How to Sound Like Rachmaninoff 

What I got from this: Rachmaninoff was indeed a pianist

I watch this every 3 months to remind myself of what mastery truly is

Thanks Nahre! This is my favorite series on RU-vid. Love the graphics and everything about this! Happy Birthday Rach!!

Rachmaninoff helped me to fall in love with Classical music (as an overall genre). His Piano Concerto #2 will always be my first love.

Step 1: have massive hands

This series is consistently amazing

I am absolutely blown away at this, your ability to break down key compositional elements of classical composers is ridiculous. Take my like!

Now i must practice 40 hours everyday to reach this point

The Idea, the script, the playing and the vídeo editing are master.... congratulations....

the world urgently needs a full-scale piano concerto out of this this is amazing

2:27 Who else wants a full piece based on this wonderful dialogue

I would love to hear How To Sound Like Nahre Sol! :)

I can't even begin to describe how incredible this is. With this kind of abilities, i'd probably never stop playing haha That part starting from 2:27 is so goddamn beautiful.

4:30 FINAL PRODUCT: Happy Birthday in the style of Sergei Rachmaninoff 0:12 Left-hand arpeggios 0:43 Dotted rhythms 1:09 Harmony: pedal note in the bass, lots of chromaticism and augmented chords 1:38 Triplet rhythms with big chords 1:50 Chromatic runs 2:10 Inner lines 2:25 Lines interacting with each other (polyphony) 2:39 "Grandiose, expressive, and soaring melodies" 2:59 Polyrhythms (2 against 3, 6 against 7) 3:16 Secondary dominants (3:30 over a wide register) 3:53 "Sparkling passages" in the upper register 4:03 Momentum and energy 4:13 Big endings

5:26 Bom-bombom BOM: Rachmaninoff's signature.

Happy birthday to meeee. Thanks for the videos :)

I studied harmony under Easely Blackwood at the University of Chicago. He seemed to know the first time every (once) novel harmony appeared in a work in the European musical tradition, with its dogged exploration into novel sonorities, and he considered Rachmaninoff's chromaticism to be the most advanced tonal harmony in this tradition.

Although it’s April 1 today, this magnificent video is no joke at all!! Rachmaninoff would be proud of you Nahre! As always, such an amazing work and a wonderful birthday gift! This thoroughly enthralling series truly expands my musical horizons and it's my absolute top/first pick on RU-vid ever! Big love and respect and kudos to your artistry and influence! 🎉💥🧠👏❤️🙏 P.S. As an avid jazzhead and hepcat, I agree with your notion that Rachmaninoff’s music sounds like Jazz in a sense that he influenced Jazz and vice versa, here are some of the things, examples I’ve noticed after doing some quick research (some of them could be myths or false information, please correct me if I'm wrong): Once, Miles Davis, when he was asked about the inspiration behind one of his pieces said: “Well, we were really into Rachmaninoff that week.” Another example comes from the greats such as Art Tatum and Duke Ellington, they all embraced Rachmaninoff’s influence and he admired their music, too, when writing his "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor" which can be described as jazzy to some degree, Rachmaninoff was listening to lots of Jazz ranging from big band orchestras of Duke Ellington to solo recordings of Tatum whom he became a devoted enthusiast and even it has been said that he, after hearing the magnificent Tatum play live, claimed that "he is the greatest piano player in any style" and also Oscar Peterson was classically trained as well and it's said that he drew a wealth of influence by playing Rachmaninoff concertos and not to mention that some have noted Rachmaninoff’s inspiration from George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in this fourth concerto. Even, his friend, tenor John McCormack remembered Rachmaninoff playing jazz for his own amusement. In addition, owing to his close relationship with Scriabin, I've just learned that Rachmaninoff studied Scriabin’s music for the memorial recitals and he was influenced by them and also one and only Glenn Gould described Classically-influenced great pianist Bill Evans as “The Scriabin of Jazz”. Therefore, in that regard/sense, along with French impressionists (although they hated the term a lot, apologies to my heroes, one and only Debussy and Ravel!) and my other heroes Stravinsky and Bartok, it seems both Rachmaninoff and Scriabin influenced Jazz giants deeply too both directly or indirectly and vice versa, hence, Rachmaninoff’s music indeed sounds like Jazz due to extended harmonies, unique voicings and lots of inspirations etc. and Jazz sounds like Rachmaninoff in part, too!! Btw, his music reminds me of the words, adjectives "epic", "sublime", “immense”, "thematic" and "conceptualist" and his style seems "uncompromising" as well! I'm new to his music and thanks to you I'll be listening to them more closely from now on!! 🤯😃 Currently, I'm listening to his "Prelude in B-Minor" (I've just discovered it and what a composition!! Totally awe-inspiring, my favorite composition by him now, I truly love Classical music and Jazz intersections in music a lot, it's most likely my favorite thing in music!!) played by one of my top favorite Russian music interpreters and pianists, one and only Yuja Wang, and I think this composition really sounds like Jazz and this supports your view/notion about this jazzy aspect of Rachmaninoff’s music, too. I think Rachmaninoff’s preludes, in general, are reminiscent of Jazz, even I've heard some Keith Jarrett-like phrases such as the ones in his iconic solo concert recordings and especially Paris and Vienna concerts; as it seems Jarrett has been influenced by him in his improvisations, too! On the other hand, the music of Rachmaninoff has a certain amount of distinctive, recognizable features as you broke down really well in the video and even though I've tried to find some commonalities between Jazz and his music, I think it's necessary to emphasize that there are a remarkable amount of differences between them as well, for example, it seems he was a true admirer of Tchaikovsky since his childhood and he was considerably conventionalist in terms of his compositional style, too, his music was also highly folkloric in terms of unique Russian melodies and themes and this is probably one of the solid indicators of his composing style just like in Stravinsky's case. Also, I’ve noticed some of his reflections in inspiring folkloric tone poems/works by Fazıl Say and Tigran Hamasyan as well. In particular, Say’s “Cello Sonata: I. Sivas” from “Four Cities” and "Achilleus" from "Troy Sonata" reminded me of Rachmaninoff’s music to some degrees but I might be wrong so I’ll try to be more familiar with Rachmaninoff’s music in the future. Thank you so much again Nahre! I really love this top-notch quality series, it's really informative, insightful and effective for me to learn and improve myself in composition and theory and thanks to this thoroughly fascinating video, hopefully, one day I'll be able to analyze this outstanding "Prelude in B-Minor"! Btw, I really wonder what's your favorite Rachmaninoff composition and who's your favorite interpreter of his music and Russian Classical movement in general? To conclude, truly brilliant work as expected and as always Nahre!! I am looking forward to listening to your own albums consisting of your own distinguishable and enchanting compositions too, I think you would be one of the top, world-class interpreters of French music with your sonorous, unique and dynamic playing but now, after this magnificent video, it's clear that you would play and record Russian music repertoire amazingly as well!! And lastly, today in 1917, one and only Scott Joplin died penniless in a tragic way, in a psychiatric hospital and all but forgotten. I can’t even imagine how incomplete would music history be without his inspirational legacy and Ragtime! Rest in peace. We can’t thank these great artists enough and I hope they will always be remembered not only in their lifetimes but to eternity! I'd like to finish my words with Rachmaninoff's this enchantingly beautiful quote which I couldn't agree more: "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." Thank you for your immense inspiration which cannot be overstated Nahre!✨💥💫🎶🙏❤️👏😊

Brilliant video. As a jazz pianist with a classical background, I often look at Rachmaninoff's piano music for inspiration, which I think is second-to-none from a pianistic perspective. The subtle interplay between the accompaniment and the melody, the multi-layered writing, the rich harmonies, just ingenious... Thanks for breaking it all down so marvelously. I'll surely keep coming back to this video for reference!

It's supranatural how musicians can experience things in life beyond than any other, like you smoke some arpeggios and get high on creativity. Truly grandiose !!

"How to Sound Like Rachmaninoff" After watching this video, it looks like I can't.... (yet)

I LOVE RACHMANINOFF!! YES. Brooding, dark, moody, intense. Chromatic - beautiful. Your left hand better work. Pedal point common tone in the bass with moving triads over the top? I wonder if that's where Genesis' Tony Banks got some of his inspiration. Massive chords - awesome! The melody lines weaving back and forth between the hands. The grandiose and soaring melodies over the rich harmonies. The rhythmic mix. Those harmonic extensions. The descending chromatic cadenzas towards the end. Building the drama and momentum. Big Endings. The mix of everything is soooo beautiful. I've never seen anyone break down Sergei's style like this before. HOLY CRAP! You NAILED IT!! So awesome!! Great job!! :-) :-) :-)

Your channel is truly the discovery of the year to me. You make it look so easy! Thank you!

This is a great video. This series is one of the best things on RU-vid. Thanks for taking the time to analyze composers' styles.

Videos where you break down music like this are my very favorites.

You’re such a good youtuber it’s insane. All of your edits are perfect and you have such good knowledge of music!

Thanks Nahre, I love this! You have such a wonderful touch on the piano and absolutely nail the composer's style

I love how much you break down the music: describe a single element, play an example, slowly build. My understanding of music/theory is relatively basic but the level of deconstruction lets me grasp so much from your video. You demystify music in a way that makes it infinitely more enjoyable. Thank you!

The visualisation is superb. I have never found a video as fascinating as yours.

I bought a Rachmaninoff t-shirt last week, so yes, I was really waiting for this video. Your analysis and deconstruction is so accurate, so good! Thank you Nahre

These videos combine everything I'm searching for...great pedagogy, incredible artwork and masterful playing! Thank you Nahre!

One of my favorite videos of yours so far. Amazing work!

No kidding, I searched for a video like this 3 months ago. So glad you did this

Awesome! I love how you break down so many composers and styles into bite-sized pieces! 😊 please keep the amazing content coming! 🎹

perfect! I've been looking for this; inside the actual workings compositionally. And how to put them together; or rather, a very good insight into how said composers were thinking. So that we may, very humbly, use some of the moves. Thank you Nahre Sol; a masterly piece of understanding which i'm sure people will find genuinely helpful. And even better, you have excellent taste in the composers you like!

AAAH I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS SERIES! You are fantastic both in playing and theoretical analysis.

THAT WAS BRILLIANT By breaking it down, it all starts to make sense. It makes understanding his composing so much better - what a revelation! I must have watched this 15x and blown away each time. Astounding. Wow! Dave

You are unbelievable!!! Your ideas of music imagination are way further in interpretation than other musical bloggers! You have unique point of view and I really like that! 😍

That was amazing! You broke it down so well and played it so fantastically. Well done!

I can't even say how much I learn from you, either historically or the playing itself. Your explanation is clear and the markings on the video make it very easy to understand the grandiosity of those pianists. Thank you for the passion for the piano, both the one you have and the one you give to us, and I'll study hard to be as good as you 😍

😎Bom-Bombom BOM👏👏👏 Quite brilliant Nahre Sol. Awesome visuals above the piano, the drummer got me smiling and the ocean waves were a Rachmaninov tone poem picture 😎💃🙏

You are truly amazing, Nahre! What a wonderful lesson and analysis. You channeled Rachmaninoff!

Why did RU-vid take so long to recommend your videos to me? Glad it finally did - this was wonderful. I'll be bingeing on this series and all your other uploads for the foreseeable future.

This is simply incredible. Wow. Just wow. Well done, Nahre! Well done!!

This is awesome! 😎The style of Rachmaninov is clearly explained and demonstrated. 👍🏻👍🏻🤩Can you make this kind of video about Prokofiev🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hi Nahre, thanks for another fantastic video. I would love you to create how to sound like F. Poulenc or D. Shostakovich (because they’re my favorite composers). Also they would help us learn the piano arrangement a lot. By the way I will post movie soundtrack in the style of Rachmaninov video soon so stay tuned!

This is fantastic! Thanks for posting this.

This was amazing! I never thought someone whose music is so complex could be broken down this way. 🤩

This is a true masterpiece. I come back here again every few months to be awed again.

Music is a science and an art....you have demonstrated that remarkably well...Bravo...beautiful

Utterly outstanding! Such accurate observations and perfectly paced. One of the very best things I have ever seen on RU-vid - many thanks for giving us this.

You're a genius. I fell in love with Rach in the summer and it made me take up piano again, which got me through the year. This is so well put together and fun to watch. Thank you Nahre. I hope to have your masterful literacy of the piano someday.

As a medium-technic keyboard/pianist, i found this video so inspiring. Rachmaninoff has been along since 2009 for me. One year after being invaded by his music and history, i started learning piano in a conservatory, but couldn't go further into the studies after the fifth year because was into another vibes (i was only learning classic music, i wanted to play synths and jazz) So i have never actually gotten to play Rachmaninov by myself. Today, 10 years after, i kept learning through studying by myself (been studying brazilian and jazz music) and working as a musician in bands and records, but as soon as this video finished, i found myself in ecstasy of trying to play like him. Thank you Rachmaninoff and Nahre Sol!

this is the best birthday present ive gotten today, thank you for making a video about my favorite composer :)

I love this series so much, been hoping you'd do rachmaninoff for so long. Thank you!

Hah! That was superb. Wonderful graphics that mirrored the music’s texture. A pithy and clever video that was a lot of fun to watch as well as capturing Rachmaninov’s magnificent style to a T - and without trivializing it.

Haha yes! I love your videos Nahre!

I'm speechless btw. You're a gifted pianist! Also I love Rachmaninoff for eternity. HBD to my man!

GENIUS !!!! LOVE IT !!!! I LOVE this "how to sound like..." series of yours, IT HELPS ME A LOT !!! You just MUST HAVE keep on using HAPPY BIRTHDAY as something to be "stylised" BECAUSE THAT's WHAT HELPS TO VISUALIZE and QUIKLY understand it all ... WELL DONE NAHRE SOL !!!

One of the most suprising videos in RU-vid!! this series is so amazing!!

Seeing someone interpret and reproduce a composer so perfectly is amazing. It's far from a blatant copy, jet it's full with the fundamental sound of the composer! Truly a birthday for Sergei.

What fascinates me the most in this video is undoubtedly the divine purity that emanates from your whimsical mind when you amaze us with your fairy fingers. Your implacable musical logic is so perfect that it could officially serve as an international reference. Much love and admiration😘

Your videos truly blow my mind! I'm so amazed. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I am so glad I chanced upon your youtube videos!

This is an awesome video. Simple yet very informative and quick to the point and entertaining:)

One of the things that Rachmaninoff does a lot, and sounds really amazing, is he'll play a counter melody at the mid-range with the left-hand at the top of the arpeggio. For example, the middle section of the g minor prelude.

I'd love to see Rachmaninoff's reaction to this video

came from your ravel video, it was so spot on i had to check out the others. this is amazing! Rachmaninoff couldn't have done it better himself!

Your music is such a delight to listen to! You've pretty much become my favorite pianist on RU-vid. I've learned a lot, too.

Again, amazing vid, really complete, a lot of details, hope the next episode is gonna be "how to sounds like liszt" 😋

Fabulous.

I was spellbound both by your eloquently dancing fingers and the soundscape clip. Your drive and colour with explaining Rachmaninoff's work has inspired me to listen to more. You are a treat to listen to, learn from and watch @NahreSol

Breaking down beauty. I just discovered this series and it might just be my favorite on youtube. Keep it up

If you haven't heard anything by them, listen to Muse. Matt Bellamy writes lots of piano parts that sound like Rachmaninoff, such as the songs Space Dementia, Butterflies and Hurricanes, Piano Thing, Exogenesis Symphony pt. 2. He also uses arpeggios like Rachmaninoff in songs like Bliss, Stockholm Syndrome and Starlight

This entire series is fantastic! Have you ever thought of writing an accompanying book? I think it you did, it would become standard fare for composition courses at conservatories. Especially if you included extended harmonic analysis of several of these pieces. I find extended harmonic analysis of classical pieces difficult to find. In any case, simply wonderful work.

bom-bombom BOM 🖤 Thank you so much for this incredibly well made summary and analysis series, Nahre. It really helped me to understand the music better and it gives me so much inspiration to expand my repertoire while improvising or composing. And your amazing visualizations are an amazing way to memorize the structure of certain elements.

The best video I've seen on RU-vid all year. Period. Bravo.

Wow the fact that your able to just slip into the style of a composer is just incredible, similar to when a magicians secret is revealed, absolutely incredible👌👌👌

Rachmaninov would be proud of you

Love love love your videos. Not only your musical ideas, performances, and execution are amazing your video production is so cool... You are so creative

I've been waiting for you to do this, Rachmaninov is my absolute favourite and I love how you deconstructed his style, this was wonderful!

I didn't know someone could be so skilled at music theory and improvisation. I'm big sad that at 32 I have fallen in the love with the piano but not sure I'll ever develop the skill to play some rachmaninoff. You're inspiring. I didn't realize what was possible.

Thank god! I swear if i see another April's fools video imma flip out

Hi! I feel the urge to congratulate with you. The way you share all this knowledge and your professionalism is astonishing and a precious gift. You're also a great encouragement to people who study composition. I wish you the best and may God bless you even more :)

there is so much to take in! this video includes many many many tips that i didn’t even notice in rachel’s music until you mention it!! this is a very well done video. your technique is flawless, might i add.

😭😭😭♥️♥️♥️🙌🙌🙌 Nahre. YESSSSSSS

0:51 It sounds like Chopin Revolutonary Etude

I’ve been really trying to compose in this style and this video is a gift from heaven!! Lots of love 💕 !!

This was so witty, to the point and effortless! Really enjoyed !😍

How to Sound Like Rachmaninoff : be dramatic and tragic like you lived a very bitter life and had to abandon your country? :D This one was one of the most impressive in this series. Thank you!

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!! THANKS WAHAHAHA HIHIHI

Thank you so much for one of the most action-packed, useful and concise videos I've ever seen. Clearly a huge amount of work made fun and extremely educational! Wonderful.

Amazing video! Rachmaninoff is my fave composer and this was incredibly insightful 🖤

0:12 You spelt *thicc* wrong

I'm going to sample this 3:42

This is amazing! Super fun to watch this. Great job

This was the most incredible video I've seen in awhile. Amazing work Nahre!! 🤯

This is awesome! Could you make one for Alexander Skriabin ? :)

2:45 started crying. What's with me today?

I've been waiting for this video since Improvising in the Style of Different Classical Composers. Sooo worth the wait

This video is amazing! I learned a lot about Rachmaninoff's style and the way you play is fantastic!