ANZCA Modern Grade 4 Blues - Bouncin' Blues

For a blues piece, this is pretty peppy. It uses a lot of grace notes, which is pretty common for a blues tune, but it's not in standard 12 bar blues form.

Bouncin' Blues - Shaun Jones

 

ANZCA Modern Grade 4 Jazz - Friday Groove

This piece actually contains some finger snaps in the music, but because I recorded this directly from digital piano to the computer, I left those out. They happen at the start and the end. If you're good at snapping with your right hand, then this piece could be for you. I'm terrible at it.

Friday Groove - Robert Keane

Image courtesy of MR LIGHTMAN / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ANZCA Modern Grade 5 Jazz - 52nd Street Theme

This peppy tune is a well-known example of Thelonious Monk's music. It was written in 1944, when 52nd Street, Manhattan, was the place to be to catch the coolest Jazz.

The photo in the video is also of 52nd Street, taken in 1948 by William P. Gottlieb. It shows many of the popular clubs of the time.

52nd Street Theme - Thelonious Monk

 

If you would like to see some icons of Jazz play and improvise on this tune, go here. It's VERY cool. There's piano, brass, drums and vibraphone featured.

 

Image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:52nd_Street,_New_York,_by_Gottlieb,_1948.jpg

 

AMEB Grade 4 List B - tunes from the Grade books

The music room at Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England

 

Here's a selection of List B pieces you can do. There are many more not included in the group below. If you would like more of a range, ask and I will dig around for more choices.

 

AMEB Series 15

• Bornenes Jul - Boys' Merry Go Round
• Mussorgsky - Une Larme A Tear
• Haydn - Minuet in C Major

AMEB Series 16

• Burgmuller - Gewitter
• Czerny - Sonatina Op. 163 No. 2
• Schumann - In a Sicilian Style Op. 68 No. 11
• Alkan - La Vision Op. 63 No. 1

I have to say my highlights out of these are the ones called Gewitter, and Une Larme A Tear. But hey, that's just my taste. I would love feedback on which ones stand out to you!

 

Image credit: http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__11206_img__20032.aspx



ANZCA Grade 6 Blues - Blues Without Words

This is not only one of my top choices for a Grade 6 exam in the Blues genre - this is one of my favourite exam pieces ever. It's a great expressive piece, with lots of subtle mood changes. There's also a couple of leaps that are fun to play. Enjoy... and please learn it!

Blues Without Words - Denes Agay

 

ANZCA Grade 6 Pop and Rock Fest

Good morning, afternoon or evening. Here's a whole bunch of famous tunes you can do for your Grade 6 exam, with links to the tunes in their original form to come.

• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Memory
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Don't Cry for me Argentina
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - I Don't Know how to Love Him
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Angel of Music
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Music of the Night
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Think of Me
• John Williams - Star Wars (Main Theme)
• James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good)
• A Whole New World (from Disney's Aladdin)
• Elton John - Believe
• Elton John - Border Song
• Elton John - Can you Feel the Love Tonight
• Elton John - Candle in the Wind
• Elton John - Empty Garden
• Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
• Elton John - Sacrifice
• Elton John - Your Song
• Norah Jones - Nightingale
• Norah Jones - Man of the Hour
• Norah Jones -Stuck
• Lady Gaga - Speechless

Pyjama Practice, Day 1

Like all my students, right now I am gearing up to play at the End of Year Concert. Everyone gets to play a piece or two, and this year I'm having a go as well.

My favourite style of practicing is in my pyjamas. Yeah, that's a style. So here is me doing that. I'm hopefully going to record myself playing my concert piece every day for a week. It should end up being a record of how a half hour practice can improve a piece from day to day. Let's hope it DOES improve, because I pause to think a lot in this first video...

A lot of famous pianists around the year 1900, including Sergei Rachmaninov, got to hear their own playing back through recordings and player piano rolls they performed on. Some performers said, "WHAT?!? I sound like that?" Not sure what Rachmaninov thought of his own playing; it would be fascinating to find out.

It can be surprising how different your idea of how you play is to the real thing, so I recommend recording yourself to have a listen. Plus, you get to have a record of the pieces you've learnt. You could make a compilation CD!

Etude Tableau No. 2 in A minor - Sergei Rachmaninov