Absolutely. Tom never played anything as written -- even things he'd played hundreds of times. In some of these sight-reading videos, he's reading a single page of simplified music and he goes on for 10 minutes in all sorts of variations.
Yoinker Man that’s right, that skill is called improvisation. Implementing your own “flare” in a piece of music. It can be from a different articulation all the way to an entire phrase that the musician believes fits with the piece. I know that the last minute sounds like then end of a fanfare-ish or maestoso kind of ending- my favorite kinds of style 😍😍.
Thank you to whoever had the foresight 10 years ago to record and publish this on RUclips not for likes or popularity or influence but just simply for recording of someone with huge talent but no platform having some fun. Raw RUclips, the way it was intended.
There’s a reason it’s called RUclips I guess. It’s all about showing the world the uniqueness of anyone from anywhere. You can be any age, gender, race, height, you can have any beliefs and thoughts and you can share them with the world. That’s why I love RUclips. It like someone on a big stage handing someone in the audience a microphone. It’s a big stage that anyone can go up onto and perform! So make something! Express the uniqueness of yourself as an individual, or express yourself in the perspective of a wider group. RUclips offers something truly great, and this is a fantastic example :]
This isn't the equivalent of acing an exam without having studied, this is the equivalent of having studied everything to an insane level before entering the exam room, so no matter what they throw at you, you will be able to get a perfect score.
I am very thankful that, even though Tom will tragically never play again, his past works are preserved online forever for millions around the world to enjoy. His music has touched so many people even after his injury
All we can do is hope for a miracle or a new medical advancement, which I do, both for his health and for how incredible of a success story this would be.
African-American style piano music, composed by a Japanese musician, for use in a Japanese video game featuring an Italian plumber, and played by children in the USA and around the world. 😳
It’s also the quality of the piano, since it’s really old it sounds like you’re in some sort of saloon and I’m guessing he either improvised the rhythm/the music was made to fit his style. If it was played on a classical piano with the original theme, it wouldn’t sound like that
@@bolson42 you are definintely on to something. most up right pianos are slightly out of tune to give that "salooney" feel. It doesnt have to be a semi tone off for it to sound ....different. just a little bit gives that feel
@@williambarnes5023 This is definitely the answer. That staccato, the way most of the notes are sort of stabbed and rarely are let to ring. But it's also the melody. The Underground Theme doesn't sound ragtimey at all, even though it's also staccato.
Wow. I just saw this for the first time, and it's incredible. So glad he lives to fight another day. Medicine is making incredible strides. It might not be all that long before something happens that will improve whatever ails him, as well.
Год назад+330
Reading through the sheet music as he plays ... this man just improvises half of the thing on the fly. It is a great injustice that the world does not know about the genius that is Tom Brier.
I'm crying while listening to this and knowing Tom is actually in a bed barely able to talk. Why does this happen to such incredible people? Get better, man. Love from Colombia.
I have found this video decade ago, and I still come back to this time to time. I've never seen anyone did it better. Can't believe this was sight-read.
Some other particularly long endings: ruclips.net/video/Qg5-RpqenfQ/видео.html -- ruclips.net/video/jQ6BJyBzn2s/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/G5siaQzyMqQ/видео.html among others.
It's not just amazing, it's decades of dedication. Sadly Tom (The guy in the video) got hit by a reckless driver in 2016 which left him without the use of his legs and right arm. It's really sad something that awful has to happen to such an amazing musician.
I’ve read that even though he can’t play piano anymore due to becoming a paraplegic from a tragic car accident, Tom still maintains his uplifting personality. What incredible person.
And me, sitting in front of my piano, can't even play the 1st page correctly with lots of training. But dude Tom added his own little tweaks to the theme and HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW IT ORIGINALLY GOES this guy is amazing.
He's practiced for years - just not this song specifically. Many folks could probably read a book first time through without practicing, and read it aloud pretty fluently - same concept, different context. Not taking away from his ability at all, but we're watching the result of hard work and dedication to playing, rather than something superhuman
This man's playing reminds me of the time I got shown up by a step-relative who had a fricken PhD in piano. He came over to our house one time and saw my sheet music lying next to the upright. He picked up a piece that I had practiced for an entire year and performed at recital when I was 18. This dude just picked it up on a whim, like, out of boredom, never having seen or heard it before.. and not only did he play it better than I ever had, he added in all kinds of cool improvisations that made it sound way more complex and dynamic. My dad goes "hey son, wasn't that your senior recital piece?" I am only just now recovering from the shame, 15 years later. His name was Thom.
Crazy story! I once asked a church organist to help me with the analysis of some opera. I showed him the full score of the opera and he just casually proceeded to sight read a reduction of the whole orchestra on the piano while singing the main part! I am still blown away whenever I think of that.
My favorite part of watching Tom Brier is hearing him laugh after finishing a piece. He doesn't laugh because it was easy, or because it was even fun, but because he loves it. His is a pure soul.
This.... was sight read. SIGHT READ. For those of you who aren't in music education, that means he just walked up to the piano and played what they gave him. Without EVER having seen it before. ZERO rehearsal. This guy must be part piano! Either that, or his fabulous neckbeard gives him sight reading superpowers because it can also see the music before him, dramatically reducing his reaction time.
+Adam Dresch He is not a "savant" or anything like that. He is ""just"" a very talented pianist that has been playing the instrument and practicing since about 1976, according to his friend.
Did anyone notice how accurate is his left hand? It's so difficult to make that jumps even if it's your first time playing a new song. I have no words to this man
@@Keeper1st It’s been a few years since learned about Tom Brier and this channel, really cool to see you still replying to comments here! The left hand has always been the most difficult part for me, this talent is INCREDIBLE
@God Just being realistic. I think most people who haven't seen someone with such an injury don't quite understand how devastating and permanent brain damage can be.
Man, I read this comment and then read the story from reddit. Made me so sad, Tom's playing is really fantastic, top notch playing. Any update on his recovery?
The piano is an incredibly difficult instrument to master. Music is very difficult to read and understand. This man is reading two lines of music at the same time for each hand, staying in time, never skipping or buffering, - all on a piece he had never seen or heard before. This is absolutely incredible!
I come back to this every so often. It took me MONTHS to learn this. Yet this guy plays it flawlessly in the span of 2 minutes. Just incredibly skilled.
As a drummer who has been studying piano for several years now, i don’t think people understand the immense talent and skill needed to sight read a piano piece. Absolutely brilliant.
@@Sloimer I just looked it up. He was injured in a rear-end collision and lost his ability to speak, write, and walk due to brain damage. Absolutely heartbreaking for such an immense talent to be taken
Always. It would be nearly impossible to sight-read if one read and tried to play every single note. He read just enough to get the melody and chords and then improvised from there.
@@Keeper1st I obviously am not the first one to say this, but holy moly this is incredible. How is nobody reacting to him? Is it cuz they are being nice for the audio recording? If I were there I'd be freaking out and dancing all over the place.
Really shows how much care the Japanese composers took in creating this music even if it was limited by the hardware they were playing it on. So much heart in these video game pieces when it's converted to real instruments.
I'm a piano teacher. Never till this day have I cried as a reaction to the beauty of a pianists talent and ability alone. Oh my god this man is very very special.
Well, I don't mean to be a bummer but the guy was in a horrible accident a few years ago and now is paraplegic. But I do agree, it's a joy to watch him play and how much fun he has with it. Here's wishing him to get better soon
Hi tom, don’t know if you still read these, but I wanted you to know that even years later, I still love hearing you play. You should know that you have brought joy to so many people
He can’t. Tom got into a car accident in the summer or 2016. Ever since then he’s been paralyzed in the arms and upper body. He uses a keyboard to speak & seems to be stuck in his head. I got an answer from his close friend - who I believe uploads these - and as of Sept. 2022 he’s gonna be like this forever :( Very sad
Tom Brier seems like the kinda guy who says he’s not that great at piano and then absolutely kills it when he hits the keys. Great piece either way. Bravo :’)
Aweik no it's more like spending a lot of time studying different subjects so you are able to get a decent score of any subject. Don't diminish the amount of practice required to get this proficient.
Yea, I'm commenting on a 5 y o comment, I know, BUT I play the piano too and can't even play the first few "lines" without mistakes and I started to play/train that sheet days ago or so idk exactly.
A crazy amount of practice and study. I'm told that sitting down and reading music in your head helps with sight reading also; either way, this man is truly talented.
i tell you what i did lately. after practing basic technique and playing a few pieces, i started flcussing on looking at the notes and imagining the keyboard, moving fingers as needed without looking. like seeing notes while you play. that helped me a lot. learned a new simple piece in one day, mostly looking at the sheets. im really reading sheets since 3-4 months and you get better all the time. i bascially surprised myself a lot. it become second nature like any other language. theres only so many things that can appear. chords, scales, triplets, third, fifths, octaves, staccato, legato, louder, quieter, thats basically it. hardest thing for me right now is remembering the "modifiers" for each key and switching between bass and major note space. start small, play things you love to play, and it will come to you. dont force it, dont think too much. i just now started playing back the score for bachs adagio in my head, which i was practicing this week. seeing the scire in my mind. never had that before. go for it! he made it, im getting better, anyone thats loves the piano can and needs to do it!!!
@@Phobos17 thats not an easy piece, make no mistake! the arpeggio in the left hand involves finger crossings and the right hand is moving quite a bit. so if you get that right with proper tehcnique, youve actually come pretty far. my guess is: you play it dirty ;) dont do that, get a teacher, she will show you how it is done right. expect a few months of training to play this proper!
@@oooodaxteroooo dw ive got a teacher lol. She cringed a bit at the fingerings I was using at first when I figured it out on my own but it worked out in the end. It's nothing Chopin would approve of but its not terrible
At 1:30 he does triplets in the right hand while his left stays in normal rhythm. That’s hard enough to do rhythmically even without having a melody to think about. And sight reading it all! So impressive.
really shows how piano is a percussion instrument. great pianists i’ve played with have polyrhythmic intuition i’ve only ever seen before in drummers. this piece does a decent job prepping your hands for the phrases before syncopating them but it’s still an incredible feat to sight read it with that level of proficiency!
Except at 1:30h he's playing chords and the tempo is somewhat slow... Funny enough it's much easier to pull that off than some of the other feats he accomplishes in this video...
I am a pianist, and my 7-year old daughter is turning out to be an amazing sight-reader (more than I could ever be). I showed her this video, and this is amazing inspiration. She often references this video when she gets to the "next level" of sight reading, citing the "super mario guy". Is this really possible?
well tom's (guy in video) auto bio graphy says he started really young around 4 a spent most of his free time playing. So yeah this is legit and it sounds like you might have a mini brier in your hands. Just don't push her to practice more than she should and she could be reading at this level in no time
@@xtdycxtfuv9353 Thanks for the response! Yep you're SO right about not pushing her to practice too much, as it kills the fun for her.. we are trying to find that balance these days. :)
I return to your channel from time to time hoping against sense to see another video of Brier by you, and I always end up rewatching these. I love these videos so much
Maybe I can shed some light onto this process as a pianist of 17 years and a pretty good sight reader. As other commenters have said, this piece is essentially ragtime and that genre is known for repeats and patterns. He likely closely read the first page and read less and less as the piece went on. Knowing the chord progression and the style will get you halfway there. All he needed was the melody. What I’m most impressed with are the tempo changes. I’m not sure how accurately he followed the sheet music. But those kinds of things can throw you for a loop if you’re not familiar with the piece beforehand. Overall, this is still super impressive! I definitely couldn’t do it. But I think knowing that he’s primarily playing off patterns probably demystifies things a bit for the average listener
How did you get good at sightreading I am also a pianist for 9 years or something, and I still feel terrible at sightreading Did you practce reading a lot of sheet music? Because I think I am not really improving
@@flipsflo1550 It's something that I always naturally gravitated towards. I've always hated memorizing pieces. I prefer to improvise and site read (maybe I prefer instant gratification or something lol). So I guess I've done it since I was little and that's why I probably got good at it. Like I mentioned in my original comment, a lot of sight reading comes from knowing patterns. Understanding the appropriate music theory for the genres you want to sight read would be a good help. I bet a lot of sight readers get bogged down in the details (some do have to be good enough to play all the details at first glance). But if you're playing more recreationally, then you can afford to improvise aspects of the piece instead of playing it to the note. It's also more fun and musical, in my opinion! Also, you're probably doing this already, but I would recommend playing pieces that you like! The belief that the classical canon is necessary for musicians to learn is antiquated and prejudice. Play what makes you happy :)
when you devote your life to one thing, anyone can reach this level of skill after presumably decades of practice. this is nothing to him. jazz piano by its nature has tons of improv to it. when you know your instrument inside and out, you can make it sound however you want without sheet music. with sheet music you've never seen before, you can play a piece without much practice.
@@15minutegaming32 Untrue. Kondo would appreciate it, it's Nintendo's lawyers and whoever manages their arguably terrible PR that makes these decisions.
This man is like every video game music enthusiast's dream. Imagine just walking up to a guy and saying, "hey can you play this?", and he just starts playing it like nothing.
This somehow impresses me more than the traditional classical pianists . A different kind of soul. Best wishes for Tom, please drive safely everyone...
There's another video outlining some claims by friends of Tom's that his family is not caring for him very well. Take with a grain of salt, of course. ruclips.net/video/Be782LvlsOc/видео.html
Sophia McGarlin He got into a car accident, and became partially paralysed, including losing some motor function in his hands, and can barely speak. He seems to be making some slow progress, but it looks like it’s going to be some time before he can make a full recovery (if he can at all, that is). His friend, who I think owns the channel, made an update video a few months ago.
Yeah, as do I. Unfortunately, I only found this channel after his accident, but the guy seemed like an amazing pianist. Certainly one of the best at sight reading that I’ve ever seen. Would be great to see him recover fully.
This is not only incredible sight reading but overall mastery of piano in improvisation. More than half of the notes on that paper were most likely not on there and just a fabrication created by him. Really impressive.
@@FaxanaduJohn watch as he plays. He plays once though the entire song and then the next time he plays through the song it is almost entirely improvised. This is how a majority of jazz pianists play actually. Except that they use a lead sheet instead which is much simpler to read and leaves it open to more improvisation. Tom in this video changes the style in which he plays a number of times. After the first time he plays it he is more comfortable with playing it his own way the next time. Even his family have confirmed that he plays mostly by ear. I think it would be a disservice to Tom to say that he can just simply read sheet music really well when he has so many piano skills in improvisation, style, and the intonation of every note he plays. As a jazz pianist, I can ensure you most of what he is playing is improvised and I 100% doubt you could find an exact carbon copy of what he is playing in this video.
@@jakergaming7703 I was being a dick- I understood what you meant although your wording was a little mixed up. I agree with you- this dude is incredible!
Saw a short before where a music teacher was explaining people weren't learning the instrument, they were learning the pieces and been given their grade. This here is someone who has learned the instument and learned how to read and communicate with it. A true musician of class.
Watching this in 2021 with a tear in my eye as I see his magic unfold knowing he might not be able to ever to play again, picturing him going back to his own old videos such as this one and wondering what might have been if life hadnt been such a bitch, we miss you Tom
@@andreacaccamo439 Someone a few years ago rear ended him at a high speed, resulting in him becoming paralyzed and unable to speak. He has gotten better the past few years, able to sort of move his hands and speak short sentences or words now, but still has not recovered tragically and cannot play the piano to the same ability.
@@bruhhh2393 wow that’s really sad that such a talent was destroyed :( Let’s hope he recovers to the point where he is mentally and physically in a good place. His arts will never go forgotten as it is a gift to have someone as talented as him on this planet. Thank you for letting me know what happened however much it is sad 😞 Good luck on your road to recovery Tom 🙏
I remembered something about him being injured, but forgot how severe it was. Despite not being able to do it anymore, he still did do it and we can see it here now. I hope he gets to read all of these comments and realize he’s still inspiring and hopefully to many more generations to come.
@@Keeper1st What is Tom's condition like nowadays? Is he actually able to use a wheelchair? Last I heard, it sounded like he was totally bedbound and unable to do much more than move a hand and look around. Do people visit him often, or is he even open to visitors?
@@far2ez He can use his legs to move his wheelchair, but needs others to lift him into and out of it. Has very little speech ability, and lacks a short-term memory but does eventually remember things in the long term. Cannot open his right hand. His family has allowed some visitors, though not his best friend and bandmate Julia, sadly.
@@Keeper1st I'm not sure if this will help, but I want to share this because it's tangentially related. How is Tom's sleep? I have recently in the past year and a half been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and prior to that, for several years, my memory and cognition, mood, was ffed. At 28, prior to my diagnosis, I had amnesia of basically my entire life, the day before, etc. Felt like a vegetable, dementia patient. Now of course, actual bodily trauma and physical damage to the brain is a bigger factor to memory than sleep, but I think it's unwise to overlook that area as well. Due to the insomnia, oxygen deprivation, sleep deprivation brought upon by sleep apnea, my brain and body could not rest and recover, rebuild and flush out physiological waste. Constant awakenings meant I wasn't cycling through the varying stages of sleep, and much recent research has shown what lack of quality sleep can do to the brain. Especially for memory consolidation and learning... specifically with REM sleep and Deep Sleep. They even speculate with much evidence that the dementia diseases may be accelerated or even brought upon by insufficient sleep. I have only recently after more than a year of treatment with CPAP, have begun to make some notable progress in my memory and cognition. After fine tuning CPAP settings and learning I have central sleep apnea where my BRAIN doesn't send signals to breathe in my sleep. Getting more REM sleep especially for me, has been absolutely pivotal for getting me to function and think and remember better, even without CPAP. The rare when I'm awake and acteally lucid and mentally sharp... were most common after I have had the rare dreams, especially vivid dreams. Years of PTSD triggered my sleep disorder I'm assuming. At the height of my confusion, memory loss.... I stopped dreaming and feeling refreshed during my sleeping. I can only speculate that Tom may not be recovering much on memory due to him also having poor sleep due to his accident. Because I do not personally or intimately know Tom's condition, I am only wondering if maybe Tom has similar issues with fragmented, unrefreshing sleep with 0 dreams... And wondering if a sleep study can reveal a sleeping disorder that could be acted upon.... And if that would ultimately help Tom recover in some capacity. Best wishes to you and all involved in caring for Tom.
That or he started real early like 9 or before and it stuck with him his whole life. Kids can advance way faster than adults in things related to speed, coordination, and dexterity.
@ I don’t think that’s true. Some people just have an aptitude for certain things that others could never achieve, regardless of the amount of practice.
Anemia★Pwns how about both? Tom's been playing piano since he was 4 and spends most his time preforming rag time when he's not at his job. The dude's composed loads of ragtimes himself; you can just search Tom brier on youtube and they come up.
I can read sheet music about as well as a first grader reads words: one note at a time. With practice I can learn the melody, then add in the left hand. Once I know the song, I can play it from memory without the sheet music. I’m even better at picking out a song I’ve heard enough by ear than from sheet music. I knew someone who could sight read (though nowhere near as well as Tom!), and once commented, “I wish I could do that.” She replied, “I wish I could memorize songs or play by ear like you. I can’t play without the music.”
It's truly fucking incredible that he plays it better than I have ever heard, and it's his first time ever seeing the score...... what the fuck... This is true virtuosity. Bravo
James Garcia He's a brilliant improvisationist, he's able to fill in musical gaps with his stylistic nuances with only a basic score structure. I am sure he acquired these skills from countless hours of playing sheets. What is truly brilliant, IMO, is that he is able to anticipate chord changes and add his nuances on the fly beforehand. This takes a tremendous amount of skill, like reading ahead while your brain and hands are doing something else already predetermined.
Ítalo Campanelli That's what "sight-read" means. I had just finished the score and gave it to him to read. Tom has been sight-reading this kind of music since he was five years old, so is quite good at it.
Tom has set such a high bar to aspire to. I'm an adult just starting to learn piano and if I become half the pianist Tom was I'll feel incredibly accomplished
It’s doable, I used to be completely flabbergasted by toms playing. It’s been maybe a year since I’ve been playing, but, now I can understand what he is doing. What to me is most impressive about Tom is his amazing sense of rhythm, I do not know if I could ever get that I started too late (at age 21), but, improvising off sheet music on these melodies isn’t as difficult as you’d think. Once you have the technique, it’s easy to play the melodies in chords or octaves, then you can just mix up rhythm or dynamics like he does... the issue is doing all this while keeping in time!! He’s such a pool of inspiration, the better you get the more details of this mans genius you discover. Not only technicality wise, creativity wise, but, just you can see how much fun he has and do the same!
@@pablobear4241 You could play repertoire like Tom sure, but this level of Sight Reading literally take decades to get to. He is one of the best Sight Reading player I have ever seen.
@@pablobear4241 well seght reading is simple emough to understand but to do it perfectly right on the first try at the original rythm is nigh impossible.
I have always found that in professional music, you have those who will always have to study houres to learn a piece, and then you have those few people who can read notes like they’re reading the morning news paper. Well, this guy is one step above those I think 😂
Hey, this man must have spent years worth of time learning pieces to get to this level! And god damn it shows, he must think in pentagrams at this point.
@@MrThrond Those videos you linked are not even close to Tom's level of sightreading skills. And Tom was a professional programmer. Yeah. This was his fucking _hobby_ and he was next level with sight-reading. Anyone in comments who is like "he's only GOOD let's not overhype him here" is delusional and likely envious. This guy's spare time hobby that he did when he wasn't likely making 200k+ in a cushy programming job in CA was dicking around at a higher level of skill than most commenters will ever achieve in anything in their entire lives. Nobody who is truly good at anything would downplay his skills at piano. They all worked hard to get to where they are and can respect the effort here.
Not only is this sight reading, but I feel like he’s improvising as he’s getting used to the melody.
Absolutely. Tom never played anything as written -- even things he'd played hundreds of times. In some of these sight-reading videos, he's reading a single page of simplified music and he goes on for 10 minutes in all sorts of variations.
"certain liberties were taken" he says at the end...
Chris Bennett no shit einsten
I found that most impressive of all.
Go see what he does with Cool Cool Mountain from Mario 64.
Prayers for you Tom.
Towards the end he literally wasn’t even reading the sheets anymore. It’s like he took a glance at the last page and said “yep. Easy”
The last minute or so isn't even on the page; he made up a super-long epic ending on his own, as he often did.
My man didnt even need to look at the sheet he used his Piano Man abilities to create a whole new part out of it
Yoinker Man that’s right, that skill is called improvisation. Implementing your own “flare” in a piece of music. It can be from a different articulation all the way to an entire phrase that the musician believes fits with the piece. I know that the last minute sounds like then end of a fanfare-ish or maestoso kind of ending- my favorite kinds of style 😍😍.
@@Keeper1st man, props to you, still replying after 9 years....
tom is a legend.. and he will always be
This man is more fluent at reading sheet music than I am at English
you seem pretty fluent
where are u from??
@@__-cd9ug Congratulations, you got the joke!
Unfortunately same 🤦🏾♂️
@@hellohowareyou9745 thanks! 😀
Thank you to whoever had the foresight 10 years ago to record and publish this on RUclips not for likes or popularity or influence but just simply for recording of someone with huge talent but no platform having some fun. Raw RUclips, the way it was intended.
too bad he cant do that anymore.. :(
ten years ago nobody ever heard kf recording actually
There’s a reason it’s called RUclips I guess. It’s all about showing the world the uniqueness of anyone from anywhere. You can be any age, gender, race, height, you can have any beliefs and thoughts and you can share them with the world. That’s why I love RUclips. It like someone on a big stage handing someone in the audience a microphone. It’s a big stage that anyone can go up onto and perform! So make something! Express the uniqueness of yourself as an individual, or express yourself in the perspective of a wider group. RUclips offers something truly great, and this is a fantastic example :]
THIS ❤
@@meestersecure9060 what are you talking about 😭
"some liberties were taken"
My man, you can take all the liberties you can
@Abel el Mexikano
*certain
you can't take those liberties, come on, man..
Messed up your 300 licks
Hes not taking many more liberties now. I hope he doesnt spend the rest of his life in the nursing home.
Like the dude saying ayahayay in the middle of the song wasent in script for example
This is still one of my all time favorite videos and will be forever
Yo I follow you and came back here today too 😂
It sure is a fantastic video
Holy shit lmao I love the 8 Bit Big Band
Haha didn't expect to see you here right after your comment. You guys made an awesome cover of this too!
Yep
This isn't the equivalent of acing an exam without having studied, this is the equivalent of having studied everything to an insane level before entering the exam room, so no matter what they throw at you, you will be able to get a perfect score.
Thank you, excellent correction.
Now this is a much more accurate description!
i would also like to add "and you even have a shit load of fun answering the test questions" ^-^
this is the equivalent to landing a jumbo jet on a rollercoaster track while juggling chainsaws
Can we get this over 5k likes please.
I am very thankful that, even though Tom will tragically never play again, his past works are preserved online forever for millions around the world to enjoy. His music has touched so many people even after his injury
All we can do is hope for a miracle or a new medical advancement, which I do, both for his health and for how incredible of a success story this would be.
@Slukke Your comment is... Asinine. Yes, that's the word. Absolutely asinine...
@Slukke Dude is paralyzed from the neck down, but its cool. He was really good at piano, no need go back to a time when he could walk.
@Slukke Imagine a loved one of yours' gets paralyzed and someone says it's fine like that...
@@realrebelli0nImagine a loved one of yours' get paralyzed and random people everywere everytime saying its so bad 🤷🏻♂️... its just what it is
When you hit a :||
Ah sheet, here we go again
Turminal LMAOOOOOOOO
Hilarious
this is a beautiful comment
Lol
Waiting for someone to not know what :|| means
Hearing Super Mario themes played on piano instead of by a computer makes you realize it's all just ragtime music.
African-American style piano music, composed by a Japanese musician, for use in a Japanese video game featuring an Italian plumber, and played by children in the USA and around the world. 😳
It’s also the quality of the piano, since it’s really old it sounds like you’re in some sort of saloon and I’m guessing he either improvised the rhythm/the music was made to fit his style. If it was played on a classical piano with the original theme, it wouldn’t sound like that
It's the syncopation. It makes every tune an earworm and ragtimey.
@@bolson42 you are definintely on to something. most up right pianos are slightly out of tune to give that "salooney" feel. It doesnt have to be a semi tone off for it to sound ....different. just a little bit gives that feel
@@williambarnes5023 This is definitely the answer. That staccato, the way most of the notes are sort of stabbed and rarely are let to ring. But it's also the melody. The Underground Theme doesn't sound ragtimey at all, even though it's also staccato.
Everybody pray for his health. This man is a beacon in the modern piano scene, his talent is unparalleled. We send love to you Tom. We all love you.
What happened to him?
@@victoria87cub he got rear-ended in his car and is paralyzed. Not looking good in terms of him playing piano ever again.
@@SheenylHassan Oh my god that is horrible. :(
ugggghhhh why is it just only the amazing people that get something bad happen to them😡😡😡
Wow. I just saw this for the first time, and it's incredible. So glad he lives to fight another day. Medicine is making incredible strides. It might not be all that long before something happens that will improve whatever ails him, as well.
Reading through the sheet music as he plays ... this man just improvises half of the thing on the fly. It is a great injustice that the world does not know about the genius that is Tom Brier.
Well said!
He was paralyzed in an accident years ago and will never play like this again.
It’s always a pleasure when he pops up in my recommended every once in a while.
Me too. I love the other videos he’s in and usually I hate nostalgia BS, but the pull to my childhood on this song is too damn strong.
Hope he gets better as soon as possible to watch such great performances again.
Same lol
Yes.
Octo Pi bro ive litterally been getting videos like this all day its amazing
This song actually feels like a summing up of good times with a hint of sadness.
Really like this description.
Heh, there's a word in Portuguese for this. Saudade
This song feels like "its over, we made it"
It is an ending theme after all~
@@inafridge8573 Whoever wrote this described what a bitter-sweet ending feels like without using any words. That's pretty cool.
I'm crying while listening to this and knowing Tom is actually in a bed barely able to talk. Why does this happen to such incredible people? Get better, man. Love from Colombia.
I thought he died like a year and a half ago
@@AyyyGabagool there is a video on this channel with Tom from 1 week ago
What happened to him?
Car accident, partially paralyzed and can’t use his hands that well or speak
Will he ever play piano again?
At the end the "yes, certain liberties were taken" . the man IS a legend.
Super Mario World - Ending Theme:
Yes please!
Super Mario - World Ending Theme:
Im not ready for this...
i get it the end of the world song XD
Wtf
2020
This is genius, lol!
Nice bro
This man is just unzipping a lossless music file.
If they made a book of yt greatest comments you'd be in the first pages
@@tibi2674 much appreciated my friend.
@@tibi2674 if the first comment isn't "First" then I want a refund
@@kanaka118446 quest to find the first "first" comment
best comment ever
Sounds like you just entered an old saloon...
Actually Ragtime developed long after the time of "Wild West".
:-D
This is ragtime, so it's more likely a razor fight than a gun fight.
With one of the best rag time pianist in the world
@Anime Rapist idk, if the pianist could play like this i wouldnt care
666 likes... are you satan?
I have found this video decade ago, and I still come back to this time to time.
I've never seen anyone did it better. Can't believe this was sight-read.
Found this recently, this is truly amazing!
He didnt only sight read, He taught the sheet music to play the piano
The sheet was blank until he started playing.
I always loved this piece because its like the longest goodbye that refused to get off stage but it's done so masterfully I love it
same
Some other particularly long endings: ruclips.net/video/Qg5-RpqenfQ/видео.html -- ruclips.net/video/jQ6BJyBzn2s/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/G5siaQzyMqQ/видео.html among others.
@@Keeper1st thank you so much
10 years later still replying to comments Holy shit
@@tomw3863 insane
This guy reads notes like they're letters. Amazing.
Well, technically they are letters-
@@outcastkrew8787 well yes but you see notes not the actual letters themselves
@@outcastkrew8787 keep commenting like a redditor everywhere you go, huh? 🤢
It's not just amazing, it's decades of dedication. Sadly Tom (The guy in the video) got hit by a reckless driver in 2016 which left him without the use of his legs and right arm. It's really sad something that awful has to happen to such an amazing musician.
@@SplinterAce ugh dan ridditors 🙄🙄🙄🙄
I’ve read that even though he can’t play piano anymore due to becoming a paraplegic from a tragic car accident, Tom still maintains his uplifting personality. What incredible person.
god really is a sick fuck
He sighted this. He didn’t practice, this is pure skill!!!
The title explains that
This kills the piano student.
And me, sitting in front of my piano, can't even play the 1st page correctly with lots of training.
But dude Tom added his own little tweaks to the theme and HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW IT ORIGINALLY GOES this guy is amazing.
He's practiced for years - just not this song specifically. Many folks could probably read a book first time through without practicing, and read it aloud pretty fluently - same concept, different context. Not taking away from his ability at all, but we're watching the result of hard work and dedication to playing, rather than something superhuman
@@patstaysuckafreeboss8006 are you not familiar with the feeling of disbelief?
This man's playing reminds me of the time I got shown up by a step-relative who had a fricken PhD in piano. He came over to our house one time and saw my sheet music lying next to the upright. He picked up a piece that I had practiced for an entire year and performed at recital when I was 18. This dude just picked it up on a whim, like, out of boredom, never having seen or heard it before.. and not only did he play it better than I ever had, he added in all kinds of cool improvisations that made it sound way more complex and dynamic. My dad goes "hey son, wasn't that your senior recital piece?"
I am only just now recovering from the shame, 15 years later.
His name was Thom.
Student Eder Diaz, pretty sure he meant Thom
Student Eder Diaz xD (Edder)
What was the piece?
@@Mosil0 ruclips.net/video/JFEftsKAUvY/видео.html
Crazy story! I once asked a church organist to help me with the analysis of some opera. I showed him the full score of the opera and he just casually proceeded to sight read a reduction of the whole orchestra on the piano while singing the main part! I am still blown away whenever I think of that.
My favorite part of watching Tom Brier is hearing him laugh after finishing a piece. He doesn't laugh because it was easy, or because it was even fun, but because he loves it. His is a pure soul.
I think its also a little fun :P
Wholesome moment.
Laughter is the language of the soul
@I love 5G and the aliens that are coming back. as humans ourselves, we can see that
Does he have Christ within or aka is he Christian?
I love the way a song can dance around a central theme but still continue to evolve throughout the journey.
Yeah music is amazing
This.... was sight read. SIGHT READ. For those of you who aren't in music education, that means he just walked up to the piano and played what they gave him. Without EVER having seen it before. ZERO rehearsal. This guy must be part piano! Either that, or his fabulous neckbeard gives him sight reading superpowers because it can also see the music before him, dramatically reducing his reaction time.
+Josh Riley Seriously world class.
***** I don't think he's a savant if it's not like, the ONLY thing he's not only not retarded at, but completely masterful at.
+Adam Dresch He is not a "savant" or anything like that.
He is ""just"" a very talented pianist that has been playing the instrument and practicing since about 1976, according to his friend.
+Adam Dresch Yeah, there are only a handful of other pianists I know who can come close to Tom's sight-reading ability.
+Josh Riley It's his neckbeard, that thing almost goes all the way down to his chest.
Did anyone notice how accurate is his left hand? It's so difficult to make that jumps even if it's your first time playing a new song. I have no words to this man
He was a ragtime specialist, so had the muscle memory to hit the bass notes and chords without looking.
@@Keeper1st It’s been a few years since learned about Tom Brier and this channel, really cool to see you still replying to comments here!
The left hand has always been the most difficult part for me, this talent is INCREDIBLE
I can't hit those bass notes like that either.
@@Keeper1st ahhh ragtime specialist. Makes sense!
@God Just being realistic. I think most people who haven't seen someone with such an injury don't quite understand how devastating and permanent brain damage can be.
I listen to Tom's music everyday, hope he will fully recovers one day.
Wait, what's he in need of recovering from?
www.reddit.com/r/piano/comments/5qlpz2/a_tentative_january_update_on_tom_brier/
car crash?
fucking fuck, i want more tom!
Man, I read this comment and then read the story from reddit. Made me so sad, Tom's playing is really fantastic, top notch playing. Any update on his recovery?
I’ve watched this 100 times by now and I just realized he fully freestyles the entire ending.. just wow
Do a search for "Tom Brier Improvisation" or "Tom Brier Makin' It Up" to see some examples of him just making stuff up off the top of his head.
4:32
“Certain liberties were taken.” 😂
Ragtime Mozart!
Yes you can see that's when he's looking at the keys for the first time 😂
A decade later it's still the pinnacle of Nintendo theme piano covers.
Id put it right at the zenith, just above the japanese orchestra performing a Megaman 2&3 suite
He shredded the fuck out that piece, mr kondo is happy af
And sight read, too! He's something else man
I’ll always click on this video when it’s recommended.
The only one that's come close for me has been bismuth's cover, which i get the feeling was influenced and inspired by this performance
The piano is an incredibly difficult instrument to master. Music is very difficult to read and understand. This man is reading two lines of music at the same time for each hand, staying in time, never skipping or buffering, - all on a piece he had never seen or heard before. This is absolutely incredible!
When you put it like that, it really does seem impossible
And not only that but he's taking the piece he's site reading and improvising bits of it.
@@Boogie-og7sf it’s more than bits even he’s improvising on most of his chord progressions in the left hand
It took me 1 month to learn a normal song ahh
You can't master Piano. It's humanly impossible. Same thing with guitar.
really can't believe how unfair life was to this man, hope he gets well soon
seems to look like bad things always happen to good pple, kinda sad
What happened to him?
Or you can look at it as glass half full, he's incredibly talented and loved by many. The nature of life change based on who you are.
@@Hanesboi a car accident in 2016 I believe (was looking at some other comments here and that's what they say, but you do your own research)
A car accident left him paraplegic. No spinal damage, but cerebral, so he may be able to recover.
I come back to this every so often. It took me MONTHS to learn this. Yet this guy plays it flawlessly in the span of 2 minutes.
Just incredibly skilled.
I've been playing for 5 years and I'm nowhere NEAR good enough to play half of this piece like him
i dont care if i am sitting alone in my room. You, sir, are getting a standing ovation.
+Adan Thio I know!! I felt like clapping and dancing! what an awesome performance.
adan im joining ya
This swings so much I brought out my drums and played along
My something else stood up too.
i dont care if i am getting a standing ovation. You, sir, are alone in my room.
why does his beard have a beard
lol
I just noticed, can't unsee now.
the greatest neckbeard of all time
It’s the secret to his talent
was lookin for this lol
As a drummer who has been studying piano for several years now, i don’t think people understand the immense talent and skill needed to sight read a piano piece. Absolutely brilliant.
Favorite drummer?
Yussef
Atm
bro what how else ya supposed to read the music without sighting it
@@cctproductions6976 braille
“Dont be sad its over be glad that it happened” and that it was so magical it was hard to say goodbye
4:30 dude was doing it so effortlessly he just improvised something to end it off, what a legend
You could tell how much fun Tom was having by how long of an ending he'd make up!
@@Keeper1st yo what? you are still replying to comments? you are awesome!
@@VinnySmithMusicHe is even replying to a comment from 1 month ago from now on. insane
Him: "That's a fun tune"
Me: *Absolutely fucking blown away*
lol
+jekblom123 no one cares
this video is about tom not your dad
I've just watched this video and you have used the exact words to describe how I ended up!! Such a Maestro!!
Tom is the reason I stopped my two year hiatus from piano, It breaks my heart to hear his condition. He's by far my favorite pianist.
What happened to him?
@@Sloimer I just looked it up. He was injured in a rear-end collision and lost his ability to speak, write, and walk due to brain damage. Absolutely heartbreaking for such an immense talent to be taken
@@BenOnBass that’s really sad. Thanks for filling me in. Yes very sad for such a talent to be taken.
@@Sloimer He got in a car accident and received major brain damage
me heart is break 😔
This man IS NOT a nobody. His level of education, mastery, maturity is simply so abstract. This guy is a complete teacher and master.
What
dude wat
Lmfao
what do you mean nobody
I'd like to point out that he improvises in the second measure. This man went ham from the start.
Always. It would be nearly impossible to sight-read if one read and tried to play every single note. He read just enough to get the melody and chords and then improvised from there.
HES STILL REPLYING
@@trickstar4576 God-tier content creator here
@@Keeper1st I obviously am not the first one to say this, but holy moly this is incredible. How is nobody reacting to him? Is it cuz they are being nice for the audio recording? If I were there I'd be freaking out and dancing all over the place.
@@ErrrorBS I thin that’s part of it, and also maybe that he’s so good that this isn’t even impressive for him.
Really shows how much care the Japanese composers took in creating this music even if it was limited by the hardware they were playing it on. So much heart in these video game pieces when it's converted to real instruments.
@ryan mccoy That’s a great observation.
@@lebojay That's a great observation
@@EthansPiano339 That's a great observation
@Axolotl Is Cool That's a great observation.
@Pestilence That’s a great observation.
I'm a piano teacher. Never till this day have I cried as a reaction to the beauty of a pianists talent and ability alone. Oh my god this man is very very special.
Well, I don't mean to be a bummer but the guy was in a horrible accident a few years ago and now is paraplegic.
But I do agree, it's a joy to watch him play and how much fun he has with it. Here's wishing him to get better soon
No way....are you serious...I just went to smiling so hard...to the biggest frown on my face
@@ragnar97 what happened? any more details? that's so sad to hear.
@@demounit ruclips.net/video/Be782LvlsOc/видео.html
@@ragnar97 kind of an awkward place to add that information lol
Hi tom, don’t know if you still read these, but I wanted you to know that even years later, I still love hearing you play. You should know that you have brought joy to so many people
He never read these
He can’t. Tom got into a car accident in the summer or 2016. Ever since then he’s been paralyzed in the arms and upper body. He uses a keyboard to speak & seems to be stuck in his head.
I got an answer from his close friend - who I believe uploads these - and as of Sept. 2022 he’s gonna be like this forever :(
Very sad
@@nolanwolfe well I hope the message is passed on, one way or another, that his music has filled so many people's lives with joy, including mine.
@@salsaordieYes! Fortunately he understands that he is appreciated all over the globe. 😊
If he did read this, I'd wager he just glanced at it for a split-second, but his comprehension was perfect.
Tom Brier seems like the kinda guy who says he’s not that great at piano and then absolutely kills it when he hits the keys. Great piece either way. Bravo :’)
Indeed, Tom has/had tremendous humility. He found his popularity a bit strange, it seemed!
Mom and Sam no, he got in a car accident, and is partially paralyzed and can’t use his hands well or speak
@@Keeper1st basically every musician when they learn prodigies exist.
@@Keeper1st i want that teacher
Y’all know how old this video is right
Doing this is basically the music equivalent of acing an exam without having studied.
Acing a calc 3 test without having done basic algebra essentially
Michael petty not really because he’s obviously very good at piano, so more just like acing an exam without studying
Aweik no it's more like spending a lot of time studying different subjects so you are able to get a decent score of any subject. Don't diminish the amount of practice required to get this proficient.
Nah its like taking a level 1 course after you’ve graduated from Princeton
It's curing cancer on your 3rd grade science lab on the stages of water.
He reads music better than I can read words...
Yea, I'm commenting on a 5 y o comment, I know, BUT
I play the piano too and can't even play the first few "lines" without mistakes and I started to play/train that sheet days ago or so idk exactly.
NetroAlex Not alone...
@@sportschampion5418 Yes, not alone...
Certainly not alone 😂
I've played piano for more than 10 years, but I still cannot sight read as good as him lolll He's just genius
I’ve seen this so many times over the last decade never ceases to amaze me
Just as Samson was possessed of great strength in his long hair, Tom’s neck beard imbues him with supernatural musical talent.
XD lmao
The comment should have 16k likes
As someone who plays piano and can read basic sheet music, I can’t even comprehend how someone can do this.
A crazy amount of practice and study. I'm told that sitting down and reading music in your head helps with sight reading also; either way, this man is truly talented.
i tell you what i did lately. after practing basic technique and playing a few pieces, i started flcussing on looking at the notes and imagining the keyboard, moving fingers as needed without looking. like seeing notes while you play. that helped me a lot. learned a new simple piece in one day, mostly looking at the sheets.
im really reading sheets since 3-4 months and you get better all the time. i bascially surprised myself a lot. it become second nature like any other language. theres only so many things that can appear. chords, scales, triplets, third, fifths, octaves, staccato, legato, louder, quieter, thats basically it. hardest thing for me right now is remembering the "modifiers" for each key and switching between bass and major note space.
start small, play things you love to play, and it will come to you. dont force it, dont think too much.
i just now started playing back the score for bachs adagio in my head, which i was practicing this week. seeing the scire in my mind. never had that before.
go for it! he made it, im getting better, anyone thats loves the piano can and needs to do it!!!
look man the most complicated thing ive played (entirely) so far is Wet Hands from Minecraft we all know the struggle
@@Phobos17 thats not an easy piece, make no mistake! the arpeggio in the left hand involves finger crossings and the right hand is moving quite a bit. so if you get that right with proper tehcnique, youve actually come pretty far.
my guess is: you play it dirty ;) dont do that, get a teacher, she will show you how it is done right. expect a few months of training to play this proper!
@@oooodaxteroooo dw ive got a teacher lol. She cringed a bit at the fingerings I was using at first when I figured it out on my own but it worked out in the end. It's nothing Chopin would approve of but its not terrible
At 1:30 he does triplets in the right hand while his left stays in normal rhythm. That’s hard enough to do rhythmically even without having a melody to think about. And sight reading it all! So impressive.
really shows how piano is a percussion instrument. great pianists i’ve played with have polyrhythmic intuition i’ve only ever seen before in drummers. this piece does a decent job prepping your hands for the phrases before syncopating them but it’s still an incredible feat to sight read it with that level of proficiency!
And I think that was completely improvised too, that's not in the original piece, he just added that in on the spot!
He does it again at 2:55 ... If I'm sightreading and I see that, my hand will just break...
Except at 1:30h he's playing chords and the tempo is somewhat slow... Funny enough it's much easier to pull that off than some of the other feats he accomplishes in this video...
Just a 2:3 hemiola. The hard part is that it was most likely an improvisation on a song he'd never played.
I love how at 2:15 he visibly is now locked in with the groove and doesn't break it for the rest of the piece.
I am a pianist, and my 7-year old daughter is turning out to be an amazing sight-reader (more than I could ever be). I showed her this video, and this is amazing inspiration. She often references this video when she gets to the "next level" of sight reading, citing the "super mario guy". Is this really possible?
Oh my god that's so cute :)
well tom's (guy in video) auto bio graphy says he started really young around 4 a spent most of his free time playing. So yeah this is legit and it sounds like you might have a mini brier in your hands. Just don't push her to practice more than she should and she could be reading at this level in no time
@@xtdycxtfuv9353 Thanks for the response! Yep you're SO right about not pushing her to practice too much, as it kills the fun for her.. we are trying to find that balance these days. :)
@@svguerin3 good luck to your daughter. Hope her piano skills graces our ears one day!
I’ll expect to see her in a blissful retirement and bustin the ivories the same way as this magician
“Certain liberties were taken”. Gotta love this guy. He is the embodiment of my sightreading goals.
It really fun to follow along in the sheet music and realize he just goes off the chain in parts
2:54
The absolute *class* of this octave transition blows me away every time.
yeah his sense of rythm is insane!
not even his great sense of rhythm. Its his knowledge of the notes in a key that allows him to jump octaves in the most stylish way possible.
4:32-4:40 is my favorite part
Thx for pointing this out. I’ve listened to this dozens of times and never noticed this specifically until you pointed it out
I return to your channel from time to time hoping against sense to see another video of Brier by you, and I always end up rewatching these. I love these videos so much
This what RUclips was created for. The talent is unbelievable.
Kinda ironic considering your name lol
Ikr
@@LeoMastroTV well said. It's disgusting.
Maybe I can shed some light onto this process as a pianist of 17 years and a pretty good sight reader. As other commenters have said, this piece is essentially ragtime and that genre is known for repeats and patterns.
He likely closely read the first page and read less and less as the piece went on. Knowing the chord progression and the style will get you halfway there. All he needed was the melody.
What I’m most impressed with are the tempo changes. I’m not sure how accurately he followed the sheet music. But those kinds of things can throw you for a loop if you’re not familiar with the piece beforehand.
Overall, this is still super impressive! I definitely couldn’t do it. But I think knowing that he’s primarily playing off patterns probably demystifies things a bit for the average listener
I know about the patterns what bothers me is that its ragtime and those left hand jumps without looking.
How did you get good at sightreading I am also a pianist for 9 years or something, and I still feel terrible at sightreading
Did you practce reading a lot of sheet music? Because I think I am not really improving
@@pianohelper8873 After playing an instrument for a while, you typically get a sense of where the keys/positions are without needing to look
@@flipsflo1550 It's something that I always naturally gravitated towards. I've always hated memorizing pieces. I prefer to improvise and site read (maybe I prefer instant gratification or something lol). So I guess I've done it since I was little and that's why I probably got good at it.
Like I mentioned in my original comment, a lot of sight reading comes from knowing patterns. Understanding the appropriate music theory for the genres you want to sight read would be a good help. I bet a lot of sight readers get bogged down in the details (some do have to be good enough to play all the details at first glance). But if you're playing more recreationally, then you can afford to improvise aspects of the piece instead of playing it to the note. It's also more fun and musical, in my opinion!
Also, you're probably doing this already, but I would recommend playing pieces that you like! The belief that the classical canon is necessary for musicians to learn is antiquated and prejudice. Play what makes you happy :)
@@ThroughtheMines yeah but octave jumps are a different level of knowing where the keys are.
I just don't see how it's possible for one man to possess so much talent. It's mind-boggling. His playing is flawless!
Practice
it ws ahrd work
when you devote your life to one thing, anyone can reach this level of skill after presumably decades of practice. this is nothing to him. jazz piano by its nature has tons of improv to it. when you know your instrument inside and out, you can make it sound however you want without sheet music. with sheet music you've never seen before, you can play a piece without much practice.
kefka3 that. Was the most inspirational thing I have ever seen. Thank you
Because he practiced. Probably very little talent.
I love watching this clip year by year...
I really hope Koji Kondo has seen this video - he'd be so proud to hear Tom's stellar rendition of his piece.
I think he hasn't. If he has, then this video would be gone and copy-striked.
@@15minutegaming32 Untrue. Kondo would appreciate it, it's Nintendo's lawyers and whoever manages their arguably terrible PR that makes these decisions.
@@Qsie Isn't Kondo losing money from the great arrangements out there though?
@@15minutegaming32 not at all.
Hate to burst your bubble, but Tom will probably never play like this again 😢
Super Mario World: Ending Theme
Or
Super Mario: World Ending Theme?
Underated comment holy shit
Succulent Ravioli, grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandpa!
Let’s eat, Grandpa!
I can now only read the title as Super mario: world ending theme
Nathan•yah’al BanYah it does, the kids could of gotten food poisoning!!!!
Tyler Shaver - Why, because it was... old?
This man is like every video game music enthusiast's dream. Imagine just walking up to a guy and saying, "hey can you play this?", and he just starts playing it like nothing.
lmaooo
Ever heard of the Dooo?
@@Converg3nce yea but thats relative pitch, this guy reads multiple notes on both hands and can do relative pitch
John Ogden. Hold my beer :)
unfortunately Ogden isn’t alive and Tom is paralyzed 😢
This somehow impresses me more than the traditional classical pianists .
A different kind of soul.
Best wishes for Tom, please drive safely everyone...
I don't understand the physics of his beard.
?
It’s a neck brace
Earth pulls down but you also need to factor in the moon, which pulls the beard out of shape.
@@Simon0 yeah I think that Newton explains his beard in his laws
The hair from his head moved down to his neck to hear the music better
I hope he's doin okay, he got into a really terrible accident that left him partially paralyzed. Haven't heard much.
There's another video outlining some claims by friends of Tom's that his family is not caring for him very well. Take with a grain of salt, of course.
ruclips.net/video/Be782LvlsOc/видео.html
Also 444 likes
Thoughts and prayers for Tom 🙏
Didn't take his spirit tho pray to see him Play again
He is good
Hope he's doing well
Man this guy is crazy, heard about his health, hope he can recover he is amazing.
Oh no is he ok?
Sophia McGarlin He got into a car accident, and became partially paralysed, including losing some motor function in his hands, and can barely speak. He seems to be making some slow progress, but it looks like it’s going to be some time before he can make a full recovery (if he can at all, that is). His friend, who I think owns the channel, made an update video a few months ago.
@@Connor-sj7uv damn... Thanks for the detailed reply. Hope he'll recover fully
Yeah, as do I. Unfortunately, I only found this channel after his accident, but the guy seemed like an amazing pianist. Certainly one of the best at sight reading that I’ve ever seen. Would be great to see him recover fully.
This made me smile maybe more than any video I have seen in a long long long time. I wish him all the best.
"Yes, certain liberties were taken"
Tidder T shut up
@Tidder T Thanks, I hate it!
Tidder T LOOOOOL
This should be the credits theme for 2020, if we survive through it.
Lol
You should be scared of the whole decade. Just sayin
The curse of 2020
**You can now play as Luigi.*
I lmao
That piano isn't the instrument here. It's only an amplifier.
Simply incredible.
Instrument of his expression
I credit the piano player.....
I'll never get over this cover, remains my all time favorite
This is not only incredible sight reading but overall mastery of piano in improvisation. More than half of the notes on that paper were most likely not on there and just a fabrication created by him. Really impressive.
More than half of the notes on the paper were not on the paper? Sure buddy!
@@FaxanaduJohn watch as he plays. He plays once though the entire song and then the next time he plays through the song it is almost entirely improvised. This is how a majority of jazz pianists play actually. Except that they use a lead sheet instead which is much simpler to read and leaves it open to more improvisation. Tom in this video changes the style in which he plays a number of times. After the first time he plays it he is more comfortable with playing it his own way the next time. Even his family have confirmed that he plays mostly by ear. I think it would be a disservice to Tom to say that he can just simply read sheet music really well when he has so many piano skills in improvisation, style, and the intonation of every note he plays. As a jazz pianist, I can ensure you most of what he is playing is improvised and I 100% doubt you could find an exact carbon copy of what he is playing in this video.
@@jakergaming7703 I was being a dick- I understood what you meant although your wording was a little mixed up. I agree with you- this dude is incredible!
@@jakergaming7703 at 1:17 he completed the first reading and starts improvising
@@FaxanaduJohn LMFAO
He looks like he’s enjoying every second of this and I can’t help but smile
legend says the hair migrated from the top of his head to his beard so it could hear the music better
Gotta be closer to the action
Just wait until you see his fingers if he recovers
I bet it's true!
Fort2312 HYPE ZONE I think tom would smile if he see this
DING DING DING YOU GOT IT
Scrolling through years of comments has revealed to me that the love for this man stays the same no matter how long ago someone viewed this
I'm just gonna say it...
Tom is really good at piano.
You don’t say!
He's alright
*Eh*
Yeah I mean he's okay...
Tom is piano
Nothing makes me happier than seeing the smile on his face at 3:52
ok so then marry him
@Jono Da Silva It's only a second or two off, so it's perfectly fine as it is
Yes
@@andrewamende3338 i think your reply was the only reasonable one here lol
2:15 is when the most impress thing I’ve ever seen in my life began.
Saw a short before where a music teacher was explaining people weren't learning the instrument, they were learning the pieces and been given their grade. This here is someone who has learned the instument and learned how to read and communicate with it. A true musician of class.
He completely deviates from the sheet music sometimes and even adds virtuosic embellishments too! Truly a genius
That is some great vocabulary!
+Kevin Coffer Thanks, though stuff like that is probably the vernacular if you're a musician
saysay Any way you can learn it!
Musicians like him deserve their gift, what a privilege it is to witness it
He probably doesn't know what those words mean lol
Jk
And im like sitting 1 minutes counting out the notes for one chord
1 minutes?
Keep going! All things come with time and practice ^o^
@@hi_speed_chase nah quit, this time is hard to buy
Constantine Vorobyov nah shut up, no one cares
@@forsaken696 ahh a rookie clarinet, what chords did you see today?
Watching this in 2021 with a tear in my eye as I see his magic unfold knowing he might not be able to ever to play again, picturing him going back to his own old videos such as this one and wondering what might have been if life hadnt been such a bitch, we miss you Tom
If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to him?
@@andreacaccamo439 Someone a few years ago rear ended him at a high speed, resulting in him becoming paralyzed and unable to speak. He has gotten better the past few years, able to sort of move his hands and speak short sentences or words now, but still has not recovered tragically and cannot play the piano to the same ability.
@@bruhhh2393 wow that’s really sad that such a talent was destroyed :( Let’s hope he recovers to the point where he is mentally and physically in a good place. His arts will never go forgotten as it is a gift to have someone as talented as him on this planet. Thank you for letting me know what happened however much it is sad 😞
Good luck on your road to recovery Tom 🙏
I remembered something about him being injured, but forgot how severe it was. Despite not being able to do it anymore, he still did do it and we can see it here now. I hope he gets to read all of these comments and realize he’s still inspiring and hopefully to many more generations to come.
Damn I had no idea any of that happened. Love you Tom thank you for sharing your talent with us.
Best version of one of the most wonderful, amazing, triumphant pieces of music ever. I hope Kondo has heard this. Rest in power, king.
His wheelchair is not powered, so he isn’t resting in power…
@@Keeper1st What is Tom's condition like nowadays? Is he actually able to use a wheelchair? Last I heard, it sounded like he was totally bedbound and unable to do much more than move a hand and look around.
Do people visit him often, or is he even open to visitors?
@@far2ez He can use his legs to move his wheelchair, but needs others to lift him into and out of it. Has very little speech ability, and lacks a short-term memory but does eventually remember things in the long term. Cannot open his right hand. His family has allowed some visitors, though not his best friend and bandmate Julia, sadly.
@@Keeper1st
I'm not sure if this will help, but I want to share this because it's tangentially related.
How is Tom's sleep? I have recently in the past year and a half been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and prior to that, for several years, my memory and cognition, mood, was ffed. At 28, prior to my diagnosis, I had amnesia of basically my entire life, the day before, etc. Felt like a vegetable, dementia patient.
Now of course, actual bodily trauma and physical damage to the brain is a bigger factor to memory than sleep, but I think it's unwise to overlook that area as well.
Due to the insomnia, oxygen deprivation, sleep deprivation brought upon by sleep apnea, my brain and body could not rest and recover, rebuild and flush out physiological waste. Constant awakenings meant I wasn't cycling through the varying stages of sleep, and much recent research has shown what lack of quality sleep can do to the brain. Especially for memory consolidation and learning... specifically with REM sleep and Deep Sleep. They even speculate with much evidence that the dementia diseases may be accelerated or even brought upon by insufficient sleep.
I have only recently after more than a year of treatment with CPAP, have begun to make some notable progress in my memory and cognition. After fine tuning CPAP settings and learning I have central sleep apnea where my BRAIN doesn't send signals to breathe in my sleep. Getting more REM sleep especially for me, has been absolutely pivotal for getting me to function and think and remember better, even without CPAP. The rare when I'm awake and acteally lucid and mentally sharp... were most common after I have had the rare dreams, especially vivid dreams.
Years of PTSD triggered my sleep disorder I'm assuming. At the height of my confusion, memory loss.... I stopped dreaming and feeling refreshed during my sleeping. I can only speculate that Tom may not be recovering much on memory due to him also having poor sleep due to his accident.
Because I do not personally or intimately know Tom's condition, I am only wondering if maybe Tom has similar issues with fragmented, unrefreshing sleep with 0 dreams... And wondering if a sleep study can reveal a sleeping disorder that could be acted upon.... And if that would ultimately help Tom recover in some capacity.
Best wishes to you and all involved in caring for Tom.
It's videos like this that make me realize that the piano and violin can make you feel the happiest as well as the saddest
...Bro
Your lie in April type beat
This level of mastery only comes for those willing to dedicate their life to a single task. He’s one with the piano by now
That or he started real early like 9 or before and it stuck with him his whole life. Kids can advance way faster than adults in things related to speed, coordination, and dexterity.
@ I don’t think that’s true. Some people just have an aptitude for certain things that others could never achieve, regardless of the amount of practice.
Anemia★Pwns how about both? Tom's been playing piano since he was 4 and spends most his time preforming rag time when he's not at his job. The dude's composed loads of ragtimes himself; you can just search Tom brier on youtube and they come up.
too much power for one single person. i can't even read sheets, everything i play is from memory. this man feels out of this world to me
same bro
I can read sheet music about as well as a first grader reads words: one note at a time. With practice I can learn the melody, then add in the left hand. Once I know the song, I can play it from memory without the sheet music. I’m even better at picking out a song I’ve heard enough by ear than from sheet music. I knew someone who could sight read (though nowhere near as well as Tom!), and once commented, “I wish I could do that.” She replied, “I wish I could memorize songs or play by ear like you. I can’t play without the music.”
@@DennisKovacich learning both is the best path.
brought tears to my eyes 11 years ago and still does today
tom was one of the greatest pianists in history
"Certain liberties were taken" LOL
God, I hope Tom recovers and hits the piano with a vengeance.
Recovers? What happened to him???? :(
I think it would be fitting if the driver that rear ended him had a piano dropped on them
No piano should have to suffer this fate. It is too harsh of a punisment!
Redhead Knight someone with a chevy silverado i think it's called hit him tom at full speed while tom was waiting for the traffic light to go green .😢
@@klodinkediloni762 hope tom gets better
It's truly fucking incredible that he plays it better than I have ever heard, and it's his first time ever seeing the score...... what the fuck... This is true virtuosity. Bravo
James Garcia He's a brilliant improvisationist, he's able to fill in musical gaps with his stylistic nuances with only a basic score structure. I am sure he acquired these skills from countless hours of playing sheets. What is truly brilliant, IMO, is that he is able to anticipate chord changes and add his nuances on the fly beforehand. This takes a tremendous amount of skill, like reading ahead while your brain and hands are doing something else already predetermined.
Ítalo Campanelli That's what "sight-read" means. I had just finished the score and gave it to him to read. Tom has been sight-reading this kind of music since he was five years old, so is quite good at it.
Ítalo Campanelli Yeah, the meaning of "sight-reading" isn't intuitive. Weird expression, but it's what we say.
this guy is so legendary his hair and beard switched places
Lmao im dead
Underrated
Whenever this gets recommended again I just have to watch it.
What an absolute talent.
Hardwork, not talent.
Twice MoMo talent that was achieved through hard work
Hard work is sum, talent is multiplier.
@@MMCGGames talent is natural, skill is mastered.
Tom has set such a high bar to aspire to. I'm an adult just starting to learn piano and if I become half the pianist Tom was I'll feel incredibly accomplished
Good luck.
I know it has been 2 months, but how has learning Piano been coming along?
It’s doable, I used to be completely flabbergasted by toms playing.
It’s been maybe a year since I’ve been playing, but, now I can understand what he is doing.
What to me is most impressive about Tom is his amazing sense of rhythm, I do not know if I could ever get that I started too late (at age 21), but, improvising off sheet music on these melodies isn’t as difficult as you’d think. Once you have the technique, it’s easy to play the melodies in chords or octaves, then you can just mix up rhythm or dynamics like he does... the issue is doing all this while keeping in time!!
He’s such a pool of inspiration, the better you get the more details of this mans genius you discover. Not only technicality wise, creativity wise, but, just you can see how much fun he has and do the same!
@@pablobear4241 You could play repertoire like Tom sure, but this level of Sight Reading literally take decades to get to. He is one of the best Sight Reading player I have ever seen.
@@pablobear4241 well seght reading is simple emough to understand but to do it perfectly right on the first try at the original rythm is nigh impossible.
I have always found that in professional music, you have those who will always have to study houres to learn a piece, and then you have those few people who can read notes like they’re reading the morning news paper. Well, this guy is one step above those I think 😂
Tom is a hop skip and jump ahead of them lol.
Hey, this man must have spent years worth of time learning pieces to get to this level! And god damn it shows, he must think in pentagrams at this point.
@@kazimirczyk7075 My piano teacher used to turn the music upside down . . . and sight read that.
I don't think you realize just how insanely talented professional pianists are...
@@MrThrond Those videos you linked are not even close to Tom's level of sightreading skills.
And Tom was a professional programmer.
Yeah. This was his fucking _hobby_ and he was next level with sight-reading. Anyone in comments who is like "he's only GOOD let's not overhype him here" is delusional and likely envious. This guy's spare time hobby that he did when he wasn't likely making 200k+ in a cushy programming job in CA was dicking around at a higher level of skill than most commenters will ever achieve in anything in their entire lives.
Nobody who is truly good at anything would downplay his skills at piano. They all worked hard to get to where they are and can respect the effort here.
absolutely amazing sight-read