S
My mother came over and Mr SK made toshi-koshi soba (year’s end soba noodles) for dinner. We visited for a while, she went home at 8pm maybe. Then we watched a movie, and were in bed 11pm. 
Today we’ll take down our christmas trees (which will break my heart) while watching a recording of the 4-hour New Year’s Eve Japanese song contest Kohaku.
@RealPlayer said in Chopin's Op.72, No. 1:
By the way, have you seen that video where Seymour Bernstein argues that “hairpins” in Chopin and Brahms might mean rubato instead of crescendo and diminuendo? Head-exploding!
OMG! Head-exploding indeed!
@bernard thanks for sharing this! It’s interesting to read about these ideas and how different people grapple with them.
Rubato especially seems to me to be one of those things were it is especially hard to separate out guiding principles from personal taste!
@Bernard said in Chopin's Op.72, No. 1:
The teacher wanted to emphasize that the left hand must always remain steady.
Yes, I learned that as well. I always thought of that as a point of commonality between classical and jazz…
(But I've since read that there were two types of rubato in use during Chopin's time, and in the newer style both hands could be free, within reason I'd imagine.)
Oh interesting!
he said to take rubato at the beginnings and ends of measures, generally not mid-measure.
That’s very interesting because it goes against advice I’ve received about making sure the downbeat is always in time. Of course, I can’t remember what music that was related to, so it might not be relevant for Chopin.
Also, it seems like taking rubato at measure turning points would bleed into actual ritardando or accelerando.
So now I'm feeling a little bit confused. It could be that my rubato was too improvised, so to say, rather than planned, and that could have made it unclear. I'm proceeding cautiously until it gets clearer.
Have you recorded yourself playing it different ways and compared to see which ones you like?
@bernard that's lovely!!
@Bernard said in Chopin's Op.72, No. 1:
I suspect he'd take a bit of flak from today's musicologists for playing it this way.
I don't know a lot about what would be expected. What aspects of his interpretation do you think would be the most disagreed with?
@wtg said in Wacky weather:
I was awake worrying about a tree branch coming down on the house.
That is the worst worry, especially in the middle of the night when you can't see anything! Glad you made it through ok!
@bernard glad your power came back! We had a few flickers last night but managed to to get through without an actual outage. Whew.
@wtg said in “I’m a very aesthetic person”:
it’s just shameless self-promotion. Or a huge branding exercise at the expense of the American public
Both.
I really don't watch many YT videos
I don't either. I go to YT for very specific musical videos, and that's about it. So the slop issue on YT is all but invisible to me.
I do still look at FB though, and I can see the increase there. I used to sometimes watch FB reels (not those posted by friends I mean), but now I pretty much never do because you can't tell if something is AI generated without watching it first.
In terms of general FB posts, I try to mostly look at FB from my phone because that app interface has the only reliable way to show just posts from friends, whereas the browser version is much harder to control and therefore ends up being filled with slop.
It's horrible.
@Bernard I see what you mean.
Re this:
Hopefully our culture will once again create songs so universally beloved. And if that happens, hopefully you can make an effort to listen.
I agree wit you, it's not a problem of the quality of music being produced. It's exposure, or rather, lack thereof.
And it's not even about making an effort to listen. Our lives have changed such that many of us (me included) rarely encounter music (or musical genres) we haven't pre-selected.
@Bernard said in Notes from the piano bar: Another casualty of the ever decreasing shared culture?:
I think that opinion piece is a bit mixed up and not well thought out, or well written.
Yes, I agree. It's an interesting topic that's not well fleshed-out I think.
He asks, "Are we still producing anthemic songs that everyone can know and sing anymore?" I would say most definitely yes.
I would say probably not. This is the part that caught my attention. I don't think there are as many shared musical memories as there used to be.
eta. What he's describing is a symptom of the internet age, not a symptom of inferior song writing. imo.
I didn't think the author was trying to make a point about musical quality, but just to say that, whereas with older songs, everyone could sing along, now, you can't expect that there is a set of songs that most everyone knows.
And yes, it's most definitely a symptom of the internet age, and the "on demand" nature of media consumption. People can choose what to listen to (and what to watch) in ways unthinkable just a few years ago. Certainly this is a good thing in may ways. For example, thanks to internet radio, I can hear new solo piano music that would have never found its way to a traditional radio station.
But it also means there are fewer shared cultural products (pop songs, tv shows...) than there used to be, and that's what I thought the author was talking about, how that becomes visible in the piano bar.
Separate from that, you're right, there are a lot of other half-developed thoughts in the article...
@Jodi I had never heard it before. I barely know who Chappell Roan is, basically every time I see something about her, I think "wait, so that comedian is now singing?" and then I realized I've mixed up Chappell Roan with Dave Chappelle....
Anyway, I googled around and couldn't figure out why someone wanted to hear Pink Pony Club at a piano bar, until I found this version:
Link to videoKinda cool.
Here's an interesting article by a pianist who performs at piano bars.
I perform at a piano bar. The most requested song might surprise you.
So long “Piano Man.” Chappell Roan’s ode to a gay bar now draws the most requests.
By Jesse Rifkin
It's in WaPo, but here's a link without a paywall.
@Piano-Dad congratulations!!!!!
@Steve-Miller said in Merry Christmas All:
Ditched the Sterling silverware years ago but I kind of miss it.
My mom has a fancy set of silverware, in a big wooden box that weighs a ton. When I was a kid, she used it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always hated it because afterwards, it had to be washed carefully by hand. That part didn’t bug me (we didn’t have a dishwasher then anyway). But she was very particular about spreading it out on a cloth to dry and then carefully wiping each one as it was put away. I hated the whole process so much.
She still has the set, it’s in perfect condition. (Actually, I wonder if it’s not sterling? It doesn’t tarnish like the kind my stepmother has.) I don’t have the heart to tell my mother I don’t want it.
Hmmm. Maybe I can figure out just how much care it needs to stay nice. I could see us using it, im ok with handwashing, as long as it doesn’t have to be spread out to dry like that….
@Bernard said in Merry Christmas All:
Trick is to make the sauce the night before,
That’s smart. If I could figure out a good way to streamline it, I might make it more often.
Everyone was quite pleased with the outcome. It was super yummy!!
I am making lasagna. It’s so time consuming, I hardly ever make it. It should be ready soon. Then we’ll have cake after dinner 
@Piano-Dad said in Who’s decorating for the holidays?:
Most of it is permanent, hiding among the bushes and trees.
Interesting!
I suspect it's mostly LED, so not particularly expensive to operate compared to the older systems.
Ahh, that’s smart!
@AndyD said in Merry Christmas All:
Anyone else improvise a Christmas tune on the ivories?
I don't improvise anything, unfortunately.
But I do love to poke around through the carols book. My sightreading is just good enough to get me in trouble! 
@Axtremus said in Who’s decorating for the holidays?:
quirkily New England lobster trap Christmas trees
Wow! Not particularly attractive during the day, but lovely at night!
