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Rules, Schmules. I think the AOTW thread ought to vote Carlos a little piano thingy regardless of any "rule" (which I doubt exists anyway).

I vote

I second the motion!!!

All in favour say "AYE" !!

Aye aye!

Aye

Aye.

Cathy

Double Aye!

Aye!

Carlos, your story is amazing. It seems like a dream. Congrats.

Aye!

cas - very nice that you're making progress with the pedaling after struggling with it a bit. I'm sorry we won't be hearing your Beethoven in November, but the jazz piece should be interesting!

JimF - how about Beethoven's Sonatina No. 2 in F major? It has two movements, the 2nd being a Rondo.

JimF and FarmGirl, thanks for the birthday wishes.

bessel - as far as recording for the online recitals, there's a whole range of options that people have used. Some go all out and with setting up a home recording studio with audio and video, while others might record just using something like an iPhone. You just need some way to get it into mp3 format.

Oh, Ataru, you must feel rotten. Hope your piano playing can bring you some comfort and help you forget for a while.

Hey Carlos, I work with computers, too. Sometimes it's hard to make the switch from all that procedural, logical thinking to the "artistic", music-making part of my life.

WiseBuff - a piano get-together sounds lovely! That's wonderful that you have friends who share your interest in piano.

Andy - which Arabesque is it? I've listened to two, and they both sound tough! But then, what Debussy piece isn't?

Jaak - that's an interesting way to try to memorize (away from the piano). I've never tried it that way.

Some of you may remember that I had learned Clair de Lune for the last ABF recital, and had decided to play it for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I had planned on having her over to my house, and playing it on my piano. But I ended up at her house tonight, and she asked me to play it for her there. Two problems -- I wasn't used to the piano (a somewhat out-of-tune, clangy-sounding spinet), and I had just finished two glasses of champagne (celebrating our birthdays). So it didn't turn out quite as beautiful as I would have liked. But the positives were that I didn't feel nervous at all, and, since she had also had two glasses of champagne, she thought it sounded great!

It's #1. All the You Tube recordings are super fast but I have one I bought by Noriko Ogawa that, although faster than I can take it, is a little more "realistic". Debussy's marking is actually "Andantino con moto" - most recordings seem to be con moto, but not particularly andantino!

It's definitely harder than the Chopin Waltz in B minor that was my previous "biggest" piece even though it is "ranked" about the same.

Jim F- Lisiting out below Sonatina pieces for your ref

Kuhlau Op20(No1-C Major; No2-G Major;No3-F Major)
Kuhlau Op55(No1-C Major; No2-G Major;No3-C Major)
Dussek Op20 No1-G major

Ahahahaha, you make me laugh!
Ok, Ok casinitaly, jimF, bessel, Lain, jotur, ZoeCalgary, Recaredo and Paperclip. Considering your kind votes and considering the fact that I have played the piano in public, I'll change my signature.
You're awesome!

Three cheers for Carlos!

Congratulations. Very impressive!

MaryBee, congrats for your improvised recital! I like reading these successes, as they are very inspirational.

This week I’ve decided to take the piano more seriously. So I’ve started to play the famous Hanon exercises. Until now, I’ve only tried the No 1 in C major and in D major, but I’ve realized these exercises are going to be really helpful for me.

And I like how they sound! Yes, I’m a bit odd

Yuki Kiki and MaryBee - Thanks for the Sonatina suggestions. Lesson day is tomorrow, so I will see what she suggests and report back.

MaryBee - Nice work on the Debussy. You are becoming a pro!
On my recent cruise one of the cocktail lounge pianists would field requests. He always had a drink in his hand and when someone called out "can you play such-and-such song," he would say "no" - then take a long swig on his drink and say, "but I'll give it a try anyway". And off he would go.

Bach Invention No. 1 fingering nailed as of 9.30 this evening, and HS practice going well. Just need to speed up in readiness for HT now.

Congratulations!

Lain, I cheated: I cobbled together some fingering for earlier measures from here on PW, added a few bits and bobs from the ABRSM edition, tested all these out thoroughly and made adjustments, and then added the remainder myself. It certainly saved some time to have a starting point. I've found it helps me enormously with these pieces to have watertight fingering.

That's not cheating at all! Fingering is highly subjective anyway, and I think that the process in figuring it out helps you to understand the conditions under which your hands can move most easily without introducing stress or superfluous movements. Just don't feel like what certain editions/people suggest are the last word. Sometimes, a fingering is made for people with larger hands, and I'll have to change it to fit my octave-sized hands.