PianoTell Recital #6 Is Now Live!

navindra · 2025-11-15T16:10:00+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell Recital #6! WieWaldi — Kansas City Blues by Jim Jackson plop_symphony — Pièce pour l'œuvre du Vêtement du blessé, L. 133, by Claude Deb...

navindra

rsl12 I'm in awe of the collection of skills you used to make this video! I thought I was trying to be a well-rounded pianist, but you've got ALL the skills! Also, what a fun choice for the recital. It probably only appeals to people of a certain age, but I'm in that age group! Your piano playing sounds good, your piano tuning and mic setup sounds AMAZING. And it's fun to hear you sing!

Thanks a ton!! 🙂

rsl12 For voice, consider looking up tutorials on "singing sound production" and "singing resonance". These were the main things I worked on with a teacher when I did voice lessons, and I think it would help you (though I'm not sure how easy it will be to learn without a teacher).

Resonance sounds exactly like what I need. It's obvious that a good singing voice doesn't just happen, so if I can figure out how to get a fuller voice and develop that resonance I so badly need, I think it will be a game changer for me. Thanks a lot for these helpful pointers, this will help set me off in the right direction.

Sophia Nope, you just have to add combined SINGING AND PIANO to that mix as well.

Thank you so much for such kind words! It's a very interesting challenge trying to sing and play at the same time, I've always wondered how others make it appear so effortless.

rogerch Fantastic! I am super impressed by your singing, and that you can play the piano so well at the same time! Great sound, great video, great playing, great singing. I love it!

Thank you so much Roger! 🙂

Nightowl Navin, your description of all the gadgets you used in this recital made my head spin! Here's the thing that struck me though - despite all the extra tech wizardry, the recording did not seem any better than the ones you recorded in Mauritius, done casually just using your phone! Maybe that's because I don't have good enough hearing or I'm just not bright enough to detect all the nuances involved, but I think you put a lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself which might not have added much to the end result.

It's mostly copy and paste from recital to recital for me. I didn't have too much time for a better write up, hence the head spinny nature of this. Another reason I document these details here is it often helps me when I'm working on a new project to refer back to previous one and have the cliff notes on what I did then. That way I don't have to reinvent the wheel. Figuring things out the first time might be tough, but afterwards it becomes second nature and I can basically do it in my sleep. This has just become the baseline now.

As you noted, the hard part is the actual practice and performance.

Nightowl You played the piece nicely throughout but there were also some hesitations and small flaws - this was not up to your previous high standards (but it was still much better than I could play).

Yes, I agree about the hesitations and flaws. If I wasn't trying to get this done for the recital, I would have worked a few more months at this. I'm going to leave the door open on re-recording this in the future. Perfection is not attainable, but I can certainly do better!

Nightowl You said honest feedback helps, so I hope you meant that because here goes - I don't think your voice is right for this song. Your natural vocal range is clearly much lower - as demonstrated in the vid you linked to, where you sang a traditional song in your native language and your voice sounded much stronger and more natural. It's like a bass singer attempting soprano - which is ah this piece to your normal high standard if you leave the vocals out. However, if you want to develop your vocal skills then you could choose a different song in a much lower key and you would probably produce something lovely.

I did go in to this project knowing full well that I couldn't pull off the vocals at this point in time. I did try to mitigate by transposing the piece to a lower key, and by not even trying to match the better singers. I just sort of went for my own melancholic vibe, which being under the weather sadly contributed to.

Bass and soprano are about the range of the voice, but I don't think that's 100% of what my problem is. My problem is more about the fullness of the sound, which is more about production and resonance. These are both things that can be developed. Hence, I think of this as a growth opportunity as it is pretty proven that vocal skills can be developed.

Nightowl you could choose a different song in a much lower key and you would probably produce something lovely.

That is actually a really great idea. I don't know if I'll do a song again any time soon, but I think it's the right idea to pick something that will ultimately be more confidence boosting.

Thanks so much for your helpful feedback, for putting the time to listen, and carefully analyse my performance. I very much appreciated all your feedback! 🙂

rsl12

navindra It's obvious that a good singing voice doesn't just happen, so if I can figure out how to get a fuller voice and develop that resonance I so badly need,

Good singers make it seem effortless, right? But the good news is that it's a skill that can be acquired through the right kind of practice. You already do some nice things with your voice, and I'm sure you can get the effect you want.

Nightowl

navindra I'm glad my words did not offend you, that's a relief because I have a track record of going too far sometimes. I'm sure when you're back to full health your voice will be stronger, but the difference between your voice in the Mauritius video and your voice in this recital video was huge - your voice was much fuller and more relaxed singing notes in that lower register. I think if you choose a song within that lower range of notes it will be much easier because you'll be working within your natural range rather than forcing your vocal chords to do something that strains them. All that said, it's hard to play piano while singing - respect to you for doing something so difficult. Even professionals get it wrong sometimes - remember that Phil Collins' Live Aid vid you posted? Luckily for us amateurs we are never under that sort of pressure. 🙂

rsl12

WieWaldi I don't know if I shoud keep my version (a child of the mother of all turnarounds) or should I relearn it, to have the original one. My ears got used to mine, so I am obviously biased.

I don't think you need to relearn the piece. That particular turnaround will definitely show up again in your lessons!

What is your opinion? Does it sound only different or plain wrong in your ears? What's you advice?

Sounds like a mistake to my ears. Particularly since it's the only place in the song where you break the swing rhythm. But don't let my opinion dissuade you from following your own aesthetic!

WieWaldi

rsl12 Sounds like a mistake to my ears.

Thanks for your honest opinion. I think I will relearn the turnaround. Cost me a bit of time and I will risk to succeed the 40 pieces challenge. (Good to have an excuse, now^^)
I thought a little bit about it and enterd the notes into musescore. Recreating my version is not that easy if everything else is in swing. Had to use triplets with eights and quarter notes. Acutally quite complicated stuff and even then it is not the same. My version works maybe for an ending. But inside the piece, the original may be the better choice.

But don't be surprised, if I use my wrong version in a future PIYW and call it my way.

navindra

rsl12 Good singers make it seem effortless, right? But the good news is that it's a skill that can be acquired through the right kind of practice. You already do some nice things with your voice, and I'm sure you can get the effect you want.

So true. I gave it a shot today, just thinking about making my voice fuller and stronger (at the temporary expense of other things like expressivity/musicality) in the higher ranges and I believe I was able to pull it off. It's only a week difference between when I recorded, so I still have some hope of improvement here!

Thanks a lot for the pointers and encouragement. I think this is something that I would need to work at much longer term in order to be better next time.

Nightowl I'm glad my words did not offend you, that's a relief because I have a track record of going too far sometimes. I'm sure when you're back to full health your voice will be stronger, but the difference between your voice in the Mauritius video and your voice in this recital video was huge - your voice was much fuller and more relaxed singing notes in that lower register. I think if you choose a song within that lower range of notes it will be much easier because you'll be working within your natural range rather than forcing your vocal chords to do something that strains them.

I definitely agree with you that my performance was not ideal, but where I fully depart is whether I can improve significantly or not.

It's just not that simple. I could have easily recorded a version of Chandava Priya Kara that you would have deemed horrible — it just so happened that I worked hard at it. Even though it appears I was relaxed and singing with a fuller voice in the video, you're just seeing a very small fraction of the work and preparation involved.

Btw, this goes for every single video I've recorded. The ones that are better are usually the ones I worked harder at and for a longer time. An easy example is Bluebird in Mauritius — I learned that piece years ago and play it on public pianos every chance I get! Not to mention, although the recording appears casual and lo-fi, I've gained some skill at recording through all the previous videos I've made. All of that is a payoff of hard work over the years.

There are very interesting aspects to the voice that need learning, whether one chooses to sing with a chest voice, a head voice, falsetto, or mixed registers. In this video I think I was doing more of a falsetto, which probably allows more expression but at the expense of power. There are voice muscles involved, chest capacity, all of which can be trained. An incentive spirometer is an easy example that demonstrates the possibilities here.

There are a lot of things I've been told I couldn't do which turned out being quite doable, an easy example of this is tuning a piano. It's made out to be practically out of reach for an amateur, but I've found the reality to be quite different. I have no reason to approach vocal training any differently.

Nightowl All that said, it's hard to play piano while singing - respect to you for doing something so difficult. Even professionals get it wrong sometimes - remember that Phil Collins' Live Aid vid you posted? Luckily for us amateurs we are never under that sort of pressure.

Thank you! Hah, yeah I remember that Phil Collins video... the thought of that does make me feel better somehow. 😃

ShiroKuro

iternabe I also find if I try to figure out what's written in the score first, then listen to demos and hear what I missed in terms of interpretation, the difference will leave stronger impression and the lesson learned be longer lasting.

I can imagine!!

ShiroKuro

rogerch If you decide to learn a piece from these transcriptions, be warned that they contain many errors!

I do have that book, but many years back, when I learned Winston's Canon, I got the score from somewhere else, I'm not remembering now, but maybe it's not the same transcription as in this book. To my ear, it seemed like it was note-for-note what was in his original recording. But I never listened to try to check, so I guess I should just say, nothing stood out as wrong or off to me. I have a sloppy ear though...

For Thanksgiving, did you spot any errors? Just from sounding wrong, or from listening?

rogerch

ShiroKuro For Thanksgiving, did you spot any errors? Just from sounding wrong, or from listening?

I went through the score for Thanksgiving and there are two errors that I corrected. Both errors are pretty obvious. It’s possible there are other more subtle errors that I missed!

plop_symphony

Schubertian2 As someone not at all familiar with this sonata, I enjoyed your performance and was completely oblivious to any mistakes that might have been present. Everything sounded deliberate and intentional. I'm sure you'll have the entire thing down pat by Dec 14.

Nightowl

rsl12 Thanks - you're absolutely right, there was a pause that broke the flow of that measure - thanks for the detailed feedback. In truth I was tired of playing the piece over and over, trying to get a good recording, so I think my playing got a little stilted as I was concentrating so hard in my determination not to play any wrong notes.

Thanks for the nice comment - indeed we all have a nice side to our personalities, although I do my best to hide my mine - I can't have people thinking I'm soft! 😉

Nightowl

Peyton Wow, that was amazing, on so many levels! 🤩 You're so talented and creative in the way you produce the sound of a band all by yourself - my flabber is gasted! Your voice suits this song very well and your eye contact with the camera made for a very engaging viewing experience. It goes without saying that the piano and all the other virtual instruments were played well, and you ended the video perfectly with that smile! Thanks for another very entertaining performance.

ShiroKuro

rogerch good to know!!

navindra

ShiroKuro Canon in D by Pachelbel + ShiroKuro + Lee Galloway

Wow! To use an expression I just learned, my flabber is gasted!

I'm glad I listened to the whole thing, from the very comforting build up to the familiar midpoint where it gets exciting, and then where it builds into the more exotic themes, and then finally your massive grand finale.

You made this arrangement yourself? Just wow! Talk about expanding boundaries. I really enjoyed seeing your notes and markup on this arrangement. I mean I just really enjoyed the whole thing. What an accomplishment.

Bravo! 👏

ShiroKuro

navindra my flabber is gasted!

Aww, thank you!!! (Also, this is the best expression ever!!! 😃

navindra I really enjoyed seeing your notes and markup on this arrangement.

It's awfully messy, but it works for me! 🙂

I mean I just really enjoyed the whole thing.

Thank you so much!!!!!!

Nightowl

ShiroKuro navindra It's a British expression usually used for comic effect.

Nightowl

navindra There are a lot of things I've been told I couldn't do which turned out being quite doable, an easy example of this is tuning a piano. It's made out to be practically out of reach for an amateur, but I've found the reality to be quite different. I have no reason to approach vocal training any differently.

Ah, this says a lot about you - when someone says "you can't do it" your response is "I can... and I will!" - then you prove them wrong! 😄 I don't doubt that if you set your mind to it you can develop your vocal skills, you are clearly indomitable! 🙂

Simonb

3rd batch coming up:

@Calavera
A new one to me. It's very atmospheric and I've no doubt if you've seen the related film it develops more meaning. Even so most enjoyable in it's own right and your playing seemed immaculate to me. Looking at a version of the sheet music on-line it's certainly not easy either!

@Nightowl
John Barry wrote so many great film and TV themes! I must have heard this growing up (I was 5 in 1966) as I knew it instantly. Well done, another recital, another piece of music learnt, and improving all the time.

@Cratersmash
As I said in my reply to Schubertian2 it's my ambition to learn a Beethoven sonata one day. I think your playing is very good, expressive, and at a standard I would love to reach. Sadly IMHO, I don't think the keyboard you used is worthy of your talent. That could just be me, but maybe that was the only way you could record it?

@Opal
You're right the Piano could be better, but we are all constrained by budget and space, so you've done your best with what you have. And it's a lovely recording and played very well.

@rsl12
Now we're talking. I have the sheet music for this somewhere as decades ago I bought the music book with accompanying cassettes! I don't see the connection to CC Rider either. But I love it, and I love Doctor John's playing full stop. Saw him in concert in 2000. You played it well and with a bit more practise I'm sure you could nail the whole thing. I'll have to dig the music out, you really have whetted my appetite now!

Cheers

rsl12

Simonb I have the sheet music for this somewhere as decades ago I bought the music book with accompanying cassettes!

There's sheet music for this? I'm a little jealous! But even if I had it, I think I'm probably better off learning by ear. It really helps me internalize the ideas. Even though I learn it slower, hopefully I learn it better.

Simonb

@Nightowl @ShiroKuro @navindra

The original expression is "flabbergasted"; all one word, which is generally accepted as meaning astonished, though a common theory is that it's flabby and agast combined....

Navindra's variation is a sort of slang version.

Not that I'm an expert on the English language. I couldn't possibly be as I live here.

Cheers

ShiroKuro

Simonb The original expression is "flabbergasted"; all one word

Yes, I know this word (I am also a native speaker of English, though only just! 😁 )
But I’d never heard the break-down usage of (my flabber is gasted), which is very cute!

Nightowl

Simonb Navindra's variation is a sort of slang version.

Indeed. It's usually heard when somebody is being humorous and if they want to stress the point more they might say; "My flabber was completely gasted". It's similar to someone saying "my mind was completely blown". Etymology is a fascinating subject and useful for my other hobbies (crosswords and online Scrabble).

ShiroKuro

Ok here’s my next (and final) set.

@Schubertian2 very nice! I don’t know this piece but you’ve done a great job. I’m curious about those “barbarisms” you mention because I didn’t notice any… 🙂

@lilypad I’m not familiar with this piece (and I’m having a hard time imagining it as a big band piece but that’s not relevant!). You did a great job with the pretty chords and harmonies. Thank you for sharing it!

@Calavera oh wow, I love this!!! I love the there’s a really compelling sense of modulation in the music and you do such a nice job with the parts where it rises and falls… beautifully played! And I want the score 😅 can you share a link or tell me where you got it? I think I’ll buy it too…

@Nightowl Add me to the list of people who don’t know this piece. But you’ve done a great job with it and you seem, and sound, very relaxed. Nice work!

@Cratersmash No wonder you won a competition with this! It is indeed a gorgeous piece, but the important part is that you make it gorgeous with your mastery of it. Well done!

@Opal this is another of my favorite Chopin preludes, so mournful and you do a great job with that! Well done!

@rsl12 Oh. My. That was so sooooo good! The intro was fantastic, it grabs your attention and tells you “hey, listen up. This is why we’re here!” And the rest of it makes you glad you followed those listening orders.. .. so um, I would not call this half-baked. It’s most definitely whole-baked.
Also, listening to this, I found myself thinking that I selfishly want you to play the Crave by Jelly Roll Morten. Do you know it? I can send you the score… 😅

@Simonb that was gorgeous! I love those chords! Somehow this arrangement reminds me of “And So It Goes,” by Billy Joel, but I never associated Danny Boy with And So It Goes before… Maybe just because of the wistful quality that both have, I don’t know. “And So It Goes” is more like a hymn but somehow listening to you play here, I wanted you to segue into a jazzy arrangement of “And So It Goes”. (Sorry, perhaps this is “thread drift”) Anyway, your rendition was just lovely, thank you for sharing it with us!

@pianocat very nicely done! And your piano sounds really lovely as well! I bet your Zoom mic makes a difference in sharing with us more of what you hear.
Wait, is this your first recital? If so, welcome, and congratulations! (If not, well, still congratulations ! 😅

@ShiroKuro whoops, 7+ minutes?! Who has time for that! Better skip her… 😁

@rach3master ooohhh I love this! I don’t think I know the original, is it from Final Fantasy? (Forgive me if I’m off here). I’m curious about the original, since this is a piano arrangement, maybe the original is orchestral? Anyway, it’s a truly compelling piece and your playing is divine as always!

@navindra this was charming! I think your singing is sweet and adds a child-like hopefulness to the song.
I don’t know anything about tuning but whatever you did, your piano sounds just wonderful! And your piano playing is great, nice to listen to on its own but also a good support/accompaniment to the song itself.
I’m sorry to hear you’re sick, please feel better! Maybe pushing through to finish this recording will give you a musical placebo pill and help you get better faster!

Ok thas a wrap folks! Well done all, what a wonderful musical group to be a part of. Thank you @navindra and all the players!
❤️🎶❤️🎶❤️

Simonb

ShiroKuro that was gorgeous! I love those chords! Somehow this arrangement reminds me of “And So It Goes,” by Billy Joel, but I never associated Danny Boy with And So It Goes before… Maybe just because of the wistful quality that both have, I don’t know. “And So It Goes” is more like a hymn but somehow listening to you play here, I wanted you to segue into a jazzy arrangement of “And So It Goes”. (Sorry, perhaps this is “thread drift”) Anyway, your rendition was just lovely, thank you for sharing it with us!

Hi @ShiroKuro

The arrangement is by Nikki Iles, who is a well established British Jazz Pianist. She also does a lot of work for ABRSM as well. I've seen her play a few times. As I've mentioned previously (here & on PW I think) her set of 4 sheet music books "Jazz in Autumn", winter, spring etc are well worth getting. All the pieces are fully notated (including short solos) in the grade 5 to 8 ish range. A mixture of standards, Jazz standards and her own compositions, all inspired by famous Jazz musicians (mostly Pianists).

That's a Billy Joel song I didn't know. I can see how you could relate the 2 songs.

Cheers

pianocat

ShiroKuro And your piano sounds really lovely as well! I bet your Zoom mic makes a difference in sharing with us more of what you hear.

The bass register is what sold me on the K200. For a 45" upright is has a surprisingly rich tone. And yeah, that little mic provides great sound quality for the money.

Wait, is this your first recital? If so, welcome, and congratulations! (If not, well, still congratulations ! 😅

It is indeed my first time participating in the recital! Thank you! This is such a supportive group.

rsl12

ShiroKuro Also, listening to this, I found myself thinking that I selfishly want you to play the Crave by Jelly Roll Morten. Do you know it? I can send you the score… 😅

I know the Crave. It was in that movie too, Legend of 1900? Not exactly the style I'm interested in learning right now, but if I ever decide to get into Jelly Roll, I'll let you know!

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