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EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read Pete's description of thread post. I don't intend to volunteer as truly a beginner, although I certainly feel it is a great idea to have a sort of log of daily playing experiences and such! I would really like to see other people posting similar types of things too! Feel free to move this post to somewhere else if you'd like to keep this forum clean of other posts! 🙂
If he'd be willing, I think Ken would do a really great job at your main idea! He may be a "beginner," but he certainly seems to be very dedicated, respectful, and thoughtful!
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A friend of mine is an excellent piano player, and he recently invited me to perform alongside him at a recital. All of the students for his piano instructor will perform at this recital, and for this time only, they are doing "accompaniments." I've been to one previous recital, which was all actual music, and was "blown away" by the skill of these students. The piano teacher is known for only taking the best, and...they truly are incredible.
I do have to admit that after the last recital I went to, I felt slightly out of place. I had gone alone, in support of my friend, and found myself surrounded by musical geniuses. Over 90% of the guests who came to the recital had doctorates, most of them in music related things.
Anyways, so I was very honored to be asked to perform for this coming recital. My friend informs me that usually the soloists that the pianists bring in are very very good classical players. The top student, who is often in competition with my friend, usually brings in a local violinist. I'm rather excited to be playing in the same venue as all of these fine musicians, and am also noting that it is rather good exposure for me. After all, the people I'll be playing for are professors of music at most, if not all, of the colleges in Michigan. And, I think it should be a good experience for me. My public playing is pretty much limited to band concerts, solo and ensemble competitions, and musicals. This sort of lets me stretch my wings a bit and explore.
So, I've been trying to figure out what we should play. The only requirements are that it have a difficult accompaniment, and that it be classical. I'll have to look around for a good piece.
Earlier today, I purchased a few new things to work on for fun. I bought:
"Sonata"-Edvard Moritz
Number 2-Opus 103
"Sonata"-Henri Eccles (arr. Siguard Rascher)
"Sonata XIII"- G. F. Handel (arr. Rascher)
The Moritz looks to be pretty interesting, but also a tad bit modern for the recital performance.
The Eccles is a really beautiful sounding piece, but a bit too "technically easy" for the recital.
I also like the Handel piece. But at the same time, it's all 16th note runs and allegros and such. I like a little Largo thrown in now and then. My biggest strength is my tone, and this really doesn't show that off much.
Two pieces that I think would be really cool to play would be Debussy's Deux Arabesques. They aren't incredibly difficult, but it has a cool feel to it. But, alas, I don't have a sax arrangement for it. Once upon a time Branford Marsalis did a recording with it, but it wasn't just piano and sax. I've got a copy of the piano solo version of it that I am thinking about pulling a sax part from, but...I don't know. I would rather just find an arrangement for it that uses another solo instrument and transpose it over.
I know most of you are Jazz/Pop/etc. guys, but if you know of any challenging pieces, I'd certainly love to hear them!
Today I played my new stuff for about three hours. I'm off for spring break, so it's nice to get some good practice time to myself. Nothing really big and new with my playing, except for the new music stuff. The Eccles piece is very pretty!
If he'd be willing, I think Ken would do a really great job at your main idea! He may be a "beginner," but he certainly seems to be very dedicated, respectful, and thoughtful!
______________________________
A friend of mine is an excellent piano player, and he recently invited me to perform alongside him at a recital. All of the students for his piano instructor will perform at this recital, and for this time only, they are doing "accompaniments." I've been to one previous recital, which was all actual music, and was "blown away" by the skill of these students. The piano teacher is known for only taking the best, and...they truly are incredible.
I do have to admit that after the last recital I went to, I felt slightly out of place. I had gone alone, in support of my friend, and found myself surrounded by musical geniuses. Over 90% of the guests who came to the recital had doctorates, most of them in music related things.
Anyways, so I was very honored to be asked to perform for this coming recital. My friend informs me that usually the soloists that the pianists bring in are very very good classical players. The top student, who is often in competition with my friend, usually brings in a local violinist. I'm rather excited to be playing in the same venue as all of these fine musicians, and am also noting that it is rather good exposure for me. After all, the people I'll be playing for are professors of music at most, if not all, of the colleges in Michigan. And, I think it should be a good experience for me. My public playing is pretty much limited to band concerts, solo and ensemble competitions, and musicals. This sort of lets me stretch my wings a bit and explore.
So, I've been trying to figure out what we should play. The only requirements are that it have a difficult accompaniment, and that it be classical. I'll have to look around for a good piece.
Earlier today, I purchased a few new things to work on for fun. I bought:
"Sonata"-Edvard Moritz
Number 2-Opus 103
"Sonata"-Henri Eccles (arr. Siguard Rascher)
"Sonata XIII"- G. F. Handel (arr. Rascher)
The Moritz looks to be pretty interesting, but also a tad bit modern for the recital performance.
The Eccles is a really beautiful sounding piece, but a bit too "technically easy" for the recital.
I also like the Handel piece. But at the same time, it's all 16th note runs and allegros and such. I like a little Largo thrown in now and then. My biggest strength is my tone, and this really doesn't show that off much.
Two pieces that I think would be really cool to play would be Debussy's Deux Arabesques. They aren't incredibly difficult, but it has a cool feel to it. But, alas, I don't have a sax arrangement for it. Once upon a time Branford Marsalis did a recording with it, but it wasn't just piano and sax. I've got a copy of the piano solo version of it that I am thinking about pulling a sax part from, but...I don't know. I would rather just find an arrangement for it that uses another solo instrument and transpose it over.
I know most of you are Jazz/Pop/etc. guys, but if you know of any challenging pieces, I'd certainly love to hear them!
Today I played my new stuff for about three hours. I'm off for spring break, so it's nice to get some good practice time to myself. Nothing really big and new with my playing, except for the new music stuff. The Eccles piece is very pretty!
