David Connors

@maxrichtermusic wrote (https://www.facebook.com/MaxRichterMusic/posts/10153733145858943): " Vladimir's Blues (2004): I originally wrote this as an aside, a pause between what I thought of as two of the main pieces on The Blue Notebooks (Iconography and Arboretum). Just goes to show you never know … it's one of the pieces people always ask me about. The Vladimir in the title is the writer Nabokov, who was an expert on the family of butterflies known as “Blues”."

I recorded this piece a number of weeks ago in a back to back session with a number of other pieces. Unfortunately I deleted the MIDI file so could not render out final audio to post to YouTube. I recorded it again today so I have a complete set of all of my Grade 4 things as stand alone pieces to reflect on in the years to come. I will try and record the entire Grade 4 performance tomorrow and annotate with all of the assessor comments, grades etc.

Well, if anyone asks me to play Misty for them, I guess I can now. This is a collaboration with my drum teacher, @LearnSomeDrums. He charitably was able to compensate for my *cough* rubato *cough* by laying down this drum track. My current drum skills are definitely not YouTube ready and my $299 Aldi drum kit isn't to the task either. Luckily I had a grown up to help.

Here is another of my pieces for Grade 4. I feel I will be handed my ar5e for insufficient dynamic contrast relative to the score when I submit the actual performance. One of the positive things to come out of doing grading is it forces you into genres you would never otherwise venture ... and believe me ... tangos are not on the top of my list of piano things I want to sink time into. I recorded three pieces today including my other Grade 4 piece but I accidentally did not save the .MID out of the piano so I have no audio. I'll try and do that next weekend.

My dedication to not sitting my Grade 4 piano exams continues. 😀 This is Stijn van Wakeran's Overture featured in Underhero. It is a lovely piece which is simple enough however there is just enough syncopation in it to make it a bit challenging. The piece is quite short so I just played it twice back to back and it sounds like it was meant to be that way. The transcription is available from https://musescore.com/piichivy/overture-from-underhero.

My dedication to not sitting my Grade 4 piano exams continues. 😀 This is Stijn van Wakeran's ( @BreinStijn ) composition Overture featured in Underhero. It is a lovely piece which is simple enough however there is just enough syncopation in it to make it a bit challenging. The piece is quite short so I just played it twice back to back and it sounds like it was meant to be that way. The transcription was done by @piichivy and is available from https://musescore.com/piichivy/overture-from-underhero.

My dedication to not sitting my Grade 4 piano exams continues. 😀 This is Stijn van Wakeran's (@BreinStijn) composition Overture featured in Underhero. It is a lovely piece which is simple enough however there is just enough syncopation in it to make it a bit challenging. The piece is quite short so I just played it twice back to back and it sounds like it was meant to be that way. The transcription was done by @piichivy and is available from https://musescore.com/piichivy/overture-from-underhero.

Here is Saman by Ólafur Arnalds. When he composed this piece he posted the score to Twitter before the release of actual audio and it is a great thread to look through. There are a few talented pianists that produced quality renditions from the score alone before hearing the piece as intended by the composer. Both the thread and the score are here: https://twitter.com/OlafurArnalds/status/1014840741418426368 Ólafur Arnalds is Icelandic and Saman means "Together". I take this to be a (very short) allegory for the fact that the piece gets both of your hands working together. People who follow by ramblings closely will recall that I said that To Zanarkand was a masterclass in how not to learn a piece. Saman is another of my abandoned pieces from early in my piano studies (I think I made it half way through the first page). When I came to re-approach this piece recently I tried to do it 'correctly'. Lots of slow practice. Very deep score engagement (I can't perform it without the score). It stands as a polar opposite to To Zanarkand in that regard. Oddly, I tried to record it before heading away with the family for Easter holidays and could not get a clean take which is pretty unusual for me. I recorded two other pieces on first take in the same session but emptied the rest of the camera's battery into SFA for recording this. I think that is probably because the piece is at the limit of my abilities (the others weren't). Anyway, I hope you enjoy my performance. This was bounced out of my Kawai GX-2 Aures 2 as MIDI into Pianoteq 8. I used the Blüthner cinematic but dialed the hammer hardness way back to produce a soft and mellow sound.

Today marks three years (that's 131 lessons and 1,995 hours of effort) since I took up the piano. I thought it would be fitting to record the first piece I ever learned. Study in Am (score: https://musescore.com/user/5863556/scores/10240132) is an original composition by my teacher, Julia Kourtidis (http://www.jkmtuition.com/). It took me 14.5 hours to learn this back when I first started and I have a very clear recollection of many parts of this piece being 'impossible'. I managed a shaky redition of it for a lesson back then and didn't record it. I wouldn't say this is now sight reading material but it is not far off it either. I recommend re-recording old pieces you haven't touched in a couple of years. You look at them through a completely different lens of experience and it does give you a sense of accomplishment seeing how much more you understand.

Today marks three years (that's 131 lessons and 1,995 hours of effort) since I took up the piano. I thought it would be fitting to record the first piece I ever learned. Study in Am (score: https://musescore.com/user/5863556/scores/10240132) is an original composition by my teacher, Julia Kourtidis (http://www.jkmtuition.com/). It took me 14.5 hours to learn this back when I first started and I have a very clear recollection of many parts of this piece being 'impossible'. I managed a shaky redition of it for a lesson back then and didn't record it. I wouldn't say this is now sight reading material but it is not far off it either. I recommend re-recording old pieces you haven't touched in a couple of years. You look at them through a completely different lens of experience and it does give you a sense of accomplishment seeing how much more you understand.

I am now at four digits of piano days! Here is my attempt at Maria Mifsud's Remembrance. This piece is very difficult compared to the rest of the Grade 4 syllabus and I honestly don't think it belongs in Grade 4. This is close to good to go for the exam however I do need to work more on emphasising the dynamics of the sections (which are largely arbitrary). The biggest challenge in learning this piece was the alternating thirds and fourths. This was VERY difficult for me but like anything with piano, once you learn that particular pattern / skill then you have banked that for the next time you run into it. This is the first analogue recording I have made on the GX-2. It was recorded using a matched pair of Rode NT55 mics with cardioid capsules. These were being driven by a Zoom F6. No post production or effects were applied so this is very much just how the piano sounds. I spent hours today fiddle farting around with the setup and I really need to spend some time working out the workflow from this. I don't think the effort is worth it versus the simplicity and flexibility of bouncing out MIDI and doing the audio in post production.

I am now at four digits of piano days! Here is my attempt at Maria Mifsud's Remembrance. This piece is very difficult compared to the rest of the Grade 4 syllabus and I honestly don't think it belongs in Grade 4. This is close to good to go for the exam however I do need to work more on emphasising the dynamics of the sections (which are largely arbitrary). The biggest challenge in learning this piece was the alternating thirds and fourths. This was VERY difficult for me but like anything with piano, once you learn that particular pattern / skill then you have banked that for the next time you run into it. This is the first analogue recording I have made on the GX-2. It was recorded using a matched pair of Rode NT55 mics with cardioid capsules. These were being driven by a Zoom F6. No post production or effects were applied so this is very much just how the piano sounds. I spent hours today fiddle farting around with the setup and I really need to spend some time working out the workflow from this. I don't think the effort is worth it versus the simplicity and flexibility of bouncing out MIDI and doing the audio in post production.

This is a re-record of the first piece I uploaded to YouTube. I spent just under 45 mins relearning this piece which isn't bad considering I last palyed it 18 April 2021 - however someone might need to buy me a metronome for Christmas! 😀 This is rendered out of Pianoteq as the piano is new and I don't have any good microphones to record with and the acoustic side pretty out of tune. It needs to settle for another 6 weeks before it gets its in-home tuning. Final audio was run through Logic with a bit of chromaverb.

This is a re-record of the first piece I uploaded to YouTube. I spent just under 45 mins relearning this piece which isn't bad considering I last palyed it 18 April 2021 - however someone might need to buy me a metronome for Christmas! 😀 This is rendered out of Pianoteq as the piano is new and I don't have any good microphones to record with and the acoustic side pretty out of tune. It needs to settle for another 6 weeks before it gets its in-home tuning. Final audio was run through Logic with a bit of chromaverb.

This lovely piece is from Edric Tan and part of the Trinity College London 2021-2023 Grade 3 syllabus. Amazingly, Edric was born in 2005. To compose something this nice, at that age, and have it featured as a part of official syllabus is pretty incredible! I learned this piece because I really liked it but won't be using it as a part of my exam submission on the advice of my teacher saying it is simple compared to the rest of the syllabus. I'm inclined to agree - it is significantly easier than the other Grade 3 pieces I'm struggling with. I've ignored most of the dynamics by choice because they seem a bit arbitrary and I think the piece sounds a lot better without them.

This is a short composition I put together on Sunday the 9th of October 2022 and is my second composition. My goal was to brush up on Ab but it ended up in F minor. A complete write up on the process I used to put it together: https://www.davidconnors.com/a-waltz-study-in-f-minor/ The score as a PDF: https://www.davidconnors.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/A-Waltz-Study-in-F-minor-David-Connors.pdf The MCSZ in the event you want to edit or tweak is on MuseScore: https://musescore.com/user/37317749/scores/8816064 I hope you enjoy it! If you do your own interpretation, please send me a link!

I try and learn a new thing from every piece and for this it was the importance of counting at tempo along with the counting+rhythmic solfege at tempo. Rhythmic solfege by itself is a skill that still eludes me. This video is the first in a series of where I will be posting pieces I tried to learn but abandoned them for being too difficult at the time. I have abandoned 50% of the pieces I have started and I want to circle back and finish all of these when skill permits. I dumped some ~40 odd hours into this piece in early 2021 and didn't even make it half way - and that half was definitely not very good. I picked it up again this year and spent another ~35 hours on it over a few months. Progress was difficult for a few reasons: - I used it as a study for counting+rhythmic solfege at tempo. This was extremely difficult to start off with but I am committed to using these techniques on every piece moving forward. - The length of the piece @ 131 bars. - Lots of syncopation. Counting saved my bacon here. - Repetition and variation. The piece is littered with repeated sections that are every so slightly varied which means you're constantly fighting your muscle memory as it would autopilot the wrong variation. Despite the time poured into this piece I never managed to commit it to memory. Next upload will be my archnemesis ... To Zanarkand. That’s definitely a piece you should not attempt at week 3. 😁 The audio was rendered with Pianoteq 7's Bluethner Cinematic. I didn't do any post in Logic this time.

This is pretty mainstream classical for me (for a non-exam piece) as I have tended to gravitate to more contemporary pieces. I learned this some time ago but never got around to recording it. Most other YouTube versions of this piece use a single chord for the 'big chord' in bar 12 however the version my teacher gave me plays this as a glissando. Overall I think I would have preferred to learn this as the single big chord as a point of contrast.

#shorts This beautiful piece is by the modern classical composer Eydís Evensen. I believe dagdraumur means daydream in Icelandic. For a change of tone I rendered this out using Pianoteq 7 (NY Steinway D - Gentle) which makes a break from the Kawai built in samples. For those who don't know, Pianoteq is a virtual piano that works by physically modelling a piano rather than using samples. This is the only thing I have played and recorded with it so far and it gives the Kawai CA 79 a very different feel ... Especially with some of the bigger grands. Lastly and definitely not least a big thank you to Julia Kourtidis of JKM Tuition (http://www.jkmtuition.com/), my long suffering teacher, for transcribing this for me.

#shorts #piano #beginner #adultpianobeginner If ever there was a piece that made me want to quit the piano, this is it. I am very glad this boss battle is over. Sadly Nobuo Uematsu is of ill health and is no longer composing. 😢 I attempted this piece one month to the day after I started learning the piano. This is an intermediate arrangement and needless to say it did not end well. I put the better part of 70 hours into it very early on and managed to produce a mangled version of the first page only despite all of that effort. Keeping accurate time records is a double edged sword. It keeps you accountable but also you know exactly how much time you’ve devoted to something and in this case back then, with very little / nothing to show for it. Somewhat amusingly I clearly recall thinking how comprehensively sh1t I was at the piano based on how horrible the piece sounded after working on it for a week… and whether I should just can this whole piano thing. I failed to notice that the left hand plays the treble clef so I was playing the left hand with the bass clef notes. lol FML. 😆 It was very interesting returning to this piece after so long. I remember agonising over the runs at the start of the piece (looking at a sea of black and white and rote learning which key to press next). Now when I look at it I can see it opens with Em, D, etc and it is very straightforward to comprehend with a couple of years of practical and theory under my belt. Carousel #3 was a really good exercise in re-learning a piece ‘properly’. I used counting throughout. I am highly engaged with the score (if you stopped me at any time and asked me to point to where I am I could do so easily). I have a fairly good understanding of what subkey I’m in most of the time in that piece. On the other hand, To Zanarkand is a masterclass in how not to learn a piece: ✅ Complete reliance on muscle memory. ✅ Completely disengaged with the score. No idea where I am. ✅ If anything hiccups… everything collapses with no chance of recovery. Anyway, it is done now and I don’t intend to play this arrangement again. I will look to relearning a more advanced version of this piece down the track with proper technique. Next piece I will 're-learn' will be Comptine d'un Autre été: L'Après-Midi. I learned that around the 6 month mark and could play it end to end (unlike To Zanarkand). It will be very interesting to approach this piece again from a score analysis/theoretical perspective as opposed to rote learning.

If ever there was a piece that made me want to quit the piano, this is it. I am very glad this boss battle is over. Sadly Nobuo Uematsu is of ill health and is no longer composing. 😢 I attempted this piece one month to the day after I started learning the piano. This is an intermediate arrangement and needless to say it did not end well. I put the better part of 70 hours into it very early on and managed to produce a mangled version of the first page only despite all of that effort. Keeping accurate time records is a double edged sword. It keeps you accountable but also you know exactly how much time you’ve devoted to something and in this case back then, with very little / nothing to show for it. Somewhat amusingly I clearly recall thinking how comprehensively sh1t I was at the piano based on how horrible the piece sounded after working on it for a week… and whether I should just can this whole piano thing. I failed to notice that the left hand plays the treble clef so I was playing the left hand with the bass clef notes. lol FML. 😆 It was very interesting returning to this piece after so long. I remember agonising over the runs at the start of the piece (looking at a sea of black and white and rote learning which key to press next). Now when I look at it I can see it opens with Em, D, etc and it is very straightforward to comprehend with a couple of years of practical and theory under my belt. Carousel #3 was a really good exercise in re-learning a piece ‘properly’. I used counting throughout. I am highly engaged with the score (if you stopped me at any time and asked me to point to where I am I could do so easily). I have a fairly good understanding of what subkey I’m in most of the time in that piece. On the other hand, To Zanarkand is a masterclass in how not to learn a piece: ✅ Complete reliance on muscle memory. ✅ Completely disengaged with the score. No idea where I am. ✅ If anything hiccups… everything collapses with no chance of recovery. Anyway, it is done now and I don’t intend to play this arrangement again. I will look to relearning a more advanced version of this piece down the track with proper technique. Next piece I will 're-learn' will be Comptine d'un Autre été: L'Après-Midi. I learned that around the 6 month mark and could play it end to end (unlike To Zanarkand). It will be very interesting to approach this piece again from a score analysis/theoretical perspective as opposed to rote learning.

I try and learn a new thing from every piece and for this it was the importance of counting at tempo along with the counting+rhythmic solfege at tempo. Rhythmic solfege by itself is a skill that still eludes me. This video is the first in a series of where I will be posting pieces I tried to learn but abandoned them for being too difficult at the time. I have abandoned 50% of the pieces I have started and I want to circle back and finish all of these when skill permits. I dumped some ~40 odd hours into this piece in early 2021 and didn't even make it half way - and that half was definitely not very good. I picked it up again this year and spent another ~35 hours on it over a few months. Progress was difficult for a few reasons: - I used it as a study for counting+rhythmic solfege at tempo. This was extremely difficult to start off with but I am committed to using these techniques on every piece moving forward. - The length of the piece @ 131 bars. - Lots of syncopation. Counting saved my bacon here. - Repetition and variation. The piece is littered with repeated sections that are every so slightly varied which means you're constantly fighting your muscle memory as it would autopilot the wrong variation. Despite the time poured into this piece I never managed to commit it to memory. Next upload will be my archnemesis ... To Zanarkand. That’s definitely a piece you should not attempt at week 3. 😁 The audio was rendered with Pianoteq 7's Bluethner Cinematic. I didn't do any post in Logic this time.

It has been a long time between YouTube uploads. 😬 This is a short composition I put together on Sunday the 9th of October 2022 and is my second composition. My goal was to brush up on Ab but it ended up in F minor. A complete write up on the process I used to put it together: https://www.davidconnors.com/a-waltz-study-in-f-minor/ The score as a PDF: https://www.davidconnors.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/A-Waltz-Study-in-F-minor-David-Connors.pdf The MCSZ in the event you want to edit or tweak is on MuseScore: https://musescore.com/user/37317749/scores/8816064 I hope you enjoy it! If you do your own interpretation, please send me a link!

Here is my entire Trinity Grade 3 Performance end-to-end without edits. Trinity do not let you upload your actual submission to social media so I shot this top down straight after I recorded the actual submission. I normally only spend a few minutes editing my videos but this was a bit of a mission and took me four hours to overlay all of the scores and sync it up with the actual performance - but it is nice to be able to follow along because we all know how much piano students love reading sheet music. Some of the grading was a bit arbitrary but a distinction is a distinction so onward to grade 4. I was going to take a break on grading but we have a family holiday in Melbourne around Christmas which will see me without a piano for a couple of weeks. I figure it is better to knock over grade 4 now and submit it before the end of the year then decide whether I am ready to look at grade 5 in the new year. Hopefully that is not overly optimistic as early signs are that there is a steep increase in difficulty from grade 3 to 4. :| Here is the full grading transcript. Whenever you see three numbers separated by slashes they are: Fluency & Accuracy The ability to perform fluently, with a stable pulse and with an accurate realisation of the notation. Technical facility The ability to control the instrument effectively, covering the various technical demands of the music. Communication & Interpretation The interpretation of the music and the way the performance conveys a sense of stylistic understanding and audience engagement. Name: David Connors Classical & Jazz Grade: 3 Instrument: Piano Piece 1 (out of 22): Les couscous benevoles The playing had reliable accuracy and detail with a good sense of style and fluency, overall. Tonal control was generally well handled. Marks: 7/6/8 = 21 Piece 2 (out of 22): An Autumn Leaf This was mostly well executed with good accuracy and flow and clear attention to detail. Tonal control occasionally lacked clarity, but the style and feel were conveyed well. Marks: 7/6/7 = 20 Piece 3 (out of 22): Sunrise on the Matterhorn The playing had good flow and tonal warmth. Finger-work was generally even with a suitably thoughtful and detailed approach to the phrasing, conveying an overall sense of stylistic poise. Marks: 7/6/8 = 21 Technical Work (out of 14): The scales and arpeggios were mostly fluent and even. 1a was clear with an expressive feel and 2b was often detailed and accurate. Mark: 13 Performance Delivery and Focus (out of 10) The performances were delivered with smooth transitions and well-maintained focus. Mark: 9 Musical Awareness (out of 10) The ability to move between styles is well developed and there is a convincing level of personal investment in the performances. Mark: 9 Total: 93/100

This is the last thing I need to prepare for Trinity Grade 3. I've sent off the paperwork and am waiting for the login code at which point I'll record and upload. When I do the recording I might also do an overhead one to YouTube to provide the context on what it is like to play the whole shooting match back to back without error. The oddly named Les coucous bénévoles is French for "The benevolent cuckoos". This Baroque period piece by François Couperin gave me no end of trouble in getting technically correct. Every grade I've done I've had a problematic piece and for Grade 3 - this was it. It is repetitious and very light on the dynamics but I think it probably came down to the alternating tenuto and staccato articulation which has given me problems before. I'll be glad to see the tail end of this particular cuckoo.