PianoTell Recital #5 is Now Live!

Nightowl

iternabe That was very nicely played, you played in a relaxed and confident manner, great work after just 18 months. 🙂

WieWaldi

Nightowl Brindisi by G Verdi
I love to hear you playing. You are improving from recital to rectial - every time. This is a great pleasure for me. The start was very clear and at very steady tempo. In the mid section, you had a minor tempo glimpse, but I must admit this was the most difficult part. You did very wise to slow that down a bit and live with some hesitations, because getting rushed into wrong notes is IMO the worst decision. Especially in our early learners stage, I recommend adjusting the tempo instead of changing the notes.
About your recording: The tone was good, only the video camera produced some severe ISO noise. The easiest way to fix it (and how professional film teams manage since hundred years): Make your room brighter. Either play during day time, or get some extra light sources like an uplighter or a stand lamp and place it somewhere it won't cast harsh shadows. Uplighters are generally a good choice in terms of avoiding cast shadows, unless you don't have professional camera light equipment.

Anything else? Congrats for making it to the #1 of the Piano|Tell charts in August 2025.

Nightowl

WieWaldi Thanks WieWie. You're right, my Chromebook seems to work better in bright daylight than late at night with low level light conditions. However, being a night owl I often perform better at night, so I will explore options to improve the light levels during late night recording sessions. (By the way, I had to look up the term "ISO noise" - I never knew that the word "noise" could apply to visual technology. Every day's a school day!)

Nightowl

Sophia I didn't recognise this piece from the title, but now I've listened to your beautiful rendition I've immediately been carried back in time to my childhood, when I watched old Westerns on TV and I'm pretty sure this song was featured in some of them. That was beautifully played, your musical genes and steady work paid off to create a lovely performance. Well done, Sophia. 🙂

Sophia

Nightowl watched old Westerns on TV and I'm pretty sure this song was featured in some of them.

Thanks so much Nightowl. I know there are many versions of this tune, but I really liked this Thompson version. I actually felt sentimental playing it, and my mom when she listened to it called it a tear jerker 😃

Simonb The last chord was beautiful.

Haha would you believe I spent more time trying to get that chord to come out in PPP than almost any other part of the piece? Ok, probably spent more time on those large jumps, but it was surprisingly hard to get right. It took quite a few tries for the chord to come out super soft, but still with actual sound 😅

WieWaldi (ok, looking at your socks)

WieWaldi This doesn't seem so easy anymore.

Haha thanks. You are right, officially it is only a level 2 piece, but it was rather tricky all the same. I heard that Thompson was notorious in having big differences In difficulty level, even from page to page. But worth the effort, it's a gorgeous piece 🙂

WieWaldi

iternabe Invention No. 6 in E Major (Section A) by J.S. Bach
Very nicely played. Glad I am not the only one needing the help of a metronome to keep a steady tempo. Absolutely agree about the difficulty of an unreal slow metronome to start with. Good to see, you've successfully managed to fet it right under your fingers.

Nightowl

WieWaldi That was lovely WieWie! 😀 As usual you played in a relaxed manner, which suits this gentle piece very well.
Also, I LOVE the new wristband - this is a classy accessory which is perfect for the BBK!
I'm giving you a round of applause here in Hampshire (near England 😉 ) 👏

WieWaldi

Nightowl Glad you noticed the new wristband. I did order it extra for you (and the other woman - I don't know her name - but she is also constantly griping about the black one) at my sister-in-law as my birthday present. She gave me two options: one very elegant and another one a bit simpler with white and blue colors that doesn't scream "SAILOR". Guess what I've chosen... Turns out, it complements my bavarian-blues colored keys quite well.

WieWaldi

Simonb Gee Baby Ain't I Good For You by Don Redman
I am really jealous, you play something like this after only 3 or 4 runs. Well, this is maybe one of the big advantages you have with 50 years of playing over us total beginners. Loved the piece as well, love your music genres in general. Well done!
(Love your foot tapping.)

Simonb

Nightowl

Interesting that you recorded using your Chromebook. I use a Chromebook (laptop) and it never occurred to me, to use to record with. Like you I'm a technophobe, even though I worked for a software company for the last 23 years of my career!

Well done on the piece and the playing. After 20 months you're making good progress.

Cheers

Sophia

Nightowl Beautiful Nightowl! What a lovely start to the recital, and I will join Wie Wie in saying what a pleasure it is to see you improve in strides. Every recital shows a vast improvement in musicality, flair, confidence and skill. And your hard work in getting your hands to relax more is clearly evident. Well done!

Nightowl

navindra How apt that the final piece in this recital is titled At Last - I love this! 🙂 You played well and there were some really nice embellishments. The only small criticism I'd make is that I think the tempo was slightly too fast for the style of this song (think more soul, less upbeat jazz). That said, you played it well and I'm sure many people would prefer this upbeat version.

navindra

Nightowl Thank you! Very perceptive feedback on the tempo! Of course, I consciously ignored the actual directives from Alfred's and did my own thing here in terms of tempo/rhythm. I'm not familiar too much with the original song. I think I'll explore a slower tempo a bit more seriously after your comment regarding feeling the soul. It would definitely give me more time to think/react during the piece as well.

ShiroKuro Thank you! I can't tell you how relieved I am to have gotten through this all, even though I had to improvise a new plan. This is such a tricky period for me, as I'd just gotten back two weeks ago and it's certainly been hectic! At least now I can breathe a bit. 😮‍💨

Simonb

iternabe

All that hard work certainly paid off. For only 18 months of playing that was superb. Having a good teacher is very important!

Cheers

Sophia

iternabe So very elegantly played iternabe, a pleasure to listen to AND to watch. I share your passion for Bach and this is not a piece I have heard often. It looks very difficult with all those leaps, and you played it with confidence, with beautiful dynamics. Very musical indeed, compliments both to yourself and your teacher!

Simonb

Player1

Nicely done. I didn't know the tune, or indeed the composer, but you played with feeling, and a nice touch.
Until I got my upright this year I played on a digital Casio Piano. I think they are very good.

Cheers

Player1

Simonb

"The Plan" after the downsizing is to get a grand and put it into a music room. Until then the Casio will have to do.

Sophia

keff A very pretty version of Blue Moon, jazzy but not too jazzy. I know you weren't looking for comments, but I was thinking perhaps it would sound even better with a little less pedal? But honestly that was just a minor, minor nitpick, I'm sure it can be played in any way one sees fit 🙂

WieWaldi

Player1 Reflections by Dennis Alexander
Wow - you improved a lot in terms of timing. In your earlier recordings, you played the notes as supposed, but made your own rhythm. Sometimes very different to the composer's intention. So different that it became another song. But not now - everything was right: Musicality, intonation, the feeling, the tempo. It was a real pleasure to listen to this, you are now on a very good way on your piano journey!

Simonb

Sophia

That was a lovely tune, and you played it very well.
The last chord was beautiful.

Great work after only 18 months.

Cheers

Sophia

Simonb This took me right back to the 1930s or 1940s, the type of music Ella Fitzgerald or The Ink Spots would probably have created a beautiful song around. Music that makes you feel happy and puts a smile on your face... well it put a smile on my face and it got my foot tapping, just like yours 🙂

WieWaldi

Sophia Carry Me Back by James A. Bland
The piece seems simple... but it has something. At least in the way you played it. It sounds so relaxed, so effortless. Don't know if the word rubato fits to this piece, as rubato is (IMO) a term for classical music. But you slowed down the right parts just perfect. You have such a good sense for timing and how to bring the music to life.
Btw, love your socks!

Edit: I watched again: forget about the term simple. Looking at your hands (not the socks) reveals some very tricky parts. LH jumps, with nice pedaling to support (ok, looking at your socks) the tone. This doesn't seem so easy anymore. Just Wonderful!

WieWaldi

Peyton Etude #6 by Philip Glass
I have never seen your fingers moving that fast. The sound is amazing, very crisp and each note separated from the others to avoid blurring. I think this wasn't easy to achieve in that perfection - even if you said, there were flubs. Congrats to this wonderful piece, you can be very proud of it.

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