Tell me what you think

Recently picked piano back up after a 5 or 6 year hiatus, basically started over. In the last 3 or 4 days I've been learning and practicing Mozart's Turkish March. I've always been self-taught, save a year of keyboarding class in middle school, so I've never been taught healthy form.

In practicing this piece. My left hand, wrist and forearm fatigue dramatically throughout practice sessions. I can only imagine this is a technique issue and I'd love to hear input on my playing.

All critique is welcome! Obviously there's some missed notes in here, go ahead and flame me for those. But on addition to form, any articulation I'm missing or even tasteful suggestions absent from the original I'm very open to! TIA!

ETA: my forearm pain really only gets bad when practicing the B theme with the big rolling chords that i seem to have neglected to record here.

Can I just play them all as octaves or is it for timbre or voicing purposes? It sounds the same on my piano either way lol

Story:

A few days ago, I took my ARCT piano exams. I decided to take them online at home, since I felt more confident playing on my own piano. Everything went well up until the second piece, Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata. As anyone who's played this sonata would know, this sonata is very tiring physically, and after finishing the 3rd movement, I decided to get up and ask the examiners for permission to take a minute to drink some water. But then, I was horrified to see that the Zoom video call had completely disconnected. I panicked and went on the RCM website to get the Zoom invite link to rejoin the call, and then, the examiners told me that I had disconnected around the middle of the second movement. By then, the internet connection was still unstable, so I disconnected and reconnected my laptop's WiFi, which seemed to fix it. They let me take a minute to drink some water and told me to restart from the beginning of the second movement. For the rest of the exam, I was very nervous and I was looking back at the laptop once every few minutes to make sure that it was still connected. This distracted me and resulted in a few mistakes and memory slips that probably shouldn'tve been made. Anyways, I made it, and it honestly could've been worse, since if I hadn't looked at my laptop at the end of the sonata, I might've gone through the entire program without noticing that I had disconnected in the middle of it. My score hasn't come out yet, but I hope that the examiners would take this into account when they're grading.

Have been learning this piece for about a few months and would like some critique. Please be kind about it.

Thank you!

What's a section from a piece you've played that felt so good once it clicked? Personally, it was the C# minor section of Chopin Ballade 3. That part's a pain to play, but sounds so good. What about yours?

That really is the name of this catchy and cute little song 😍 This piano roll is QRS #3680 and was arranged by two guys named Victor Arden and Max Kortlander at the very height of the days of the player piano. It was released exactly 100 years ago... in October of 1926!

QRS was the company that made the roll. Out of dozens of piano roll companies in the 1920s, this is sadly the only one left. They don't even make this piano roll anymore. I have posted an up close version to the lyrics on YouTube found below if anyone wanted to sing along. It really is a fun one to just belt it out! Cutest lyrics. Just have fun and smile with these old songs!! That's what I hope for and that it brightened your day. 🙂

https://youtube.com/shorts/5YyVDk1pkjc?is=OGHC0WhDo_qlrJfu. "I Don't Mind Being All Alone"

I have listened to the full sonata probably more than a hundred times and I can usually understand the musicality of Chopin's pieces very quickly. Some are very straightforward like his nocturnes and some take a few listens like the fourth ballade coda.

But until now, every time it plays the fourth movement, I just listen with fascination. I can't hear any particular melody, it's just an overwhelming chaotic rush of notes that ends the sonata in a bit of a scary way. Makes me feel a little evil.

Is there something deeper to this movement that I'm missing? or is it meant to simply be chaotic and overwhelm you as the final sendoff for the sonata?

I’ve been asked to accompany a violin student for their Abrsm exam. After years of saying no to accompanying, I thought I should just suck it up (my performance nerves) and give it a go.

The exam is booked, and we had our first rehearsal last week (two more to go)

Their timing is so far out compared to that of the score, and sometimes entire bars are skipped. I realise this is the job of a great accompanist, to hold it all together - but I'm not sure I’m going to be experienced enough in the moment to curtail all these eventualities.

Question - the rehearsals we have together. Are they (or can they) be seen as coaching? Should I be offering advice re counting, timing, ways to sort these issues out before the day, or is this not my business, and would be deemed insulting and inappropriate by the students actual teacher?

I would appreciate any feedback, positive and constructive. For reference I have been playing for 2 years, so still at a fairly beginner level. I will be playing this at an event next month

I’m a beginner and I know I’ve made mistakes

Hi There,

For anyone with a Kawai CA901 (or CA701 from I've heard) I FINALLY have had my "clicky keys" fixed (which seems to be widespread problem).

It took the better part of 3 months or so, but Kawai Warranty finally got one of their contractors who does electrical musical instrument repair to come out to my apartment, and remedy the "clicky keys" issue (and for any one not experiencing this issue, its hard to explain, but essentially it came down to Kawai over lubricating in the factory, and thus resulting in a clicky/poppy noise for some keys.)

Whatever this guy did, it fixed it, and now it plays (and sounds) like a dream! It was such a minor issue, but for anyone else experiencing it, I implore you to call 1-800-421-2177 (and selecting option 1) (if your product is still under warranty).

If your product isn't under warranty, I highly recommend getting in touch with an electronics contractor in your area, and seeing if they have experience resolving the issue. If you're in the Seattle area, I highly recommend Alpine Electronics of Burien.

Happy playing!

Hello, I have always loved the sound of the piano, and I'm lucky enough to have an apartment-sized one at my grandparents' house that I can mess around on when I visit. I can only play very basic stuff, but from what I am told, it sounds nice. I really want a digital piano with weighted keys that I can hopefully play every day. The thing is, I struggle with focus due to ADHD and might have trouble sticking with a structured type of practice on my own.

Would I still get better if I didn't follow a specific lesson but just messed around and maybe tried to learn some basic songs or parts of larger songs as long as I practiced several times a week? I feel like you could still build up muscle stamina and memory even if you are not focused on playing the exact same thing every time.

I want to try to stick to a structured lesson guide; I just know it might be difficult, which is why I'm asking.

Thanks

Posting to track my progress. Self-teaching, 25min daily the past 11mo. Avg 150ish hours.

Here is two little gems in B-flat Major. Bach Prelude from wtc book 1 and Clementi op 36 no 4 movement 2. Ivo Pogorelich performed this very Clementi piece in his recital in Nara, Japan. I hope you check out his recital as well.

I know chords . If I want to be able to play backing piano chords like pop ballads / korean ballad n, whom should I follow. I have been a guitar guy . Thanks

Sorry for the bad phone audio. Compared to the first movement, I find this movement surprisingly more difficult to perform in front of an audience or when recording. I'll post the third movement soon, and the fourth when it's more cleaned up.

I have about 8 students booked next week (few kids, young adults, and two seniors), and I’m just a bit nervous on how I should approach developing lesson plans and methods for students of all ages. I bought a bunch of Faber Adventures books to look over, but I don’t want to just sit down a student and meticulously go through the books, but instead would like to use it as a supplement. I’m a 32 year old pianist / multi-instrumentalist who’s been self taught for 20 years, and part of a family with a heavy musical background. I taught myself in probably unconventional ways, so I’m just unfamiliar with the approach of teaching in a very traditional way. Just looking for tips and advice, and maybe any anecdotes of other teachers feeling nervous at first but who quickly got the groove of things. Thanks!

I'm looking for a digital piano because I want to practise with headphones in, but i also want to record quick videos without using a VST or direct line. So I want something that sounds as natural as possible through the speaker system. I am currently on a tight budget of about £1,000 so I'll be looking mainly on the second hand market and trying to find a good deal. This can either be a full size upright digital or a portable style, as long as it'll sound good on my recordings without a direct line. I dont care too much about the action, as long as it's weighted.

Thank you

Bonjour,

Je suis pianiste (pas professionnel) depuis +20 ans et j'envisage d'acheter un piano numérique. Ma crainte, c'est de mettre beaucoup d'argent pour un instrument qui pourrait se détériorer rapidement : j'habite un appartement parisien au dernier étage, et il y fait très froid en hiver et très (très) chaud en été. Y a-t-il des risques ou les pianos numériques sont-ils robustes ?

Merci d'avance !

____

Hello,

I’ve been a pianist (not professionally) for over 20 years and am thinking of buying a digital piano. My concern is spending a lot of money on an instrument that might get damaged quickly: I live in a top-floor flat in Paris, and it gets very cold in winter and very (very) hot in summer. Are there any risks, or are digital pianos robust? Many thanks!

Hi everyone!

Would a hero be able to decode the trumpet/organ play of the Intro just after Kain destabilises the pillars of Nosgoth? And the soundtrack for the chaper: House of my enemy?

I love these two!

Can anybody guide me through my keyboard, C1-B1 to C4-B4?

A big, thank you!

Could you recommend any songs suitable for piano accompaniment and vocals? Whether they are timeless classics or your personal favorites, I'd love to know which tracks you feel truly shine when played on the piano.

I'm trying to learn our house but the demo version sounds different than all the sheet music and tutorials I find. I know the piano is detuned but it sounds like the chords I find aren't exactly right. I'm pretty bad at learning by ear, anyone else know what he's playing?

It doesn't matter what type of headphones I use or how low the volume on the piano is. When i plug my headphones aux into the jackstick adapter and into the digital piano i get this awfull high buzzing static noise. Whats wrong and can i fix it? Its awfull practicing like this. Hope you guys can help. Thanks.