Piano, finally

Welcome to episode 108 of "Piano, finally". This week, David explores the idea that it is sometimes better to go into something with as little information as possible, sharing how not knowing what to expect can add to the enjoyment. He recounts a great evening at a Bryn Terfel masterclass at the Opera House, and praises the energy of the final-year student theatre performance "Brand: Youself" at the University of Wollongong.
In this week's YouTube piano theory roundup, it seems content creators are subconsciously agreeing to talk about chords.
The Keys Coach explains adding passing chords and the 5-before method, using contrary motion to unify the progression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLsEXle2j9k
Guy Michelmore explores borrowed chords from the natural minor scale, turning out a short orchestral piece in Cubase in just a few minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Yjw2vKEbA
Piano with Melanie demonstrates filling out chord progressions in D major, keeping a static right hand while adding rhythm and notes step-by-step. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFgx63vxG4
The essay, Don't Read Ahead, dives deeper into why expecting the best of yourself while dropping expectations for everything else can prevent frustration. David shares how going in blind enhanced his experiences with the Australian Queer Orchestra, the film "Cocoon", and the Bell Shakespeare musical "Mackenzie"(https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/mackenzie). This philosophy also applies to saying "Yes" to new opportunities, like joining the Belong choir and participating in Devi's piano recital.
For practice, David applies Bryn Terfel's masterclass advice to "Breathe when you need to". He notes that letting the hands rest and process is crucial when repeatedly stumbling over the staccato/legato sections of "Trumpet Tune".
A quick housekeeping note: there will be no show next weekend due to school exams, choir rehearsal, and a Year 9 camp, with the next episode planned for 15 November. Also, earlybird pricing for the Blue Mountains Music Festival is ending soon.
Finally, with the recital four weeks away, practice is strictly focused on "Trumpet Tune" and "A Wild Chase", leaving "Hallelujah" for later.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but the show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

Welcome to show 107 of Piano, finally. This week's show title, Hands Together, has a double meaning: it refers to playing the piano properly and people collaborating to make music. I managed to get the show done before leaving for the St Vincent de Paul van on Sunday evening, following some weather-related plan changes. I successfully completed every scheduled practice this week, largely because putting the Montage in a really easy-to-sit-at place has made a difference. The repair place still hasn't called back about the keyboard.
What's been playing: I caught up with a few YouTube creators this week. Pierre Piscitelli has a video on how to play Pink Floyd's The Great Gig In The Sky, breaking down the opening so you can build up gradually.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pK3Z-WtDus Piano with Melanie has a tutorial on Pachelbel's Canon in D, moving from root position chords to inversions and showing how to do simple improvisations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nBTVdgaZfs Sam Gutman has a video covering the demise of the keyboard company Roli and the problems that has caused for customers. https://www.youtube.com/@SamGutman
Essay - Hands Together: I have been exploring the difficulty involved in playing hands together, comparing the traditional approach of learning hands separately to starting with both hands simultaneously. I initially thought my touch-typing speed would make playing simple, but the QWERTY layout was designed to slow typists down to one key at a time, which isn't what we want at the piano keyboard. I am currently working on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, using Matthew Cawood's suggestion to classify each moment into left hand only, right hand only, or both hands together. Since multitasking is a myth, the key to playing hands together might just be getting better at chords, scales, and arpeggios independently to reduce cognitive load.
Learning - What's new: Adlib Music had a 20% off sale on all AMEB books running until 27 October, so I purchased the Grade One and Two books for Musical Theatre and Singing. My piano practice this week focused heavily on getting both hands working together, particularly on Hallelujah. Devi gave me a trick for the tricky middle section of Wild Chase: pencilling in the chords so I just have to remember the order. Trumpet Tune is still proving tricky around the staccato/legato section.
Closing: I won't be at the extra bass section rehearsal this Tuesday because I have a ticket to see Bryn Terfel's masterclass at the Opera House. I expect to have an episode out next weekend, but probably not the week after due to Year 9 camp and end-of-year exam marking. Email me at david@pianofinally.show or visit the website at www.pianofinally.show. This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungarra peoples, land that always was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land.
Progress This week features bars 9 to 16 of Wild Chase, all of Trumpet Tune (focusing on bars 3 and 4), and the first four bars of Hallelujah. I recorded all the music directly from the Yamaha Montage M8x via USB audio to an M4 Max MacBook Pro running Cubase 15.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but the show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

Welcome to show 106 of Piano, finally. Have you ever thought about all the things that go into making a musical performance that aren't the music itself? This week, we explore the behind-the-scenes work that makes music happen, from setting up choir risers to baking a cake for a piano recital.
What's been playing School is back for the final term of the year, and so piano and voice lessons have both started back up. For Devi's piano recital on 28 November, I've selected The Trumpet Tune and Wild Chase, with a possible addition of Leonard Cohen's Alleluia from the Rockschool Keys book. For my solo voice piece with Sussane, we've decided on Fireflies by Adam Young, dropped an octave so it goes from B♭2 to B♭3, which is quite comfortable.
Essay - Music Background Music doesn't happen in a vacuum. Beyond the singing notes, there is much more of the behind-the-scenes required for a successful performance. For our choir, that means around seventy-five hours of in-person rehearsal for each concert, plus the physical work of assembling and disassembling risers. If you are part of a larger group, stepping up to do these background tasks is just as important as diligently learning your parts. Even bringing a plate of food to a recital helps make the whole experience for everyone a little more enjoyable. Step up and lend a hand, in the end every little bit helps.
Learning - What's new Bill Hilton has put together a comprehensive list of resources for early adult learners for his Patreon subscribers: The Great Big Piano Beginner Resource List. It includes beginner method books, sight-reading practice books, and technical exercise books suggested by other members.https://www.patreon.com/cw/billhilton/membership
I also used SpectraLayers 13 to do stem separation on the practice tracks for Fireflies, transposing the vocal part down by an octave.
On YouTube, Matthew Cawood has a video looking at the theory behind learning music theory, demonstrating why understanding cadences and chord progressions makes learning the playing more effective:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkq2whf6q4
Adam over at The Keys Coach has a guide to 7th chords, sketching out a graphical system for working them out:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID3HrK OZCA
And Tom Donald at the London Contemporary School of Piano is tackling chord progressions:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0F-i63cSBU
Closing It is unlikely that there will be a show next week, as I am helping with the St Vincent de Paul van in western Sydney. If you'd like to contact me, email david@pianofinally.show or visit www.pianofinally.show. This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungarra peoples, land that is, was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

G'day, everyone! Welcome to show 105 of Piano, finally, a podcast by an old bloke who is discovering music because he got around to learning the piano, finally.
This week, we're diving into the world of adaptations. It's easy to just go along with the flow of mass-produced stuff, but often the most satisfying path is throwing out those standard offerings and going your own way. We'll look at how we adapt music, and how we adapt our setups to get our practices just the way we want them.
What's Been Playing: I've spent a lot of time exploring the Montage M synthesiser. If you have one, or are thinking of getting a Montage or MODX keyboard, Keir Darby's video series, Montage M Demystified, is a really valuable resource. I also highly recommend checking out a video from Woody over at Woody's Piano Shack. He got a chance to play a real CFX—Yamaha's top-of-the-line concert grand piano—and talk with a piano technician. It's a beautiful instrument, which is good considering a CFX in Australia costs around a quarter of a million dollars! Watch Woody's CFX video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVveFcY2Uqo
Essay - Adaptations. Adaptations have long been a part of music. Sometimes it's taking a piece written for three violins and basso continuo, like Pachelbel's Canon, and turning it into a staple of the piano repertoire. In my choir, not one piece of our repertoire was originally written for a choir; they are all adapted from single-voice songs. Being in the bass section means we often get stuck with the root notes and the rhythm—there are a lot of pum-rapa-pum-pums in the ABBA song Fernando—but it makes those times we get an important part of the song even more special.
My playing has also led me to adapt my music furniture. Because the Montage is a stage keyboard, it doesn't have speakers or a music stand. So, I got out the CAD software and used my 3D printer to over-engineer a pair of small shelves that clamp to my Liquid Stands frame to hold my Adam D3V speakers. I also designed two interchangeable music stands that fit above the keyboard. Adaptations give us a way of making one-size-fits-all designs into truly personal pieces!
Learning - What's New: The singing lessons are showing results! We performed Ain't No Mountain High Enough this weekend, and I found I could get through it quite comfortably and sound pretty reasonable, even on the higher notes.
On the keyboard front, I've adopted the Rockschool syllabus from RSL Awards for some more contemporary music practice. I picked up the Grade 1 Keyboard and Grade 1 Voice books online, which include great backing tracks. Check out Rockschool here: https://rockschool.io/
I'm also doing the next lesson in Guy Michelmore's melody writing course, and getting reacquainted with Mathematica to make some diagrams for the new Physics course.
Closing: The rain went away, and the weather turned lovely for our performance at the Parramatta Pride Picnic. It was a fun performance, and the audience seemed to enjoy it!
Looking ahead, I'm not sure if there will be a show next week, as the choir has been invited to sing at a memorial service for our founder. The following week I am doing the St Vincent de Paul van on Sunday evening, which will mean no show on the 25th.
If you'd like to contact me, the email is david@pianofinally.show, and the website is www.pianofinally.show. Let me know where you are in your journey, what's going well, and what the challenges are!
This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungarra peoples, land that always was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening to the podcast.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

G'day, everyone. Welcome to show number one hundred and four of Piano, finally. Let's see if I can get everything right this week!
Welcome, I share some thoughts on renewing my Sydney Symphony Orchestra subscription and provide an update on the choir's progress for our December concert. We've got the repertoire sorted, and thankfully Sweet Disposition is reserved for the Perth festival, so I get a pass on that bass part! Also, a quick reminder that early-bird tickets for the 30th Blue Mountains Music Festival are available until mid-November: https://www.bmff.org.au/
What's been playing I have been enjoying Daniel Thrasher's fun classical pieces (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gStpYu84aRQ), a brilliant one-take cover of Pink Floyd's Money by sina-drums at Abbey Road Studios (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMuG3XoOw0l), and Pierre Piscitelli's fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how he makes his videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSYpQPZH43s).
Essay - On Paper: This week, I explore my approaches to using sheet music, and whether it is better on paper or digitally.I share my current setup, which involves some very nice Blackwing pencils (https://thesydneyartstore.com.au/collections/graphite/products/palomino-blackwing-soft-graphite) for paper scores, and a 13" iPad Pro running Newzik for digital scores.[cite: 4, 5] While digital is incredibly convenient for syncing finger numbers and annotations across devices, paper still has its place.[cite: 5, 6] Electronics will never replace browsing through Sappho Books (https://www.sapphobooks.com.au/) or DaCapo (https://www.dacapo.com.au/). Let's embrace both!
Learning - What's new: I've got the new practice space set up, placing the Yamaha Montage M8x in a spot where it gets played numerous times a day.[cite: 6, 7] I'm slowly but steadily working on Pierre Piscitelli's tutorial for Candle in the Wind. I'm also preparing to dive into Guy Michelmore's new course on Harmony.
Closing & Progress I'll be taking the Montage to the repairer to get the broken knob fixed. We also have a choir performance at the Parramatta Pride Picnic coming up. Finally, I share my progress with the Montage, experimenting with the opening of Candle in the Wind and the Trumpet Tune.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.