I had learned a slightly simpler arrangement of Fur Elise when learning to play the piano as a teenager. Now 30 years later, I am relearning the piano and this is the best version I have seen, allowing me to replay new parts time and time again studying the sheet music, coloured notes and hands from 2 angles until perfect - Brilliant ! I am getting there slowly. Many thanks. It's great to see RUclips being put to good use !
My 10 year old daughter started to work on Fur Elise so I showed her your video, she said: it's Mozart playing, I answered: no Fur Elise is from Beethoven. She said I know that but it's Mozart playing!.... I had to explain that there were no camera when Mozart was alive... But I though you'll get a kick out of the fact that she though you played so well, that you were Mozart!
Egad! What makes any piece great is not defined by how hard it is to play! The greatness of this particular piece owes much to its apparent simplicity, while still managing for centuries to charm everone who hears it, Hats off to the deaf hacker who drew this out of the chaos for the rest of us to listen to!
it's not until you see the scores of such classical pieces like this you realize what amazing complexity this music has compared to other, how intelligent it is, dynamic, emotional, but in many cases never boring cause of this plays, details, changes... classical music really is the mother of all music. to be both precise and produce emotion at the same time... amazing.
this piece is, and has always been my favorite. it is just so beautiful, it lulls the soul into a calm euphoria, while allowing the mind to drift and wonder its own imagination. it's absolutely breath taking. you play it so well, I went back to when i was younger and listening to this. I was always a hyper child but this song would always stop me in my tracks. thank you for not only playing it, but also uploading it!!
Why did people give this thumbs down? This vid is GREAT There is Tab, there is Notation, there is visual key play... come on! and it was played very slowly but in a very good way! I give this 50/5 F-ing stars man!
Thanks to where I work, I can't hear the high pitched noise everyone is bitching about. I also can't hear the lower warm tones properly. IMO I think your speed is spot on. WE tend to rush around like chickens with their heads cut off. In Beethoven's time, they would have been less rushed, and thus play in a more languid manner. But that's just my opinion. It doesn't count for much. My fingers twitch too much of their own accord to do more than abuse a keyboard.
I've been working on a bass guitar solo for this for some time now, without any sheet music. This is really helping to fill in the gaps that I couldn't get on my own. Thanks for sharing!
I am a hard rock musician - guitar / bass. My preferred music is classic rock / metal from the late sixties to the early eighties. I watch and listen to this video and it makes you want to cry when you realize the God-given genius of Beethoven. I must trade in my "rock on" for a "bravo!" Just beautiful. Purley beautiful.
Alors, je suis fan du Beethoven. Parce que j'aime beaucup de la musique classique. C'est ma fonction de mes Valkyries et mousquetaires!. Mise en grade: Je m'appelle Marco (Tous mes amis m'appelle Marco, parce que je joue Hill Climb Racing 2 tous les jours et je joue Plants vs. Zombies tous les Jeudis et Vendredis). Donc, ma meilleure copine est Emily Saucedo Carrasco, ell'est Italienne et nous parlons Espagnol, Anglais, Français, Italien et Néerlandais. Alors, ma petite amie est Angie Sandoval, ell'est une Française et elle connait le Turc. Rappelez-vous, j'ai une mission dans AMMUSCAM (Autobuses y Microbuses Modernos Urbanos y Suburbanos de Campeche) au Mexique. J'espere que vous adorez tous les sonatas et bagatelles de Beethoven. En conclusion. Angie Sandoval est une Fille d'Elysium, c'est ma leader de la deuxième génération. J'espere que je vais a utiliser une Jeep Blanche, type Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Recon. Au revoir!. Le roi Marco Rochelleini G. Leader de la première génération dans AMMUSCAM.
This is a beautiful piece. Thank you for making your graceful fingers play an angels song. This has been my child hood song, like, my mother used to play it when i was young, so I am glad i can listen to it when ever I wish now. Thank you.
I never liked this song that much anymore, but listening to you play it, made me love it all over again. You played every note perfectly, and it almost sounds as if you were Beethoven, himself! Splendid work.
This is the right way of playing Fur Elise. I have always said that this song must resemble the whisper of a lover and you grasped that entirely. Thank you for this beautiful rendition. :)
Thank you for this video! Very well-played, I use this video whenever my students try to fly through this song despite my advice. This rendition has so much soul. Without fail, they go, "Oh that sounds way better!"
Like some other comments, I find myself in love with your hands. Is anything more beautiful than a man's hands playing a piano? Exquisite playing as well.
how can 138 people not like this video? It's awsome, and no matter what people say, smalin is the best to find classical songs. the one thing is that he needs to do ode to joy.
Used to have a recording of this, used to listen to it for hours when I was like 5, its unimaginable one man can create such a beautiful sound that will live forever.
@redSG You might want to see the Wikipedia article on key [Key_(music)]. Here's a quote from it: "Although the key of a piece may be named in the title (e.g. Symphony in C), or inferred from the key signature, the establishment of key is brought about via functional harmony, a sequence of chords leading to one or more cadences." Notice the distinction being made between key signature and key.
I think this is my favorite classical song, followed closely by Moonlit Sonata. Thanks so much for doing this one! I love your steady rhythm. Sometimes people like to play "passionately", but it just winds up looking like they rush through the piece, you really take careful time. Again, your uploads are greatly appreciated.
@Dutchy3010 Three fingers, actually --- I do that because it's more comfortable than just using one finger. The symbol you're asking about is called a "turn"; there are various ways to interpret it, depending on the context; I play DCBC in this instance.
So I'm here, listening to this music, and after it was over I get this urge to jump out of my seat and start clapping, "BRAVO ENCORE!" Then I realize.... I'm in the library... Beautiful job, this is my favorite piece by Beethoven.
I dont know the first thing about playing the piano. However, I could gladly sit and listen to someone play it if is played with great mastery. Smalin if this is you playing the piano, you certainly are an example of the meaning of the word mastery.
every time i listen to this piece it brings me to tears. man if i could talk to the master who created this piece, the tales he could tell. but thats just me.
The pattern starts with the 2nd E, and is 4 notes long; you do it in one octave, and then you shift the whole thing up an octave. If you do it that way, the pattern breaks (is articulated) in the right places. It's not just about what's easiest, it's about what makes it sound the best. If you're just trying to play the notes in the right order, it doesn't make any difference.
@richard2mitchell I can't answer that. It's like asking "is it harder to learn to converse fluently in a language, or to learn to read fluently in that language?" Being able to read music means being able to do something with what you're reading. So, part of learning to read is learning to play; you can't separate them.
This song is for anyone and everyone. When I was 3 I listened to this all the time and I as I grew up I became more fond of it! This is for EVERYONE!!!
Brilliantly done! I read somewhere that beethoven supposedly had the legs of his piano removed,so when he played even though he couldn't hear much, he could feel the vibrations!
@PsychoMenkz I didn't think "now that I can play the piece, how should I move my hands to create a dramatic effect?", if that's what you meant. Playing the piano is like dancing with my hands. Part of that dance is what's required to make the keys go down at the right time with the right amount of force, but beyond that, there are motions that are akin to "follow-through" (or "lead-up"). You might say that the motions have an effect on me, to remind me what to feel and express in the music.
I am a beginner, but I have to say that this must be the very best of methods for teaching people like me what to do and how to do it. A genius idea! I shall now have a look at your other stuff. Great playing too. Thanks.
@drtrcr7 I recommend the basics: scales, arpeggios, etc. For two-handed practice, play a scale (or arpeggio, or whatever) in one hand while playing this piece in the other hand.
smalin, I have got to hand it to you. I very much appreciate all of this amazing music presented in the unique and educational fashion that you have designed it as.
When i hear this all i think about is a very old man thinkin of his life as he plays going through is friends pastimes and loves just sitting there thinking and playing until his final note. wonderful play through man
@TheApexKid I played this when I was 11, too --- and probably sounded like sirflubbernuggets did back then. With a piece this simple, the question isn't whether you can play it, but whether anyone would want to listen to you playing it.
bellissima composizione! dolce ed orecchiabile ma con una certa tristezza ma leggerezza nel modo di rappresentare tutte le emozioni contrastanti! deliziosa e perfetta!!
Smalin, thank you for this format, showing your visualization, the sheet music, and your playing, all in sinc. I have seen a few posters on RUclips who sinc the score and their playing, and there are a few software enhanced CDs put out by Deutsche Gramaphone that display and follow the score, but they apparently stopped after about half a dozen titles. I am not a musician, but I've tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to learn to read scores to follow along. This kind of triple visualization allows me to almost do so.
I was able to play that passage at full speed the first time I tried, but I'd been playing the piano for several decades before that. I guess my advice would be: if you have trouble playing a fast section, play the whole piece slower. Speed will come with time. Concentrate on ease and expression and the technique will follow naturally.
@Nibbie13 You can learn about Kimball in Wikipedia (see the articles on Kimball International and Bösendorfer). My instrument was made by Kimball during the period they owned Bösendorfer, and was based on Bösendorfer designs.
@le0nardodamunchi I entered the music into Sibelius, did a bunch of screenshots, and pasted them together (with a Matlab script I wrote for the purpose). The image was then imported into Adobe Premiere Pro and moved with a motion timeline.
I can't play the piano to save my life, no patience to learn mostly, but I understand the music somewhat and how it is played on the piano. My point is, watching your hands play this piece is amazing. It's like your hands are making love to the keys and produces the music which we hear.
@redSG You're right: I said the piece is in A. In my pitch-class-to-color mapping, the mode (major, minor, mixolydian, dorian, whatever) is irrelevant. People usually include "minor" for minor keys, because it usually is relevant. As for key: technically, this piece is in A minor. You should trust me on this; I know what I'm talking about (degree in music theory and composition, have taught music theory and composition at the college level, have studied music theory for about 50 years).
A follow-up comment ... I've found that if I can play a passage at a given tempo with ease, assurance and control AND without having to pay much attention (that is, there is still some "spare bandwidth" left over to pay attention to other things), I can always play it a little faster with a little more attention. So, identify what's demanding your attention, and practice to make it more comfortable and more automatic. In this way, increasing the tempo a little at a time should be possible.
hello that piano solo was great , the fur elise was my favorite piano piece and i love the way you play it . . . i enjoyed it so much you are a great pianist . .
I actually think that the way in which he moves his hands is so beautiful and harmonical, its romantic how the audio and thanks to that soft movement of hands the video combine to create a exquisit masterpiece... My friends always critizice me because i listen to this music (im 15), but i think is art and is something that our generation should never forget! sorry for the writting mistakes, i speak spanish. Anyway, peace and lovee! hahaha
@sarah214417 When the string quartet containing the Grosse Fuge was first performed, the audience demanded encores of some movements of the quartet, but not the fugue; when Beethoven heard about this, he called the audience "cattle" and "asses" for not appreciating the fugue and paying attention to movements he considered less worthy of admiration. So, it's clear he made distinctions between pieces, and that some meant more to him than others.
@TasteTheGay Sure; understanding music theory (scales, chords, harmonic progressions, counterpoint, etc.) is what you need to understand for it to be something other than "just one note after another."
@richard2mitchell Well, yeah, it is, but it's like "this symbol, and you put your mouth in this shape" for language. Knowing that for "S" you put your tongue against your teeth and blow air through it is something you learn, but it's a long way from there to being able to pick up a Shakespeare sonnet and reading it expressively. There's a lot of other stuff involved ...
@lewtu I'm not saying my interpretation is necessarily correct. The question is: what did Beethoven mean by notating it that way? He could much more easily have written it to show it played all with one hand, but he went to the trouble of dividing it between hands. If you want to make sense of the piece, you have to figure out some reason for this, and have it make sense; otherwise you're missing something.
@smalin i'm learning this song, am currently learning Section B. Only thing is i learn it by memory and can't read from paper, even though that also getting a little better. I will be playing the whole song at a concert this year and if i'm half as good as you it should sound fantastic. Oh yea, you are the person that made me want to learn to play this song. Thankyou so much for the inspiration to learn it!
As a left-hander, my left hand has given me trouble since day 1 of piano playing. I believe its the way piano is taught to us. Teachers and books and everyone start with melody, treble, right hand. This makes our left hand lag behind our right in the learning curve. As for Fur Elise, the left hand becomes a major set back if it isn't trained very well, especially during the 'breakdown' (not classical enough word maybe) hehe.. I've commented a few times but never said, very nice playing :)
@fatababes There's no substitute for practice. (I've been playing for more than forty years.) If you can stand it, try learning this piece with your hands crossed (so that your left hand is playing the melody). It will be difficult and unpleasant, but your left hand will get better much faster than it would otherwise.
@williamarissa I had terrible fingering when I was young, but it got better as a side-effect of getting better as a pianist in general. If you focus on trying to play with ease and expression, you will find that the "correct" fingering is the one that gives the best result, and is the most natural, and the one you want to use.
It's so amazing feeling to play classical music on piano. To hear that sound created by you which you always heard on videos. I hope one day I can play hungraian rapsody too. I love that music. Its like perfect key combinations. :) Greetings from Turkey...
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Тестовый вопрос, на который все ответили неверно [Veritasium]](/img/1.gif)
Very nicely done. Thank you for your beautiful playing.
I had learned a slightly simpler arrangement of Fur Elise when learning to play the piano as a teenager. Now 30 years later, I am relearning the piano and this is the best version I have seen, allowing me to replay new parts time and time again studying the sheet music, coloured notes and hands from 2 angles until perfect - Brilliant ! I am getting there slowly. Many thanks. It's great to see RUclips being put to good use !
His hands move so smoothly. When can I ever play like him. I only started learning piano in my late 30s
Same here..bc lf this song..
My 10 year old daughter started to work on Fur Elise so I showed her your video, she said: it's Mozart playing, I answered: no Fur Elise is from Beethoven. She said I know that but it's Mozart playing!.... I had to explain that there were no camera when Mozart was alive... But I though you'll get a kick out of the fact that she though you played so well, that you were Mozart!
I used to tickle the ivories a bit. This is done with FEELING. Pretty hard to do on this scale... Wonderful job sir!!
+Huey Johnston Hi...just to sy...incredible, we have chosen the same icon!! Take care and happy new Year!
Egad! What makes any piece great is not defined by how hard it is to play! The greatness of this particular piece owes much to its apparent simplicity, while still managing for centuries to charm everone who hears it, Hats off to the deaf hacker who drew this out of the chaos for the rest of us to listen to!
so beautiful
it's not until you see the scores of such classical pieces like this you realize what amazing complexity this music has compared to other, how intelligent it is, dynamic, emotional, but in many cases never boring cause of this plays, details, changes...
classical music really is the mother of all music. to be both precise and produce emotion at the same time... amazing.
perfect
An absolute work of art. I cry every time i hear this masterpiece of art, and still never completely understand why I do.
Beethoven is soooooooooooo awesome 👍🏻
this piece is, and has always been my favorite. it is just so beautiful, it lulls the soul into a calm euphoria, while allowing the mind to drift and wonder its own imagination. it's absolutely breath taking. you play it so well, I went back to when i was younger and listening to this. I was always a hyper child but this song would always stop me in my tracks. thank you for not only playing it, but also uploading it!!
I wrote this into google trying to find the song "piano song does high for 3 bars" and it was the first video there
The miracle of Google. Glad it worked out for you.
Why did people give this thumbs down?
This vid is GREAT
There is Tab, there is Notation, there is visual key play... come on! and it was played very slowly but in a very good way!
I give this 50/5 F-ing stars man!
Thanks to where I work, I can't hear the high pitched noise everyone is bitching about. I also can't hear the lower warm tones properly.
IMO I think your speed is spot on. WE tend to rush around like chickens with their heads cut off. In Beethoven's time, they would have been less rushed, and thus play in a more languid manner. But that's just my opinion. It doesn't count for much. My fingers twitch too much of their own accord to do more than abuse a keyboard.
I've been working on a bass guitar solo for this for some time now, without any sheet music. This is really helping to fill in the gaps that I couldn't get on my own. Thanks for sharing!
*W.O.W :0*
I am a hard rock musician - guitar / bass. My preferred music is classic rock / metal from the late sixties to the early eighties. I watch and listen to this video and it makes you want to cry when you realize the God-given genius of Beethoven. I must trade in my "rock on" for a "bravo!" Just beautiful. Purley beautiful.
Esta é uma das mais belas composições de Beethoven
Have you heard all of Beethoven's compositions?
Alors, je suis fan du Beethoven. Parce que j'aime beaucup de la musique classique. C'est ma fonction de mes Valkyries et mousquetaires!.
Mise en grade: Je m'appelle Marco (Tous mes amis m'appelle Marco, parce que je joue Hill Climb Racing 2 tous les jours et je joue Plants vs. Zombies tous les Jeudis et Vendredis). Donc, ma meilleure copine est Emily Saucedo Carrasco, ell'est Italienne et nous parlons Espagnol, Anglais, Français, Italien et Néerlandais.
Alors, ma petite amie est Angie Sandoval, ell'est une Française et elle connait le Turc. Rappelez-vous, j'ai une mission dans AMMUSCAM (Autobuses y Microbuses Modernos Urbanos y Suburbanos de Campeche) au Mexique.
J'espere que vous adorez tous les sonatas et bagatelles de Beethoven. En conclusion.
Angie Sandoval est une Fille d'Elysium, c'est ma leader de la deuxième génération.
J'espere que je vais a utiliser une Jeep Blanche, type Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Recon.
Au revoir!.
Le roi Marco Rochelleini G.
Leader de la première génération dans AMMUSCAM.
This is a beautiful piece. Thank you for making your graceful fingers play an angels song. This has been my child hood song, like, my mother used to play it when i was young, so I am glad i can listen to it when ever I wish now. Thank you.
WHAT A BEAUTY ANYWAYS I KNOW HOW TO PLAY VIOLIN LOL
This is a gorgeous rendition of the piece - bravo! I've played it dozens of times, but you play it like it's the first time.
does anyone hear that fucking noise??
See "Q: What is that obnoxious high-pitched sound?" in the FAQ.
@@smalin i love u
I never liked this song that much anymore, but listening to you play it, made me love it all over again. You played every note perfectly, and it almost sounds as if you were Beethoven, himself! Splendid work.
that high pitched tone is REALLY annoyin
For a version with the tone removed, see the FAQ.
Where is it?
Ikr?
This is the right way of playing Fur Elise. I have always said that this song must resemble the whisper of a lover and you grasped that entirely. Thank you for this beautiful rendition. :)
people can say whatever they want about whatever song, i personally believe this is the most beautiful piece of music ever written
Thank you for this video! Very well-played, I use this video whenever my students try to fly through this song despite my advice. This rendition has so much soul. Without fail, they go, "Oh that sounds way better!"
Like some other comments, I find myself in love with your hands. Is anything more beautiful than a man's hands playing a piano? Exquisite playing as well.
This is totally amazing! Good work Stephen Malinowski.
how can 138 people not like this video?
It's awsome, and no matter what people say, smalin is the best to find classical songs.
the one thing is that he needs to do ode to joy.
Used to have a recording of this, used to listen to it for hours when I was like 5, its unimaginable one man can create such a beautiful sound that will live forever.
@redSG You might want to see the Wikipedia article on key [Key_(music)]. Here's a quote from it: "Although the key of a piece may be named in the title (e.g. Symphony in C), or inferred from the key signature, the establishment of key is brought about via functional harmony, a sequence of chords leading to one or more cadences." Notice the distinction being made between key signature and key.
You know I play instruments myself and have performed quite a few times and yet what you just said is the greatest complement I have ever gotten.
I love Beethoven.... he has such beautiful heartfelt pieces... I just love them.
I think this is my favorite classical song, followed closely by Moonlit Sonata. Thanks so much for doing this one! I love your steady rhythm. Sometimes people like to play "passionately", but it just winds up looking like they rush through the piece, you really take careful time. Again, your uploads are greatly appreciated.
@Dutchy3010 Three fingers, actually --- I do that because it's more comfortable than just using one finger. The symbol you're asking about is called a "turn"; there are various ways to interpret it, depending on the context; I play DCBC in this instance.
So I'm here, listening to this music, and after it was over I get this urge to jump out of my seat and start clapping, "BRAVO ENCORE!" Then I realize.... I'm in the library... Beautiful job, this is my favorite piece by Beethoven.
I dont know the first thing about playing the piano. However, I could gladly sit and listen to someone play it if is played with great mastery.
Smalin if this is you playing the piano, you certainly are an example of the meaning of the word mastery.
every time i listen to this piece it brings me to tears. man if i could talk to the master who created this piece, the tales he could tell. but thats just me.
I always listen to this song when I study, it calms you down and removes all tension and converts it to peace. Ludwig van Beethoven will never die...
You can see the passion in your hands while you play. Amazing!
The pattern starts with the 2nd E, and is 4 notes long; you do it in one octave, and then you shift the whole thing up an octave. If you do it that way, the pattern breaks (is articulated) in the right places. It's not just about what's easiest, it's about what makes it sound the best. If you're just trying to play the notes in the right order, it doesn't make any difference.
@richard2mitchell I can't answer that. It's like asking "is it harder to learn to converse fluently in a language, or to learn to read fluently in that language?" Being able to read music means being able to do something with what you're reading. So, part of learning to read is learning to play; you can't separate them.
I dont know much about him but your comment made so much sense while listening to this that it showed me a whole new angle of classic music.
Thankyou!
The idea of B's beloved one was nicely put on the screen. Beautifully realised composition, indeed!
Beautiful piece....the one who is playing it is a darn sight more talented than I could even hope to be!! Good job :) lovely
This song is for anyone and everyone. When I was 3 I listened to this all the time and I as I grew up I became more fond of it! This is for EVERYONE!!!
Brilliantly done!
I read somewhere that beethoven supposedly had the legs of his piano removed,so when he played even though he couldn't hear much, he could feel the vibrations!
@PsychoMenkz I didn't think "now that I can play the piece, how should I move my hands to create a dramatic effect?", if that's what you meant. Playing the piano is like dancing with my hands. Part of that dance is what's required to make the keys go down at the right time with the right amount of force, but beyond that, there are motions that are akin to "follow-through" (or "lead-up"). You might say that the motions have an effect on me, to remind me what to feel and express in the music.
Beautiful. Makes me relax and sometimes even cry since it's so beautiful...
I am a beginner, but I have to say that this must be the very best of methods for teaching people like me what to do and how to do it. A genius idea! I shall now have a look at your other stuff. Great playing too. Thanks.
I love this piece, fell in love with it in the second grade the first time i heard it. so peaceful
@drtrcr7 I recommend the basics: scales, arpeggios, etc. For two-handed practice, play a scale (or arpeggio, or whatever) in one hand while playing this piece in the other hand.
smalin, I have got to
hand it to you. I very much appreciate all of this amazing music presented in the unique and educational fashion that you have designed it as.
When i hear this all i think about is a very old man thinkin of his life as he plays going through is friends pastimes and loves just sitting there thinking and playing until his final note. wonderful play through man
@Nibbie13 It's a 6'7" Kimball grand (in my living room), recorded live.
Very nice, I also love the QNA you have as well.... Thank you
@TheApexKid I played this when I was 11, too --- and probably sounded like sirflubbernuggets did back then. With a piece this simple, the question isn't whether you can play it, but whether anyone would want to listen to you playing it.
This is really good!!! I am learning this now, and watching and listening to you play it really helps me with my rhythm, and dynamics!
bellissima composizione! dolce ed orecchiabile ma con una certa tristezza ma leggerezza nel modo di rappresentare tutte le emozioni contrastanti! deliziosa e perfetta!!
@grneyedgod Close, in a way. It's a Kimball, made from a Boesendorfer design (at the time when Kimball owned B'dorfer).
Smalin, thank you for this format, showing your visualization, the sheet music, and your playing, all in sinc. I have seen a few posters on RUclips who sinc the score and their playing, and there are a few software enhanced CDs put out by Deutsche Gramaphone that display and follow the score, but they apparently stopped after about half a dozen titles. I am not a musician, but I've tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to learn to read scores to follow along. This kind of triple visualization allows me to almost do so.
I was able to play that passage at full speed the first time I tried, but I'd been playing the piano for several decades before that. I guess my advice would be: if you have trouble playing a fast section, play the whole piece slower. Speed will come with time. Concentrate on ease and expression and the technique will follow naturally.
@wirito such beautiful, expressive hands! Thanks for sharing!
@Nibbie13 You can learn about Kimball in Wikipedia (see the articles on Kimball International and Bösendorfer). My instrument was made by Kimball during the period they owned Bösendorfer, and was based on Bösendorfer designs.
I sat and applauded this, by myself, really moved me, thank you
@le0nardodamunchi I entered the music into Sibelius, did a bunch of screenshots, and pasted them together (with a Matlab script I wrote for the purpose). The image was then imported into Adobe Premiere Pro and moved with a motion timeline.
I can't play the piano to save my life, no patience to learn mostly, but I understand the music somewhat and how it is played on the piano. My point is, watching your hands play this piece is amazing. It's like your hands are making love to the keys and produces the music which we hear.
That high pitched tone is so cool!!!!! Good to know my hearing is still youthful, now onto the newer video!
@redSG You're right: I said the piece is in A. In my pitch-class-to-color mapping, the mode (major, minor, mixolydian, dorian, whatever) is irrelevant. People usually include "minor" for minor keys, because it usually is relevant.
As for key: technically, this piece is in A minor. You should trust me on this; I know what I'm talking about (degree in music theory and composition, have taught music theory and composition at the college level, have studied music theory for about 50 years).
That was amazing! I am speechless before your talent! That song is my all time favourite and a few can play it that well! You are awesome!
@TristramChrysostomus Good question ... the Grosse Fuge is a towering work of genius ... as is the 9th symphony ...
@realjuvelive The harmony is more like B major (which has a D-sharp) than C minor (which has an E-flat).
Oh ! maestro ...bella interpretacion, que destreza !!
A follow-up comment ...
I've found that if I can play a passage at a given tempo with ease, assurance and control AND without having to pay much attention (that is, there is still some "spare bandwidth" left over to pay attention to other things), I can always play it a little faster with a little more attention.
So, identify what's demanding your attention, and practice to make it more comfortable and more automatic. In this way, increasing the tempo a little at a time should be possible.
hello that piano solo was great , the fur elise was my favorite piano piece and i love the way you play it . . . i enjoyed it so much you are a great pianist . .
My canary, Paco, and I love this. Your hands do dance. Lovely.
I actually think that the way in which he moves his hands is so beautiful and harmonical, its romantic how the audio and thanks to that soft movement of hands the video combine to create a exquisit masterpiece... My friends always critizice me because i listen to this music (im 15), but i think is art and is something that our generation should never forget! sorry for the writting mistakes, i speak spanish. Anyway, peace and lovee! hahaha
the song doesn't need any comment (it's one in a million), but the video its a great work, it needed a lot of effort. bravo!
whoah watching the scrolling stave has given my vision the "guitar hero effect" - everything appears to be moving right!
great video!
@sarah214417 When the string quartet containing the Grosse Fuge was first performed, the audience demanded encores of some movements of the quartet, but not the fugue; when Beethoven heard about this, he called the audience "cattle" and "asses" for not appreciating the fugue and paying attention to movements he considered less worthy of admiration. So, it's clear he made distinctions between pieces, and that some meant more to him than others.
@TasteTheGay Sure; understanding music theory (scales, chords, harmonic progressions, counterpoint, etc.) is what you need to understand for it to be something other than "just one note after another."
@richard2mitchell Well, yeah, it is, but it's like "this symbol, and you put your mouth in this shape" for language. Knowing that for "S" you put your tongue against your teeth and blow air through it is something you learn, but it's a long way from there to being able to pick up a Shakespeare sonnet and reading it expressively. There's a lot of other stuff involved ...
Every time i hear this song
i just dream away!
it is no more than absolutly fantastic!!
@lewtu I'm not saying my interpretation is necessarily correct. The question is: what did Beethoven mean by notating it that way? He could much more easily have written it to show it played all with one hand, but he went to the trouble of dividing it between hands. If you want to make sense of the piece, you have to figure out some reason for this, and have it make sense; otherwise you're missing something.
@smalin i'm learning this song, am currently learning Section B. Only thing is i learn it by memory and can't read from paper, even though that also getting a little better.
I will be playing the whole song at a concert this year and if i'm half as good as you it should sound fantastic.
Oh yea, you are the person that made me want to learn to play this song. Thankyou so much for the inspiration to learn it!
Love to play it...no problems here! You play it beautifully
As a left-hander, my left hand has given me trouble since day 1 of piano playing. I believe its the way piano is taught to us. Teachers and books and everyone start with melody, treble, right hand. This makes our left hand lag behind our right in the learning curve. As for Fur Elise, the left hand becomes a major set back if it isn't trained very well, especially during the 'breakdown' (not classical enough word maybe) hehe.. I've commented a few times but never said, very nice playing :)
excellent video, i greatly enjoyed watching and hearing you play this timeless piece sir.
@fatababes There's no substitute for practice. (I've been playing for more than forty years.) If you can stand it, try learning this piece with your hands crossed (so that your left hand is playing the melody). It will be difficult and unpleasant, but your left hand will get better much faster than it would otherwise.
DEAR GOD THANK YOU!!!!!! you dont know how long i was looking for this one....
that is so beautifully played and 1 of my beethoven favorites ..... i envy you .... u make it look so e-z
@williamarissa I had terrible fingering when I was young, but it got better as a side-effect of getting better as a pianist in general. If you focus on trying to play with ease and expression, you will find that the "correct" fingering is the one that gives the best result, and is the most natural, and the one you want to use.
Very Nice Playing. THis is my favorite piece as well.
@Zelloge It doesn't just look that way. The reason to practice is to get to the point where it really IS easy.
You are really a very good pianist, Stephen. Great performance. Congratulations.
It's so amazing feeling to play classical music on piano. To hear that sound created by you which you always heard on videos. I hope one day I can play hungraian rapsody too. I love that music. Its like perfect key combinations. :) Greetings from Turkey...
Admiro tu trabajo de representar la música con esas imágenes tan brillantes, Dios te Bendiga.
@whythewar1 The same as for any other shape: Steinway, Yamaha, Baldwin, etc.