Tag Archives: piano

Steinway’s New Piano Can Play a Perfect Concerto by Itself | WIRED

Posted by MaryO on

 

THE BLACK AND white keys move so fast it’s hard to tell if Jenny Lin is even touching them. Lin, a classical pianist known for virtuosic speed, is sitting at a grand piano in Steinway’s New York offices, as the rest of the room listens intently, focused on the keyboard.

No, she’s definitely not touching the keys. Not this time. Minutes earlier, Lin played a hyper-speed arrangement of George Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm.” The same song is playing now, except this time Lin hands are on her lap. It’s uncanny, really: The exact same keys are pressed, the exact same trills are heard, the same dynamics are present. It’s a little magical—or “almost scary” as Lin puts it—as though you’re witnessing a prodigious ghost mimic her every move.

It’s not a ghost, of course. It’s technology. Which, considering Steinway’s old-school legacy, is nearly as unlikely an explanation as a poltergeist. Lin is demonstrating the Spirio, Steinway’s newest and first self-playing piano.

When you buy a Spirio—not you, necessarily; they run upwards of $110,000—it comes with an iPad loaded with a Spotify-like app. This app communicates with the piano via Bluetooth, prompting the piano to play any one of the 1,700 songs recorded specifically for the instrument. New songs will sync every week. By itself, an iPad-controlled piano is nifty, if not exactly a technological marvel. What makes Spirio different is that it can play songs with an unprecedented level of accuracy and nuance.

Read more at Steinway’s New Piano Can Play a Perfect Concerto by Itself | WIRED.

Piano Gloves!

Posted by MaryO on
JoyTunes Piano Gloves

JoyTunes Piano Gloves

 

I thought this would surely interest all piano teachers and lovers out there – JoyTunes’ just came out with new piano teaching GLOVES!

Take a look in the clip and share it to all piano lovers everywhere.

The JoyTunes gloves, still in beta version, will turn you into Mozart in the blink of an eye! Don’t know how to play piano? These gloves will take you from 1 note to Beethoven in a flash. Our gloves allow your hands to auto magically bend and move to play any song your heart desires! Check out the video for more info.

Want to get your own pair of gloves? Purchase them here: http://www.joytunes.com/gloves

 

Watch: Mystery piano at Topanga Lookout – UPI.com

Posted by MaryO on

piano-santa-monica

 

A musical mystery is unfolding in California’s Santa Monica Mountains as a piano appeared without explanation at a lookout point 2 miles from the nearest road.

Hikers and news helicopters captured images and video Thursday showing the piano, estimated to weigh at least 300 to 400 pounds, that was apparently placed late Wednesday or early Thursday at the Topanga Lookout, which is accessible by a 2-mile hike from the nearest road.

The piano was placed on the site of an old fire tower, which famously also once hosted a couch of similarly mysterious origins.

via Watch: Mystery piano at Topanga Lookout – UPI.com.

March 30 ~ Today in Music History

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today

 

 

. 1674 ~ Pietro Antonio Locatelli died.  He was an Italian Baroque composer and violinist.

. 1872 ~ Sergei Vasilenko, Russian composer

. 1900 ~ Ted (Edward) Heath, Musician, trombonist, bandleader: played big band concerts every Sunday at the Palladium in the 1940s and 1950s

. 1913 ~ Frankie Laine (Frank Paul LoVecchio), Singer

. 1923 ~ The Audubon Ballroom in New York City was the scene of the first dance marathon. Alma Cummings danced the fox trot, one-step and waltz with half a dozen partners.

. 1932 ~ Leonard Bernstein  participated in his first piano recital at New England Conservatory, performing Brahm’s Rhapsody in G Minor.  He was 13.

. 1935 ~ Gordon Mumma, American composer of experimental music

. 1941 ~ Graeme Edge, Drumer with The Moody Blues

. 1942 ~ Bobby Wright, Country artist, actor, son of Johnny Wright of Johnnie and Jack country duo

. 1945 ~ Eric Clapton, British rock rock guitarist with the Yardbirds; song writer, Grammy Award-winning singer: Bad Love in 1990

. 1959 ~ Sabine Meyer, German clarinetist

. 1963 ~ The Chiffons began a four-week stay at the top of the pop music charts as their hit single, He’s So Fine, became number one. The song stayed at the top of the top tune tabulation until Little Peggy March came along with I Will Follow Him on April 27th.

. 1964 ~ Tracy Chapman, Grammy Award-winning folk singer-songwriter

. 1968 ~ Celine Dion, Singer

. 1970 ~ Lauren Bacall starred in Applause which opened on Broadway. The show became one of the hardest tickets to get on the Great White Way. Critics called Bacall “a sensation.” The play, at the Palace Theatre, was an adaptation of the film, All About Eve. It continued for 896 performances. A London version of the show, also starring Bacall, opened in 1972.

. 1971 ~ The Bee Gees received a gold record for the single, Lonely Days. When playing it, they heard the song at a faster speed and said, “Hey, this sounds like disco!” and the rest was Saturday Night Fever music history…

. 1974 ~ John Denver reached the top spot on the music charts with his hit, Sunshine on My Shoulders. It was the singer’s first number one song. Three other singles by Denver reached the top of the music world: Annie’s Song, Thank God I’m a Country Boy and I’m Sorry. Take Me Home Country Roads made it to the number two position, while Rocky Mountain High just cracked the Top 10 at number 9. Denver wrote Leaving on a Jet Plane for Peter, Paul and Mary and won an Emmy for the TV special, An Evening With John Denver.

The Piano Guys are coming to Wolf Trap August 6

Posted by MaryO on

The Piano Guys are an American musical group who gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music.

They are also adding piano music books.  This one from amazon.com says:

piano-guysWith their clever and inspiring takes on popular music and creative videos, The Piano Guys serve up an eclectic mix of classical, film score, rock and pop favorites that resonates with a wide variety of audiences.

Play 12 of their most popular songs in these arrangements for easy piano with optional cello: All of Me * Arwen’s Vigil * Begin Again * Home * Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascends * Moonlight * Over the Rainbow * Paradise * Rolling in the Deep * A Thousand Years * Titanium * Without You.

Includes separate pull-out cello part.

 

I am not sure about their idea of  “easy piano” but I have ordered a copy for the studio.

Wolf Trap tickets are available here: http://www.wolftrap.org/tickets/calendar/performance/15filene/0806show15.aspx

From the Web: The Piano Guys rock in a multi-century mash-up : The Ticket

Posted by MaryO on

What’s the difference between music of the 1770s and music of the 1970s? According to The Piano Guys, just enough to create a really fantastic mash-up. And so they did.

The group’s latest music video, released on YouTube Tuesday, is the most psychedelic throwback yet to grace the interweb.

Titled “What if the 1770s collided with the 1970s? – ‘I Want You Bach,’” the four-minute video features the alter-egos of musicians Jon Schmidt (“Duke Johann van Keymeister” and “Phil”) and Steven Sharp Nelson (“Sir Reginald von Sharp” and “Scooby”) in a Bach and Jackson 5 mash-up that will make you wonder why the two centuries never met before.

Here’s what The Piano Guys had to say about their inspiration:

“What if the harpsichord from the 1770s hit headlong into the talk box from 1970s? What if J.S. Bach and Jackson 5 met up and just jammed? Would they jive? Can you dig it? These are the kind of far out questions we asked ourselves as we laid down these licks and cut this film. We decided to put together a gig with two wigs in dandy attire and two hep-cats in some funkadelic threads to see if it would fly. … Presenting … ‘I Want You Bach’ – Jackson 5’s funky ‘I Want You Back’ mashed-up with 5 illustrious themes written by J.S. Bach.”

via From the Web: The Piano Guys rock in a multi-century mash-up : The Ticket.

All About Music Theory: A Fun and Simple Guide to Understanding Music

Posted by MaryO on

theory

 

As all my students know, I teach theory with all piano and organ lessons.  Sometimes, it’s from a theory book that matches a lesson book, sometimes on the fly on an “as needed” basis.

This book looks like it would be interesting to use as a review or to look ahead and see what’s coming.  I have just ordered a copy for the studio if you want to check it out at the next lesson.

From amazon.com:

 If you wish there was a fun and engaging way to help you understand the fundamentals of music, then this is it. Whether it’s learning to read music, understanding chords and scales, musical forms, or improvising and composing, this enjoyable guide will help you to finally start understanding the structure and design of music.

This fun-filled, easy-to-use guide includes:
* Music notation
* Scales and modes
* Melody harmonization and counterpoint
* Chord progressions
* Song form and structure

Listen and learn with the CD that has 90 tracks, including over 50 popular songs such as:
* Beauty and the Beast
* Candle in the Wind
* Imagine
* In the Air Tonight
* Killing Me Softly with His Song
* Let It Be
* Message in a Bottle
* Misty
* Satin Doll
* Take the ‘A’ Train
* Unchained Melody
* What’d I Say
* and more!

maryOivoryandroses

What’s better than one piano? Eight of them at University of Akron MonsterPianos! concert – Local – Ohio

Posted by MaryO on

monster

One piano is grand.

Eight being played in unison?

Well, that’s much, much grander.

The University of Akron School of Music hosted its sixth MonsterPianos! concert Sunday at E.J. Thomas Hall.

The special show featured eight grand pianos arranged in a semicircle, 39 pianists dressed in tuxedos and black gowns — not all playing at the same time, mind you — a conductor, and a giant video screen broadcasting all the action.

“It’s an adventure,” admitted conductor Galen Karriker, UA director of bands and associate professor of music.

It’s also immensely popular in the community, as evidenced by the audience of nearly 1,300 people.

UA music professor Philip Thomson founded MonsterPianos! in 2006, borrowing the concept from the late pianist Eugene List.

The concert, organized by Thomson and fellow faculty member Mayumi Kikuchi, is a treat for the musicians as well as the audience, because it’s rare to have so many pianists playing together at the same time.

The piano is typically a solo instrument, after all, and pianists aren’t used to watching a conductor for direction.

The concert poses several challenges for the musicians.

One of the biggest is just the fact that they aren’t used to playing together as a group. They had practiced only six times before the final dress rehearsal Sunday.

Another challenge is that pianists are familiar with hearing themselves play. With so many other pianos, the sound blends together — of course, it’d be weird if it didn’t.

“You have to trust your eyes and not your ears,” said Ann Usher, UA professor of music and director of the School of Music, who performed at the event.

The concert, which lasted about an hour and a half, included Valse Brilliante by Moritz Moszkowski, Rondo a capriccio by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

There also were some moments of levity such as when Zippy, the UA kangaroo mascot, led a piano-arrangement of the school fight song Win For Akron.

The concert featured faculty, students, alumni and invited guests. Some of those folks traveled from as far away as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas just to perform.

One of the guests was Juliette Streeter, 14, of Akron, a student at the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts.

She was excited to be chosen to participate.

“It’s not what I’m used to,” Streeter said. “It’s very fun getting used to all the different people and different styles and the ways they play.”

Karriker, who has conducted all six of the MonsterPianos!, said the concert sets UA apart.

“It truly makes us distinctive as far as a School of Music to have this kind of event,” he said. “There’s a lot of folks who love piano music in this community and they are fascinated by seeing that many pianos on stage and hearing what it sounds like.”

via What’s better than one piano? Eight of them at University of Akron MonsterPianos! concert – Local – Ohio.