Winter Holiday Themed Recital December 2025!

rogerch · 2025-11-30T18:30:12+00:00

It's time for the informal Piano | Tell Winter Holiday Themed Recital! Please share your winter holiday recordings here. This is a normal PT thread so your s...

rsl12

Performer: rsl12 (USA). Piano has been a hobby for decades. First half of my piano life was focused on classical, but now I'm into jazz.
Piece: We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Comment Policy: All comments; anything goes!

Source of music: Improvised
Recording method: Trying something new. Phone close to mouth for audio, but computer cam for video.
Additional info: I tried a few things before settling on something pretty conventional. I tried some fancy harmonies, but after I decided to sing, all of that got scaled back because it interferes with my ability to concentrate on my voice. Haven't sung for a while, and I think it shows. But this recording was made November 21, so I still have some time to work on my caroling skills!

One thing I regret is my total lack of regard for the camera. I'm never looking in that direction. Also, this is supposed to be a Christmas song, and my face contortions totally spoil the mood!

WieWaldi

rsl12 A truly wonderful arrangement, even if it is improvised. Of course you couldn't withstand to sing along, giving you a big advantage in your performance. And it payed off. I think your singing voice shows very well off for this piece, even if you think one could hear you didn't practice this for a while. Maybe this is because WWYAMC is a traditional song, sitting on the easier side for singing. I don't know what style you played, the intro and filling sounds bluesy, the song itself very traditional. Don't remember I have seen you smiling that much. Thank you for sharing this one, it was a pleasure listening to it.

Sophia

rsl12 Very nice rsl! Your voice keeps improving, and I think it's a very good idea to have the mic in front of your mouth. It was the right distance: any closer and it starts to plop plop, any further and it doesn't capture the lower timbre of your voice as well. Plus it balances nicely with the volume of the piano now. Next: a tiny bit of echo to give it that theater sound 🙂

rsl12 One thing I regret is my total lack of regard for the camera. I'm never looking in that direction.

In my honest opinion, I think it works out better this way. It gives your performance a casual character, like it spontaneously happened. There is a reason why actors don't acknowledge the camera or (in a theatre) the audience - they need to give the impression they are just going about their business without realizing they are being watched.

You did give us a quick smile in the end, which I think once again was just right - performance done, time for a thank you towards your listeners. I think you are turning into quite the performer 😃

keff

rsl12 Wonderful.

rogerch

rsl12 Both your playing and your singing sound great! It looks to me like you’re smiling and having fun. It looks joyful to me, fitting the mood perfectly!

Nightowl

rogerch That was beautiful, so relaxing and smooth it could be used as a meditation aid.

Nightowl

WieWaldi Nice playing WieWie! That page turn made me laugh though - I feel sure you could have memorised that final single chord but you decided to flaunt your speedy page turning skill instead! 😆

rogerch

keff Thanks for playing this cool jazzy Christmas medley! Very creative and it sounds great!

rogerch

WieWaldi Very nicely played! This is a fun arrangement and your playing sounds great!

pianocat

I am working on an intermediate medley of Charlie Brown Christmas tunes, arranged by Chrissy Ricker. I did a draft recording yesterday to identify issues (of which there were several). At least I know where I need to focus my practice in the coming week.

Here is something in the meantime. I know it's not piano, but I am sitting at my piano, you can see its reflection in the bell! At the time of recording, I didn't own a music stand; I have since purchased one.

I played the euphonium in school decades ago, and rented this instrument in October to re-teach myself so I can play in my local TubaChristmas concert this month. This is the arrangement from the Carols for a Merry TubaChristmas book.

Comments welcome.

keff

pianocat Well done. Are you playing near the top end of a tuba's pitch range?

rsl12

rogerch Compared to last year, some braver choices in interpreting the lead sheet. Keep at it!

keff WWYAMC: another arrangement with outside-the-box harmonies. Was this one to your taste? Silent night: Very pretty arrangement!

WieWaldi Many style elements in common with my two uploads with ties to Dr. John (CC Rider & Beale Street Blues). I can tell you must have worked hard on this one!! Lots of tricky things going on! Great ending!!

pianocat Tubachristmas?? Sounds like fun! Turn up the bass!

rogerch

pianocat Nicely done! Your playing sounds delicate and expressive!

pianocat

keff It's near the top end of my range! 😅

For reference, the middle range for a euphonium is the octave below middle C. The highest note I'm playing in this piece is the F above middle C. That's about as high as I can consistently get at the moment. A good player can go up the rest of that octave or even higher.

You can also get two octaves below middle C, down in the bass register where a tuba plays. I can play those notes reasonably well.

keff

pianocat I now realise that it is a euphonium. Because the instrument appears relatively large in the video I mistakingly thought it was a tuba. Sorry.

WieWaldi

keff pianocat I now realise that it is a euphonium. Because the instrument appears relatively large in the video I mistakingly thought it was a tuba. Sorry.

Same here, but to make it worse: I didn't even know a euphonium exists. First I thought - "Oh! Language barrier! Maybe this is a more sophisticated term for tuba for the English speakers." For me it looked like a tuba, never payed too much attention how big this thing exactly is.😄

pianocat

keff no worries. I noticed the error and was trying to give a quiet redirection (which you then called attention to haha).

keff

rsl12 WWYAMC: another arrangement with outside-the-box harmonies. Was this one to your taste?

I don't mind the harmonies but left hand moves are difficult to make legato without pedal. I chose not to use pedal in my recording.

Sophia

WieWaldi I didn't even know a euphonium exists.

Same here! What makes it worse: my dad was a professional clarinetist. I have no excuse about not knowing brass instruments. Yet here we are 😃 Thanks for sharing that pianocat, it was both entertaining and educational!

pianocat

Thanks, and don't worry if you've not heard of a euphonium / baritone horn. It's the instrument you get assigned in school when all of the other instruments are taken. 🙂