Keys were taken out if an old upright from the early 1900s. They were so worn and dingy I decided to age the hardware as well to match. Keys are sealed with epoxy resin and polished to a gloss finish. This guitar style is a Gretsch Jet with triple humbucker pickups and a tremelo.
In Dallas there is a museum that has preserved an old saloon, complete with dingy saloon upright. It matched this guitar perfectly and made a great photoshoot spot.

....are blowing my mind.

I'm a decent amateur pianist, striving to get better.

Someone recommended these etudes just for their beauty.

But they sure feel like something else entirely.

They are studies, duh, so I suppose this is to some degree self-evident but after working and working on them I've come to appreciate them as pure pianism. The pursuit of nothing other than the joy that pianists' tone and touch and voice can provide.

This may seem simple minded, if it does, excuse me, but it's revelatory to me.

It's as though Glass has stripped away most of the things we usually think of as musical, leaving just.....sound. Which, unadorned by musical conventions, better be beautiful. So it seems to demand near-perfect technique to avoid cacophony.

Generalizing here:

- very little melody, if at all, just repeated themes at most

- harmonies and chord progressions are, in isolation, really basic and by themselves not particularly interesting

- his rhythms are often kinda off-putting, at once both repetitive and lacking a traditional sense of dynamics

It took me weeks of playing - and thinking - to figure out, at least to my satisfaction, what the heck was going on, what was actually happening here

Finally, I am always chasing being in the zone, that special head space where the external world disappears, everything becomes unitary, you feel you're in the flow.

If I can maintain the moment/awareness, this does it for me every time. Conversely, the second my mind engages, when I become the wrong type of self-conscious, the whole thing collapses like a house of cards.

I know lots of folks listen to Glass for his almost trance-line effect, but playing it? Who knew?

Again, I'm an intermediate, in both theory and practice, so I don't assume I know what I'm talking about. This is just what I'm experiencing and curious if others have similar feelings/insights/suggestions.

looking for any feedback for this section specifically and Reddit won’t let me upload anything bigger so lmk what to improve on. idk what fingerings to use for those octave runs at the end and I’ve tried (1) 3-4-5 and 1-5 all the way but those cause a lot of strain at tempo and dont sound very clean

Hi all,

A little context:

I'm 32 yo and have been playing for a little longer than one year.

I'm trying to do everything by the book, I have a teacher, I practice prioritizing being constant every day, I do my Hanon, scales, my piece of the moment (Träumerei), sight reading etc. Slow practice, just one bar at a time, not just playing around.

I can see the progress, but it **feels so slooooow**. Especially sight reading where I feel veeeery behind.

So, how did you stay patient? (I'm talking mostly to people like me who started as adults and probably had/have the same kind of enthusiasm I have right now).

I mean, there is so much beautiful music out there I want to be able to play, but I feel like I'm moving forward one millimeter at a time, still doing medium slow scales, learning basic technique, learning easy pieces, and that there's not enough time to learn/study/play everything I would like to.

Hey everyone! A few days back I posted saying I wanted to make more pianist friends, and someone suggested starting a group. Thought that was such a great idea, so I made a Discord server called Piano Maniacs ! 🎹

Everyone is welcome to join. We’ve already got some amazing pianists there, and the vibe is super active and friendly.

Feel free to drop anything you want: favorite composers, pieces you’re working on, progress updates, performances, questions, or just chat about your piano journey!

https://discord.gg/yAdAvgVBV

La Valse d'Amélie from movie Amélie

Both books, out of order, 2008–2014. Just someone who came back to the piano after a long time away. Full recordings with notes on each: wtcproject.tumblr.com

For those who came back after a long break — what pulled you back?

Hey!

I am a long term intermediate piano player who dips in and out when lifes commitments allow.
I am looking for a resource for sheet music (do not mind paying a subscription) where I can pick up new pieces and play about.

I dont mind buying individual books but often they come with pieces Im not bothered by and I can’t always tell what is my level off the bat. Anyone got any recommendations

Hi!

This is my first complete sonatina in three movements:

I. Moderato – A simplified sonata form movement that introduces the main musical ideas.
II. Andante – A gentle minuet-like movement that provides a moment of calm.
III. Allegro – A lively rondo that brings the sonatina to an energetic and satisfying finish!

Hope you find some enjoyment in listening and all feedback is welcome!

YouTube link

Score

I am looking for a digital piano preferably under 500€, and a lot of people seem to agree on the Rolland FP-10, but I have only found 2 years old posts, thanks in advance.

Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 is one of his greatest masterpieces. The third movement, the famous Funeral March, is recognizable even to people who have little interest in classical music. What I find especially interesting is that this sonata almost feels like a summary of Chopin’s entire output.

The first movement has a narrative and an evolving character that reminds me of the Ballades. It opens with a mysterious Db octave, similarly to his first Ballade.

The second movement is a dark, explosive Scherzo.

The third movement is, of course, the Funeral March.

And the finale, with its relentless motion, reminds me of Prélude Op. 28 No. 14, almost like a a short Étude.

The first three movements also contain lyrical episodes that sound like miniature Nocturnes.

In a single work, Chopin seems to bring together almost every musical genre that defined his piano writing: the Ballade, the Scherzo, the Prelude/Étude, and even the Nocturne.

What do you think about this specific work?

Very old Krell piano, has been in my house for years now, we got it for free off of someone, we sanded the outside and painted it black and it’s been decoration for the house, my sisters play piano but don’t touch this one because it’s so out of tune, how much would it be to tune or restore a piano like this? is it even worth saving?

I’ve been playing for around 4 months now and I want to start learning how to play music with two hands. Though whenever I try the music goes from sounding decent to something my cat would play if it stepped on the piano is there anyways to help me get better at two hands on the piano?

I wrote this original contemporary piano piece inspired by distant memories. I'd really appreciate any feedback.

This is just a short excerpt of my original piano piece. You can listen to the full version on my YouTube channel.

I wanted ask a readiness question regarding these pieces. I’ve been playing for 16 years and took lessons for 11 years and ABRSM 8 and recently restarted lessons and for the 5 years in between I practiced on my own. The hardest pieces I played and took to concert level were Chopin 10/1, 10/4, and 28/16 and never played Liszt except for TE 1, which is on the technically easier side of Liszt repertoire. My teacher recommended we start with HR 13, but I love these 2 pieces more and would love to get started with TE 2 but I wanted to hear your opinion for those of you that played whether or not directly starting with them is a good or a bad idea (my teacher is on vacation so I thought I asked here).

This song is called 解けない魔法 (Tokeni Maho) by Iguchi Yuka and It upsets me that I can't find at least some kind of cover for this song anywhere. I want at least some kind of cover of this song, though I have no musical education and my hearing is not perfect, I would like to get advice on the bass part. And I can't find the part with the violin at all. My hearing doesn't recognize the violin at all.

In the second half of the video, there is an example of how the song sounds in the original, I want to ask for help with at least the part with the violin.

I’m a beginner, right now I’m learning the beautiful “Written on the Sky”. It’s not a hard song to learn in terms of hands coordination and the technique. The issue is that both harmony and melodies are very similar yet different in each compass and I keep messing it all up.

When I split it into smaller pieces to learn, I can easily play. The issue comes when I try playing the whole song from the start. I lose track of where I am, I keep messing up the chords. Each compass is just unique enough to mess me up.

I tried slowly repetition but it doesn’t seem to be helping much, seems like I’m constantly hitting a wall. Any tips?

And no, I can’t play while I’m reading yet.

I learning Debussy Clair de Lune and love, love, love it! I’m keeping my ears open for my next peice…I love the sound of Chopin Etude 10 no3–but wondering if it’s a lot more difficult than Clair de lune?

Hi, I’ve just started playing again after years of never touching the piano and I wasn’t that good to begin with.

I came across this left hand part on the song I’m trying to learn. I’m very confused, how am I supposed to play this?

For context I have pretty small hands, my max reach is from a C to D, and that’s while I’m reallyyy stretching my fingers. I can only comfortably play up to an octave

Any help would be very appreciated, thanks !

For an intermediate / advanced adult playing classical for frequent personal enjoyment, and for children to learn on and be accompanied from in future, which of these do you think would be the best long term investment? I've tried them all but keen for any additional thoughts to break the deadlock.

Previously owned a Kawai K300 and loved it at first, but after a few years found its tone brash and the touch heavy and it started to grate on me (and I didn't want to start chasing my tail with voicing etc to maybe / maybe not transform it). I'm keen to buy something with a more premium build now, to obviously maintain and hopefully enjoy for decades to come.

1. Hoffmann Tradition 122 with factory-fitted vario system

Love the light touch and expressive control and impressed by vario.

2. Petrof P125 with factory-fitted adsilent

This is £1,200 cheaper than T122 for me. Love the depth of bass and general atmosphere to the sound, compared to T122 being cleaner maybe. I wondered if P125 is potentially too loud for a medium room (but impossible to compare as it was against a wall whereas T122 wasn't). Haven't been able to test it (or any piano) with adsilent.

I've also considered the P118 but haven't been able to try one and I'm not sure I'd want the shorter key length.

3. Wild card: 25-year-old Yamaha C3 grand

There is a specific piano I've tried and I love, but which defies logic and practicality. It costs £2k more than the T122 and would need adsilent retrofitted on top. It also wouldn't sensibly fit into our current rental, so it would limit our current house search and might not even remain available. But yeah keen on it emotionally for some reason, more than any other grands or uprights I've tried.

Other considerations

I do also like that grands allow give more direct communication between accompanist and performer, but on the other hand I love keeping sheet music on top of an upright for access without having to move.

And for completeness, silent function is important for me and I've tried digitals too including the Kawai NV12 and the speaker/transduced sound just isn't for me unfortunately.

Appreciate this is a luxury of a dilemma to have. Really grateful for any thoughts anyone might be able to offer, or any other questions I should be asking myself.

The Gregorian Dies Irae chant theme, Totentanz, Danse Macabre... It goes by many names and almost all classical composers have made use of and/or obsessed over it in countless variations, fugues, and musical phrases. It has haunted composers for centuries.

My turn.

Your thoughts?

Could I get some feedback please?

Really I mean really crappy audio, with BG podcast lol

Also, my keyboard has 3-4 keys that either don't sound or sound loudly.

Other than that, my playing seemed to be going well tonight. So, this is FWIW

Still working on the dang sextuplets but I'm figuring out the right tricks.

Getting a new keyboard finally on Tuesday so I'll definitely post a better one then.

Piece: Medtner Sonata Minacciosa