LINK: as requested to view the videos, please use this link.
A few people have asked me to share a video of myself playing the piano.
The truth is, I feel like I look weird when I play, because I don’t stay still. I feel the music and I tend to sway as if I’m stimming, and maybe that’s exactly what it is. The music moves me and the body can’t help but follow.
I decided to take the sound of me playing and overlay it with a video from my flight home from Vegas. BTW, it’s a very short video.
I am playing Prelude No. 12 in G Minor, it ain’t Piano Concerto no.2 op.18 (Rachmaninoff), haha, but you get the gist of it. Now fair warning, my piano needs to be tuned badly and I’m rusty since I haven’t played in a minute. TBH, my Austrian piano teacher would be appalled at how terrible I sound and disgusted that I’m posting it online. I’m not happy with how it turned out but I also don’t have time to practice more at the moment and decided to record my first and last attempt (for now). This is actually the part where I’m supposed to decrescendo and ritardando. Also, you can hear me turning the page while I’m playing because I no longer had this memorized because it’s been replaced in my brain with other trivial things… like work stuff.
For reference, here’s Dr. Alan Huckleberry playing beautifully. This piece is classified as IMTA (Indiana Music Teachers Association, every state has their different levels) C2 level, which falls between intermediate and advanced.
I ended my piano studies at level nine out of eleven on the comprehensive piano exams. That meant being tested on interpretation of memorized pieces, stylistic understanding of Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, and Contemporary work, plus sight playing and oral questions. I also reached level five in music theory exams, which involved analytical written, aural, and functional keyboard skills—like transposing, harmonizing and sight-reading.
On top of that, there were the annual piano contests under the Young Artists category, as well as my teacher’s own yearly recitals, where her students would showcase what they’ve been working on. I never participated in the student composition contest or the challenge award, but piano was still a huge part of my life for many years.
Leave a Reply to ZenithCancel reply