John Frank reminded me in another thread that it's time for our usual hand-wringing and nervous jitters about the upcoming AB forum recital in May.

Newbies to the forum who want to find out more about the recitals, and listen to some of the old ones, check out the "Important Topics in AB forum" thread that's stickied at the top of the forum page.

I'll start off with plenty of hand-wringing and nervous jitters: I had every intention of nailing Einaudi's "Divenire" for this recital, but while I *thought* I'd be ready to record in February, it's almost freakin' May and I still don't have anything decent. Worse yet, I don't have a backup. [wrings hands, jitters nervously]

Being the aforementioned John Frank - and not being nervous or jittery at all since it's already "wreck-orded" (thanks to Canonie for this develishly appropriate term) - let me state that my contemporary instrumental (or New Age) piece is a Spanish themed or flavored work by a Russian born composer played by a German-American on a Japanese digital from sheets published in England - a truley international collaboration.

JF

I've chose mine lol, if i can pull it off, i dont know, better get practicing, :-)

Ok practice break is over, time to hit the ivory. It will probably be a blues song with a little bit of improv.

Serge

I intend to play all, or at least most of, the notes in Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. I make no promises as to tempo, rhythm, style, artistry or anything else. The piece is well above my skill level and I've only been working on it a few months. Nevertheless, I've had a couple of almost passable renditions so far, and with nearly a month to go, I think I can sneak in something decent right before Monica slams the door on 5/14.

Okay, I'm ready to participate in my first recital 45 years (gulp!). I just need to check out some legal stuff on Monday with the publisher about performing it on YouTube.. Thanks to all of you who gave me some tips on handling this on another thread. I plan to play Rhapsody by Margaret Wigham.

Khachaturian Toccata, Khachaturian Toccata, Khachaturian Toccata.

Say that fast three times - it's easier than actually playing it!

Sam

I love the ABF pre-recital hype season and it comes around four times per year; yippie. I usually take the lead in this category of self promotion/pre recital hype but I have to admit Strings & Wood (Carl) is doing a much better job than I am this time around with his elusive mystery......something (to be unveiled May 15th). That said, I need to step it up a bit.

I currently have 2 pieces that are almost ready for submission which are both radically different. One of them is an incredibly beautiful piano melody which none of you has probably ever heard before. This is because the piece is actually a religious/worship melody written and performed by Fernando Ortega and is easily one of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. (On par with the Secret Garden piece I posted a couple months back). Remember how nice that piece was? This one equalls that. Really.

The other piece I have nearly ready is radically different. It is an original cover of Metallicas "Nothing Else Matters". That's right,...Metallica!

So your either going to get a beautiful piano ballad by a religious artist or a beautiful piano ballad by a anti religious artist;...sort of!

Of course there is no way I'm going to let the unchosen performance go to waste as I'll find a way to post it somewhere.

Anyone have any preference?

I've never submitted anything to the recitals,and probably won't this time, but just reading that they are coming up makes me jittery. I have severe red-dot-itis to go along with my performance anxiety. It's sad, really.

Can't wait for that one !

i would participate but all i know how to do is bang out chords on my left hand since all i do is work through the alfred book :dead:

you could pick a song, find chords,play chords with left hand and melody with right, u got 4 weeks to come up with summat, u got owt on YT?

I really want to brag that I have a piece ready to go, which I do! But I know this is only true because I wasn't ready with it by the deadline for the last recital or the recital before that. Oh well, I'm looking forward to submitting something this time and listening to everyone else!!

AK

I've chosen Chopin, Op 69 #2, a melancholy-sounding waltz---the reason I chose that one, I had a year or so ago banged through several Chopin waltzes at random and for some reason, this one's tune really stuck in my mind. So, I searched my Chopin book, reading the first measures, to figure out which one had that haunting tune, and this is it.

I'm at my usual position of being able to play stretches of it just fine, then making a mistake that disrupts the count and forces a stop. Still, I recorded myself a few times (just sections, not the whole piece) just to check myself--it is amazing how I can get through a section flawlessly (by which I mean, flaws so small they don't disrupt everything), then hit the record button, and suddenly I can't get past the second measure.

These recitals are a really cool and fun idea--such a great motivator! Just a little intimidating for a struggling neophyte but maybe by next November or February I'll give it a go.



Nothing against religion, but please, please, pretty please play "Nothing Else Matters" for us!

Yikes! Hopefully, I have a tune almost ready. I still need to tweak a few things. Hey, I've got a month, right? The only problem is that as soon as I even start thinking about recording, I get the jitters....

I hope to have a new piece ready. I'm still on restricted playing so my piece will be simple. If I don't feel ready I will submit a new and imroved version of an earlier submission.

Hey this will make one full year of participating in recitals for me How exciting....and yet, jittery-making!

Mr. Super-Hunky, I vote for the Ortega piece!

This would definitely be the "yang" to the Ortega music. While I am always up for a gospel, the lure of the "Nothing Else Matters" is captivating.

It looked much easier than it is when I jumped in. Too late to back out now.

BTW, for all you first timers, performing in the ABF quarterly recitals will definitely be one of the most frustrating-eventually turned rewarding experiences you will have during your piano journey.

The best tip is to be in the right state of mind at the piano at the right time. For me, this means I must be VERY relaxed and play when there are no distractions (late at night).

In addition, be sure you have cleared your recorders memory to allow for numerous takes before it runs out of time. Many of us simply turn the recorder on and play through the recital piece several times hoping that one of the takes will suffice.

ha ha tell me about it, i had one of those days today, wanted to upload something to my youtube channel, as I havent uploaded anything for a while, christina aguilara - hurt, what a mess!

I have two pieces in mind. One probably won't be ready in time - hint, it's already been mentioned in this thread and it's in my signature.

The second is the second movement of a Sonatina by a classical composer. But not the same classical composer I played in the last recital.

Hmm ...

I'm only giving myself best out of 3. I remember spending HOURS on one of the recital trying to get a great recording and then I just said "hey, at a real recital everyone would have left 2 hours ago!"

I find that too many takes just makes me more tense - I don't want to go through that again.

*sigh*

I feel I'm becoming regular and old enough around here to now understand the "pull-one's-hair-out" frantic postings in the pre-recital threads.

Seriously, wasn't it just last week that I submitted last recital's piece? And now 3 months later, I feel like I've accomplished very little on my piano journey.

I was under the assumption that piano was supposed to get easier as one progressed along. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The more I learn, the more I realize the things I have yet to learn.

I've got one or two I think I'll attempt for this recital, but past attempts have been futile.

*sigh*

Ah yes - the voice of hard-won and undeniable wisdom...

The problem (if it is one) of course is that the difficulty level of the pieces one attempts progresses right along with one's progrssion in technique...which is as it should be...if it got "easier" where would be the challenge? Where would be the pride and personal satisfaction? Where would be the joy in achievement?

JF

I would love to hear the Metallica cover. Last summer I was playing a cover of The Unforgiven. It sounds really powerful when played on a grand. Metallica is hands down my favorite band of all time, I've been listening to them since I was 9. Was able to see them at the Pepsi center in Denver in 08 (they stopped serving beer after the opening band lol) . Wish I could have been alive and old enough to see them in the 80s. There's a Dutch girl on youtube who covers a lot of Metallica, and a bunch of other metal actually, she makes it sound really good. On YT, search vkgoeswild to find her

I wanted to send the "Einaudi - Tu Sei" for the recital but despite being studying it since Christmas, I think I'm still not able to make a decent recording - btw: my children don't share that... - So either I do not participate in this recital, or I'll see what I have in backup.

How about a medley?

I'm strangely calm about this recital. Maybe because I've had this piece pretty much finished for a few weeks and am just doing fun things with it now, like playing with the interpretation and doing some visualization. It also helps that it's technically a bit easier than some of the other pieces that I'm working on, so I don't feel intimidated by it. Looking forward to recording in the next few weeks!