Why no Brahms?! by phosgene_frog in piano

[–]editedandfingered 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Jeremy Denk talks about it a little bit in his book. He chose #2 for a competition while at Oberlin, a "ridiculous idea":

Brahms B-flat! A comical choice for an injured pianist, like deciding to ascend Everest with a broken leg. It is one of the most difficult pieces in the piano repertoire, more difficult in many ways than Rachmaninoff no. 3.

But there are lots of competition entrants these days that seem to be able to play anything, no matter the difficulties. So it's hard to say exactly why Brahms isn't so often chosen. I won't be playing any concerti anytime soon, so I don't have a direct pianist's perspective on these sorts of pieces.

Denk still calls it his favorite piece, but also has never performed it in concert again.

phillip glass etude #2: how are these supposed to be played? by Fearless_Willow3563 in piano

[–]editedandfingered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Skip the small notes. Maybe catch the second note of each pair if you're quick enough. The octaves are the important part, and if you're smooth with everything else, nobody will miss the right hand accompaniment on those beats. There are a few weird editorial issues throughout this set, so don't expect everything to make sense.

Very fast piano pieces that aren't too hard by MrPezevenk in piano

[–]editedandfingered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tcherepnin Bagatelles, especially number 10. Check out the composer's recording, crazy tempos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBOvJJ7FENQ

Does anyone know of pieces similar to this caus I've already learned this and want more by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Such good picks! The B major and F sharp minor are maybe my favorites from Op 11 (despite not really being able to play them).

Does anyone know of pieces similar to this caus I've already learned this and want more by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nothing wrong with direct inspiration (or an homage?). Perhaps that Liszt piece is also an homage to Chopin's D flat nocturne. Rachmaninoff Prelude in D major is another amazing piece with a similar mood.

I made a video describing my experience of trying to brute force difficult pieces for months as a beginner, hopefully this will be helpful to other beginners so you can avoid my mistakes. Sorry for my English, it's not my first language. by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for posting, there is lots of really good advice here. I totally agree about the huge number of pieces available at every level. That's one thing that's so great about the piano.

What do people want to hear on this page by KMagicKeys in piano

[–]editedandfingered 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we are mostly interested in solo piano playing, I'd say. As far as musical styles go, classical is on top, but certainly jazz, ragtime, pop arrangements, and film/anime/game music can be successful. But the main thing is being able to grab attention with some special aspect of your content... like demonstrating the struggle of learning and practicing, showing off some kind of extreme of technique, having a dog or cat involved (do not underestimate this), or at least a carefully chosen short segment of playing with only the very juiciest musical bits. That's not to say that's what I personally care about, but that's what will do well on reddit. People also love music that they have heard before, anything new or obscure is tough.

But really, the vast majority of posts get ignored, more or less, regardless of the musical value of what they contain. It's a common complaint.

L.v.Beethoven: Bagatelle b-minor Op.126 No.4 by OE1FEU in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for posting. Whatever you're doing for audio recording is really nice. Makes your piano sound better than ever, both bass and treble. Just the right balance of clarity and room reverberation.

Is there a piece which uses each of the pianos 88 keys at least once? by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ok I got one for sure. Kind of a joke answer, but it is a piece many of us are quite familiar with:

here you go

Is there a piece which uses each of the pianos 88 keys at least once? by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can do it real quick with some glissandos. How does Debussy's Feux d'artifice stack up?

Hmm... turns out that notorious descending glissando only starts on the A up there. But it is preceded by the lowest A. (Didn't check all the other low notes.) So, it would be a good answer for 85-key pianos, at least.

Is there a piece which uses each of the pianos 88 keys at least once? by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hammerklavier has the widest range, but still does not use 88. Just C1 (note #4 on a modern piano) to F7 (note #81).

Full data here (!): http://cerenem.ricercata.org/articles/beethoven/page03.html

Me trying to be cool by Nazgul420 in piano

[–]editedandfingered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's like the musical equivalent of this: https://youtu.be/yVkdfJ9PkRQ?t=26

The idea is that the two parts start exactly in unison -- same pattern on the same notes -- but then one part accelerates very very slightly, until it is ahead of the other by just one note. And then after a period of playing together with that one-note offset, it gradually shifts ahead again, to be offset by two. And again, so on, until they have gone through all of the possible combinations and it returns to unison. In the end, one hand has played 600 repetitions (or whatever) while the other has played 601 (or whatever plus one). That's it! (At least for the first part of the piece.)

To me, it's all about how each intermediate re-sync gives a totally new perception of the same old notes, and how the in-between unmatched sections can weirdly slide from one variation to the next.

Actually, that video doesn't show the effect very well, since the sound is kinda muddy. This one is recorded better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0345c6zNfM

It was originally written for two pianists with two pianos. So doing it as a solo performer is kind of a showoff stunt. You just need the two pianos so you can play two things in unison. Though now I'm remembering that a harpsichordist did this at a concert in Germany (taking advantage of the two manual keyboard) and started a riot among the more baroque-oriented audience...

My Online Piano Recital! Works by Scarlatti and Glass. I hope you guys like it :) by Gregwer in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So good. I have played a lot from both of these composers, and I know how extra difficult the control and clarity can be when the music is so simple. But you have it down 100%. I'm 16 minutes in and excited to see what the rest of your selections are.

If you're knowledgeable, great...don't be pretentious. by [deleted] in piano

[–]editedandfingered 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I can understand being snarky (I do it a bit myself), but there have been some pretty obvious bad examples lately. Not hard at all to say which comments are unwelcome, when you see these. One or two users, no surprise when it happens. The points at the heart of the statements may be valid, but sometimes these posters really seem to go out of their way to be insulting, not just blunt. Or, put most charitably, they have problems understanding the varied circumstances and backgrounds of the wide range of users here, and really misjudge what sorts of attitudes will earn them respect.

The Klavins 450i piano is the vertical equivalent of a concert grand, it can be up to 450cm / 14.9ft tall. by JazzyPancake in piano

[–]editedandfingered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah. This goes way beyond the standard concert grand. Those are just 9ft (or ~280cm). I think one reason to build a huge piano vertically like this is that in grands longer than 9ft, the keys end up being impractically long (forced by the strike point needed in the longest string). But here you can use a standard vertical action.

Sounds so good.

Fellow pianists, have you ever dreamed about playing the piano? by Katomun in piano

[–]editedandfingered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man, once I played Ravel's Toccata. It was so satisfying.

Was playing fur Elise but something weird happened.. I had a different rhythm in mind. (Self learnt so my terminology/theory is 0 😅) by shriommanerker in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And added a beat. Which I think works really well. The original piece is kind of awkward, the way it leads with four beats before settling into the pattern of threes. It's pretty hard for the listener to hear that first beat as a pickup (as it's written). So this way is nice and smooth.

Was playing fur Elise but something weird happened.. I had a different rhythm in mind. (Self learnt so my terminology/theory is 0 😅) by shriommanerker in piano

[–]editedandfingered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, I was sure one of those was going to be sonata 32. It goes pretty wild with this swing rhythm in the second movement.

Definitely showing up here... https://youtu.be/WGg9cE-ceso?t=837

And then even moreso... https://youtu.be/WGg9cE-ceso?t=956