrong place AND at the wrong time.

                      So was I πŸ˜‰

                      rsl12 Thanks for this! The more we spread the word, the better. We're a small community but there's a lot of room for growth even if it's just organically by word of mouth. πŸ™‚

                      Sophia Congrats! I'm so envious. I don't think the piece I want to play for the recital will be ready, so it'll have to be something from Mr Alfred.

                      Sophia There is still a huge Bach piece (this one).

                      I love this piece! The arrangement SK posted sounds fantastic.

                      Congratulations Sophia. Welll done!!

                      Now remember, never again "spinach and brussels sprouts". There is lots of healthy food out there, choose whatever pieces you enjoy!!

                      About the Bach piece, it is Piano Syllabus level 9. Completely outrageous of Alred's editor to put that in their book.
                      Have you heard of Piano Syllabus? You can check the level of pieces there, in case you wonder if a piece is too easy or too difficult for you. Of course, the level of a piece is always a subjective judgement, and not all pieces are in there, but I find it helpful.

                      *
                      ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...