Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Prelude no. 1 in C Major (Bach) and two original compositions

--Prelude no. 1 in C Major by J.S. Bach



--Original Composition: Noche Serena. I wrote this quite a while back, probably does sound different from my style now.

--Original Composition: Souvenirs de l'été, for my Great-Grandma.

Monday, July 30, 2012

The Pianist (the movie)

The Pianist is a really good movie that's during World War II about a pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman. The movie has a lot of music, and the opening song is Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (which I became excited about when I was watching the movie!). I don't want to say too much about it, since I might spoil something, but it has a very good story, and is actually based on a true story. If you want to watch something that has both classical music and action--watch The Pianist. Directed by Roman Polanski; starring Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman.

And by the way, I decided to limit the amount of music I work on (since I never seem to finish anything that way!!). I got a sheet music book yesterday, and am looking forward to working on ONE piece. And then I'm still doing the Tempest Sonata. (Oh, and I'm just about finished with that original composition for my Great-Grandma.)

Au revoir for now,
--Viviana

Friday, July 27, 2012

Short introduction about me!

Hello, my name is Criserl Teo and I'm from Singapore. I'm very honored to be invited to have a joint blog with pianist Viviana. Viviana is an outstanding pianist on Youtube and also a great writer.I love playing the piano and dancing.I have passed Abrsm practical grade 6 with distinction and Abrsm theory grade 5 with merits.I play mostly classical music and my favorite composers are Chopin and Franz Liszt.

 I hope to become a really good pianist. Once again I would like to thank Viviana for giving me this opportunity to post on this blog.

~Criserl :)

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Some news

I am very happy to announce that there will be another author on this blog!!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Update as of July 2012

Hello! I've been getting a little busy with things. I started teaching my seven-year-old sister piano. She's really been progressing each day. I'm teaching her the right hand part of Invention 4 by Bach, and I think she's handled it pretty well. Then I've been teaching a her a bit on music theory, which she's not doing so bad in.


I started writing another story! No, I never finished my other one, but that was only because I was starting to change everything and had no idea what to do next. So this new story is about a girl whose parents decide to become missionaries to the people in Pakistan. I'm still trying to get more ideas. Once I get at least the first chapter or so done I might put it on here. Not too sure about that yet.


As for piano... I started working on Tempest Sonata Movement 3 by Beethoven. It's sure going to challenge me in areas I need some progress in. And then I think I want to learn another Nocturne by Chopin. My mom gave me the challenge of composing a piece for my great-grandma, which I'll need to have it done before August 5th. I came up with something, but ended up not liking it too much, so I started something new. Hopefully it will work out.


Peace out! :P
--Viviana

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Three pieces re-uploaded: The Love in Us, Sunday Morning, and Invention 4

My re-uploaded version of The Love in Us by Emily Bear.




Sunday Morning by Emily Bear. I made sure do play the whole thing and play it faster. 


A more steady version of Invention 4 by J.S. Bach. 

How you can contact me

Feel free to contact me if you have any requests or comments about my music or anything about music: thepianistviviana@gmail.com

Adios!
--Viviana

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

New Original Composition: Un Sogno Si Avvicina in A-minor

Greetings! I actually composed this about a month and a half ago. I'm composing a new one as well. I know, there's not too much technique in this one, but oh well. And the name means an approaching dream in Italian. I don't know why I named it that... I couldn't think of anything else. And yes, those are two v's in the "avvicina" part, not a W.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Piano: My Story

I don't think I've ever said how I came to learn piano, so that is what this post will be about. When I was around seven years old, I got one of those little learn-by-color keyboards. I learned short songs and really enjoyed playing. 


The next year, I got a 21-key piano and started "composing" little pieces, and then figuring out folk songs. I never thought too much about piano. 


When I was ten and a half, my mom and my siblings and I were going to meet up with some other homeschoolers. One of the homeschooling moms knew how to play the keyboard a bit, and she decided she would teach me what she knew. So I started the next week. I remember clear as day, that the song was Rain, Rain Go Away. I practiced a bit, and then would have to practice it throughout the week for the next "lesson." When that next lesson came, she was amazed for some reason, because I remembered it all (I know, it sounds kind of funny since that's a little song). So I continued to learn short songs, and then one day not long after, she said to me,"Alright, do you want to continue with the First Pieces or do you want to go onto Primer Level?" And I answered,"I'd love to try Primer Level!" And so it was. 


I remember this one day, I was at church in Sunday school, there was a piano in the room and a girl was playing it. That piece sounds sooo beautiful! I thought. I didn't find out what the name was. On a certain day, I was on the computer, looking for that song on gmajormusictheory.org, listening to every song they had on there. And then I came across a piece called Moonlight Sonata--the piece that girl was playing! I became so excited! I started looking up tutorials on how to play it on Youtube (I didn't know how to read sheet music then). I had been practicing on that 21-key piano, and it sure was not going to work for playing Moonlight Sonata. But I still tried. I learned a little bit of it, and one day I was playing some of it, and my teacher said,"Is that Moonlight Sonata?" And I said,"Yeah. I really want to learn it." I continued trying to learn it, and then I was told that I would be getting a 61-key piano! When it arrived, I started practicing right away. And guess what? Moonlight Sonata happened to be one of the built-in songs on the piano, in which you could learn! Of course, it was a shorter and transposed version, but I didn't care.


 Not too long after, my mom told me that there would be a homeschooling graduation at our church. My teacher asked the lady who was in charge if me and some of the other girls who were learning piano could play at the graduation. She said we could, and I right away said I wanted to play Moonlight Sonata. My teacher didn't seem to really think I could learn it in time, but I knew I could. Time went by. And guess what? I did learn it. When it was the day of the homeschooling graduation, I wasn't feeling very nervous. I was ready to play Moonlight. My turn came up at the piano. I played it, full confidence, looking at all the kids taking their place on the seats. I was happy. I achieved my goal. 


By the time I was eleven, I was no longer learning piano anymore. We stopped meeting with the other homeschoolers. I couldn't read music too well, but I did have a sheet that identified most of the notes. I didn't know music theory though, so I had trouble with music. I decided to learn music the way I learned Moonlight Sonata: visually. I could remember almost anything on the piano once I played it. It just stayed it my head somehow. I learned a little Bach and some other songs. 


And here's when piano changed for me. I got a teacher who actually knew how to play piano good. She taught me so much, and my piano skills strengthened. By the time I was thirteen, I knew how to read music. I knew treble clef more than bass clef. But anyway, I started learning Etude in E Major by Chopin. I remember saying,"This is the hardest piece I've ever done!" It was challenging for me at the time. That was truly when music changed for me, because right after I learned that piece, I started composing real music. Sure, I didn't have too many techniques at the time, but I tried to compose as best as I could. Reading about composers really encouraged me to learn harder pieces of music. But here's when piano actually got challenging for real: I started learning the real Moonlight Sonata. I thought my fingers had a lot of strength by then, but I sure was wrong. It hurt as if I never played piano before. And you're probably wondering, How did you learn Moonlight Sonata? Well, the answer is Youtube! Another tutorial. Ah, great Youtube, such a help. 


So more time went on. Now we're approaching the present. I composed more music, learned harder pieces--all that. And then I had an idea: why not upload my music to Youtube, like a lot of pianists do? And that's what I did. Sure, I'm not a popular person on there, and yes, I get some dislikes, but I do work hard on my music. Beethoven is my favorite composer, not only because some of his music is pure genius, but because he wasn't exactly a child prodigy. He was really gifted, but not a child prodigy. And that's what I want to show other people: you don't have to be a child prodigy or very gifted to play piano well. You can be a normal person. 


I don't have a teach at the moment, but I hope to get one! I want to get even better. I want to bring glory to God, not myself. Right now I started working on Beethoven's Tempest Sonata. I really like that one! And I want to compose something. 


I hope you enjoyed my piano story, and I hope you were encouraged! :)


Until next time!
--Viviana