PIYW #9: "Play Chopin's 'Wiosna' Your Way" Is Now Live!

rsl12

PIYW #9: Play "Wiosna" Your Way (July 2026)

Performers:

Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! Since May 2026, participants have been working on Wiosna by Chopin. Enjoy their performances below. More information about Play It Your Way and about how participants prepared this piece can be found in the Meta Feedback discussion. The September PIYW, Play Alexis Ffrench's "Last Song" Your Way, was just announced! . Also, be sure to participate in the August 15 Quarterly Recital!

ALL comments must be polite and supportive, even when the performer has stated that any comments are allowed. "How to Give Criticism in a Nice Way: A Comprehensive Guide". Thanks for helping us to keep things friendly!

Suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. We need suggestions for all genres of music, but particularly for the Jazz or Ragtime PIYW which will be announced on August. (Ideally, the Play It Your Way piece will be playable by many different skill levels, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.)

If you are still working on Wiosna, you can submit your recording here at any time.

This is an archive of the recital announcement.

PIYW #9: Play Chopin's "Wiosna (Spring)" Your Way (July 2026)

Use this thread to submit your performance for PIYW #9 (details here). No one will be able to see your performance until the recital is published on July 15. Note that there is no deadline for this event! You are welcome to submit your performance any time, including before and after that date.

Submission Template

**Performer:** Name or Alias + Location + Experience
**Feedback Type Desired:** (see below)

Put the link to your performance here (see below for details).

**Source of music:** ...
**Instrument:** ...
**Recording method:** ...
**Additional info:** Tell your story or share any interesting details related to your performance!

You may use the following to specify the Feedback type desired:

No Comments Please!
Positive comments only (no criticism or suggestions for improvement please).
Positive comments and suggestions for improvement (no direct criticism please).
All comments; anything goes!

Link To Your Performance:

If you have a video, that's great! Otherwise, audio-only is fine.
Upload your performance to YouTube, Vimeo, Rumble, SoundCloud, or Google Drive.
Your media may be public or unlisted but private will not work.
The direct link needs to be posted so that the performance is embedded on PT.
Dropbox option: If hosting your performance using YouTube or other service is not possible, then we will provide an upload option.

Submitters are requested to keep their performances up for at least a period of 30 days and as long as possible after that.

KevinM

Performer: KevinM, South Wales UK, Lessons as a child for 5 years and then a couple of attempts to return to piano as an adult 45 and 50 years later.
Feedback Type Desired: Positive comments and suggestions for improvement.

Source of music: Henle
Instrument: Kawai MP11SE using VSL's Vienna Imperial virtual piano
Recording method: Directly on computer
Additional info: Such a melancholy piece for Spring, but I tried to lean into that melancholy.

statistress

Performer: statistress, Washington, US
Feedback Type Desired: all comments welcome

Source of music: https://musescore.com/user/25833366/scores/7434845
Instrument: Roland 90X
Recording method: Cell phone (video) and Audacity (audio)
Additional info: This was a fun piece to pick up! I read the Witwicky poem so many times while deciding which variation felt the best to play. I really wanted to capture the journey the poem takes through emotions. Starting with calm opening into thoughtful reflection, exposing a touch of melancholy for the tears and memories verse, and finally the release before returning to where we were at the beginning of the poem but with an acceptance that all emotions have their place. Hope you all enjoy!

Sophia

Performer: Sophia, Canada BC, 2.5 years
Feedback Type Desired: Anything at all!

Source of music: IMSLP
Instrument: Yamaha Clavinova
Recording method: iPhone
Additional info:

This is definitely not one of my favourite pieces, so apologies for a rather sloppy and inconsistent performance. In fact I'm a little ashamed of it, but (if I don't change my mind), this is the version I will stick with because I just don't feel like polishing it more, or attempting more recordings.

But... thanks to @WieWaldi recently talking about Musescore, @iternabe mentioning an app to import PDFs to Musescore, @ShiroKuro asking about adding the score, and @SalmonJack mentioning the new MuseScore feature of exporting the score to video, I really enjoyed putting the video together!

rsl12

Performer: rsl12. First 39.4% of my piano life was classical, next 49.5% was jazz, but now I'm working on anything interesting (plus singing)
Feedback Type Desired: All comments; anything goes!

Source of music: IMSLP (this is the Liszt version)
Additional info: The biggest challenges were the fingerings in the last section and finding different things to highlight as the theme repeats over and over. Overall, I'm happy with how this recording turned out. It's not very reminiscent of Spring, but I blame that on Chopin.

Bonus Recording: I've already shared this on the discussion page, but if you're interested and missed it, here's my recording of the B 117 (Chopin) version. Minimal preparation, but the preparation for Liszt helped me get through it with a similar interpretation.

Platybat

Performer: Platybat
Feedback Type Desired: Positive comments and suggestions for improvement.

Source of music: IMSLP
Instrument: Yamaha NU1X
Recording method: Video: iPhone, Audio: Piano USB
Additional info: Used to participate in some of the reddit piano jams back in the day and after a couple of years of not playing decided to have another crack only to discover it no longer exists! Luckily I found a link here. Gave myself an extra challenge of performing from memory. I almost forgot how much harder it is to play in front of a camera 🙂

Bahamut_Harmony

Performer: Brian - Nevada - Self Taught 4 years
Feedback Type Desired: Positive comments and feedback

Source of music: Youtube
Instrument: Nord Stage 4 (Astoria Grand Piano)
Recording method: Cubase
Additional info: Excited for my first submission. I've been working towards making Youtube videos for a while now and finding the PIYW gave me the push I needed to get it done. I'm happy with how things turned out and I'm looking forward to the next one 🙂

rogerch

Performer: rogerch from California, 50+ years playing
Feedback Type Desired: All comments; anything goes!

Source of music: sheet music + arranging
Instrument: Steinway M
Recording method: Zoom H1essential
Additional info: I intentionally butchered this piece. I played it my way!

JustinVG

Performer: JustinVG, The Netherlands @Home, 2 years lessons
Feedback Type Desired: Anything good of course

Source of music: Sheet music from IMSLP link
Instrument: Petrof P 125 G1 PE
Recording method: iPhone 17 Pro
Additional info: A first try to record Wiosna. It is not performance ready yet but I think it is good to record it and learn where to improve. I wanted to have a complete version for the deadline.

Still mixing some chords up but I'm getting there. I know what I want to express but I'm not far enough to translate that into my playing.

I also really need to check how to record sound better. IPhone is great at images but not capturing the piano. Any tips are welcome.

rsl12

Feel free to add comments and late submissions below. Enjoy!

For meta feedback on the recitals, please use this thread instead.

rsl12

Platybat love the balance between the voices. I wish my octaves sounded as light as yours did! I'm not unhappy with the amount of rubato I used, but I also appreciate the merits of keeping the flow of notes going as you did. Sounds great!

Nightowl

KevinM Nicely played, your tempo was steady throughout and it sounded note perfect to me. I don't think your rendition sounds particularly melancholy but you could play it at a slower tempo if you want to increase the pathos a bit.

Nightowl

Sophia I don't understand your description "sloppy and inconsistent" performance - that's not how it sounds to me! You played it beautifully and the artwork matches the piece perfectly. 🙂

I'm also not a fan of this piece so I'm not inclined to replay it to find any small errors that might be present, but I think I would have noticed any major mistakes so I think you're right to tick this one off your list and move on to something you like better.

ShiroKuro

Congratulations everyone! I'm really looking forward to hear each recording!

KevinM that was lovely! What a great way to start off this recital! I think your touch is just right, soft and light without being overly "not there" (which is a problem I sometimes have when I'm trying to play lightly)

I can't decide if I think it sounds melancholy though.... I feel like there's something very hopeful in your rendition, which hints of spring.

Also, I have a big problem with motivation to play this piece (iow, I lack said motivation) but hearing yours makes me want to play it, if for no other reason than to emulate how you've played it! 🙂

Nightowl

rsl12 OMG, did a professional concert pianist just appear in this recital?!? 😮 That was sublime - not spring like really but more Chopinesque than some other arrangements (ironic considering it's an arrangement by Liszt). Those decades spent playing classical music are evident in this fine performance. For me this is not one of Chopin's best pieces, but that's the best version I've heard so far.

Nightowl

rogerch As usual you played consistently well and this piece flowed nicely. I don't think you "butchered" it at all - you added another dimension to make it your own, which is exactly what this event is for.

Sophia

Nightowl I think I would have noticed any major mistakes

Thanks Nightowl 🙂 You are right, no major mistakes (at least I don't think so). But I forgot the dynamics in almost all places, the last note doesn't even sound, and there are a number of small mistakes that seem more masked by the recording than I realized. But I felt the same as yourself: time to move on!

Of course AFTER listening to my peers' performances 😃

Sophia

rogerch Yours was the first I listened to, so yours is the first I'll comment on 🙂

I started listening, nodding, yep yep, that's how I remember it. And suddenly... whoaaaa! That's deep! And wait, I don't remember that note there... ooh phew. It's Roger playing it his way, not me playing it the wrong way 🙂 Very nicely played - it has your signature all over it 😃

Bahamut_Harmony

JustinVG

Sounds clean and pronounced, even Dynamics throughout 😊 In regards to better sound quality (though it already sounds fine) would be to get a proper recording setup. DAW, Audio Interface and a Microphone. There are also smaller devices that can be placed into/onto the piano which can record and transfer the data if you want something a bit simpler than a whole setup. You will need to splice the audio with video an editor

Sophia

JustinVG It's so nice to listen to the exact same piece I have been learning! That was really nicely played, for such a short practice period. I'm jealous 😃

No tips on improving the sound, I'm only using an iPhone as well. There are some threads floating around this forum that go very deeply into recording methods, including sound. You may want to dig some of those up!