Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Recital 34 --- General Discussion Room

The second half of my comments, want to say to all of you who participated, in general, you're an inspiration for me to keep up with my practising.

26. Sand Tiger - Pancakes Very good.

27. (Was)TrueBeginner - Blame Well played, a nice piece. Sorry to hear about your father.

28. ajames - Just a Day Away Good work.

29. jotur/Cathy Turner - Second Hand Rose Nicely done, a lively piece.

30. PikaPianist - Sonata in F minor, K466 Good, didn't sound dry to me.

31. Sam S - Suite from the Victorian Kitchen Garden - Prelude and Summer - Clarinet and Piano Great duet with your wife. Congratulations on your 34th wedding anniversary.

32. outo - Fantasia no. 4 E-minor, Allegro Good work on that Fantasia.

33. noobpianist90 - Minuet in G major BWV Anh 114 I always like to hear Minuet in G played, and you did a great job with it.

34. Piano_Primo_1 - "Back at One" 5 12 14 1 session Good work on that one.

35. Ganddal - Gratulation Well done.

36. Ohio_Mark - Beach Buggy Boogie Good job, cool piece.

37. Monica K. - Scarborough Fair Very nicely played, this beautiful and classic song.

38. gingko2 - Ivan Sings (Andantino) Good work, nice flow in your playing.

39. Ataru074 - BWV 866 Fugue Very good.

40. Copper - To a Wild Rose One take, yet you managed to keep a steady tempo. I know that's hard, well done.

41. Andy Platt - Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56 An interesting collection of dances, some dreamy, others lively, and you played them well. I like the distinctive upright character of your piano.

42. carlos88 - From a sketchbook (D'un cahier d'esquisses) Good job on that one.

43. Jazztpt (Russ) - Pictures A very nice piece, well played. Sort of Billy Joel style, I felt, am I right? Strong, distinctive bass in the last part, though.

44. wimpiano - Telemann - Fantasia in E Minor Nice job.

45. torquenale (alessandra) - Dance (from Four Rondos op. 60) Well done.

46. rerun - Tipitina 5 14 14 Good playing.

47. TrapperJohn - Ashokan Farewell Thought I recognized this piece, don't know if I heard it in the TV episodes (or even saw them!) but a nice performance. A very nice mellow piece with an undertone.

48. Richard (zrtf90) - Waltz in D flat, Op. 64 No. 1 I heard Andrew Furmanczyk's playing of this a few times on his YouTube channel. You don't play it as good as he does, but still very good! No tempo issues, just needs a few changes in dynamics here and there.

49. Pathbreaker (Tarik) - Op. 118 Intermezzo 1 & 2 Well played, don't know these pieces, but they sound difficult to play. You should post more online, in the recitals, piano bars, YouTube, whatever, it's a great way to track your progress, and let others hear what you can play.

50. Valencia - Sonata Op. 109 3rd mvt -Theme only!! You were not taking on the easiest piece you could find, but you were up to the challenge. Well done.

Thank you so much for the nice comment. I wish that I were as relaxed when recording! (Or even just playing for myself!)

I don't know how to multi-quote here, so I guess the next best thing is to thank everyone for the encouraging comments about my submissison to the recital. Although I still mostly play from sheet music, I'm working on changing or adding different voicings at certain points, arpeggios, etc. Not just playing strictly what's written on the score. So, it's very encouraging to get feedback that I may be on the right track.

Thanks again!

Time for some thank yous!

It was a pleasant surprise for me to learn that I was not the only one who really didn't know anything else from Pachelbel except the famous Canon in D.

Thanks to Ataru74, SwissMs, Jotur,piano primo 1, Rerun, Jazzwee, 8Otaves, Shirokuro, Peterws, wimpiano,TheodorN, Riddler, JimF, AZ_Astro, CarlosCC, Jazzpt, Torquenale, Ganddalf, Pathbreakter....and every one who listened.

I'm especially appreciative of the fact that there are folks who 've been listening to me for a while and have taken the time to note improvements they can hear. Most of all I'm delighted that folks enjoyed listening!

For those who had some suggestions for me.... thanks and let me respond:
AndyPlatt - one point you made was " My teacher would say you should make the "active" voice more dominant but I like it just the way it is!" Thanks - I like it as it is too, but I had hoped to work more on switching the "dominant voice, as your teacher might suggest.....however, my decision to add that emphasis was made as too close to the point of recording and I wasn't very successful. It's an ongoing challenge!

Noobpianist90 - you noted that the ornament at the end was a little heavy handed in your opinion - I agree! That happens sometimes when I've had particular stress getting through the bars immediately before the ornament...another work in progress!

Special thanks and appreciation to zrtf90/Richard who was kind enough to provide a bit of coaching when I need help getting started on this piece and my teacher wasn't available, and for his insightful comments and constant encouragment.

I feel really fortunate to have these e-cital opportunities for presenting my work to people who share this passion, my PW friends.

I would like to respond to an earlier post with a small file attachment. According to the FAQ ("Can I attach a file to my post?"), I should be able to do this. Sadly, the 'you'll see a "File Manager" link on the "Full Reply" or "New Post" page' and the 'Click "File Manager" to bring up the "Attachment" window' instructions don't seem to match what I actually see.

Is it still possible to attach a file here?

Yes, but the file must reside on a website such as "box". You enter a link to your file by selecting the "create link to webpage" button you will find in the "switch to full reply" option.

Thanks everyone for participating and listening!

And many thanks for all the feedback I got again. They are great to get to the next level of playing





Thanks. Good to hear my pedaling works for you



Yes, I think I get what you want with the longer phrases. Working on it



Thanks Sam for your feedback! Yes my LH usually gets a bit less attention and that seems to have the odd effect that it gets slightly louder than then RH.



Thanks for your nice comments!



Great, thanks!



Good to hear. Yes, actually I think I made a mistake with '4 years and a few months', that was in recital 32 from where I copied the template... It's almost 5 years now.

Yes, it actually more time to get all the details right than to learn it.



Nice to hear that



Thanks, glad that you like it!


Thanks! Blues? You're referring to my boogie-woogie stuff?



Great to hear you like it. Yes, you might consider picking it up where you left it Did you also play von fremden Ländern?



Thanks so much for your detailed comments. Concerning the dynamics, that's indeed subtle. If I get you right, you suggest to play it softer overall, yet to bring the loudest part louder?

Voicing of chords, yes that will remain on the list to work on.




Thanks! Actually almost 5 years - see above.




Great to hear.

Yes, this metronome argument is brought up more often. But some composers provably can not count properly. I just read a book about Bartok, some of his metronome numbers are really a mess


Actually the notes are not that hard. But you just started, it is probably out of your reach still.

Originally Posted By: Rerun



Yep, what you posted in the piano bar a while back was good but it seemed like you were reading from a sheet rather than letting your ears or your interior beat feeling mechanism nail that rhythm home. Search for it, it's in there and when you find it and use it, a lot of fun awaits.

That's what I thought. But the impression given by the FAQ ("Can I attach a file to my post?") is that we can actually attach a file from our local machine and have it embedded within the body of a post, like an image. Apparently this functionality once existed, but no longer does.

Perhaps the FAQ should be updated.

Thanks anyway earlofmar.

38. Ginko_ Wonderful! Short and sweet and very nicely played and recorded.

33. Noobpianist_ Nicely played. I like the way you did the 16th (grace?) notes. Really, nicely paced and fun to listen to.

31. Sam_ Sam, what a treat. That was just great. Your accompaniment is fantastic. And congrats on 34 years of marriage. Oh...and good luck on that walk... What kind of piano are you taking with you?

01. dynamobt/Marilyn - Symphony No. 40 1st mvt This was great! I love the intensity of this first movement, and it was cool to hear a piano version of it. Thanks!

02. Whizbang (Chris) - Milonga del Angel Both the music and your playing are lovely and hauntingly dark. Thanks for including the details on composer Piazzolla.

03. ShiroKuro - Big My Secret It feels like a gentle rain washing over you.

04. Anne H - Discovery At Night Yes, it's soothing, but it also has some building excitement and an urgency that you bring to it.

Ah thanks for the clarification. Yes that was played from sheet music (although I'm sure 99% was from memory as I can't even at a 1/10th of that speed).

Yes I see what you mean, but maybe what you also hear is that I need to work to hard, I might need easier boogie woogie to start with.

At this moment there's no boogie in the pipeline. But who knows

Thanks! I wanted to bring out the tempo that a child would like to take on the main theme as it's the child singing there. Then I got to this tempo. The more introspective part took the tempo that an adult would take. At least, that was what I tried

Undisturbed among the clouds, thanks for the image It's funny, I try to make some interpretation when I analyze and plan out the piece, but while playing there is not much room for these things



Thanks for the nice words and feedback on the piano and recording quality, and the confirmation of my tempo


Good to hear


Thanks!



You're welcome


Good to hear that they have the right feel and energy ! Yes it's very annoying if you have a piece down but the piano lets you down a bit. Particularly with the second, much more quiet piece. But good to hear that it didn't disturb too much. I was trying to minimize my foot motion in an attempt to minimize the cracking, which was another interesting exercise. Not sure if it worked though...


Thanks! I'll bug my tech again with that pedal. I'm happy though that it did not disturb too much

Yep, that's a lot of tune to start off with no matter who's arrangement you used ... you ought to keep at least one in the pipeline, those fingers bring a lot to the table.

I'm always so bad about providing any follow-up to comments I receive. My excuse is I always think more are around the corner and then it's too late.

I won't comment on everything - I did read all the comments so thanks for listening! But if there was a question or a point on technique, I will cover it here:



Yes, there needs to be a balance here but, in general, I think the fifth and sixth need a little more energy, and perhaps speed. I'm working on that right now. Pedal has changed quite a bit since I recorded this - in general, much less. My teacher agrees with that comment!



For some of them they are deliberately slower but, as I mentioned above, the fifth and sixth were more "as I could play at the time." Thanks!



Thanks! That's the second one, called Brâul (or Waistband Dance.) Dancers join a chain - originally just men, but now mixed groups will dance it.



My teacher got a huge kick out of you and your teacher listening to it! Thanks for spending valuable lesson time doing that!!

Thanks all for the nice comments! Really motivating!


That's great. My teacher is a nice "guy" (he's in his sixties) and I'm the last lesson of the evening so he sometimes stays a little longer when we discuss music.

Sorry to be so late out on this thread. I encountered a technical meltdown this past week. Before that though, I had started out very well but not for very long. Even so, I had thought that I would take a little more time with this recital, as there will be a bit of a break now until the next one. Woo wee, 4 in a row. That was fun . At this time unfortunately, although I would like to, I will not be commenting individually on all the very fine performances. But, I Thank you for contributing them. It feels great to be here among you.

I would, however like to acknowledge the kind people and comments left for my submission. Your comments of course, do make the recitals better.


I'm with ya 100% on the tempo. Not sure where I would use much less pedal though. Thank you, you have me thinking more on this.

Thank you very much. Have an excellent time at Summer Keys, Sam. I lucked out with Lisbon in the end.

As for your trek home. Well, that is something special. I've been exposed to a bit of hiking (I'd be more like Katz I suppose ). My buddy Judy has done a good job with the Bruce Trail on the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario.
A very serious walk in the woods ahead, Sam. Good for you.
Good luck, be safe and have fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Whizbang, piano_primo_1 , Rerun, SwissMS & casinitaly, ShiroKuru, Cathy, jazzwee, earlomar, wimpiano, pathbreaker, TheodorN, torquenale for mentioning. I'm glad that you can relate and this was not a bad listen for you. It is nice kind of relief piece to play. Light, not super technical, short and sweet. Thank you, kindly.



Thank you, Peter. Nice of you to say so.

Yes, perhaps it does beg for something more, 8 Octaves. Too bad then. I do not have plans for learning the 3rd . Thanks for listening.

… another mention of pedal.
I practiced this piece almost entirely with no pedal and just added small amount in the end. At least I thought. Hmmm ...
Thanks for listening.


Very great hearing this folks. Thank you kindly.

Thanks, Andy.
Yes, I suppose it would be nice to complete this entire work. However, for me it is not so important. I'll be working on the 5th symphony Scherzo instead.



Thank you very much, Gentlemen.
Lovely swing, Russ. I really need to do more with this type of material. I love listening to this.

Now were talkin', Carlos. Lisbon EPP 2014 is brightly on the radar now and it feels great. And likewise, I very much looking forward to meeting you all as well. I wonder if there may be any more last minute traveler types in our
midst that are not aware of our EPP 2014 happening in Lisbon on
July 5th . and that the world is welcome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope I have not missed mention of anyone. It feels fabulous to have an appreciative audience. Thank you all for a great show.

Sometimes even the slightest bit of finger legato is already too much. My playing seems to come with a little bit of finger legato 'built in' so if I play a run I automatically connect the notes a bit.

I have with one piece where both hands are playing rapid notes together in the same register (like separated only a third or so). Here it seems that deliberately playing the notes slightly separated helps a lot.

First, thank you to everyone who performed for the 34th recital. It is heart warming to hear such love of the piano.

Thank you also to everyone who listened to my performance and thank you to those who offered so many kind words.

I will now answer a few questions.


The title is a combination of mostly upbeat themes played in a minor key and my doubts about submitting the final result.

and

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but I interpret the terms "pre-composed" or "pre-arranged" to mean the music was worked out in advance and then performed for the recital. This is partially true. Of the 4:44 minute performance, the first 15 seconds was worked out in advance (see Recital 34 Streams, Entry 14).

That's what I often do. I try to come up with a short repeatable phrase. Then I practice that alone until I have it memorized. The rest of the performance is improvised from there. Does that make sense?


No. I do not know how to write music down.

Thanks again for your interest. I look forward to the next recital.

GeorgeSchiro - well even more amazing, you have fantastic talent. Look forward to hearing what you come up with next time.