22 replies to this topic

[mel2]

Was he reading the music?
If not, then he did manage something rather good, unless he was sounding unpleasant and clashing.
It may not have been Fur Elise but if he played something Beethovenian by ear, albeit 'altered' then the child was musical if only for inventing his own accompaniment.

[adultpianist]

You have to be talented to deliberately play in the wrong key.  Comedian Les Dawson used to do this just for entertainment

 

 

 

https://www.youtube....OrsWxh5mg&t=93s

[EllieD]

No doubting Les Dawson's talent!! Very funny!!

 

I don't think looking at Youtube videos is particularly helpful, as all you're going to be doing is hearing someone else's interpretation, and that may not be what you want to do. All the instructions for playing a piece of music are there on the page - which note to hit, how hard to hit it (for Romantic music and onwards especially), whether to hit it for a long or short period of time, whether to link two notes together... it really is just what it says on the tin. Then the musical interpretation bit should be down to the individual with advice from a teacher (which can be discussed) not with a Youtube video (which can't be discussed).

 

There are great things with modern technology, but IMO there is a huge bad thing, and that is that it is too easy not to think any more. If you want to develop as a musician, think it through and make your own decisions. You may ultimately change your mind after discussion with your teacher, but it is the thinking process which develops your skill, not the copying process.

[Banjogirl]

Was he reading the music?
If not, then he did manage something rather good, unless he was sounding unpleasant and clashing.
It may not have been Fur Elise but if he played something Beethovenian by ear, albeit 'altered' then the child was musical if only for inventing his own accompaniment.

No! It was appalling. It was like one of those primary school versions where a child says 'I can play that' and uses two fingers to murder the first few bars of the tune. The 'difficult middle section' turned out to be the second eight bars, which were indistinguisgable from the first eight. You might not have known what it was meant to be if the teacher hadn't said. This kind of thing in schools really annoys me, becuase it downgrades the genuine hard work put in by pupils who are learning an instrument and playing it correctly.

 

It also brings to mind the 'class orchestra'. There was the child who played only the top bit of his clarinet (we haven't been shown how to put the other bit on yet), and the cellist with the spike still in, and the violinist with his whole hand wrapped round the neck. The 'orchestra' hit their instruments randomly because 'we haven't got onto actually playing them yet'. And then the Boy was introduced as 'talented' (not hard working, note) becuase he could actually play the piano.

[elemimele]

YouTube is what you make of it. If you just listen to anything that pops up, and imitate without thinking, then it's totally unhelpful. If you use it to get a chance to hear some of the world's best musicians in action, and listen careful to what defines their taste, weigh up how different musicians treat the same music, and think about it, it's a phenomenal resource. People used to make once-in-a-lifetime journeys to get a chance to hear great performers in action; now it's accessible to people from social strata that could never have gone to see Bach, or travelled to Italy to hear the latest ideas there.

The problem is that what's on the paper is only enough to create a tasteful performance if you have some feeling for the style of music concerned, and I honestly believe that the best way to appreciate a style is to listen to it a lot. So I'm in favour of using YouTube, but not indiscriminately. And certainly not merely as a way to learn a tune.

[Arundodonuts]

Just a thought, at that point the piece moves to a bar which is clearly in Fmaj. C, E, Bb, G is the dominant major in F. Make of that what you will.

[fsharpminor]

Just a thought, at that point the piece moves to a bar which is clearly in Fmaj. C, E, Bb, G is the dominant major in F. Make of that what you will.

Think you mean C E G Bflat is the Dominant 7th of F major.

[Arundodonuts]

 

Just a thought, at that point the piece moves to a bar which is clearly in Fmaj. C, E, Bb, G is the dominant major in F. Make of that what you will.

Think you mean C E G Bflat is the Dominant 7th of F major.

 

Oops, of course I did.