ThePianoMan

Not too many discussions actually discuss religion here. Mostly people bible-bashing, and retorting. So many narrow-minded American-centric questions. Why can't we discuss personal religion, or maybe the occasional question about Shintoism, the Baha'i, Buddhism, Hindu, Janto, Daoism, or African religions? I expect I'll get some fairly ignoramus responses, but I'm a sucker for trying.

Both Chopin and (some) Grieg pieces used old chord progressions. the majority of musicians we venerate throughout history are only the ones who advanced the popular style of chord progression (a generalization I know. Grieg and Chopin both broke the mold by being remembered not for their advancement of music but because they painstakingly made every note, every rythm, perfect. I like the examples of Grieg's opus 16 piano concerto in A minor, and Chopin's minut waltz OR Fantasie Impromptu. do you think Grieg and Chopin reached perfection? do you think they are still great musicians even though they were in no way pioneers? and who can you think of, it can be anyone, who is/has perfecting/perfected music like that? (any time period)

I am a concert pianist of over 50 years, and i have been playing piano for even longer.

I am also a trained performer on principal Horn (French Horn) and have been doing that for roughly the same amount of time.

I have, of late, noticed that an increasing percentage of people are wearing white tie, black tie, and three-piece suits in the US. i was rather surprised, I don't mean to sound immodest, but I am an extremely knowleadgable authority on classy high fashion and even more formal casual. I know just about everythin about different time period suits, from the military dress uniform to todays acceptable dress attire. I have been surprised to see a resurgence in this type of dress. especially the waistcoat, something my fellow contemporaries (we are fashion historians) had lamented the loss of in the americas. i'd just like people's thoughts and comments and you can ask me any questions you have about high class attire.

Just wondering how many Aikidoka's there are in yahoo answer's martial arts community. this and my other questions are really only going to serva s forums. I have recently joined yahoo answers M.A. community, and I am 7th Dan Aikidoka of 67 years.

what in your opinion is the most timeless thing ever? it could be nostalgic video games or movies, ideas, intangibles, people, groups, theorems, anythings, and WHY?

I would say life and all that it entails (maybe a little cheating) friends and emotions, and everything that has been and will be, stories that people have written, worlds they have created, and a million people we will never know.

no one can define it, not you, not me, and it just goes on forever. I hope you all enjoy your lives.

ps: no best answers on this question.

ok, weird question, and ususally i don't ask these kind of questions. I am a professional musician, and this really bugs me. why do people clog up the classical section of Y!A with questions about where they can pirate copies of piano pop sheet music?

this is a bit of a soap box question, just give your opinions.

my answer would be that people are ignorant and think anything to do with pianos is "classical" i don't mean to be rude but thats just my opinion.

ps. i am relativley new to the Y!A community, but i come from years of musical training.

some background: I am a profesional musician with a doctorate in msuic theory and two instruments.

As with most of my questions i simply want people's opinions on this question.

"Fame à partir de couleurs vives et de la stupidité"

these are the words of an almost unknown french composer who has (from his obscurity) influenced nearly everywork of music known to man. people bascially stole themes from him.

his words translate to "fame from bright colors and stupidity"

do you think that the succeses of famous msuicians like mozart and beethoven are the work of their socially influential fathers or their own genius? all the way up to present times marketing has just as sometimes more efficient then talent. modern examples can be found everywhere.

so whats you opinion?

in mine, marketing will have a bigger impact then just talent, but you need talent to back up marketing. and marketing to back up talent. in some cases i do think that some people have undeserved fame and some people have unrecognized talent.

your thoughts?

(ps. i dont pick best asnwers on opinion questions)

I have been playing piano and horn for 28 years, and i have been playing professionally for ten years. I perform solo and orchestral classical music, and more modern compositions encompassing nex complexity, minimalism, etc.

for many years however i have noticed a growing trend among non musically trained people (i.e. "the masses") for a growing number of years people have begun to lean towards simplicity in music in a bad way. people now have growing appreciation for the simple chords of John Ondraezik "five for fighting", Vanessa Carlton, Coldplay, Sarah Bareilles, etc. i find this music is soft on the ears but musically boorish and i find very uninteresting. there is no dissonance or complex chords because a simple G or C triad is much easier to comprehend. i have even asked nephew and neices what they preferred. i played for them a jazz piece (take five) and a classical piece (eine klein nachtmusic) the i played a few foldplay and five for fighting's mos popular songs (100 years, and speed of sound) they prefered the pop, when i did this with different songs i acheived similar results. a scientific study has shown that if more then three notes/melodies are played at the same time the average non-musically trained human mind cannot comprehend it. add to this dissonance, melodies, etc. and its baffling that people haven't completley abondoned classical and "high music" (music with classical theory applied) altogether. there was once a time (the romantic, neo-classical, impressionist, etc.) music was appreciated, however this can be atributed to the fact that most people were musically trained if they held any degree of wealth, as that was considered "fashionable."

my question to you: "is pop music killing classical?" the average human appreciates triads and a catchy beat, will classical eventually become something only for musicians? i only want your opinions i will not select a "best answer"

my answer would be no, an example of this is Rock and roll and new age. however i believe that the masses will continue to show a disregard for the art of music theory, and music with a degree of complexity.

I have been a professional musician for 10 years and play dozens of instruments in the professional setting. my first instruments were the piano and french horn, and i most often play piano with professional orchestras.

I wanted to take a poll of yahoo! users and see how many of you enjoy listening to "new complexity" music. Richard Barrett, Brian Ferneyhough, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, James Dillon, Michael Finnissy, James Erber, and Roger Redgate are all fantastic composers, and (for those of us who can read the scores) extremely complex. i know many people appreciate the musical value but not the music. personally i actually ENJOY listening to the music, the abstract atonal patterns, polyrythms, microtonality, and complex timbers. in you personal opinion is new complexity enjoyable to listen to, and if so who is your favorite composer from that genre?

my answer: yes, Brian Ferneyhough.

I am a professional musician and i just wanted to take a poll to see who people think paints the best mental "image" with their music. name the composer and the piece. my personal favorites are: Joe Hisaishi's "one summer day" soundtrack for spirited away, mussorgsky's "pictures at an exhibition" and the orchestrated version by Ravel, Debussy "Imagerie pour piano, and Pour orchestre" especially "Reflets dans l'eau 9reflections in the water" the inverted chords are fantastic. I also love some rather obscure pieces by a G.B. Neville called "Portraits for piano"

do you think people should spend time daydreaming or playing if it makes them happy? many people have written books about make believe lands, should we live in fantasy always dreaming about magic, or live the magic of our lives. Personally i think life holds more adventure then any dream, share your personal opinion.

I have owned a model D steinway and as a professional musician i love my piano. I wanted to take a poll and see, do other people think steinways are worth the rather largish pricetag. other pianos that i have such as my bosendorfer and petrov are excellent and i really love kawai and baldwin, but i have always chosen to perform with a steinway. (yes i am one of those 9 out of 10) Would you personally buy a steinway?

I find mozart and bach's music very enjoyable, and timeless but not my favorite. at third is Joe Hisaishi for his perfect mood music in Hayao Miyazaki's films. The second spot belongs to Ravel for his orchestra arrangement of 'pictures at an exhibition'. the top spot belongs to Debussy for his 'images pour orchestre' and 'pour piano' my favorite is 'reflets l'andeux' (reflections on water) here's a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxM6CzTd9o

Great pianists have tradtionally never been famous or huge superstars for just their piano playing expertise. liberace was huge while he was alive but after his death his name was rolled in the dirt and quickly discarded. meanwhile, art tatum is a name known only in music circles. liberace was a business man and advertised himself, but even he is hardly known. do you think pianists are judged by their musical worth? if so name some. five for fighting, vanessa, carlton, etc. don't count... they are known for their singing.