Archive for the ‘Favourite YouTube Videos’ Category
Glee Piano Sheet Music (NEW!)
January 2nd, 2010
Glee
Glee is my new favorite show. It’s one of the most successful new primetime TV shows this year and I gotta say that I’m hooked, yet slightly disappointed that they’re taking a winter break and putting it back on the air in April.
I think Glee has had so much success because it incorporates comedy, drama, and music and performance into one incredible hour-long segment with fantastically talented characters that can appeal to the younger generation (the high school characters) and even the older generation (the teacher characters). This show has a wide range of audiences, and it’s easy to see why.
Glee Songbook For Piano/Vocal/Guitar
Glee Songbook (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)
Lucky for us piano players, Glee has just come out with a brand new piano/vocal/guitar songbook with 120 pages of Glee’s best hit songs so far. The book is made up of 16 songs, including Take a Bo, Alone, Somebody to love, Walking On Sunshine, Don’t Stop Believin’, Halo, Push It, Confessions Part II, It’s My Life, Gold Digger, Keep Holding On, Rehab, No Air, and Bust Your Windows. It doesn’t say what level you should be at to start practicing with this book, but I would expect that it to be at the medium/intermediate level of piano playing.
You can search for these songs on YouTube with the word “Glee” included in the search to hear these incredible arrangements. Their most well-known one is Don’t Stop Believin’, originally sung and released by Journey back in 1981. You can listen to the Glee cast’s arrangement in the YouTube clip below.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
You might be interested in buying more than the songbook. Click on the following thumbnails to get more purchasing details on the Glee Volume One DVD Collection, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, Glee: The Music, Volume 2, and 3 official Glee movie posters!
Flight Of The Bumblebee, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
September 2nd, 2009
So, I have a new project. I decided this last night (at like 3am). Now that I’m done Clair De Lune (just needs some tweaking), it’s time to get my hands dirty. Like, REALLY dirty.
I need a faster piece to really challenge my technical skills. And WHAT better piece than “Flight Of The Bumblebee” by Korsakov?
This is going to be really interesting…
Unfortunately, I can’t really find the difficulty rating for this piece. I think it’s because this piece was not originally composed as a piano solo and there are various different transcriptions.
“Flight Of The Bumblebee” is actually an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, made for his opera, named The Tale Of Tsar Salta. It was composed around 1899 – 1900.
During the scene, a magic Swan-Bird is supposed to change Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into an insect so he can fly away and visit his father. That’s why this piece sounds like a bumblebee’s wings buzzing around really fast, almost sounding like it’s coming toward you, around you, and away from your ear with the corresponding dynamics, crescendos, and decrescendos.
I printed out one version of the piano sheet music last night and sat down to just play a few measures. It’s intimidating, but considering the fact that I have been playing the piano for so long, I can definitely tackle it.
The right hand of the piece is basically all chromatic variations. What’s THAT? Well, you’re pretty much just playing every single white note and black note in order, up and down the keyboard. Oh ya, at a RIDICULOUSLY FAST SPEED.
It’s okay though, I had to practice chromatics for my conservatory examinations, so it’s all good.
I’m so excited though, because I love chromatics. If I can master this without getting my fingers tied in a knot, I will pretty much have conquered the world (in my opinion).
It’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of grueling technical work, and crazy practicing HOURS (probably late at night) with this piece. Remember the post I just made on Slow Practice? Yeah, that will DEFINITELY apply to this piece. Luckily, the left hand shouldn’t be too hard. There are a lot of staccato notes.
Fantastic! Chromatic scales and staccato notes! My favourites!
I bet it will take me a year to fully master this piece. (Unless I give up.) It took me all summer to really master Clair De Lune and it’s not even a fast piece.
When I do (and I will) master Korsakov’s Flight Of The Bumblebee, I would love to find my old piano teacher and show her what I have done. She should be proud.
I remember back in the day when I showed her that I learned Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, she was pretty surprised. Awesome!
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
WATCH THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO. This girl (Yuja Wang) plays Flight Of The Bumblebee with RIDICULOUS speed, accuracy, tempo, and amazing technique. It’s almost scary. And it is truly inspirational. I’m not all that for speed with the piano, so I’d be glad if I could play it half as fast as she could.
Get ready for something amazing…
EDIT: Well, I just found the transcription that looks like what Yuja Wang plays (more difficult). The other version I found was just chromatic scales in the right hand. Which version should I learn? I’m always up for the hardest challenge, so maybe the Yuja Wang version. We’ll see. I hope my Yamaha keyboard won’t explode.
Posted in Favourite YouTube Videos, Song Reviews | 
Tags: Chromatic, Crescendo, Decrescendo, Dynamics, Flight Of The Bumblebee, Korsakov, Staccato, Technique | 
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One of the Best Piano and Cello Arrangements… Ever
August 14th, 2009
I’m going to share with you a video I found a few months ago, of two extremely talented musicians. It’s a pretty popular video, all over Google and YouTube. Pianist John Schmidt is my hero. Not to mention, piano and cello harmonies are my favourite. Both instruments complement each other so incredibly beautifully, and you’ll be amazed at the sound that comes from these two instruments when they’re played together.
Not only that, but I never thought I’d ever be such a big fan of music from Taylor Swift, nor Coldplay. Incredibly, piano arrangements of popular songs can sound a hundred times more amazing than the original pop song.
I love how the Cellist (Steven Sharp Nellson) really establishes beat of the piece, moves into more of a harmonization between both instruments. The bridge of “Love Story” is delivered beautifully, before returning to the original chorus and structure of the song, and then the piece almost builds up a sort of climax, as the piano delivers an amazing and extravagant set of chord progressions while the cello plays one of the corresponding chorus melodies.
With the common rhythm aspects between the two songs (Viva La Vida by Coldplay and Love Story by Taylor Swift), the entire performance drifts smoothly into the second song (Viva La Vida). I’m more of a fan of the Love Story arrangement because I feel like its more creative in comparison to the original song and the melodies and bass are more distinct in relation to when they move into the Coldplay song.
Also, as they move into Viva La Vida, they decided to add the whole sort of lyrical verse, “Ohhhh ohhhhh ohhhh ohhhh oh,” and so on. There are also some other instruments that I can hear in background, such as such more percussion and even perhaps other string instruments.
All in all, this is an absolute masterpiece, a true work of art. I’ve watched it over and over again because I just can’t get enough of it. I have been teaching myself some Talyor Swift arrangements on the piano (Love Story and also Teardrops on My Guitar) but they are not ready at all, unfortunately. I’m thinking of purchasing the piano sheet music from John Schmidt’s website, but I’m afraid it won’t sound nearly as good without the harmonization of the cello.
Elise’S Musical Tip For The Day:
Watch this video! I hope it inspires you in some sort of musical and artistic way. Sometimes, I just completey adore popular arrangements. If they are built with a lot of variations and chord progressions, they usually sound extraordinary.
Posted in Favourite YouTube Videos |
Tags: Arrangement, Bass, Cello, Chord Progressions, Coldplay, Harmonization, Harmony, Instruments, Love Story, Melody, Piano, Popular, Popular Arrangement, Taylor Swift, Viva La Vida |
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