#davidspianoclips

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Here is a teeny tiny section of Chopin’s E minor Concerto No. 1, and it is undoubtedly a beautiful piece of music. I originally turned away from attempting this excerpt by convincing myself that I was wholly unable to play the precise, mirrored descending hands, along with communicating crystal-clear melody (and not sounding TOO drunk on the emotion). I’m so happy that I deliberately, mindfully practiced this piece. To learn and polish just this 1.5 pages of the concerto, I spent weeks. Yet again, this frame of mind that Chopsticks for Piano forces on me is vital to my music-making. 1 baby step at a time, and eventually the music will come out of my fingers!

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This video is being posted to show progress later on, because this exact piece (Chopin’s Mazurka Op.67 No.4) is currently in my repertoire, and sounds as if performed from an entirely different person. Seeing and hearing this transformation excites me because it validates why I created Chopsticks for Piano for myself. I can tell from this video that I was mostly concerned about notes and structure, and not at all about voicing, phrasing, and trying to communicate anything besides the notes written. That is opposite to my current frame of mind; the old way led me to quit playing piano several times over the past couple of decades for years at a time. I tag all of these posts, so you can click on #Chopin Mazurka Op67 No4 and see any updated recordings). 

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Here’s an excerpt of the beautiful arrangement of Happy Birthday by Dennis Matsuev that I fell in love with amidst all the classical music that I play. It clearly has influences that breath fresh life into this classic. I’ll have to remember this one for special birthday surprises :)

Originally recorded on 6/27/2014 (way before creating Chopsticks for PIano in early 2017).

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This piece is such a freaking behemoth challenge, that even just the few lines I play here felt like Olympic-level mental gymnastics even after a week of practicing.  Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2(Op. 18) is undeniably mesmerizing; continuous waves of notes crashing up and down, heavy accompanying melody that reminds me very much of rubato of a Chopin piece that leaves you always wanting the next note, and the challenge of differing timing of melody to harmony (4 to every 6, or 3 to every 4) which sounds so off the cuff (but definitely doesn’t feel that way haha!). 

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To finish the weekend, here's an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's tranquil & hauntingly beautiful 'Autumn Song', which is from his series called “The Seasons”. Deceivingly difficult for me to voice the melody when it starts to switch hands, but absolutely worth the challenge. What a powerful piece! When it’s played, I feel like it’s possible for that short little window to get a glimpse into Tchaikovsky’s personality.

[chopsticksforpiano]

One of my favorite pieces by Rachmaninoff is his Elegie in Eb minor, Op. 3 No. 1. This song was a particular challenge for my brain and my fingers to get used to so many dense chords that feel just-so-slightly off in the hand (as opposed to many of pieces from Chopin or Schubert), and the precise, quickly progressing left hand movement. Such a deeply motional piece that continues to be part of my repertoire today!

This excerpt was originally created in June of 2017, and in an effort to update this website, I thought it best to put everything in one place finally. 

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Randomly felt like playing a tiny bit of Schumann’s Carnaval. Love this cute series of pieces, and some of them bring some technical difficulties ferrr surrrrre. Hope it’s bearable despite all the damn keyboard claaacking. Although very ill again this week, I’m hanging in there and doing my absolute damn best to stay positive, inspired, and looking ONWARD for the new year.

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So chilly 🥶 up here in the North Pole! Haha - I wanted to post a little impromptu holiday cheer since it’s FINALLY acceptable to share a simple, beautiful Christmas tune. I upped that tempo in the end because, well it’s just soooo slowwwww. Happy holidays to you!!!