Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Youtube video of me doing solo to Bennie and the Jets

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cWgcd8mpNXE

I know I am opening myself up to the jabs but hey, I am willing to learn. It's not great by any means and I am just now learning how to do video so it is what it is.

very cool! just move the camera a bit more to the left so we can see your hands a bit more clearly (but still keeping your face in shot).

I'd like to see more...

p.s. what are you playing it on, is it on your Baldwin Pianovelle GPS 3600 Digital Grand

??

I just have to thank you for bringing this to my attention, I saw you mention it on another thread and I'm chuffed to bits to have found it;

Put some of your Billy Joel stuff onto youtube!!!!!

Nicely done. Sounded great!

thanks, actually, I am using my 'recording rig' for that one. i have a problem of logistics in my house. the Baldwin GPS 3600 is in my living room, about 70 feet from the spare bedroom that houses all of my music stuff. only reason i use my bedroom piano instead of Baldwin is because my recording pc with firewire recording thingy sits in that bedroom so it's just easier than to disassemble a rack mound recording thing and take a desktop pc.monitor etc into living room, someday i will do it but i am just now starting to learn so not yet, i don't think my wife will be too tolerant of a desktop pc sitting on the living room coffee table very long,

i was using an old Korg full size digital on that video but instead of the Korg voice, I am using an old Oberheim piano module called 'mini-grand.' 64 poly, it was pretty good in it's day, around 1995 i think. i don't mind playing it, its still fun and a m ajor step up from the korg c5000. interesting thing, it records better than it sounds... kinda weird. i got the korg in 1989 and have been literally pounding the he__ out of it for close to 20 years and there isn't anything mechanically wrong with it whatsoever... it has survived many home 'rock concerts' without ever showing signs of use even. i was about 20 when i got it so ya know its been thru it..

I am really impressed, fantastic!

Thanks a bunch!

I liked it: GOOD JOB!!!! - that's one of my favorites. I also Like Elton John's music (don't tell any classical pianist's though . . .:-) )

That was great, but I wanted to hear the whole song!

Am I understanding you correctly that this was taken from sheet music? The post above said "same for the Elton John version," so I'm guessing there is a book that has note for note transcriptions? That's really cool.

Though covered well, it wasn't note for note. If that's exactly what's written in the transcript, there are some slight inconsistancies.

thanks, its a mix of whats in the Elton John Keyboard transcription book and versions Elton has done of it live over the years. Playing directly from any score is something I have tried to get away from doing. I don't think Elton ever plays something the same twice live and the solo in the EJ Keyboard book is boring compared to the live thing he's been doing. His playing on recordings is much more subdued than live so I tried to mix it up. But yes, it's not anything in particular but a mix..

my vote goes for "mixing it up"

That sounded really good. I wanted to watch more!

I must admit that digital sounds pretty darn good. I haven't heard one that sounded that good in a LONG time.

Derick

Wow!! I'm so inspired!! Iim not the only one that wanted to see more! Are you playing anymore songs by Elton John or Billy Joel?

Love it ! 2 Thumbs up !

Virtuosic - Hard for me to believe that you would comment on others playing as "wasn't note for note" since you are such a big fan of jazz improv....

Maybe you should enlighten us on the way you would play it...

Thanks again, absolutely. I just don't have more ready yet that I am ready to post. Something happens when I hit record, I've heard it referred to as red light fever when ya can't play/sing for some reason when recording, it's getting better though and the compliments are really appreciated. Thanks!

Very good job!!

You misinterpreted my post, which I imagin that everyone interpreted correctly. My comments were directed at the transcription, the book that was supposedly offering a note by note transcription of Elton John's piano part. I commented that if what he played on his Youtube video was "as written" in the book, than the book is not selling what it is touting it to be, since there are many different instances between the way Agathis played it and the way Elton played it on the original recording.

I've also found this to be true with alot of the Official Artist Series books as well. I recently picked up two books of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson that were touted as "note for note" transcriptions on the cover with a forward of how painstakingly the dedicated writer transcribed them. I was going to use them for a few of my advanced students, as I figured it would save me the time of writing it out. I had to make so many corrections that I was cut and pasting staff paper over the errors in voicings, missing notes, and other errata. The next time I was in Sam Ash, I glanced through the Bud Powell Artist series book and while the right hand single note lines were correct, for the most part, the music of the bass clef (his "comp") differed from as recorded.

My criticism wasn't of Agathis' playing, it was of the score, if he were playing it note for note, which as it turned out, he wasn't, which is fine.

Buy a few more tapes, keep the battery charger handy and keep the recorder on when you sit behind the piano to play. Not practice stuff of course, but turn it on when you are playing music. Get used to the recorder. After awhile, you won't even know it's there and you can always cull what you feel you played very well from the tapes to save and erase the rest, this way you'll have a record of it, and you'll get over any red-light anxiety.

Also, buy a tripod and place the camera so the piano keyboard can be seen more readily. There are alot of YouTube users that would really like to see your hands activating the keys if they wish to emulate what you're playing and try it themselves.

Nice work Ag, from one valley piano guy to another!

Ever ripped out the gospel progressions from
"Border Song" ????

Holy Moses!!!!!!
I think you might really enjoy that one.

(I'd post 'em here, but I have a feeling you already know them, and my old ASCAP-associated father would probably rise up from the grave and kill me...)

-nine.