My god, does that 9 year old kid have some serious determination. Look at his walls. It seems to me that if this kid decides on something, you best believe he's gonna do everything in his power to achieve it. He's gonna go a long way
I am 12 years old and have just learned the 3rd movement of moonlight sonata. It’s a little hard but overall I think anyone can learn it with some effort. Took me 6 months to master the whole piece.
Vihaan, in the video, I noticed that you had a 61 key, non-weighted keyboard. Having 1 of these, I can tell you that you should look into getting at least a fully weighted keyboard (such as the Yamaha P145 (or an older model, that's the cheapest from the current generation)), as I've found that the non-weighted/semi-weighted keyboard messes with my dynamics & playing since it's heavier at the top & lighter at the bottom (when pressing down), which is the opposite of what happens on an actual piano. This makes it significantly more difficult to play softly than on an actual piano. I've also found that since the keys on the non-weighted keyboard are overall lighter, I get noticeably more tired when playing on a fully-weighted keyboard/piano. Also, since your current keyboard only has 61 keys, you may even be unable to play the 3rd movement of the Moonlight Sonata as a normal piano has 88 keys; I haven't learnt this piece yet, but I know that the 1st movement can't be played on a 61 key keyboard as it goes too low (in terms of pitch). Obviously, I'm not forcing you to buy a portable digital piano (which is what they're typically referred to), but I'd recommend it to aid you on your piano journey. If you're interested in what you should look at, some reputable companies include Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, & Casio (I'm personally looking to buy a Roland FP-30X).
@AwesomeWizard1 , If I do get a weighted piano, I will probably get an 88 key piano, This song is technically possible to play on a 61 key keyboard, (with a few adjustments) A feel like in the future I will get a weighted 88 key piano to make songs sound more realistic. And also, I am from India. And In india, it is very hard to find the Yamaha P-45 or A Roland or a Kawaii keyboard, so I don't think I will be able to get the keyboards you mentioned. But right now, the 61 keys is fine (Little update) And I have learnt about half of the song and created my own song.
You come across as such a kind person who really wants players to succeed. And SO helpful. Great tips. I appreciate your help so much. I hope you are making a great living from mysic Because these lessons for free are priceless!
That plateau is where I'm at. I'm 40 and self learned as a kid/teen, but life got in the way and I haven't touched a piano from when I left for college until last summer and I've been quite determined but feel stuck so I finally caved and will be starting official lessons in September at the same music school I send my kids to (they teach both kids and adults). It is a very common plateau to hit and one that many people quit on as they go from needing to practice very little to practicing hours a day.
Good luck! I’m also going to hopefully start taking lessons again this month. I quit piano about 3 years and in the past 2 months I’ve been trying to self teach myself some of the old pieces I learned
Besides the fact the content itself is great, I really want to compliment the visuals too. It's very pleasing to watch your videos, not only to listen to them.
I'm really enjoying your videos Matthew with your considered and constructive thoughts - really interesting and helpful! I'm not a pianist but my daughter is learning so I'm grateful for your insight!
Hello Matthew, I just came across your channel and I like how you approach music pieces and create reaction videos, offering new perspectives and backround info about them. Congratulations on that! I’m a complete (really, completely) amateur, I can’t play the piano, but I love music, classical and pop and lots of other kinds as well. Actually, I have a lot of different genres on my RU-vid favorites list, except for heavy metal (my favorite piano piece is definitely La Campanella). My children have learned to play the piano, and since it’s been a long-time dream of mine to be able to play a bit myself, I tried to learn the Handel, Halvorsen - Passacaglia piece. I chose this one because I really like it, and it’s a very simple piece, with almost no complexity. So in terms of cost/benefit ratio, it’s very good . If you could honor me with your opinion, I’d be interested in what you think about this piece, and if it’s a good choice for a complete amateur, perhaps even in a reaction video. My favorite version can be found on RU-vid under the name "Passacaglia - Handel Halvorsen (Piano Cover)". I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time, and I wish you all the best. (and please be honest, if you don't like that piece, it is not a problem 🙂 ) A few more things about me: I can read sheet music, but very, very slowly. My son helps me with things like hand positioning, how to sit at the piano etc etc, and I often ask him to review my progress. So, in this sense, I'm not a typical independent learner; I do have some assistance.
Hey Matthew, I'm Megh who played Until I Found You. Thanks a lot for the lovely feedback. So I was pedalling properly, but it may be due to the ambience noise that you can't hear it properly and yes, I have done this song by reading the exact sheet that you showed on the video. I really want to learn to do what you said, adding my own spice to it, but as I said I'm stalling theory, which my teachers do not like at all, haha. I really want to learn how to improvise and play songs like that, hence I started learning by ear.
Again: a very nice video. Thanks, Matthew! I really appreciate your positive feedback even for those videos that let my ears crumble in pain. 😊This encourages me to upload a video, too to hear your honest opinion of my "playing" (there's reason for the quotation marks).
hey Matthew, great video, can you make a video about different techniques to practise phrases in pieces. I am having trouble because I always find myself practising a piece in the same way, playing a 2 bar phrase slowly then speeding it up then going to the next 2 bar phrase but I want to practise in other ways but am unsure on how in a specific context.
Thank you Matt, would you say the ultimate entrance for the beginner would be nailing the chords and scales app exercises ? prior to any real piece learning ?
Hey Matthew I got a question so last week you did a video of reacting to insane pieces by rousseau can you maybe react to Traum piano (Sung Chang) playing some pieces he didnt make any video about difficult pieces but like pick some pieces he played I want to see your reaction thankyou in advance and as usual great video.
Hi Matthew ! I have a question, i'm 15 yrs old and i am learning alone the "shostakovich no.2" from Walt, do you have any tips to increase my speed and precision on the fast sequences of large chords (with 3 notes in the same time) because it is the hardest part of the piece and it takes me a lot of time
Hello matthew, are you going to do another one of these videos? If so, i would like to upload a video, but idk when i can upload it Also, i have very big problems on sight reading because i realised i have been memorizing the pieces instead of reading them. Please give some tips. Thanks :D
I am not sure if I d wanna go slow on the left hand for the whole bar on the first Chopin piece. I actually haven't heard of pianists playing it that way.... it should be perfectly fine to just add rubato on the second half of the bar.
It’s a dance, so think about being bouncy. Also for the main theme, it reminds me of “sneaking around” or “tip-toeing” (that probably doesn’t help, but it might give you good imagery to think about). Also focus on which fingers you are using 😊
@@matticawood like awhile ago you posted a link to something where you could submit your clips for you to react to. And you keep posting these videos so I didn’t know if you made multiple of those types of posts or just had so many submissions that it’s taking you awhile to go through all of them if that makes sense
2:20 that is straight up wrong. Left hand follows the right hand not the other way around. What made him look like he slowed down way too much was him playing the second note way too early. Almost every concert pianist slows down there, which you should do because you sound very robotic if you don't. This piece is not a march left hand can slow down significantly from time to time.
It isn’t wrong at all. While rubato is essential (which I did mention several times), the left hand has to retain some semblance of being 8th notes (quavers). The left hand is an accompaniment outlining the chords and needs to stay stable while the right hand sounds improvisatory. If the left hand bends to the right hand then it isn’t stable anymore and there is nothing to show tempo consistency from the previous half of the bar, whereas if the focus is on keeping the left hand stable and consistent…you can focus on rubato once everything is comfortable.
@@matticawood On every arpeggio the piece is "trying to end" which means musically you have to slow down. It is literally written "sempre piu piano" so you have to slow down. The piece already musically "ends" before those arpeggios but can't. On each arpeggio it is trying to end. You have to slow down on each one to give that feeling. The piece is trying to come to a conclusion on every arpeggio. Just listen to every other top pianist on youtube.
I agree with that…that’s why I said about landing at the bottom when I was talking about fingers. This is also why I mentioned “flexibility” and “pushing and pulling”. That doesn’t have anything to do with learning to coordinate the hands and play 35 against 4 though. Being able to phrase it is what you would do after that, which requires the initial coordination and the consistency of the left hand first. The reason for phrasing it like that is also much more to do with the cadences rather than the scales themselves, which is in the left hand. The harmony is providing a function, the scale is providing the decoration. I think you are thinking one step ahead of actually being able to play the notes and play them relatively in time.
@@matticawood I see. As far as i understand you are saying that he should first get the feeling of the rhythm, play it like that and only after that articulate and slow down on the actual performance. Then yes I completely agree.
