WieWaldi what do you think about having something like circling genres in a monthly scheme. We need 8 different genres
It could work, but I would want to make it proportional to the interest people have in playing certain genres. Perhaps one day, when I have time, I can try and categorize all the PianoTell recital pieces to determine the percent of submissions in each genre. I'm sure that ragtime and animation/video games, for example, represent far less than one-eighth of all submissions, and that classical probably represents at least a third. But at least until Christmas, I think your schedule looks good.
WieWaldi Actually I meant, we pick a specific piece out of that genre. The rotation should help not to get stuck in one genre.
I agree. I really enjoyed the discussion we had over Beale Street Blues, and I don't think that level of discussion could be possible if we weren't all playing the same piece. We got to talk about the specifics of the different sections of it, the different recorded interpretations, etc. If we make PIYW no more than a slightly narrower version of the themed recitals at PW, I think it would lose a lot of the fun.
WieWaldi For most classical pieces, there is somewhere a beginner version as well.
twocats For classical, I'm wondering if we'd have a lot more variety if we look at pieces not originally written for piano. Then there should be many different transcriptions out there at various difficulty levels, like Saint-Saëns' "The Swan".
Both of you seem to be saying you prefer one piece per PIYW, and given what I said just a paragraph ago, I definitely agree with you. OK, I concede. Every now and then, I thought it might be fun to do something a little harder but for which there is no beginner version (example, flight of the bumblebee). But maybe we can still do that and not worry about the fact that beginners will be left out very occasionally.