Can you play Spinach Rag for me?

Speaking of 'rag', have you ever considered playing any Joplin pieces or is the ragtime genre not your thing?

which is harder chopin or liszt

Vladimir Horowitz....

Also, Dr. John.... Art Tatum...

... and not for his technique, but for his music -- Thelonius Monk. And Fats Waller for his music and humor. I also like Sunnyland Slim, for blues piano. And Tom Waits for his style and writing.... yeh, I know they're not classical, but had to mention.

But Vladimir Horowitz is the man. Heard him 2 or 3 times in Ann Arbor Michigan. Not only could he play amazing, powerful pieces (Rach 3, etc. -- though that I've only heard in recordings), but when he played Schumann's 'Traumerei' (sp?), somehow even the two opening notes -- just a simple interval, just a fourth -- were miraculous and beautiful. He flowed right into the piano. And I believe I heard him play the "Stars & Stripes Forever" transcription live too....

Vlad's the man.

insect_sister
new to this forum but reading away

Oh yeh, and Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner were no slouches either... and I've enjoyed Dave Brubeck from time to time...

I can play the drink milk love life song.... & its very slow! but my GF playes... & I always have a fond ear to the piano... I always ask her to play songs but me, I personally like songs that she has created rather then her do a cover song... same with me playing guitar, I would rather play my own than rip off someones song; not like its much of a rip off!

One of my favorite pianists is Murray Perahia. His interpretations are almost always very lyrical and sensitive. Horowitz was great as well but I thought most of his recordings were very bangy and percussive. However, he has had some very wonderful moments though certainly deserves to be well recognized.

i would say my favourite pianist at the moment is Vladimir Horowitz.
I change my taste all the time...
it really depends on who's works the pianists are playing.
they each have different style so it's pretty hard to tell who you like the best.

By the way i just got a question here...
anyone know how hard is it to play Chopin Nocturne op.48 no.1?
What level would this piece be rank at?

Not as hard as you think. Why don't you give it a try?

On the whole, Liszt is usually much more difficult than Chopin e.g. Symphonic Transcriptions, the earlier versions of the Transcendental Etudes and Paganini etudes.

Another question! I only recently started going to live classical music concerts and I was wondering.. is it common practice for a pianist who is playing in a concert or even in a recital to play with sheet music in front of them?

It depends. It's not unheard of. Especially if he is playing with a chamber ensemble.

Fair enough. What about in a competition? Would adjudicators deduct marks from you for having sheet music there? I was always lead to believe that looking at sheet music was a sign of lack of preparation on the pianist's behalf.

thanks, i did played it through a few times....
but dunno if my teacher will let me learn it so i want to know how difficult this piece is, and if it's possible for me to ask him to teach me this piece.
So any ideas or what grade you would place this piece (chopin Nocturne op48 no.1) in?

The music is all that matters. If you play well, I don't see why it would matter. Generally, if you don't know the piece, you won't play it well, though.


I've never really understood the grading system. If you've got big hands, it shouldn't be a problem for you. If not, hopefully you're good at jumps and broken chords.

lol i think i have alright length hands...not very big but better than most other people in my gender =P
i guess i'll ask my teacher after i've done my assessment and see what he says about it.
thanks a lot

I have a question. On the sheets for certain songs, such as Gackt's "blue", and "Brave new heart" from Leaf piano collection (which I believe was actually transcribed by face) it seems that you have to play three different parts at the same time. Is it actually possible for one person to play this on their own?

It depends. If the 3rd line's print is smaller than it is meant for a 2nd person. However if all 3 are the same size and there is no indication that a 2nd person is needed then all 3 should be played by one person. A few examples of pieces with 3 lines are the Prokofiev 2nd's 1st movement cadenza and the first time the main theme is played in the Mazeppa Etude.

It is possible and having 3 lines makes it easier to read most of the time. They do that because if they put all the notes in just 2 lines then it would be too cluttered.

wait until you set your eye on Rach's 3rd prelude :D it has 4 LINES!!! :lolsign:

Anywho the above answer is probebly the right one however if it does ever occur having 3 lines all the same size without defining a second person or what so ever, it's probebly spaced out proprely so you don't need to be mutated into 3 hands to play.

But since you DID say Gackt (being a band and all), the top line is probebly the melody (singing?) and the bottom two would be the piano accompaniment to the song.

Depends on the adjudicator - sometimes they will sometimes they won't; the best thing to determine this is to sit in a few of their adjudications and see how they mark and what they like to emphasize on (style, technique, difficulty etc) before you get to your "class" for adjudication. For some people, the sheet music might actualy distract the performer in being focused into the page instead of style (depending on your piece really because it's nice to have it there if you're doing a Bach prelude per say) and for others it's sort of a security blanket that makes them less nervous. But since you're asking for an adjudication specificaly, it really depends how they like to mark or if they're given a bench mark of some sort then check into that (ie. exam sessions are likely to deduct you marks for unmemorized pieces however may let you use the sheet music for study pieces etc)

^ Ah ok, it makes sense now.

I'm pretty sure the Gackt song "blue" has no singing.
I don't even really like it, I was just trying to think of examples...

Anyway, thank you both for your help!

does anyone know that if there's any differences between these two pieces
or are they the same (it's by Mendelssohn)
"Andante & Rondo Caprricio" and "Rondo Caprricio"

They're both the same. Mendelssohn's famous Rondo Capriccioso starts with an andante section.

thanks Minion
now i get it =)
By the way do you think this rondo capriccio by Mendelssohn is harder or chopin's nocturne op27 no2, Schumann's Faschingsschwank aus Wien or Khachaturian's toccata?
Out of the four which one do you reckon is the hardest to learn and perform?

Well, I hate Schumann, so I'm gonna ignore that one. Definitely not the nocturne. Probably the Rondo is the most difficult to play well (pay special attention to the articulation).

I like the Rondo Capriccio the best out of all the recommended pieces i got given...but guess my teacher doesn't want me to play it yet....(but he was the one who recommended the piece to me and then 2 days later he regreted) =(
The schumann one i only the intermezzo part...
Chopin sounds okay...but apparently my piano teacher really wants me to play Khachaturian's toccata or the Schumann one.
I was thinking picking one from either Debussy's Pour le Piano, Chopin Nocturne or Mendelssohn's Rondo....

try some Debussy :) you just might like it! (some of them does sound sketchy for me... oh impressionists :p )

I'm don't think I recall how that Schumann song looks like but most of his pieces are for BIG HANDS (ie. reach a 10th mind you T__T ...)