PIYW #10: "Play 'Last Song' Your Way" Is Now Live!

rsl12 · 2026-09-15T14:46:26+00:00

PIYW #10: Play "Last Song" Your Way (September 2026) Performers: rsl12 Platybat KevinM TulipAcid TC3 Greta99 ShiroKuro Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! Since July 2026, participants have been working on Last Song by Alexis Ffrench. 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. There is still plenty of time to participate in Play "Don't Know Why" Your Way, which will go live on October 15, 2026. 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 Winter Holiday PIYW, which will be announced on October 15. (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 Last Song, you can submit your recording here at any time. This is an archive of the recital announcement. PIYW #10: Play "Last Song" Your Way (September 2026) Use this thread to submit your performance for PIYW #10 (details here). No one will be able to see your performance until the recital is published on 15 September 2026. 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! if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } 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 90 days and as long as possible after that.

Greta99

TC3
The beginning was very promising, especially considering that it was a challenging piece for you. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest.

rsl12

Greta99 I was also impressed by the score markings you shared in the other thread. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into your interpretation. Do you prepare every piece you learn this thoroughly?

Well, the interpretation is the fun part of practice, so I try I spend as much time on that as I can. "Last Song" was, for me, an easy piece, so the ratio of time learning the notes vs working on interpretation was something like 1:2. As for the score markings, I usually only bother writing out chords if a) the piece is amenable to it and b) if it makes the piece either easier to play, or if I think I can learn something from it (in this case, I like 3rds in the bass, and i liked the suspensions. This is stuff I can use in other pieces when I play jazz). The crescendos, pedal marks, and all the other pencil marks are normal additions when I play sheet music!

Do I learn every piece this thoroughly? Definitely not! Look through the other PIYWs and you'll see some of my clunky recordings. (Though...I didn't learn this piece THAT thoroughly. I don't mean to brag--this was an easy piece for me (but I can see how it would be challenging for many), and I didn't spend that much time on it.)

rsl12

Greta99 I'm so glad you are finally able to participate! Some interesting choices--judicious use of the pedal gives it a much cleaner sound. It must have been harder to connect all the notes, played this way. The melody floats nicely above everything else.

TulipAcid

Greta99

Wonderful! Dang, now I REALLY need to re-consider my pedaling!!! On EVERYTHING!

Perfect rendition. I think you have a different version than I do. (I have the Boosey Hawks one with the 92 BPM tempo marking 🤪 which is silly.)

KevinM

TulipAcid I have the same edition as you. The various recordings by students who got distinctions as a grade 6 piece in ABRSM for their playing typically took around 2 minutes. That seems to be the expected tempo for examiners. The 92 we have in our sheet music feels out of place.

ShiroKuro

Performer: ShiroKuro (US MIdwest)
Feedback Type Desired: Positive comments only (no criticism or suggestions for improvement please).

Source of music: Alexis Ffrench the Sheet Music Collection
Instrument: Yamaha C2
Recording method: iPhone 12
Additional info: So, hopefully this can count as "better late than never," although I don't think it was "worth the wait." I feel like I'm still at the stage of learning the notes, so this is a practice recording. I'm not sure why I've struggled so much with this. It's the fifth piece by Ffrench that I've learned, and pretty much in the middle of that list in terms of difficulty. But the notes have yet to enter my brain the way they usually do. Ah well, such is life. Now that I've made this recording, maybe I'll add in the repeat I created and just keep playing it. Maybe it will be ready for inclusion in my set when I play for people at Christmas. Time will tell! 🙂

ShiroKuro

Yay! Now that I've shared my video, I can finally listen to everyone else's! 🙂

KevinM

ShiroKuro I think you are being hard on yourself. That last part of getting it smooth with dynamics a decent tempo and some nice rubato is hard.

I really enjoyed that listen.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 that was lovely! I like sow of the dynamics you used and will probably steal them! 😁
Also very nice tempo!!

Platybat Wonderful! Very smooth and flowy! Also I like the flower tempo, your performance has lots of lyrical breathing to it.

KevinM That was gorgeous! Your tempo sounds thoughtful and intentional. No struggle detectable!

TulipAcid Excellent! You have the fluid control that I’m looking for. Maybe (I’m a month away from that??) anyway I like it a lot and you do some nice things with your left hand!m

TC3 Nice! Also great job making it end without sounding unnatural or out of place! I think you have it in a very good place and I look foward to hearing it again if you share the full version.

Greta99 Very nice! I’m glad you decided to participate, and I hope you share again? You play very well!

Wow, that was great everyone!

One thing that can be said is that this piece works well at a range of tempos (tempi!) and I enjoyed hearing the subtle differences those tempo change create.

Also it was very instructive to hear all of your renditions. I think I got a lot of ideas for what to focus on now as I “play I to it.” … the harmonies, the left hand… shaping of the melody line… and more dynamic shading! that’s where I’ll focus my attention now. (After I finish actually learning the notes, that is…)

ShiroKuro

KevinM thank you!! I needed that!

I definitely wouldn’t have uploaded my video if I’d listen to everyone else’s first! 😅

TC3

ShiroKuro Good job! You have it a heck of a lot further along than I do!

TC3

ShiroKuro Nice! Also great job making it end without sounding unnatural or out of place! I think you have it in a very good place and I look foward to hearing it again if you share the full version.

Thank you!

KevinM

I apologise for doing yet a third recording. I promise this is my last.

I'd not had a chance to play around with my other virtual pianos using my new Vidal. I wish I'd tried the old Vienna Imperial earlier. Its dynamic range using the new keyboard compared to with my old keyboard is a world apart, its dynamic range is huge now, whereas I struggled getting a big sound out of it before. I feel like it has encouraged me to be expressive in a way that I wasn't able to achieve with the Bösendorfer VC280 I had used in the previous two recordings.

TC3

KevinM No apologies needed, keep 'em coming! That sounded great, I can definitely tell the difference.

BTW, I hope that glass is used to hold something delicious ... 🙂

ShiroKuro

KevinM Oh this sounds lovely!! Very lush! And your phrasing is really nice!

P.S. no apologizing! I love hearing this newest version!

ShiroKuro

TC3 thank you!!

TulipAcid

ShiroKuro

Well worth the wait! Lovely playing and should be in your Christmas repertoire.

You have a lovely finger legato and judicious use of the pedal to connect when needed, and to take advantage of your instrument's resonance.

And I was wondering about the best way to handle that ending chord. I really like the way you accomplished it!

I think it looks a little different in my music (if yours is the ABRSM version or like it...) I gave thought to using that version, but I was too far along with the Boosey version to change.

Do you still intend to do "Don't Know Why?" If so, I can't wait to hear what you do with that!

I'm afraid I'm obsessing about Handel and Carolyn Wright's Nocturne. For lessons. Also, Rachel Portman's "The Duchess" for fun. My instructor looked at the Don't Know Why version I chose and suggested the arranger perhaps could have been more judicious about how many jazz style embellishments he sprinkled throughout.

Meanwhile, I keep hoping I'll wake up a couple of days after practicing the tricky spots in the Handel and it will be fine. I can't figure out why they're tricky ... the notes aren't ... connecting them is the problem...

TulipAcid

KevinM

That's the Imperial Bösendorfer? I have the same 280VC you have and the Yamaha CFX. The Imperial is really nice! And your playing with the Vidal and that software instrument sounds great!

I really wanted their version of the CFX, and it may or may not have been a mistake (for me) to purchase a Synchron in that the amount of reverb really needed taming. I had to tinker with the main and main-c microphones to get it under control. (the room-mixes were too reverby and I couldn't tame them with just turning down the overall reverb...)

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