DrGaz on the Keys: Menuet en Rondeau

Download MP3

Here's a tune I recorded on the piano today. I hope you like it. Click on the player to listen or right mouse click the "download MP3" link and use 'save link as' to download the MP3.

This piece is by Jean-Philippe Rameau and is from an ABRSM book I'm working on at the moment called Baroque Keyboard Pieces Book 1, Edited by Richard Jones. I think that Baroque isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoy working on these pieces.

I just did piano grade 2!

Well I just sat my grade 2 piano exam today. I've been playing for almost exactly 1 year, and did my grade 1 approximately 6 months ago. I was feeling that I'd bit off a bit more than I could chew.

Grade 2 was MUCH harder than grade 1. One of the most difficult things about grade 2 is the scales, you have to play them simultaneously with both hands. I thought I'd mastered this, but my nerves got the better of me in the exam and I butchered the very first scale I was asked to do. This was F Major, and about 3 or 4 notes into it I realised that I'd run out of fingers on my left hand. I forced myself to bodge my way through the rest of the scale.

I made a few more silly errors on my scales and arpeggios, and there were two instances where I stopped and asked the examiner if I could do it again. Hopefully that didn't cost me too many marks. Fortunately B minor harmonic (which is a sod to play with both hands) went really well.

I was then asked to play the 3 pieces. I started with A:3 "Bouree" (L. Mozart). That generally went OK apart from a few notes I mangled up in the first couple of phrases.

The next piece B:3 "The Bee" actually went remarkably well. I find this a very difficult piece to play because it is fast and the ending is a bit fiddly. I always thought that if I messed up a piece it would be this one, but amazingly it turned out to be Bouree I messed up - the piece I was most comfortable with.

The final piece was C:3 "Garage Sale". This is a piece that does nothing at all for me, but I chose it because it's easy. Why are the "C" examination pieces always so naff? I wonder if anyone ever chose the godawful "The Temple by the Sea".

The sight reading went pretty smoothly this time. I didn't have any problems with it. It was in a simple key signature and was in 2:4. The aural test was pretty straightforward too.

On the whole I think definitely a pass. I'd be pleased with a merit, but I think that a distinction is totally out of the question primarily due to my massacre of F major at the beginning.

Below are some vids of me playing the 3 pieces. They were recorded on the same day of the exam. The dynamics aren't too clear in these videos. Please rest assured that I was giving the piano a good bash in all the "forte" bits, but the piano's volume is turned quite low so it's hard to get much light and shade across.


Bouree


The Bee


Garage Sale

Tom Baker regeneration - my piano version

This is something I've been gradually working out on the piano and managed to get it in good enough shape to post it on YouTube. This is my own version of the Tom Baker regeneration music from the 1981 Doctor Who story Logopolis (originally composed by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop).

I'm a huge fan of early '80s Who, particularly the style of the production of which the music in an integral part. For me this is probably the most memorable scene and musical score of the entire series which is why I wanted to have a go at my own version.

I got my grade 1 Piano!

Well I got my grade 1 piano! I wen't to my piano teacher's house and picked up the certificate this evening. I did pretty well - I scored 127/150 - a merit. I was only 3 marks away from a distinction.

Here is a transcript of my marks and examiner's comments:

A3 - "This was in a suitably lively tempo. Dynamic contrasts were effective and vivid. The R.H. fingerwork was strong (a couple of semiquavers aside). Although balance between hands was sometimes uneven (L.H. tended to dominate), this was characterful". 26/30.

B2 - "You judged the tempo well. Dynamic variations were mostly convincing. There was a slight hesitation before the second half. You recovered promptly and projected something of the mood here". 25/30.

C1 - "Opening staccato patterns were crisp and even. Fingerwork was largely even and strong, aside from fleeting exceptions in stave three. The dynamic range was appropriate. Another well prepared account". 27/30.

Scales and arpeggios - "Your scales were prompt in response and mostly even. Arpeggios and broken chords fared similarly (depite some uneveness in L.H. patterns)". 17/21.

Sight reading - "You started accurately. There were subsequently stumbles and rhythmic errors. You kept going, giving a clear outline". 15/21.

Aural tests - "Small slip in "B", otherwise assured". 17/18.

Additional comments - "An impressive start to your piano playing - well done today!"

DrGaz's Music: Maybe Next Time (on piano)

Here's my piano version of Ritchie Blackmore/Rainbow's "Maybe Next Time". There are a couple of slight mistakes (I still haven't managed to play the whole thing perfectly). This is the first guitar solo. I also have a guitar version that you can watch here.

Photo of the day: Grand piano

This photo of the day is hot off the presses - taken less than an hour ago. It's the grand piano in chapel of Churchill College, Cambridge and I was bashing it this evening. My piano teacher organises a bi-annual "adult pupils' soiree" there and I went along and knocked out out a couple of tunes.

It may seem from looking at the photo that no bugger showed up, but that's just the angle I took at it. There was actually around 40 -50 people in the room. I played "The Old Cuckoo Clock" (one of the pieces I did for my Grade 1 last Saturday) and my own piano version of "Maybe Next Time" by Rainbow. Here is a link to my guitar version of the song. I hope to make a video of my piano version soon to put on YouTube.

This was a seriously nice piano to play - so expressive. Yamaha certainly know how to make them. As good as my digital Yamaha Clavinova is, I fully understand that there's absolutely no subsitute for an acoustic piano. One day I will have one. One day...

My Grade 1 piano exam was today!

Today was the day, folks! I had my grade 1 exam this morning.

I arrived at the examination centre about 20mins early, and announced my presence to an old dear seated behind a uncomfortably low desk with an "ABRSM" sign next to it. The previous candidate (a piano grade 7) was slightly ahead of schedule, so she told me that I could start slightly early. I was taken upstairs to a practice room where I warmed up for a few minutes on a digital piano - a really dreadful Kawai. Playing that thing made me feel good about spending the extra money on my Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240. As I sat and played a few scales, a young girl blasted hell out of trumpet in the ajoining room in readiness for her exam. I filled in a slip of paper stating what pieces I would be playing and was soon led back downstairs into the sound-proofed exam room. I was eagerly met by my examiner - a young chap, who was very friendly and enthusiastic which put me at ease.

After a few seconds where I was allowed to get used to the piano I was asked to do some scales - D, Am and G. They went smoothly enough. Then it was contrary motion (both hands playing a C scale beginning at middle C and working outwards). Then I did some broken chords and arpeggios. I made a small mistake on the first arpeggio because I started playing it as a broken chord. I apologised and did it properly (hopefully I didn't lose marks).

I then played the 3 pieces. They went really well from what I can remember. The only mistake I made (a very minor one) was I played a D instead of an E on one of the repeating "tick-tock" phrases of "The Old Cuckoo Clock". I managed to continue playing through the mistake and made no further ones.

Then came the dreaded sight-reading test, and he chose me one that was in D Major, so there was loads of F#s and C#s to contend with. I think I got the whole thing about 80% correct as far as the notes were concerned, and around 70% correct as far as timing. My dynamics were sadly lacking. I noticed afterwards I should have played some of it loud (forte) and some soft (piano) I hope they don't mark me down too much

The examiner then took the driving seat and I had the aural test. This was pretty easy and over in a minute or two.

The whole thing went so quickly. It was scheduled for a duration of 12 minutes, but it felt more like 5 or 6. Overall I think I did pretty well, but I think I have to wait a few weeks for the results.

I'll go for Grade 3 next I think.

My Grade 1 piano exam is tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the day, folks! I will be having my Grade 1 piano exam in the morning. I'm sure that most people doing this exam are usually about 7 years old, but I can't help feeling a tiny bit nervous. I know I can pass it with my eyes closed, but I still want to do well. A distinction would be nice, which means there's little margin for cock-ups.

I couldn't resist Googling my piano examiner, and I found a few web pages with photos & biography. He's quite a young chap and has excellent credentials - educated at Oxford, plays the organ on BBC Songs of Praise. I wasn't too sure what a piano examiner would look like - I was expecting some very straght-laced Victorian type - all suited and starched collars, so it's much less intimidating to know that they're just normal people like you or I.

Gaz on the keys: More tunes for Grade 1

Here are two more tunes I'm working on for my Grade 1 piano exam in July. They are "Allegro in F" by 5-year old Mozart and The Old Cuckoo-Clock by N. Bachinskaya. They still need a bit of work as far as I'm concerned, especially the Mozart one which I only just learned over the last few days. I keep buggering it up half way through as you will see if you watch the video. I'm all fingers and thumbs. AAAArrrrgh!

Gaz on the keys: Andante (for grade 1)

Here's a video of me playing Andante (a tune by some geezer called Henreich Friedrich Enckhausen). I'm going for my Grade 1 piano exam in July 2008 and this is one of the 3 pieces I've selected to play. It's quite short, and this is because I'm playing it without the repeats. You are not supposed to bore the examiners with repeats, you see.



The other things that have to be done in the exam is scales. I've learned all the grade 1 scales now (C, D, F and G major, and D and A minor). D and F major are quite fiddly actually. I also have do some arpeggios which are pretty easy and broken chords which are not too difficult. The hardest bit will be the sight reading test. This is where they give you a few bars of some music you've never seen before and you have to play it. Grown men have been known to turn to jelly under these circumstances. I hope that I won't be one of them.

Photo of the day: A big heavy box

Well it's finally here! My digital piano (Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240) finally arrived in the huge (and extremly heavy) box you see in the photo. Fortunately the nice people from the shop humped it upstairs for me and I then spent a couple of hours putting it together. Assembling it was actually quite hard work, especially disposing of the mountain of cardboard and foam that was left over.

I'm afraid that I'm far too busy playing it to write any more details right now, but I will reveal all soon (or maybe I'll just tell you about the piano). Suffice to say it's really really bloody good. I am quite amazed by the sheer quality of the instrument. Those Japanese really know what they're doing with this kind of thing.

The piano has been ordered!

I ordered a piano a few days ago! Well a digital one anyway. Of course I'd love an acoustic, but this is much more convenient for me at this present time; headphones... USB interface... different instruments... doesn't weigh a tonne etc... you get the picture.

The model I have ordered is a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240 in Rosewood. These digital pianos have a "graded hammer effect" which means that the keys are weighted like in an acoustic piano (heavy at the bottom and lighter at the top). They also look pretty good as they've tried to make the cabinets look more like acoustics. I was going to get one on ebay, but I just couldn't find what I was looking for which wasn't miles away. Therefore, after lots of homework and a few trips to music shops I finally ordered one from new.

I was blown away by how the thing sounded in the shop, and can't wait for it to arrive next week. I'm looking forward to resuming my lessons! I've had about 5 or 6 lessons so far, and haven't had one since December. I decided to stop them until I get a piano because much as I enjoyed the lessons, I thought it was a bit pointless continuing unless I could practice. Anyway it'll finally be here soon and I'll have to get to work on it as I think it's the deadline for applying to do Grade 1 next month.

Here's a video of some bloke playing the same model Clavinova that I ordered:

DrGaz on the keys

Just got back from my 4th piano lesson! I've played guitar (mainly electric) for the last 15 years but it's always been a compromise, because since I was a kid I have ALWAYS wanted a piano! Sadly this is something that was always been impractical for one reason or another - usually "It's too big", "It's too expensive" "It's too noisy" etc etc etc... (the list of excuses not to is endless - you'll never win), so I've decided to go for it in adulthood and learn it properly with a teacher, and hopefully very shortly I'll be purchasing a digital piano. Not the cheapest hobby with lessons at £24/hr, and yes an electric piano WILL take up space, but what the hell! Sometimes you have to say balls to it just do it!

What I really want to do is go through the grades, and I'm aiming to make grade 1 by summer 2008. For now as a novice I have to start somewhere, so I'm currently working my way through the Grade 1 scale book, and another book called Piano Time 1 by Pauline Hall (both pictured below). Piano Time 1 is written for 5 year olds, and contains exciting stuff like "She'll be coming 'round the mountain", but as I said, you have to start somewhere. You can't just start bashing out Beethoven straight away.

A tricky thing about learning an instrument "properly" is learning to sight read (I learned guitar completely by ear and tabulation or "Tab" as it's called) . The thought of learning how to read music sounds pretty scary, but in the last couple of weeks I've actually been getting on quite well with it. This is largely thanks to a piece of software called Note Card which tests you on all the notes. I downloaded it to my PC at work, and give my self a quick test every lunchtime. It's amazing how quickly you pick it up.