PianoTell Recital #6 Is Now Live!

navindra · 2025-11-15T16:10:00+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell Recital #6! WieWaldi — Kansas City Blues by Jim Jackson plop_symphony — Pièce pour l'œuvre du Vêtement du blessé, L. 133, by Claude Deb...

keff

Well done navindra . You have a good vocal range. Liked it very much.

Thank you also for making these recitals work and indeed all the support you put into PianoTell.

plop_symphony

Cratersmash That was really pretty, especially the dynamic range.

Simonb

Final set:

@pianocat
I played this prelude myself recently, and was going to use it for the recital, but decided against it, I think because you'd already submitted yours. Let your Teacher hear the recording, if you haven't already, he or she will give you a lot of constructive feedback. I enjoyed your recording; well played.

@ShiroKuro
I listened to the whole performance. Top marks for endurance, and some lovely, & fluent, playing at the end. Having listened to the Canon a lot for the other recital, your performance probably lost some impact for me because of that. Very impressive regardless. Next time you'll have to go for double figures (10+ mins)!

@rach3master
I didn't know this piece, but that didn't matter, as your very impressive playing held me spellbound. A great performance.

@navindra
Believe it or not I didn't know this. I've never watched Cheers....
Well done for getting the recording done whilst sick. I did that a while back and it's not easy. Presumably this affected your voice? I haven't read the whole thread so apologies for repeating what a lot of other people may already have asked. In the circumstances a great effort.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions. What a wonderful and varied recital.

Cheers!

ShiroKuro

pianocat I agree, the PT recital community is especially great and we’re glad you’re now part of it! 😊

rsl12

Sophia Simba gives a standing ovation! Wie Waldi is probably glad these detours keep you behind him on the Blues path, but I think these detours are really good for your musicality and technique.

rsl12

Opal Even if you've only recently been playing for a short time, your years of childhood lessons are showing. Your rubato and phrasing sound very natural! Welcome to the recitals, I hope you will participate more!

rsl12

pianocat Your melody line was clear, and nice contrast between loud and soft sections. If you had been self-studying, were there a bunch of bad habits that needed correcting when you found your teacher? In this video I don't see anything really.

pianocat

rsl12 My teacher would be happy to hear you say that! Here is a non-exhaustive list of things she has worked on with me over the past year:

Keeping too much tension in my hands
Keeping too much tension in my wrists
Choosing non-ergonomic fingering
Being inconsistent with fingering
Contorting my hands and wrist at uncomfortable angles rather than lifting and repositioning
Legato, legato, legato (said in the style of Steve Ballmer saying "developers")
Not paying close enough attention to the score and playing wrong notes
Looking at my hands too much when I should trust them to find the right keys by feel
Moving my hand too far away from the keys when one hand has a rest

And so on.

With this piece specifically, I actually tried to learn it on my own a couple years ago. I am much better at reading sheet music now which helps with a chunky chord piece like this one. Additionally, my hands would get sore when I tried to play it before. We started this piece with me just playing one chord, then lifting my hand off the keys, dangle dangle at the wrist (releasing all tension in the hands and wrist), then finding the next chord and playing it, dangle dangle, etc.

Eventually I could stop with dangling my limp hand, but she was trying to get me to relax the hand between each chord. I still get nervous when the camera is rolling, but I can usually play it without stiff hands or jitters now.

Peyton

navindra Wow Navindra... Beside the fantastic playing you could hire out as a sound engineer. The piano sounds amazing. And good for you to sing as well. Ain't easy playing and singing at the same time is it? 🙂 My worst problem is memorizing lyrics.... I can't. My short term memory is gone. (can't remember if I ever had it. ha ha).

rsl12

pianocat My teacher would be happy to hear you say that! Here is a non-exhaustive list of things she has worked on with me over the past year:

That's a LONG list!! I did notice some fidgeting between chords, but I wasn't sure if it was you searching for the right notes or tremors (which I have a little bit of myself). In general, your hands look really good, and you can tell your teacher that I said so!

rsl12

plop_symphony Good job, I love the amount of expression you are adding. I'm used to hearing Debussy with more pedal blur, but I think your clean approach works well. As usual, you are learning at a very quick rate!!

plop_symphony

rsl12 Thank you! My teacher challenged me not to rely too heavily on the pedal even for composers like Debussy. Furthermore, my current instrument doesn't support subtler pedal techniques such as half-pedaling, it's all or nothing.

rsl12

Peyton If you don’t know Nick Cave… you should check him out.

I thought it might be good to get a taste of Nick Cave before listening to your performance. What a crazy life he's had. Learning his life story and listening to his music, I think covering his songs would require bravery since they're deeply personal, but at the same time, his songs seem to exactly match your tastes.

Your version sounds like a pretty faithful cover! I can tell you worked at putting many different pieces together. It must have been hard to sync everything.

I have to admit I felt a little uncomfortable when you look at me and demand "Do you love me?" I felt bad thinking "um, sorry I think you're really nice but I'm married...?"

Peyton

rsl12 thanks and too funny rsl12. But really pleased you went as far as to research Nick Cave so thoroughly. I agree that many of his songs match my taste. He is a big fan of L. Cohen and early Cohen was a tremendous influence on me. And it's OK... you really don't need to love me. 😄

Nightowl

rsl12 I have to admit I felt a little uncomfortable when you look at me and demand "Do you love me?"

You're not alone - I found it positively disturbing! 😆 Very entertaining though.

rsl12

keff Too bad about the score! But you found a way to make it work.

Nightowl

pianocat I was not familiar with this piece, but as soon as I heard the opening chords I realised I had heard them somewhere before. A quick google revealed that this piece was adapted and used as the basis for Barry Manilow's hit "Could It Be Magic" - no wonder it sounds impressive compared to many other pop songs!
You played well, with a nice contrast between forte and pianissimo and steady tempo throughout. Keep up the good work.

rsl12

MarieJ I know from past recitals you put a lot of thought into the pianoteq piano you choose. This one has very strong key sounds I think? The sound when the key hits the bottom. I don't know much about these things, but to me it sounds like the mic is right next to the keys. It's the first time I've heard the effect in your recordings, or at least the first time I've noticed it. Any particular reason you chose to make that sound so prominent?

Your playing is warm and consistent, though I agree with you that the composition might be more fun to play than to listen to. For me, it's a little too static.

rsl12

rogerch Great playing! It's warm and inviting. Maybe I haven't heard enough George Winston, but to me this seems more rhythmically complex than I expect from him, and you keep to the rhythm very well.

rsl12

plop_symphony My teacher challenged me not to rely too heavily on the pedal even for composers like Debussy.

Good advice in general. Sounds like you're doing great.

plop_symphony

Calavera I'm liking all the anime covers on here. You could've fooled me into thinking that this was an official cover, it fit very well as an AMV.

rsl12

Simonb I have the sheet music for this somewhere as decades ago I bought the music book with accompanying cassettes!

There's sheet music for this? I'm a little jealous! But even if I had it, I think I'm probably better off learning by ear. It really helps me internalize the ideas. Even though I learn it slower, hopefully I learn it better.

rsl12

ShiroKuro Also, listening to this, I found myself thinking that I selfishly want you to play the Crave by Jelly Roll Morten. Do you know it? I can send you the score… 😅

I know the Crave. It was in that movie too, Legend of 1900? Not exactly the style I'm interested in learning right now, but if I ever decide to get into Jelly Roll, I'll let you know!

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