Andrew's Performances (go to the last page to find the newest videos)

I thought I'd start this new category off! Although, I'm sure most of you have probably seen my performances already hey? lol Ah well maybe you haven't?

Here's my OLDEST performance, digging WAY way back into a time long ago when i was in grade 8 piano. My brother told me to be as crazy as possible, and since I was on a sugar/chocolate high, i listened and this was the result!

Another performance

On a laptop webcam, so the sound in it is sort of deciving...it sounds like i'm playing REALLY REALLY loud. My FF's sound like FFFF and my PP sounds like MF

The next one is wonderful! I love this song actually...It's probably one of the very few 20th century pieces i like:)

If you'd like to see more of my performances ^_^ you can just go to this link...My performances!

clap clap clap and bow

where's your smoking suit and bow tie?

and ... where's my chocolate? If that were the secret of your great playing... by now I should be recording in a studio LOL

Chocolate ROCKS!!!

Casyopea wrote:clap clap clap and bow

where's your smoking suit and bow tie?

and ... where's my chocolate? If that were the secret of your great playing... by now I should be recording in a studio LOL

Chocolate ROCKS!!!

lol chocolate isn't the secret to great playing! It just give you the energy needed to do embaressing things

Really well played Like it alot. Guess it takes a lot of effort, and quite som diciplin So its a great achevement what you have done

Here's a few more videos I just finished last night. All this posting on the forum inspired me to record a few easy songs that wouldn't take any work at all to do!

The first one here is Duet for One ^_^

The next one here is Song of Twilight ^_^ If you check out the video discription on youtube it'll talk a bit more about it.

Here's My first ever Improvisation as well, I just hit record and did whatever came to me. It wasn't exactly as good as I would've hoped but let me know what you guys think.

In the intro I sat there, waching you hit thos two keys over and over, and thinking
- Aaaah, it sure is tru you never improvised

But of course I knew that it was just the start of your grand intro, witch turned out really Grand Damn! And the end in the same spirit, thats awsome

And Then the fun can begin. I liked it alot Can defenently see that you are a Very skilled pianoplayer. And the way you move around the piano is great to look at Good performance! =) But as you say its a new field for you, to improvise.

One guy that is Really good at improvising, is this guy. Take a look if you wish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXsRFbBZ9ek

[quote="Admin Andrew"]Here's a few more videos I just finished last night. All this posting on the forum inspired me to record a few easy songs that wouldn't take any work at all to do!

The first one here is Duet for One ^_^
I really liked it Can I have the sheet music for that? Im collecting nice and easy piece ( and many more )

I am probably little tired... but I did not exactly understood when you tried to explain the duet hand part. Sorry.
I hope that if I watch it again I will be enlighted

That improw actually sounded quite Egyptian at the start before you really take the rage out, blaming the piano ( poor piano, that must hurt ).

At 3:30 I get the Egyptian feel again.

I definitly think you shall improvise more, not because you're bad, because you're good.
Would love to see more improws from you... I really like that angry part.

Admin Andrew wrote:Here's My first ever Improvisation as well, I just hit record and did whatever came to me. It wasn't exactly as good as I would've hoped but let me know what you guys think.

There was only one thing in my mind when you challanged yourself... Im not exactly sure how other play these improvizations but if I think correctly they create a song as an improvization and then play it a couple of times to create an actual song... but you went right to recording... so that is a huge courage, I think that makes it a lot harder.

The first part like Thomas said was interesting with the 2 notes but then you went right to strong emotional, powerful playing WOOOOW. I liked how you created a kind of symmetry with repeating a part from this forte part at the end making a frame to your improv.
No doubt you know your piano Thanks for creating this for us

VictorCS wrote:That improw actually sounded quite Egyptian at the start before you really take the rage out, blaming the piano ( poor piano, that must hurt ).

At 3:30 I get the Egyptian feel again.

I definitly think you shall improvise more, not because you're bad, because you're good.
Would love to see more improws from you... I really like that angry part.

Hey! I'm glad you liked it ^_^ Maybe I'll do more in the future! It was pretty fun actually ^_^

maggiekedves wrote:
There was only one thing in my mind when you challanged yourself... Im not exactly sure how other play these improvizations but if I think correctly they create a song as an improvization and then play it a couple of times to create an actual song... but you went right to recording... so that is a huge courage, I think that makes it a lot harder.

The first part like Thomas said was interesting with the 2 notes but then you went right to strong emotional, powerful playing WOOOOW. I liked how you created a kind of symmetry with repeating a part from this forte part at the end making a frame to your improv.
No doubt you know your piano Thanks for creating this for us

Wow! what a detailed breakdown you've given me!! Thanks SOO much ^_^ It's encouraging to hear those words as I think I suck at improvising! I'm really glad you liked it! I was a bit nervous when I decided I was going to try! But i'm glad I did it now

Admin Andrew wrote:

Wow! what a detailed breakdown you've given me!! Thanks SOO much ^_^ It's encouraging to hear those words as I think I suck at improvising! I'm really glad you liked it! I was a bit nervous when I decided I was going to try! But i'm glad I did it now

Just like I told you... practising before must be the key. I bet if you would play a little improvization before and you would get the idea what you would like to play and how it would sound, your improvization would be more organized so you could accept it. I know your experiences with perfect pieces make you feel like yours what not perfect or something like that... but you have the skills to blow away lot of amateur improvs.

And we are sure glad you did post it

maggiekedves wrote:

Admin Andrew wrote:

Wow! what a detailed breakdown you've given me!! Thanks SOO much ^_^ It's encouraging to hear those words as I think I suck at improvising! I'm really glad you liked it! I was a bit nervous when I decided I was going to try! But i'm glad I did it now

Just like I told you... practising before must be the key. I bet if you would play a little improvization before and you would get the idea what you would like to play and how it would sound, your improvization would be more organized so you could accept it. I know your experiences with perfect pieces make you feel like yours what not perfect or something like that... but you have the skills to blow away lot of amateur improvs.

And we are sure glad you did post it

aww thank you! ^_^ I think I'll try more in the future! thank you for the encouragment i'm really glad people like it

Great! I really loved your improv. What I really like about improvising in general is not just how it might sound, but the great feeling of freedom you get when you set to it, and those favourite chunks that just click in your head and heart and can become the main motif of a new tune. And that Song of Twilight... just got to get that score!!!



Thanks a lot!

So am I the only one thats not so interested in improvising??
I guess I want to be really good first, so that when I improvise, I can actually create somthing Now when i try its BORING and of key, unsless I just stick to one key :s

Holy! That was nice Andrew The part where you bashed the piano egyptian style was awesome! =}

I've just watched the video on youtube and left a little comment, but thought I'd elaborate further here.

First of, I must say that while this was very well executed, it was not improvisation...it was Real-Time Composing!

I'll proceed to explain my point of view. Like maggie mentioned, and you Andrew also mention in the beggining, you have always "simply" played elaborate pieces, someone else toke the effort creating once, through your entire piano life. So everytime you sat at the piano (excluding exercising) you always had, not only a well defined goal to achieve, but also aid in the form of a sheet paper telling the path you needed to follow to achieve such goal.

Therefore, you are unfamiliar with the sitting at the piano without this goal and aid. And when you did, staring at the piano keys, suddently it's like a void, infinity of space, with nothing within reach for those few seconds...so then you dare, you hit a key, like taking a baby step into the emptyness, as if a proof of faith [1], and as you progress, time and space begin to warp, and you start to create your own road into the vastitude of space, with no limits but your imagination[2]!

And so it was, a bold try, and quite sucessful one. Of course, besides all the etheral narration above, there are tangible aspects one could comment.

Like the two-key hitting mentioned already, and how you try to create a motif and the way you came back to it at the end, which I believe, are all related to what I've already mentioned above regarding your piano lifetime piece playing and lack of improv habits.

Hence my saying it was not a improv, but a composition, because, I believe that was what you where trying to do, throughout the whole play, to conceive a piece in real-time, that sounded good, using your knowledge and technical proficiency

I think that improv is possible quite related to the blues/jazz genre, also being possible to add it to other genres, like pop/rock, where one can deliberatly elaborate randomly in a song part, while still maintaining some kind of central reference to the song's theme.

Just don't be afraid of the piano Andrew[3]!

My 2(long)cents

Also, refeering to something maggie said about pre-practising until you come up with "something" to work with, that's really also composing!

[1]-See Indiana Jones and The Holy Graal movie, near the end where one needs to leap into an abysm!
[2]-And stamina
[3]-Here it looks like I'm the expert giving piano advice to the novice hehe

so yea.. improvising.. this is... way out of my league.. actually everything is.. so i will just sit in my corner and just watch these vids.. my knowledge is not good enof to suggest anything.. so hurrah hurrah gj Andrew

g0tfish wrote:so yea.. improvising.. this is... way out of my league.. actually everything is.. so i will just sit in my corner and just watch these vids.. my knowledge is not good enof to suggest anything.. so hurrah hurrah gj Andrew

Hey no worries you don't need to suggest anything, just a simple pat on the back is great!!! We're all here to learn You might not think so, but I've learned stuff from being here on the forum, I've learned practise habits of people i've learned different personalities and where people are at, and what they think of my lessons, also what would be valuable to them. I'm really happy I decided to have a forum! ^_^ My point is, we all learn from eachother that's what a community does

Admin Andrew wrote:

g0tfish wrote:so yea.. improvising.. this is... way out of my league.. actually everything is.. so i will just sit in my corner and just watch these vids.. my knowledge is not good enof to suggest anything.. so hurrah hurrah gj Andrew

Hey no worries you don't need to suggest anything, just a simple pat on the back is great!!! We're all here to learn You might not think so, but I've learned stuff from being here on the forum, I've learned practise habits of people i've learned different personalities and where people are at, and what they think of my lessons, also what would be valuable to them. I'm really happy I decided to have a forum! ^_^ My point is, we all learn from eachother that's what a community does

Well put Andrew We all learn something from eachother. But it must be said, that you are the one teaching away most of the knowledge around here And I hope you see how many people you satiesfie* This forum has become the main source for my motivation to practice even harder. And constuctive critic that I wouldnt have gotten elsewhere. Its just Perfect, everything

From one thing to another, you said you had to get of your lazy a** and start learning Chopins; Fantasy!
So I guess that will be the next performance you post??????? Yeah, com on, you are to fond of sleep. Get on with it, we'll for you