Another piece I recorded as part of an overall progress video that I felt could stand alone on its own. There are a couple of mistakes. I play a wrong note in the bass and the final chord of the last crescendo is a bit fumbled. I've played the dynamics better. But overall, I feel it's a pretty good take. I wasn't planning on getting a perfect take so having this one is a bonus.
This channel inspired me to take up Piano and that's helped give me more appreciation for how impressive your progress is and how much focus you must put into practicing! This is marvelous playing!
Very evenly played. The voicing on the top and the voicing in the bass have a really nice contrast while maintaining very clean even phrasing on both sides. I also like your use of the pedal. You keep things from getting too muddled from overpedaling or holding the pedal too long. You're also playing with a lot less tension in your left hand and wrist which is great! Nice job!
Hello Daniel. You are doing great. I bought a keyboard 3 years ago and have been teaching myself to play at age 64. I started my channel 1 year ago. Some of my oldest videos are my best. 🎹
WoW, really enjoyed seeing your channel, Daniel ! This is exàctly how I encourage all my students (especially the professional students) to study piano, and learn from their òwn playing. And to better their ears albeit. I'm so amazed, every time again, that 99% of them just don't even hàve their own UA-cam-channel...that I have to explain to them that they have to do just what you here so superbly are practicing. Now, with your channel in mind, as an example, I have something to show them: "look, thís is what I mean!". So thanks for that! It's very inspiring to see you so honestly and openly work here on all these pieces, to see the development and all the work that goes with it. Really well done 👍🏻👍🏻🎹. If I may ask you a blunt question: is there a particular reason that you don't have a real, acoustic piano? My experience, also with my own students, is that they really make huge steps forward as soon as they can play and practice on a real, that is: acoustic piano...so that their sense of touch, phrasing, all kinds of subtle pedaling techniques, sound, ears, nuances, color, are improving significantly, and their level is audibly clearly getting better. Seeing all your different vids, and the great variety of styles, and your very well done serious and musically authentic intention of understanding and mastering a piece, I honestly and humbly suggest it will really benefit your development! 👍🏻 Kind regards, greetings from The Netherlands! Simon 🎹
Thanks. There are several reasons why I don't have a real piano: 1. I bought this piano after my first year of playing. This was a significant upgrade at the time, but at that point, I still wasn't sure how committed I was to playing the piano long-term. 2. At the time when I bought the piano I was practising during unsociable hours, so I wanted a means of practising without bothering my family. 3. I wanted some of the digital features for recording progress. This Kawai can record MP3s using the rendering engine. Beforehand recording on my Roland was always a pain. I would end up recording MIDI and then exporting a different sound altogether. I wanted to avoid that. Now, I just use the line out, but being digital still helps get a clean audio track. But I also have some nice mics now, so if I wanted to record using those I could, there is just no point on the digital. 4. The big one. Price. The Kawai was expensive but was still cheaper than real pianos. Given my budget at the time I would rather have a best-in-class digital, than a mediocre/poor acoustic. I've been playing for 3 and a half years now. And to be honest, it's only now I feel a digital piano is starting to hold me back, and even then, it's only a little bit. But today I was discussing with my piano teacher about getting an actual piano. So who knows, maybe it won't be too long until I have an actual piano to play on.
@@DanielLearnsPiano thanks for your long answer! And I can totally see where you are, at that. Still, I think you will really feel and experience the enormous possibilities of an acoustic piano, when you actually have one in your own home, to be able to use all the time 👍🏻🎹 About price: yes, acoustic can be expensive. The good news is: the real beautiful ones are usually secondhand! :-) 👍🏻🎹 so, the chance to find a good sounding, technically well playing upright piano is rather big: in my experience in the average but good piano shop here in the Netherlands, you can (with some luck) find a brown second hand good (preferably west European) piano from the '70s or 80's between 1500 and 3500€. Yes, luck is an important factor, but still! :) Good luck, and good luck also with your channel and your piano skills!! Really well done 👍🏻🎹 Kind regards, greetings from the Netherlands, Simon
Been following you for a while now and wow, you have progressed so much, I'm really impressed! Finding a good teacher and putting those hours in are coming into fruition here. Phrasing and dynamics are coming alive and even your wrists are being used more, in addition to having become less stiff (something I'm working on every single time I practise). Hope you don't mind me saying this and I'm sure your teacher has told you this but from my perspective you could put even a little more arm weight into the keys. Also, you could let your wrists become fully loose when lifting off of the keys, having your hands fully relax and drop. Difficult to judge just from videos, however it seemed as though your shoulders had been a tiny bit stiff and you were leaning a bit too far forward (this causes your arms and shoulders to work more and become tense). Don't know if you do this already but shaking out your arms and doing some minor relaxation excecises for a minute or two before practise has helped me a lot with this. After I played for a year and a half (started as a 25 year old) I injured my tendons and had to stop playing for 3 years. I'm currently easing back into it though I still get pain sometimes. Therefore, the topic is really important and as a bonus these things massively improve the ability to phrase as well! Wish you all the best for your future progress and thx for motivating me on my own journey!!
Another piece I recorded as part of an overall progress video that I felt could stand alone on its own. There are a couple of mistakes. I play a wrong note in the bass and the final chord of the last crescendo is a bit fumbled. I've played the dynamics better. But overall, I feel it's a pretty good take. I wasn't planning on getting a perfect take so having this one is a bonus.
Excellent! Such great progress! 😊
Very cool! The pieces start sounding like real listenable pieces.
Yeah, getting there. I think Grade 5 is where that really kicks in.
Such a lovely cantabile touch in the right hand on this one!
Thanks.
This channel inspired me to take up Piano and that's helped give me more appreciation for how impressive your progress is and how much focus you must put into practicing!
This is marvelous playing!
That’s very kind. How long have you been playing now?
Relaxing piece played with nice dynamics !
Very evenly played. The voicing on the top and the voicing in the bass have a really nice contrast while maintaining very clean even phrasing on both sides. I also like your use of the pedal. You keep things from getting too muddled from overpedaling or holding the pedal too long. You're also playing with a lot less tension in your left hand and wrist which is great! Nice job!
Very good job of making the RH sound clearly above the LH but still have lots of dynamic shaping, not easy
Thanks. It’s all down to my teacher. She makes me do it.
Hello Daniel. You are doing great. I bought a keyboard 3 years ago and have been teaching myself to play at age 64. I started my channel 1 year ago. Some of my oldest videos are my best. 🎹
Beautifully applied dynamics
Thanks a lot 😊
Love this song. I also played this ❤
WoW, really enjoyed seeing your channel, Daniel ! This is exàctly how I encourage all my students (especially the professional students) to study piano, and learn from their òwn playing. And to better their ears albeit. I'm so amazed, every time again, that 99% of them just don't even hàve their own UA-cam-channel...that I have to explain to them that they have to do just what you here so superbly are practicing. Now, with your channel in mind, as an example, I have something to show them: "look, thís is what I mean!". So thanks for that! It's very inspiring to see you so honestly and openly work here on all these pieces, to see the development and all the work that goes with it. Really well done 👍🏻👍🏻🎹.
If I may ask you a blunt question: is there a particular reason that you don't have a real, acoustic piano? My experience, also with my own students, is that they really make huge steps forward as soon as they can play and practice on a real, that is: acoustic piano...so that their sense of touch, phrasing, all kinds of subtle pedaling techniques, sound, ears, nuances, color, are improving significantly, and their level is audibly clearly getting better. Seeing all your different vids, and the great variety of styles, and your very well done serious and musically authentic intention of understanding and mastering a piece, I honestly and humbly suggest it will really benefit your development! 👍🏻
Kind regards, greetings from The Netherlands! Simon 🎹
Thanks. There are several reasons why I don't have a real piano:
1. I bought this piano after my first year of playing. This was a significant upgrade at the time, but at that point, I still wasn't sure how committed I was to playing the piano long-term.
2. At the time when I bought the piano I was practising during unsociable hours, so I wanted a means of practising without bothering my family.
3. I wanted some of the digital features for recording progress. This Kawai can record MP3s using the rendering engine. Beforehand recording on my Roland was always a pain. I would end up recording MIDI and then exporting a different sound altogether. I wanted to avoid that. Now, I just use the line out, but being digital still helps get a clean audio track. But I also have some nice mics now, so if I wanted to record using those I could, there is just no point on the digital.
4. The big one. Price. The Kawai was expensive but was still cheaper than real pianos. Given my budget at the time I would rather have a best-in-class digital, than a mediocre/poor acoustic.
I've been playing for 3 and a half years now. And to be honest, it's only now I feel a digital piano is starting to hold me back, and even then, it's only a little bit. But today I was discussing with my piano teacher about getting an actual piano. So who knows, maybe it won't be too long until I have an actual piano to play on.
@@DanielLearnsPiano thanks for your long answer! And I can totally see where you are, at that.
Still, I think you will really feel and experience the enormous possibilities of an acoustic piano, when you actually have one in your own home, to be able to use all the time 👍🏻🎹
About price: yes, acoustic can be expensive. The good news is: the real beautiful ones are usually secondhand! :-) 👍🏻🎹 so, the chance to find a good sounding, technically well playing upright piano is rather big: in my experience in the average but good piano shop here in the Netherlands, you can (with some luck) find a brown second hand good (preferably west European) piano from the '70s or 80's between 1500 and 3500€. Yes, luck is an important factor, but still! :)
Good luck, and good luck also with your channel and your piano skills!! Really well done 👍🏻🎹
Kind regards, greetings from the Netherlands, Simon
Been following you for a while now and wow, you have progressed so much, I'm really impressed! Finding a good teacher and putting those hours in are coming into fruition here. Phrasing and dynamics are coming alive and even your wrists are being used more, in addition to having become less stiff (something I'm working on every single time I practise).
Hope you don't mind me saying this and I'm sure your teacher has told you this but from my perspective you could put even a little more arm weight into the keys. Also, you could let your wrists become fully loose when lifting off of the keys, having your hands fully relax and drop. Difficult to judge just from videos, however it seemed as though your shoulders had been a tiny bit stiff and you were leaning a bit too far forward (this causes your arms and shoulders to work more and become tense). Don't know if you do this already but shaking out your arms and doing some minor relaxation excecises for a minute or two before practise has helped me a lot with this. After I played for a year and a half (started as a 25 year old) I injured my tendons and had to stop playing for 3 years. I'm currently easing back into it though I still get pain sometimes. Therefore, the topic is really important and as a bonus these things massively improve the ability to phrase as well! Wish you all the best for your future progress and thx for motivating me on my own journey!!