Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Kid plays Etudes 25/12 - Video

I came across a video of a kid playing Etude Op. 25 No. 12 on Rick Jones piano website. Just scroll down to the first grand piano on the right side. You can download it or stream it. Amazing!!

http://www.rickjonespianos.com/grands.htm

It's things like this that make me want to quit.

Seriously, you ever wonder why we bother when there's such talent out there?

Wow. That WAS amazing. I hope this kid sticks with piano. I'd like to see how far he can go with it.

Thats the kind of stuff that makes me never want to play piano ever again...

Very, very impressive... I know what you mean - kinda makes a lot of us wonder why we even bother. I've long since learned not to let stuff like this get to me - if there's one thing I learned really well in college was that there are a ton of people out there that are much better than me. I can play well enough for me, though - and that's all I hope for. This kid looks like he's got some serious chops though.

I dunno...he'd be hard-pressed to beat my "Mary Had A Little Lamb" when I was 10 years old. I played the "virtuoso" version... (which means "both hands"). :p

sigh...

hes extremely talented...


and hes black LOL!!!!

Why the racism. What would be the difference if he's african american or white. He loves piano, and he's good at it, so what if he's African American.

And btw there are a few people in this forum that are African American.

Sigh...here goes the race thing.

Of course his being black has nothing to do with anything, but that doesn't mean noting it is racist. For whatever reason, very few classical pianists are black. I don't think saying that he is black would be any more racist than pointing out that many talented pianists are Asian.

All that said, making it the focal point of one's post and following it with LOL might not be so good...

It's performances like this that really encourage me to continue playing. What talent. He clearly enjoys it, too, did you listen to what he said before and after?

I had seen Rick Jones' site before and had watched the clip with my 8 year old. We both were impressed. My 8yo plays nicely, but not like that! He tends to think he's pretty good, and it was good for him to see someone about his age who's just flat out REALLY good. He'll ask every so often, "hey dad, can we go check out that clip on the Rick Jones site?"

I love the hand speed.

I also think that Jordan enjoys playing, and he's also the kind of player who can make the pianos that get slammed in the pianos forum sound pretty good.

I'd bet that when he goes out and about, if there's a piano there, he plays. Doesn't matter if it's a 50 year old 50" upright, a 25 year old console, or a 2 year old Tier 1.

I'm a total failure .

how hard is this etude as compared to the others? I'm downloading slowly and only able to see the beginning so far and though I'm tempted to say it doesn't look that hard as I can play 2 handed arpeggios just as fast and faster, I'm sure they're not just arpeggios and that it perhaps presents other difficulties later on as well.
With that said the little kid is astonishing.

Here, judge for yourself:

http://sheetmusicarchive.net/compositions_b/et25_12.pdf


Not just ordinary c minor arpeggios....

skriabin, why does it matter that i pointed out that he was black? you certainly dont see talent like that every day from a black kid, let alone one that takes appreciation in classical music.

yeah, im exposing racial differences, why dont you go call the NAACP on me?

Requiem, the main difficulty lies in getting a blended texture in the arpeggios. When played poorly, people can hear the little breaks when you change your hand to a new position. As for the kid, my only complaint was him not fully preserving the bass throughout each passage, but congrats to him any way

That's because you don't look for talent every day in black kids.


I'd bet there are plenty of black pianists who are just as good or better than most white pianists who are internationally recognized.

They simply aren't recognized.


And, to your second point - there are plenty of black people who appreciate classical music, just as there are a whole lot of white people who absolutely hate classical music.

ok

Thanks for ruining this thread.

jesus christ do you whitetrash have black people down there in the confederacy? I swear it's the same southern trailer trash EVERY TIME, it's as if they've never even seen a black person before it's amazing. Jesus christ go out sometime, visit a big city, leave your godamn trailer for once take your camaro off the cinderblocks and go out and see the real world, you'd be surprised the world has changed alot since 1864...

p.s. that was intended for the "He's black LOL!!!!!!" dumbass whatever his name is

Obviously, I don't play it, but it's getting the speed up so it doesn't sound like three groups of three but rather one big sweep. This means that the thumb has got to replace the pinky and vice/vers very quickly and evenly without unwanted accents. I wouldn't be in a position to say, but from what I understand it's quite difficult.

What I love about the clip is watching the way he uses his arms. He's damn confident too! It really is great to watch.

I can't stop watching it

he's gonna be the jordan of music

no pun intended HEH HEH


(the kid's real name is jordan adams)

Almost as amazing as the recording of that 12 year old playing the Rach3 as well as a pro...

damn where is that valarking??

Someone posted it a while back. The guy has grown up and is apparently a pretty damn competant pianist nowadays from what I hear.

shoot at 12 years old even if he started piano at 3 that's pretty damn impressive. There's plenty of people that have played over 10 years that aren't anywhere close to putting the mach 3 under their fingers let alone people who will NEVER play it no matter how much they practice period...

If there's a person out there who, at 12, was playing the Rach 3 as well as a professional, man did their agent suck....

that's a good point however I think people are highly critical of young kids blowing up and doing a lot of shows etc so I doubt an agent could have done anything anyway if you're referring to turning him into a lang land type of star, they tried with Joseph Hoffman at around the same age and some national child labor organizations came after them and put a dead halt to his performing career until he was 18

Like I said...bad agents. I think even Lang Lang's agents are "ok" but not "great". He had some potential to cross markets, but really didn't succeed in doing so. And there's really only one reason for that...improper marketing plan...poor advertising...which brings me back to the agents. :p

I agree on lang lang though, someone with that much alleged "star power" I would have been able to take much further in the same amount of time were I his agent. I'd have the kid on TRL Live being interviewed by snoop dog. I know it's a big controversial issue and people look upon even his jay leno appearances or whatever as a big sell out and detrimental to the image of classical music and all sorts of things of this nature, but the truth I believe is that classical music is widely viewed by kids these days as stagnant, un-virile, sterile, barren music in stark contrast to the modern music which gets their little juices and hormones flowing. In order to disabuse them of this misconception, I think it has to be introduced to them little by little perhaps first by a flashy personality they can take to initially, which will in due time lead them to progressing perhaps into true art

See, I don't see a difference between what they know as "true art" and what the classical world calls "true art". To me, there's no such thing as "true art". There is only art. And taken from that perspective, an interview by Snoop on TRL would certainly make perfect sense (and I heartily agree). Not only that, but it wouldn't even seem the least bit controversial.

I think a large part of the problem is that classical music IS dead. It stagnated...and it started in the 19th century. People got too focused on what was instead of what is, and eventually nothing "new" was even remotely satisfactory. This obsession with the past must be the first thing to be conquered if classical music wishes to gain any kind of mainstream attention. If it's not "new", nobody in today's world will care (except an isolated and very small group).

And the evidence backs me up...classical music accounts for approximately 3% of the music industry market.

well many will argue if it is in fact dead or dying in that sense because in today's world classical music is far more widespread than even at the peak of its glory, there are numerous orchestras in a given state, sometimes even in one city whereas in the old days only the major cultural centers might have a semi-decent orchestra. I don't know about it dying in that sense although clearly it has been overshadowed by other types of music, however what I do consider dying is its image to the younger generation, whom like I said do not view 'serious music' as having any excitement or pertinence to their daily dramas. Part of the reason is that the current direct pop culture world has resulted in the dissipation of the youth's ability for allegorical reasoning and contemplation, they now are attracted only to things that affect them or parallel their lives directly. For instance the music videos they live and breath by demonstrate situations identical to those they experience in their real lives, i.e. adolescent skater kid gets cheated on by prepubescent goth girl, drama ensues, etc, whereas serious music relies heavily (always has) on a great power of intellectual allegory. Operas about mythical tales meant be metaphorical stories for our own lives, 'absolute music' symphonies full of emotion that's only in the ear of the beholder and is not spoon fed directly to you as it is today, i.e. rap video guy gets shot- woman is crying, direct and simple, you're told what to do, you're told to feel sad in this situation because the actors are crying and feeling sad, not like the open ended minor chord resolution of a symphonic work where the interpretation is open. I have no solution really for how it would be possible (if it is at all) to instill the unenlightened with classical music. All I know are real life experiences of the sort I had last year when a friend who accosted me in the middle of the Brahms 3rd movement 3rd symphony inquired quizzically as to "what does this music make you feel? I don't get it, you actually feel something when you hear this?" And I could clearly understand by the puzzled look in his eyes that the same tones and chords that filled me with the highest rapture completely baffled him like some sort of chinese puzzle box. I was lost back then as to how I could possibly edify and inculcate this guy as to how to hear what it is I hear and feel what I feel in that music, and I am still just as clueless today.
Some have suggested that this very sterile and vapid feel of the austere classical world must be changed. This whole tightlipped overly respectful charade of concertizing with tuxedo'd clones marching out and sitting down at the piano perfunctorily as thousands of others do identically. Some people would overhaul that whole image and play in orange jumpsuits and allow the audience to sing along to the symphony and all sorts of things that to me are far too extreme and denigrate the basic nobility of the music I hold dear, but who knows, maybe something drastic is after all required to assuage this depressing situation.

While the performers may not have worn orange jumpsuits, there was certainly far more "audience participation", including applause between movements, or after a solo, or particularly moving passage, and sometimes the performer would even stop and acknowledge it. I HATE the "sit there and shut up" of today's performances. It's might as well be a bunch of dead people in the audience. Now, I understand respectfulness while the performance is going on, but it is taken to the same extreme the "PC" movement has been taken, and the already-emerging effects of that one include such sensitive people that you can't even say "mankind" without offending someone....

I'm not sure what you mean by "serious music". To me, music is music...regardless of genre, category, generational influence, or personal taste.

Perhaps your job is not to illuminate what you hear in the music, but to allow him an avenue with which to find his own experience through the music. That cannot come from books, or lectures, or what some dead guy thought a hundred years ago. It cannot come from an isolated poem some composer may have, at random, selected for a work, or even a piece of dew a squirrel once drank and then peed out on the composer's sheet music and thus we have the "Squirrel Symphony" or what have you. (Obviously I'm being quasi-facetious, but this is exactly what it sounds like to me when people today say, "Well, obviously the composer was thinking of the seven-hundred fifth line of Goethe's Faust, and the [insert emotional noun] of this passage must be brought out through [insert random technical/musical interpretive element]." It just drives me nuts...it's as if people expect others can't think for themselves...or that they might hear something different...and anything that is "different" is "wrong". But now I think I'm moving towards a slightly different topic. )

Back to the topic: Your friend has to, through his own personal illuminations, come to terms with the music and the elements of it that speak to him. He has to decide how they speak to him. And this can only be done through repetitive listening and imagining. (Most true fans of classical music, who really feel a deep-rooted connection to the music, accomplished this when they were too young to know what they were accomplishing.)

So, I suppose we really need to just duct tape our friends to chairs and force-feed them classical music until they "get it". :p

I could start something here. But I won't. I merely wish to point out that your ignorant rant against a people and region of whom you are obviously ignorant is not in the best interest of the harmony of the forum, and is as intolerable here as would be a diatribe against a people of another race or religion.
I haven't heard this young man play yet, I'll accept from the comments of the rest of you that he's a wonder. What I did hear is BBB's wonderment and approbation that the talent of a young person of a race historically disadvantaged in terms of educational opportunities has been recognized and nurtured in a genre not stereotypically associated with one of his race. That's what I heard. What I saw that followed was the race flag being raised and brandished in our faces. We don't need that here, particularly not here among musicians.

What's the pianists name? I recognise the idea and have possibly heard it

Kissin played both Chopin concerti at the age of 13 I think, and Arrau was able to play Liszts Transcendental Etudes at the age of 12...

Saint Saens had his debut concert at 11. When the audience was requesting an encore he asked them which of Beethoven's 32 Sonatas they would like to hear.

As Frycek (sp) said very well, you should take your own advice.

i don't check in for one day, and this is what i come back to?!?! this seems to be a hypocritical statement as YOU are the one stereotyping a region, as you accuse BDB of stereotyping a race. it seems that you have neglected all forms of maturity and posted an ignorant and seemingly pointless rant. good job on that one :rolleyes:

on the topic of the AMAZING kid: i wonder when he started playing, and how many hours a day he practices. he is extremely talented, but does he have time for a normal childhood? is he going to get tired of piano and quit in his teens? does he play the music solely for the music, or for external reasons like boasting and and winning competitions? not saying that he is in any way boastful and not meaningful, just throwing those ideas out there for consideration.

haha you guys liked that one huh, well I got more where that came from, STAY TUNED

Spelling is no doubt way off, but his name is something like Dmitri Sguoros. If I remember correctly, he also got a Ph.D. in mathematics from some prestigious university like MIT or something when he was only 18, and before he played the Rach 3 at 12, he was taken to play for Richter, who listened to him for 4 hours of playing pieces that Richter called at random, without repetition. At the end of his session with Richter, he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he said, "Richter!"

At least, that's the story I remember.

Anyway, whatever everyone is babbling about above, Jordan Adams is truly quite impressive to me. I wonder who his teacher is, if he even has one (hopefully that hasn't been mentioned already). He strikes me as about as competent as an above average college student at a decent music school these days, and he's only 10! So, if he sticks with it I'm sure he'll go far.

Dmitri Sgorous recorded the Rach 3 at Carnegie Hall when he was 13. I hear there's a recording floating about, but I haven't heard it.

http://www.sgourosmp3.com/

His Rach 3rd isn't there, but there's a bunch of other stuff that's pretty amazing.

I think I'm going to be sick...

they should make a website or something for that little Adams, does anyone know if they have one already because I'm wondering if he has more recordings/videos up ?

hey guys dont worry bbbworship private messaged me and I realize hes actually a nice guy and meant his comment lightheardedly we mutually apologized and I have decided he is not a racist after all and we got everything cleared up

Aha, that's who I was talking about. I'll look around for that Rach 3 mp3, I thought I had it somewhere...

Athough I don't see a great deal of jazz threads on the forum, Eldar Djangirov seems to have a fair amount of proficiency in both performing and theory for his age (18). Amazon lets you listen to some of his work. Sweet Georgia Brown and Moanin' particularly highlight his technical and musical skill. If I had any criticism it would be that at this level of development his playing lacks a little "soul."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...234348?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

this etude is actually one of my "war horses" for a lack of better words hehe.

He isn't playing it super fast, but holy **** he's 10, and it's fluid!

I've played some of the hardest etudes, including op 10 no 1, no 2, Winterwind, etc etc etc and for some reason, this one was the hardest for me to conquer.

With regard to Sgouros, the Rach 3 fanatic's website lists:

Sgouros/National Sym Orch of Cyprus (rec.2003)
Sgouros/State Philharmonic Capella of Russia/Valeri Polyansky (rec.1997)
Sgouros/St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra/Nikolai Alexeev (rec.2002)
Sgouros/Sydney Sym Orch/Vladimir Verbitsky (Sep 1991 Sydney Opera House)

As bootleg copies he has; there's also an EMI recording with Simonov conducting.

Finally, that website gives a link to a Japanese collector, equally fanatic, who has a 1983 recording of Sgouros' with Simonov on Royal Classics which is probably the one people were referring to, above. Whether it's the same as the EMI Simonov recording is not clear.

Seems I'm wandering a bit off topic here, apologies.

that's a pretty impressive performance, especially for someone that young (and wich such small hands), considering that the entire piece is a neverending onslaught of arpeggios going up and down the keyboard. best of luck to him!

----

I always wonder if people of this age actually understand the immense maturity and complexity and meaning of what they're actually playing. Nevertheless, playing something like that is something few people will ever do, and I'm sure he will make more impressive leaps on the instrument.

I want to hear him play the 1837 versions of the transcendental etudes.

Well, that you all like this? My god, it is not so good. You all clearly have never heard young pianist from the Russian school. I am now 15 years old. I have been a student of the Russian school forever.
The boy has definitly talent, but if you ask me, the piece is still to difficult for him. Better play something less dificult and play it perfect.
I played the same etude, because I played all 24 etudes of Chopin in a concert when I was 12 years old. I performed them when I was 12.
Now I am studying Rachmaninov concertos, Chopin concerto, Brahms sonatas, and that kind of works! I am also making my one website, it will be online very soon, and there I also will post some of my recordings!

:rolleyes:

Please let us know when your website is online. If your playing is even better than this little 10 year old boy's, I will be most eager to hear you and prepared to be in even more awe regarding your talent.

And, yes, I liked Jordan's playing very much and must humbly disagree with you that "it is not so good." I thought he played exceptionally well. I'll take your word on it that it wasn't perfect (it sure SOUNDED perfect to me!), but he's only 10 years old; give him a frigging break and give him the credit he deserves for such an accomplishment at such an early age.

After all, if I am understanding your post correctly, you admit yourself that you didn't perform that piece publicly until you were 12.

YA but he's 10 years old!!!

His hands are still developing, and he's still got PLENTY of time to perfect his technique.

COURSE u can find a lot of little mistakes and I bet if the quality was better I would've been able to write a full report on what he lacks, but he's still a little kid! he's got the potential to fix all these little mistakes.. I can't believe you're comparing yourself with him

as amazing as your accomplishments are, you need to learn some humility. an artist who boasts is ill-received and will not get as far as one who is humble. i am 19 and only just started on things such as Rachmaninoff preludes and Beethoven sonatas, but i am proud of myself and appreciate the music for it's sake rather than it's boasting power. are your performances always perfect? i doubt it. imperfection is what makes each performace unique.

I would have said the same but I like how you said it

My reaction exactly.

Jordan Adams is wow!! Just wow!!

A mixture of youthful exuberance and "English is not my first language"...

Unless of course...

Actually, we all pretty much have.

can't wait to hear you, hannoverstudent. i'm sure you will manage to bewilder us all, with wonderful playing that can be deduced from your maturity, modesty, well-written criticism, and colorful modern russian upbringing of hanon exercises and enslavement to metronomes.

ahahahaha jesus people calm down its just a little kid, I for one am interested in hearing this "hannoverstudent" and being Russian I take pride in his sense of pride and giant ego, you make Mother Russia proud lad!!

Huh...Definitely impressive. It'll be interesting to see where this kid goes.

s

erm, i was never not calm, i just can't stand people who boast of their ability, as there are MANY pianists many times better than this "little kid" who is only 4 years younger than myself. how old are you? you generally write as if you are about 17, with the typical teenaged "I know everything" attitude that (thank god) i never developed. am i the only young person with a sense of humility and maturity these days?

Hannoverstudent, I'm Esther Yellins student, do u know her?? She's warned me that little animals like you exist in the world.

Ouch!!

To all of you! The russian school is not enslavement to metronomes. We actually hate them. And no hanon. Yes we practise a lot. We practise about 6 hours, somethime before competitions even 10 hours a day. It is disipline. That is what makes the russian school pianist so good. That is why there are soo many great russian pianist!

I am 15. And I don't know everything. There is still very very much that I have to learn. And I also wrote that the boy has talent, but that he just was not ready for the etude, maybe next year. But the motto of the russian school: Don't performe it if it is not perfect. That is what I learned since I was 6 years old. And I will remember that the rest of my life. And clearly none of you are student of the russian school. Other wise you would know better!

That's not the point. This forum is not the place for you to brag about your accomplishments and tell us what we should and shouldn't know about music. If you're not going to contribute anything to the discussion other than "I can do it much better" or "I played it when I was age 12," don't post at all. I'm sure you feel great aobut your accomplishments, but don't throw it in everyone else's face and expect praise.

So feel free to participate in discussions, but drop the attutide. That includes saying "you all," as there are many professional pianists and conservatory professors who post here who know, have played against, and have bested members of practically every school of musical training.

the 10 yr. old DID make quite a few mistakes thruout the piece.

so what if you practice six or ten hours a day? that's great, because i know you can go far with that amount of practice, but i am happy with my 3 hours a day. i have a social life that doesn't involve music all the time, which i believe is healthy. all i want to do is teach the beauty that is music. i don't want to be a brilliant concert pianist. i have my own opinions about greatness in a pianist, and they don't include perfection of every piece, as perfection in itself is imperfection, so please stop telling me what i should think; i am quite capable, thanks. i suggest that you re-read my ealier post about humility.

hannoverstudent, why do u ignore my post??

My teacher is one of the most known russian teachers in the world. She's told me exactly what you said about always being perfect. You have some good points there, and it's the right attitude to tackle music, but with such overpride and with no humility nor respect you'll get absolutely nowhere in life, even if you're hands are practically perfect.

well said iNBi. I do agree with hannoverstudent and yourself that the idea of perfection is a good way to tackle music, but i do not believe it is necessary.

Let's not be so hard on hannoverstudent. Remember that his English may not be his first language, hence he probably isn't aware of the nuances and connotations of the language he uses. He feels happy with his 6 - 10h of practice a day, just like the rest of us are happy with our relatively more balanced lives. He did acknowledge that the 10 year old had talent. Speaking of talent, I heard that a 6 yo played Chopin's Scherzo no. 1 for his Julliard audition ><

why do you brag so much about your russian school? just because your from some russian school doesn't necessarily mean that you're better than anyone else. I practice as much- even more- than alot of people I know, but that doesn't make me a better pianist. It just shows I practice more. You should recognize that as well.

If you haven't noticed yet, there is a common trend from people who have responded to your post. They may not be from some fancy conservatory but does that mean that their opinions are any less valid? I don't think so.

And regarding this Jordan Adams kid, sure he made mistakes. Sure there are kids younger than him who can play better than him. But his playing of this piece was in no way bad.

On a different topic, I'm suprised that there were two different types of flaming wars in this thread.

Where did you hear/read about this?

My teacher in Chicago.

His teacher should teach him not to rely on his youth and technical ability for WOW factor. Granted, he's only ten, and he's very talented, but there is no musical sophistication in his playing. It is all fireworks, pedal, big sound. What happened to shaping phrases and planning music? Otherwise he'll grow up to be one of a great group of prodigies who never REALLY make anything of themselves because they were too busy resting on their laurels as impressing young lads and lasses.

Wow. Between this thead and the Kissin interview, I'm coming to the conclusion that arrogance is part of the standard curriculum in the Russian school.

Instead of lecturing 'hannoverstudent', why don't the more exprienced of you take a step back, and look at things from her perspective.

It is acknowledged that English is not her first language, so why not approach your replies with a little more tolerance and understanding...

It is quite interesting to see how many hackles have been raised here. A pertinent question is why are people behaving in this way, (defensively), towards a 15 year old? Quite astounding...