Tbh, solo sections are much easier than chords. Chords in things like this jump around and require real-time planning and precision. Solos are scale patterns every pianist ingrains into muscle memory.
It's still so insane to me how good these musicians must be in their respective instrument that they can play a complex piece like this, look at it, and play it with little to no flaws.
It's still so insane to me how good these speakers must be in their respective language that they can read a complex text like this, look at it, and say it with little to no flaws.
@@boiledsheep I get what you're saying but you learn your language from childbirth and become fluent. These guys don't start out of the womb learning music. They trained for it and became fluent.
@@boiledsheep although your sentiment is true, the equivalent to speaking would be this: Pick up a play and interpret and read it with the correct tone, pauses and emphasis etc. Ofcourse anyone can read the words out but to read them out correctly would still be difficult without practice, whereas this guy's just picking it up and reading it like it's nothing. I think that's where the impressive element comes in
@SlowFox he had a car accident from what ive heard...hes basically completely paralyzed...cant speak cant move nothing :(:( And his parents supposedly work against him, keeping him away from a proper recovery facility ...
@@pianosenzanima1 He can try to speak, and can play with his left hand a bit. His right hand isn't as good I don't think. He is not completely paralysed, he can still move around a bit, and I'm pretty sure he can move his wheelchair. Not really sure on his exact status right now, but there are updates at www.caringbridge.org/visit/tombrier/journal and on this discord server discord.gg/tNsDTYP
2:52 lol when he gets asked "what is that Tom" his answer of "Yoshi's Island Athletic Theme" while sounding completely incredulous like he can't believe he's saying what he's reading always gets me. cheers Tom
@@xaflu it isn't ripped off at all! it's in ragtime style, you can't call that ripping off. Kondo is an amazing composer and this piece is clearly original with Kondo's signature flair
The story about this guy (Tom Brier) is actually so sad. In his prime he was a fantastic pianist, mostly known for his aggressive left hand playing, and today he’s a paraplegic due to a rear-end accident which rendered him unable to walk, talk, or play piano.
@@therealswonk i hope so too, its like what happened to Curtis Mayfield, its always a shame to hear something like this happening to someone who always managed to create and get so much joy from music with their hands
right? its comforting knowing that there are people who actually learn and do things in life other than sit around on youtube everyday for hours lol. yep! At least someone is out there... you know. doing anything but this lolol
Look at his left hand and the jumps he makes. Consistently. I have tried this, and it is not nearly as easy as he makes it out to be. That shows his immense talent.
Well, at that moment you quoted he gets mixed up in his sight-reading as it comes to the end of a phrase (these phrases are ostinatos and so once he saw it repeat he was in autopilot mode, but once he got to the end of the phrase, thats where mistakes can be made) and so he hesitated for a second. It looked like he was about to play a glissando going downwards to try and artfully cover that mistake up and begin at the next phrase but instead he just made a weird hand gesture and finished the phrase out anyway. I didnt hear any extra notes or anything. I also dont think this type of stride jazz piano playing allows for much improv on a sightread. Its very taxing on the hands and most modern jazz actually has altered chords so you dont have to move your hands around this much. Also, as a pianist, youre usually not adding things on your first time ever reading it or playing it, as your brain is at full capacity simply playing the notes on the page as they are. You usually improv something after youve at least seen it once or twice and get ideas after hearing it first.
Rufus Masters Well not quite perfectly; you do hear him pause a few times to figure it out. But it doesn't take long before he's got it down. Depending on the tune, sometimes he can knock 'em out of the park on the first attempt. I first saw him do that 20+ years ago when I showed him a rare antique piece of music and asked if he knew anything about it. He put it on the piano and played it perfectly, with embellishments. I didn't expect that! Now, I know a few people who can do that. Dedicated to their craft!
***** Well, for Tom it is. He's even said basically that. He learned to read music at the same time he was learning to read words. He never stopped doing either, so reading music and playing it comes as naturally do him as reading a book aloud.
+Nintendo Fan (TheNintendoFan) if you can read music is not that impressive, the sheet music tells him when to play a note and for how long to play it.
+Ladical Rad Sight reading music is very similar to learning another language if you've never done it before. I don't play music very much anymore but when i was first learning i struggled with it quite a bit, so i think it's reasonable to be impressed. More importantly, Are you implying that you have never ever been hyperbolic when you've been impressed by something? Do you just rate everything you see on a 100% accurate 1-100 scale? I'm sure you don't, so I don't see what you're trying to prove by talking down to people for showing some praise, and maybe exaggerating a little.
@@conkersla Not that impressive? Sure you can learn to read music relatively quickly but sight-reading a piece of music in its original fast tempo with that much notes per beat with a relatively great execution on the get-go is phenomenal. Mind you that he never heard the tune and it was the first time he has seen the sheet so he's going in practically blind.
fun fact: as you're reading this, Tom when he played this tune was closer to the release date of Yoshi's Island (Aug 1995) than you are to the day he played the song (Aug 2008)
I think that many good musicians playing at a high level do that. It allows them to "own" the piece, ie putting their own spin on the work without compromising the original intent. It's like the performer and writer are able to acknowledge each other and jam. Or maybe I'm thinking about it too much lol
@@scotty2tone I do this while playing the guitar. It’s often easier to have one’s own spin on a song, since those movements/connections which make someone’s sound distinct are much further engraved than someone else’s movements. There’s also when they’re just having fun and spazzing about, but it all originates from the musician finding their “style” more comfortable.
That’s very kind of you, Tom did suffer from a car accident a while back and still has some serious brain damage sadly. I’m sure he would love to see your message. Have a good 2020 as well
Tom is a ragtime legend. Unfortunately as the other commenters said, he was in a serious car accident and is unable to speak, let alone play the piano. It's really sad.
@@Joe-wl8hk Yeah, I remember hearing about his car accident somtime around 2015-16 I think. Really sad that the pianist in all these great sight-read videos can't play anymore...
It has been cool and I hope it can continue with Tom someday. He's currently hospitalized and in a medically induced coma after his car was rear-ended by a truck last Saturday. It's just a waiting game now to see if he'll have any lasting brain injury.
There's a couple parts that sound like he just added a shitload more detail to it than was in the original, like all the little trills n stuff or whatever they're called.
I don't know if it was in people's Recommended lists in 2014 but I think this was one that Deadmau5 tweeted so it had a viewership spike at that time. He then wrote to me to apologize for the poor behavior of his fans.
It's already been said 1000 times but this guy was one of the most incredible sight-read pianists on the planet. Having never heard the piece and just instantly picking out how the composer intended for it to sound AND improvising while doing so much with the left hand is really incredible. Can only wish Tom the best in his recovery; this video will go down in history.
When you are that good, I don't think there is much difference between listening to the theme and looking at the score. I'm pretty sure he can hear the song in his head when he reads it from the paper.
+hcnuup Definitely. I mean, look at his first attempt. He fumbles a little at times but almost INSTANTLY recognizes and corrects his mistakes without ever stopping. By two minutes in he's's adding flourishes and extra little touchesin a way that you can tell he knows where the song is going next. I tip my hat to this guy but, more importantly, to Koji Kondo.
@@FieldMarshall3 This is three years late, but that is exactly what its like. I'm a mediocre tuba player that stumbled across this at random through recommendations, and when I get a piece of music for the first time, no matter how "simple" or "hard" it looks, I always tend to just go through it note by note and imagine what it sounds like before I play it and think about how to approach it as a piece, is it happy or sad, how fast is it. It's much the same as reading a novel and giving each chracter a different voice depending on the situation, if a character is weak and says "I'm ready", you would probably give them a different voice than if a confident character says "I'm ready". I feel like Brier looks at music the same way, but much quicker, like in the beginning when he did those jumps with his left hand, he was feeling out the song's speed and rhythms.
3:49 I love how chaotic this part feels with the part that Tom is at in the piece and how the camera man is just yelling to the beast of a dude carrying the tuba who seems utterly confused: “oh yeah oh right gotchu uh yeah”
+TheJoon Ragtime didn't really hit big in the West until closer to 1910 (the first ragtime wasn't even published until 1897). And of course, the pianos wouldn't have been "old timey" then; they'd have been newer and in good shape!
It's insane how a generation can fully enjoy a track from a game, regardless of how old you are. This a perfect example of that. Music is universal, and this is just proof of that.
This is probably Tom Brier's best sight-reading. He was perfect, and the way he started improvising too, adding his own notes to the tune was just bloody impressive. Now that's what I call talent, thanks for uploading this video Keeper1st.
***** i'd be a little bit more carefull with words like "the best". he is indeed one calibre of a pianist, there's no doubt about that but that comment of yours sounds slightly ignorant
He's pro level for sure but best pianist? Pro and legend are miles away from one another. And legends like Keith Jarrett or McCoy Tyner are still alive.
@@DysKoneko Erm... Barenboim? Ugorski? Sokolov? Yuja Wang? Kyle Landry? Just to name a few. There is a lot of competition. He is a very good pianist, without question. But the best really is a careless formulation.
Koji Kondo is one of the all time greatest composers if you ask me. Almost all of his tunes are immediate, catchy and memorable, yet somehow never get old even after thousands of listens. He has incredible range as well and his works appeal to so many different kinds of people.
It had to be catchy due to limited space on the cart. If it was gonna repeat through the whole game, it better be good. He was one of the master composers of that era.
After looking at the sheet music, I can see that he not only sightread that beautifully, but he dressed it up while doing it. He added all these extra riffs and tremolos on the fly!
I discovered this video years ago and being a pianist of 21 years myself his joy and skill with playing/sightreading never fails to brighten my day. I stumbled across this video again today and while scrolling through the comments for the first time learned about the awful injury he got in the car accident years ago and my heart broke. No one deserves to have something like that happen to them and I hope he knows just how much joy he gave to all of us with his music.
*August 26, 2020* Journal Entry by Jeff Brier Tom has completed his first month of therapy and has settled into the Centre for Neural Skills very nicely. He is undergoing intense therapy in many categories and is making steady progress. The CNS staff is with him 24/7, so it is similar to a "Therapy Boot Camp" every waking hour is utilized. He has taken his first steps using a walker under close supervision for safety and training. *September 12, 2020* Journal Entry by Jeff Brier Tom is busy with his therapy from morning until bedtime and is responding nicely. Tom and family send thanks to everyone for their prayers and support
I watch this video from time to time, and it always brings a tear to my eye. It's so joyfull, I wish I could be there :) Best of sincere wishes to Tom and your family.
Yeah I never post TH-cam comments but had to say this video has been my spirit animal for a while now. So glad it exists; so glad other people get to see it, too. I also want to credit the dude that worked up the piano score. That's an amazing arrangement of it.
Even with the errors, I still personally find this to be the best version of athletic theme I have found... I keep coming back to it. The story of Tom just makes it all the more impactful to me... I wish him all the best.
@@shartlover420 Agreed! I think I appreciate his tempo and pace the most... that gets him into trouble, but it's his first reading!! Amazing skill and performance for sure.
His point was that one person said that Tom had "40 years of sight-reading experience"... but of course Tom was only 37 years old when this video was shot, so 40 years of experience was impossible then.
It's amazing how these musicians are hearing this for the first time and they're so taken by the melody. Video game music deserves so much more respect than it gets. Thank you Tom for spreading the word!
Watching him slowly learn it the tune, and build it up, perfect it, then improvise and add to it was absolutely mind blowing and incredible. All In a 5-min video. Tom is a very special person.
Music is so beautiful, brings people together Loved how the guy with the massive fucking horn comes in the background. God I don’t even know Tom and these videos make me feel so sad, almost like I miss him despite never meeting the guy. It’ll always bring a smile to my face these videos.
Now that i understand what has happened to Tom, I look at this video entirely differently now. I still love it but it's a reminder to his legacy, to who he was, and while he's still alive, this GIANT part of his life is now sadly gone... I'm super glad he has gained the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award and he most DEFINITELY deserved it, but I'm still just left speechless to what has happened... Just as Daniel T. explained it: "Imagine gaining a large fanbase, and then just for it to be taken away without your control.". I just want to say to everyone to remember this man. As this and many of his other videos are a form of memerance of his story... Wish ya the best Tom... Love ya... :)
This is one of the greatest things I have ever heard. I love video game and ragtime music, and these guys nailed it, especially at the end with the Tuba and flute, truly amazing considering they'd never heard this before. mind=blown.
Of course he's played it before. Man has been playing piano so long that in some form he has played these progression of chords, similar base line etc. So much experience that it feeds into anything new. Incredible.
1st time I've watched this was about a decade ago, and still sounds absolutely awesome. Total inspiration for piano self learning to me at the time. Only few years later I understood the meaning of "Sight-read" and I'm jaw dropped since. BTW, ten years I'm still trying to play this song.
As someone who doesn't play any instruments and found this video randomly, what does 'sight read' mean? Like he's playing it the way you'd read a book, just following the notes along the sheet and playing them as he reads them? So he's essentially reading very fast and actually able to play the notes he's reading that quickly? Without ever having seen it before, I assume
@@Herpaderp10 ah so it's reading the notes in the bars of the sheet, and playing them without hearing the original music and without adding written notes and the like I think?
@@emma48586 This. I think Its not a pre requisite to be a 'sigh read' but there's people who can do this even without ever heard the song once before. Tom Brier seens to be one of them.
From when I first saw this video randomly recommended to me after a streak of listening to favourite childhood game music, to now as I occasionally scour the comments to see how this poor man's recovery is going. I get an awfully bittersweet feeling from this video. It's so good, so wholesome, a snippet of someone's life, they're so friendly I feel like I know them. After having worked in a care home for a long while I get this feeling a lot, seeing the old photos that family members bring in; happy times and snippets of life, whereas now the person is old decrepit and nothing like they used to be. Like a whole other person. It hurts so much, but I don't truly know them, I have no right to mourn who they once were, and yet here I am. This man I miss dearly, I feel his pain at having trained all his life only to lose it all, I only hope he gets better but my experience in the care home tells me not to hold my breath. Sir, you are amazing, this video is amazing, please please get well soon. Defy the odds.
Tom Brier. I know this video since it has been published to youtube. It's ever since been one of my all time favorites. Kind of an unbelievable mystery. I will never ever forget the incredible genious Tom Brier. I will come back to this any time (here I am, 12 years after). If there was a chance to see this live, I can speak for my whole generation, that this would will not only put smiles on our faces, but also keeps everyone moving. Tom is, musically, one of the most intelligent persons I have seen on youtube.
@@andybaldman Before the accident, I thought to myself more than once, "maybe someday I'll travel to California and watch one of those ragtime festivals with Tom Brier in person." Never took it all that seriously. Now, how I wish I had. 😪
This is curing depression. I get so inspired. Learning playing the piano on a more advanced level is definitely an accomplishment I need to fulfill in my life. It gives me so much relief sitting at a piano.
I just keep coming back to this video over the years. This is one of the best rendition of this piece on piano ever. Really hope Tom can one day fully recover and get back in front of the piano he loves.
It's quite weird, if you overthink it, that someone can convey happy feelings so effectively via the medium of a bunch of squiggles and lines on a piece of paper, with the help of some genius hands.
@@hugohugohugohugo4800 vibrations are all things which is crazy. No wonder music can make us FEEL so much, because at our core we're just vibrations as well
This made me smile. Happy the algorithm recommended this. Love how the pianist played the pieces and played with his kin. I never saw different generations bonding over video game music. Made my evening better listening to this while getting work done. Kudos!
Yoshi's Island has some of my favorite music in gaming. Probably my favorite gaming OST, and the whimsicality of this theme almost makes me tear cause of the memories I have of playing it.
The whole band eventually added the tune to their repertoire: th-cam.com/video/0CB8OSnJfiU/w-d-xo.html
Keeper1st
Great
Keeper1st video posted 10 years ago but this comment 4 hours? Where am I and why was this in my recommended? It’s cool though
Nice!
Yay
Fucking epic
"What is that?"
"Yoshi's Island Athletic Theme"
" _what?_ "
gets me every time
Not athletic it's sportive theme bro :D xD aylmao
@@babymrincredible1999 that's literally the same thing.
@@flytrapYTP You know what you're gonna get ain't cha?
Especially the "yeah, i know that one!"
@@flytrapYTP bruh
Yoshi's Island: Saloon Edition
Like number 500
It plays on the bars of red dead 2
We don't like your kind around here, green dinosaur... DRAW!
*Yoshi’s Saloon
@@hanchockelias5123 Are you for real?
0:34
Here we see Tom absorbing the essence of the music into his very being.
Didums222 I knew he had a secret...
Didums222 I knew it :D Illuminati
jajajjajjajaj xd may be :0
+Didums222 Still makes me laugh haha
He absorbs it all into his neckbeard.
Tom: messes up chords, laughs to himself
Also Tom, 2 seconds later: completely nails that solo line
lmao what a Chad
Tbh, solo sections are much easier than chords. Chords in things like this jump around and require real-time planning and precision. Solos are scale patterns every pianist ingrains into muscle memory.
Unfortunately he can't play anymore due to an accident. I believe he was paralyzed
The most level-headed you can be in the face of mistakes
@@davinchristino what songs do you play though?
It's still so insane to me how good these musicians must be in their respective instrument that they can play a complex piece like this, look at it, and play it with little to no flaws.
It's still so insane to me how good these speakers must be in their respective language that they can read a complex text like this, look at it, and say it with little to no flaws.
@@boiledsheep I get what you're saying but you learn your language from childbirth and become fluent. These guys don't start out of the womb learning music. They trained for it and became fluent.
@@patriotslover1014 But what if you're a non-native fluent speaker 🤔
@@witmilk6527 Well, shoot.
@@boiledsheep although your sentiment is true, the equivalent to speaking would be this: Pick up a play and interpret and read it with the correct tone, pauses and emphasis etc. Ofcourse anyone can read the words out but to read them out correctly would still be difficult without practice, whereas this guy's just picking it up and reading it like it's nothing. I think that's where the impressive element comes in
This guy has no damn clue how much nostalgia he's stiring up on the internet.
and he literally couldnt anymore... so unfortunate
@SlowFox he had a car accident from what ive heard...hes basically completely paralyzed...cant speak cant move nothing :(:(
And his parents supposedly work against him, keeping him away from a proper recovery facility ...
pianosenzanima that is sadly true :(
@@pianosenzanima1 wow
@@pianosenzanima1 He can try to speak, and can play with his left hand a bit. His right hand isn't as good I don't think. He is not completely paralysed, he can still move around a bit, and I'm pretty sure he can move his wheelchair. Not really sure on his exact status right now, but there are updates at www.caringbridge.org/visit/tombrier/journal and on this discord server discord.gg/tNsDTYP
"Yoshi's Island, I know that one"
That warmed my heart
mine's aswell
What timestamp? I didn't hear it :-P
@@scarletspdstr_ 2:50 ish
sandshrew922 thanks!
What the hell?! We have the same shit in our recommended, Noby! Lollll
2:52 lol when he gets asked "what is that Tom" his answer of "Yoshi's Island Athletic Theme" while sounding completely incredulous like he can't believe he's saying what he's reading always gets me. cheers Tom
HAHAHA.
How he delivers that line is almost better than the piano playing 😂😂😂
Love the "...what?" after he says it too lol
This and the fact that the other dude “knows that one” always kills me
older people finding out that these wacky "vidjya gaymes" have some musical merit! Wholesome :^)
That's when you know you're making videogame music right, when people who don't even play videogames are interested in it.
Some of the best music ever created has been video game music.
that's probably because a shit ton of old mario music is ripped off of ragtime songs
@@xaflu it isn't ripped off at all! it's in ragtime style, you can't call that ripping off. Kondo is an amazing composer and this piece is clearly original with Kondo's signature flair
@@psider1522 LMFAO Yeah I think Ariana grande really ripped off pop in her new music.
interested? someone put it in front of him..
*The algorithm has brought us back together once again, brethren.*
*Hello brother*
Everyone comments in an increment of 2 days
It came back!
@@sinister1007 it was never gone
Alex, It never leaves us. Ever.
2:59 "Yoshi's Island, i know that one" A true gamer right there.
The story about this guy (Tom Brier) is actually so sad. In his prime he was a fantastic pianist, mostly known for his aggressive left hand playing, and today he’s a paraplegic due to a rear-end accident which rendered him unable to walk, talk, or play piano.
worst fear of every musician, ending up unable to play ur instrument :(
He is making a steady recovery, I wish him the best through his struggles
@@therealswonk i hope so too, its like what happened to Curtis Mayfield, its always a shame to hear something like this happening to someone who always managed to create and get so much joy from music with their hands
@@therealswonk as is stated sadly by the owner of this account, he is not. it's one of the most tragic stories of recent history
@@mistabean9272 damn, that sucks
Watching this is almost like seeing a brief peek into someone else’s life. It’s comforting in a weird way.
Yeah it makes me wish I was talented like that and had other talented friends and we could just sit around getting stoned and playing music
Wait I'm high.. that's called a band. Yeah that would be cool too
Firewall 45 no need to get stoned, music already does that for you!
right? its comforting knowing that there are people who actually learn and do things in life other than sit around on youtube everyday for hours lol. yep! At least someone is out there... you know. doing anything but this lolol
Why are TH-cam comments so articulate and sincere now? What happened to the days of asinine “firsts” and calling people gay as an insult??? Haha
I just love that the people around said “let’s play this” and popped their instruments out of nowhere
It is easy, you just scroll the mousewheel forward.
Lol
Musicians.
This video is 12 years old, Yoshis island was 13 years old when he recorded this.
Let that sink in
Zinski 25 fucking yeara
God damnit what does it what this time
😢
God damn you're old
So this was seen the same as a Super Mario Galaxy Cover would be seen today
i love how the others heard him play it and were like "sick tune" and then just joined in with their own instruments
As an amateur piano player, I can say without doubt this guy sight reads better than I do speak English.
Hell yeah- I feel that
Since your sentence structure is not very good, I believe you
@@adamodosik damn why you gotta go after his jugular like that lmao
As a pianist with eleven years experience this is baffling
as a professional youve probably spent at least as much time playing the piano as youve done speaking (unless you dont practice hmmmm)
Look at his left hand and the jumps he makes. Consistently.
I have tried this, and it is not nearly as easy as he makes it out to be. That shows his immense talent.
Ragtime is HARD! I feel your pain.
Yeah stride piano is the real deal
But it's also one of the most fun piano techniques ever invented, and you have to know how to swing it on autopilot if you want to play solo jazz.
Ragtime i think that is how the piece is supposed to be..
it aint talent, its hours and hours of dedicated practice
I love his little giddy giggle to himself at the beginning when he's soaking it in realizing what a catchy and fun tune it is.
1:55 You can see when he starts adding notes in between others, and his hands truly begin dancing over the keys.. Just a phenomenal thing to witness.
Very well said
Well, at that moment you quoted he gets mixed up in his sight-reading as it comes to the end of a phrase (these phrases are ostinatos and so once he saw it repeat he was in autopilot mode, but once he got to the end of the phrase, thats where mistakes can be made) and so he hesitated for a second.
It looked like he was about to play a glissando going downwards to try and artfully cover that mistake up and begin at the next phrase but instead he just made a weird hand gesture and finished the phrase out anyway.
I didnt hear any extra notes or anything. I also dont think this type of stride jazz piano playing allows for much improv on a sightread. Its very taxing on the hands and most modern jazz actually has altered chords so you dont have to move your hands around this much.
Also, as a pianist, youre usually not adding things on your first time ever reading it or playing it, as your brain is at full capacity simply playing the notes on the page as they are. You usually improv something after youve at least seen it once or twice and get ideas after hearing it first.
@God Wen god has only 2 subscribers
adding notes in between others is called chords lol
@@jyacthepianoman you’re a little new huh
This is why I love musicians, these people probably don't know the first thing about Mario and look what they have made
Musicians are really great! I always love watching them play, their happiness is contagious
@@blackbomber72 ☺👍
Yes exactly
Nah, everyone knows mario :p
This guy sure is amazing though, can't deny that.
Enej Lah Not everyone. Ask my grandmother.
Yoshi's Island + Tom Brier + a Tuba = biggest smile on my face
Mayer Yedid one thing missing Trumpet Tricks
k
@JoybuzzahzTV thats not a sax, its a tuba
@JoybuzzahzTV that's definitely a tuba.
@JoybuzzahzTV I only see a saxophone.
So this guy has never heard this before and he can play it perfectly?Holy shit,what a legend.
Rufus Masters Well not quite perfectly; you do hear him pause a few times to figure it out. But it doesn't take long before he's got it down. Depending on the tune, sometimes he can knock 'em out of the park on the first attempt. I first saw him do that 20+ years ago when I showed him a rare antique piece of music and asked if he knew anything about it. He put it on the piano and played it perfectly, with embellishments. I didn't expect that! Now, I know a few people who can do that. Dedicated to their craft!
***** Well, for Tom it is. He's even said basically that. He learned to read music at the same time he was learning to read words. He never stopped doing either, so reading music and playing it comes as naturally do him as reading a book aloud.
+Nintendo Fan (TheNintendoFan) if you can read music is not that impressive, the sheet music tells him when to play a note and for how long to play it.
+Ladical Rad Sight reading music is very similar to learning another language if you've never done it before. I don't play music very much anymore but when i was first learning i struggled with it quite a bit, so i think it's reasonable to be impressed.
More importantly, Are you implying that you have never ever been hyperbolic when you've been impressed by something? Do you just rate everything you see on a 100% accurate 1-100 scale? I'm sure you don't, so I don't see what you're trying to prove by talking down to people for showing some praise, and maybe exaggerating a little.
@@conkersla Not that impressive? Sure you can learn to read music relatively quickly but sight-reading a piece of music in its original fast tempo with that much notes per beat with a relatively great execution on the get-go is phenomenal. Mind you that he never heard the tune and it was the first time he has seen the sheet so he's going in practically blind.
fun fact: as you're reading this, Tom when he played this tune was closer to the release date of Yoshi's Island (Aug 1995) than you are to the day he played the song (Aug 2008)
Interesting
That's like how the Romans were as far off to the Egyptians as we are to the Romans.
Not true for a little bit longer
Jesus
@@hitchicker42 it was true after August 2021, so it was still true when you said this
3:31 everybody gangsta until mans busts out the tuba
dabpuppers I too am part of the tuba gang
@@eiamstaples2659 tuba gang gang
Lol
TUBA GAAAANG
@@andyromero7837 ayyyyeeee
The song is very ragtime, now that I think about it.
Also how the hell does he play those bass notes?
with the left hand
Learn 2 stride bruh
Jumping
With the power of TWO HANDS
@@nickherrera1154 lol, well played.
now i wanna see a wild west bar fight with this song in the background
Bruh 😂
I always liked the way Nintendo used very disparate styles of music for the Mario series, with ragtime, Calypso, and big band all mixing together
Gotchu th-cam.com/video/dQw4w9WgXcQ/w-d-xo.html
@@lvnxisaight i just got rick rolled in the year 2020.... goodbye world...
HeyImLynx GOD DAMNIT
2nd time round sounds like he's been playing it his whole life, wow.
I think the most impressive part is how he put his own flair on a song he’s playing for the first time
I think that many good musicians playing at a high level do that. It allows them to "own" the piece, ie putting their own spin on the work without compromising the original intent.
It's like the performer and writer are able to acknowledge each other and jam.
Or maybe I'm thinking about it too much lol
@@scotty2tone I do this while playing the guitar. It’s often easier to have one’s own spin on a song, since those movements/connections which make someone’s sound distinct are much further engraved than someone else’s movements. There’s also when they’re just having fun and spazzing about, but it all originates from the musician finding their “style” more comfortable.
@@scotty2tone it allows me to sound like i know what I’m doing when I absolutely don’t know what I’m doing
@@1happboy there are two types of people
@@scotty2tone I play music… you described it perfectly and how I would myself. You can’t help but get into it so that you come out in it.
Idk who Tom is but I hope he’s well in 2020 this was really nice
I think he's had an accident sadly
That’s very kind of you, Tom did suffer from a car accident a while back and still has some serious brain damage sadly. I’m sure he would love to see your message. Have a good 2020 as well
Lux Nightmares
no, dude :((
Tom is a ragtime legend. Unfortunately as the other commenters said, he was in a serious car accident and is unable to speak, let alone play the piano. It's really sad.
@@Joe-wl8hk Yeah, I remember hearing about his car accident somtime around 2015-16 I think.
Really sad that the pianist in all these great sight-read videos can't play anymore...
love it how the video is about 7.5 years old, and the uploader still comments back on stuff x3 talk about viewer service!
+Dragonite33 I suppose you expect a comment too, huh? Heheh.
and so fast too! wow. this guy knows his youtubing c; -wink-
+Keeper1st Give this man a medal
It has been cool and I hope it can continue with Tom someday. He's currently hospitalized and in a medically induced coma after his car was rear-ended by a truck last Saturday. It's just a waiting game now to see if he'll have any lasting brain injury.
Keeper1st holy crap.. if he snaps out of coma, do let him know that me and a lot of other subscribers are hoping for his full recovery :)
0:30 seconds. He seems to hear the whole thing in his head and realises how fun of a tune it is and laughs.
Great observation. I didn’t notice that’s what he’s laughing at! He’s truly prolific. One glance and he just knows.
:')
He's seriously straight up genius.
"Yoshi's Island? I know that one!" .. Thats just amazing
Cookieofdoom i know! Haha shut up bitch
Fletcher Eley wtf???
Fletcher Eley 😂😂😂
Fletcher Eley The must-have comment in every TH-cam vid 😂
Fletcher Eley this comment was so out of the blue, and the following “wtf” really made me laugh haha.
Sight reading GOD
He also looks a lot like Jezus too lol
Truth 😂
When he messes up it just sounds like he's improvising.
There's a couple parts that sound like he just added a shitload more detail to it than was in the original, like all the little trills n stuff or whatever they're called.
delusional deluna u got it right it’s a trill
And that’s jazz baby
Holy i love uw profile picture
@@gwilymhughes3512 Tritones!
The moment this guy touches the keys, he turns any piano into a grand one
Underrated
Great comment 😢
Nah, he definitely turned it into a honky-tonk for this one... not that it's a bad thing
So, this video is made in 2008, and apparently is recommended in 2014, and suddenly is being recommended again in 2019?
*Outstanding Move*
I don't know if it was in people's Recommended lists in 2014 but I think this was one that Deadmau5 tweeted so it had a viewership spike at that time. He then wrote to me to apologize for the poor behavior of his fans.
@@Keeper1st Deadmau5 tweeted this? I gotta see that
And now 2020
@@totalperfection9194 yup
And back again in 2020
"Yeah yoshis island; I know that one!"
That guys a legend
HOW DOES HE HAVE THAT GOOD SIGHT READING SKILLS
LIKE JEEZ IF I SAW THAT PAPER ID INSTANTLY MESS UP ON THE FIRST MEASURE
He learned to read sheet music before he learned to read.
Decades of practice. Starting at a young age helps as well, due to neuroplasticity
Hi Blooms!
It’s not just the song that is nostalgic. It’s the family participating and the old time feel that really takes me back.
Saw this years ago when it was released and it's still just as amazing today. Hoping Tom has a full recovery from his accident and is doing well.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/tombrier
Ushimimi thank you very much for the link.
AF Math & Engineering what does the link do?
Nathan McClure it asks for money.
Bart Beukman yes donations for his recovery, unfortunate such an accident had to happen to him.
It's already been said 1000 times but this guy was one of the most incredible sight-read pianists on the planet. Having never heard the piece and just instantly picking out how the composer intended for it to sound AND improvising while doing so much with the left hand is really incredible. Can only wish Tom the best in his recovery; this video will go down in history.
When you are that good, I don't think there is much difference between listening to the theme and looking at the score. I'm pretty sure he can hear the song in his head when he reads it from the paper.
+hcnuup Definitely. I mean, look at his first attempt. He fumbles a little at times but almost INSTANTLY recognizes and corrects his mistakes without ever stopping. By two minutes in he's's adding flourishes and extra little touchesin a way that you can tell he knows where the song is going next. I tip my hat to this guy but, more importantly, to Koji Kondo.
@@FieldMarshall3 This is three years late, but that is exactly what its like. I'm a mediocre tuba player that stumbled across this at random through recommendations, and when I get a piece of music for the first time, no matter how "simple" or "hard" it looks, I always tend to just go through it note by note and imagine what it sounds like before I play it and think about how to approach it as a piece, is it happy or sad, how fast is it. It's much the same as reading a novel and giving each chracter a different voice depending on the situation, if a character is weak and says "I'm ready", you would probably give them a different voice than if a confident character says "I'm ready". I feel like Brier looks at music the same way, but much quicker, like in the beginning when he did those jumps with his left hand, he was feeling out the song's speed and rhythms.
Tom also has perfect pitch
@@1Cliffsofdover Well, yeah. That's why he is able to sightread perfectly after a few stumbles. He can play the song in his head with no problem
Professori, that's what practice makes. I wish I have that skill. It's much like close to pitch perfect talent.
3:49 I love how chaotic this part feels with the part that Tom is at in the piece and how the camera man is just yelling to the beast of a dude carrying the tuba who seems utterly confused: “oh yeah oh right gotchu uh yeah”
if this was like the 1890s and in the west, this guy would be playing rag time music on an old timey piano.
+TheJoon Ragtime didn't really hit big in the West until closer to 1910 (the first ragtime wasn't even published until 1897). And of course, the pianos wouldn't have been "old timey" then; they'd have been newer and in good shape!
+Keeper1st How 'bout hearing this in a silent film instead? Would that be time period accurate??
+Kumo Hime (Rin) Absolutely.
I said piany, not piano!
And there’d be a saloon fight going on.
“Yoshi’s Island? I know that one.”
You have to smile after hearing that.
I literally love when I get this in my recommended each year. It's like a TH-cam holiday at this point.
I don't get this recommended, I literally just search for it because I've never seen a better piano player than him
Same and im really glad, this is beautiful
Back on my recommended!
Wherever you are, Tom, just know that people keep coming back to your videos for happiness
@@krhulz8741 He’s in Oakdale.
@@Keeper1st How’s Mr. Brier doing nowadays?
@@smlreuploadsog740 Haven't seen him in five years, but by accounts of those who have, the same. No improvement to his condition is to be expected.
@@Keeper1st That really sucks to hear. Always a chance though.
It's insane how a generation can fully enjoy a track from a game, regardless of how old you are. This a perfect example of that. Music is universal, and this is just proof of that.
A good tune is a good tune... And Koji Kondo can compose like a madman, nobody tell you otherwise.
Different generations can have the same interests y'know, it's not that crazy.
This is probably Tom Brier's best sight-reading. He was perfect, and the way he started improvising too, adding his own notes to the tune was just bloody impressive. Now that's what I call talent, thanks for uploading this video Keeper1st.
from the stuff ive seen by him id have to say my favourite was his version of the game corner theme from pokemon
***** i'd be a little bit more carefull with words like "the best". he is indeed one calibre of a pianist, there's no doubt about that but that comment of yours sounds slightly ignorant
He's pro level for sure but best pianist? Pro and legend are miles away from one another. And legends like Keith Jarrett or McCoy Tyner are still alive.
Not perfect, but really good
@@DysKoneko Erm... Barenboim?
Ugorski?
Sokolov?
Yuja Wang?
Kyle Landry?
Just to name a few. There is a lot of competition.
He is a very good pianist, without question. But the best really is a careless formulation.
Koji Kondo is one of the all time greatest composers if you ask me. Almost all of his tunes are immediate, catchy and memorable, yet somehow never get old even after thousands of listens. He has incredible range as well and his works appeal to so many different kinds of people.
It had to be catchy due to limited space on the cart. If it was gonna repeat through the whole game, it better be good. He was one of the master composers of that era.
After looking at the sheet music, I can see that he not only sightread that beautifully, but he dressed it up while doing it. He added all these extra riffs and tremolos on the fly!
I discovered this video years ago and being a pianist of 21 years myself his joy and skill with playing/sightreading never fails to brighten my day. I stumbled across this video again today and while scrolling through the comments for the first time learned about the awful injury he got in the car accident years ago and my heart broke.
No one deserves to have something like that happen to them and I hope he knows just how much joy he gave to all of us with his music.
*August 26, 2020*
Journal Entry by Jeff Brier
Tom has completed his first month of therapy and has settled into the Centre for Neural Skills very nicely. He is undergoing intense therapy in many categories and is making steady progress. The CNS staff is with him 24/7, so it is similar to a "Therapy Boot Camp" every waking hour is utilized. He has taken his first steps using a walker under close supervision for safety and training.
*September 12, 2020*
Journal Entry by Jeff Brier
Tom is busy with his therapy from morning until bedtime and is responding nicely. Tom and family send thanks to everyone for their prayers and support
@@Bollibompa I have been looking for this comment! Tysm.
You can actually see where the download completed and he began to feel it! Right at the 2:00 mark.
"it's yoshi's island athletic theme" *laughs*
it cracks me up everytime XDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Only to get the response: "What!? :D :D
hahahaha yeah! Years later and this is still funny hahahaha XD
Lol
the heck, this is like watching a freaking musical. Randos in the room just grab instruments and start playing! love it.
You go girl!, with the flute 😂
It's amazing how they "step in" as it is a piece of cake.
kondo's definitely got an infectious writing style. everyone wants to join in!
123 456 shut up bitch hahahahhahha
david02129 to me, Kondo-san is at least as important as Miyamoto. He's a super genius in music.
Justin Y. Fake
@Justin Y. I have once again found you
@@Patralgan He truly is. Mario games wouldn't have been the same without him
Oh man. It definitely sounded so amazing when the other musicians came in.
True... But the granny with the flute sucked.
B. Hafa
Not gonna lie, I found the flute kind of annoying and/or distracting.
I disagree. That's just what a ragtime band sounds like.
I love how they're actually talking about Koji Kondo, the person who composed this. :)
Real recognise real
I wonder what koji kondo thinks about this cover
I watch this video from time to time, and it always brings a tear to my eye. It's so joyfull, I wish I could be there :) Best of sincere wishes to Tom and your family.
I always end up here, this is so amazing.
@@strongandbigman it's the best
Same here, especially when Tom chuckles after the pre-play in the beginning.
Right then you knew this song was his favorite, composition wise :)
Yeah I never post TH-cam comments but had to say this video has been my spirit animal for a while now. So glad it exists; so glad other people get to see it, too.
I also want to credit the dude that worked up the piano score. That's an amazing arrangement of it.
I do the same thing and I agree
Mario’s special style of jazz is honestly legendary and is a perfect fit for this guy
Can't believe this was 16 years ago... Still one of my favorite youtube vids to come back to. Hope Tom is doing okay!
Even with the errors, I still personally find this to be the best version of athletic theme I have found... I keep coming back to it. The story of Tom just makes it all the more impactful to me... I wish him all the best.
He absolutely nails the swing and syncopated feel
@@shartlover420 Agreed! I think I appreciate his tempo and pace the most... that gets him into trouble, but it's his first reading!! Amazing skill and performance for sure.
i have trouble sight reading one fuckin note at a time for fuck's sake
I know right.
I feel u bro
This man has 40 years of sight-reading experience.
His point was that one person said that Tom had "40 years of sight-reading experience"... but of course Tom was only 37 years old when this video was shot, so 40 years of experience was impossible then.
Keeper1st
Yeah i just read it in some new videos of him. I didnt check the upload date :/
It's amazing how these musicians are hearing this for the first time and they're so taken by the melody. Video game music deserves so much more respect than it gets. Thank you Tom for spreading the word!
3 years later, I'm back again.
I really like how he gets it everything
Everyone’s talking about TH-cam recommendations.
No one’s talking about how this man is fighting to walk again.
wait what??
@@bcmly he met with an accident a while ago :/
@@assasinaditya that's horrifying...
How do we help him
@Softy He is partially paralyzed after getting into a traffic incident.
This is definately something Koji Kondo would be proud about haha :P
I have never heard this guy in my life, but now hes got my respect, and Ill keep my eye out for him! INCREDIBLE!
15 years later and that was still a lot of fun
One of the coolest improv jams I've ever heard in my life. Legit brought tears.
Watching him slowly learn it the tune, and build it up, perfect it, then improvise and add to it was absolutely mind blowing and incredible. All In a 5-min video. Tom is a very special person.
My love goes out to Tom. You are a fantastic musician. Please get better soon.
Choo Choo Pajama Sam?
"That's a lot of fun!"
I hope that you're able to have your fun again Tom.
I find it crazy how much time I spent on TH-cam only to not have videos like these recommended to for 10 plus years
Seeing them all together playing this gave me the biggest goosebumps i’ve ever had, I love seeing people doing what they love
OH FLUTE WOMAN AND TUBA MAN ARE HERE :) God I hope you’ll heal Tom to play again but thankful for the many blessings we received through him. ThNk you
Music is so beautiful, brings people together
Loved how the guy with the massive fucking horn comes in the background. God I don’t even know Tom and these videos make me feel so sad, almost like I miss him despite never meeting the guy. It’ll always bring a smile to my face these videos.
“Nintendo” has made so many MASTERPIECES of music, and I’m glad I get to listen to them late at night when I should be sleeping
Koji kondo is incredible
@@willsayswords3451 one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
@@scotty2tone absolutely
@@willsayswords3451 Koji Kondo carried Nintendo the way John Williams carried Lucas and Spielberg.
I feel called out.
This made me really happy to see musicians so excited about a piece they've never played before. Very fun to watch. Thank you
the other players in the room realizing what a fun and upbeat tune this is and joining in puts a smile on my face
Now that i understand what has happened to Tom, I look at this video entirely differently now. I still love it but it's a reminder to his legacy, to who he was, and while he's still alive, this GIANT part of his life is now sadly gone... I'm super glad he has gained the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award and he most DEFINITELY deserved it, but I'm still just left speechless to what has happened... Just as Daniel T. explained it: "Imagine gaining a large fanbase, and then just for it to be taken away without your control.". I just want to say to everyone to remember this man. As this and many of his other videos are a form of memerance of his story... Wish ya the best Tom... Love ya... :)
I love the group sightread! Yoshis bring people together!
This is one of the greatest things I have ever heard. I love video game and ragtime music, and these guys nailed it, especially at the end with the Tuba and flute, truly amazing considering they'd never heard this before. mind=blown.
This cover makes me so happy, it is the ultimate well of serotonin
True, instant happiness in 5 minutes
Of course he's played it before. Man has been playing piano so long that in some form he has played these progression of chords, similar base line etc. So much experience that it feeds into anything new. Incredible.
1st time I've watched this was about a decade ago, and still sounds absolutely awesome. Total inspiration for piano self learning to me at the time.
Only few years later I understood the meaning of "Sight-read" and I'm jaw dropped since.
BTW, ten years I'm still trying to play this song.
As someone who doesn't play any instruments and found this video randomly, what does 'sight read' mean? Like he's playing it the way you'd read a book, just following the notes along the sheet and playing them as he reads them? So he's essentially reading very fast and actually able to play the notes he's reading that quickly? Without ever having seen it before, I assume
@@Herpaderp10 ah so it's reading the notes in the bars of the sheet, and playing them without hearing the original music and without adding written notes and the like I think?
I took music all through basic school (k-12) I can BARELY sight read lol
@@Herpaderp10 Sight reading is playing a piece of music for the first time without practicing it beforehand
@@emma48586 This. I think Its not a pre requisite to be a 'sigh read' but there's people who can do this even without ever heard the song once before. Tom Brier seens to be one of them.
From when I first saw this video randomly recommended to me after a streak of listening to favourite childhood game music, to now as I occasionally scour the comments to see how this poor man's recovery is going.
I get an awfully bittersweet feeling from this video. It's so good, so wholesome, a snippet of someone's life, they're so friendly I feel like I know them.
After having worked in a care home for a long while I get this feeling a lot, seeing the old photos that family members bring in; happy times and snippets of life, whereas now the person is old decrepit and nothing like they used to be. Like a whole other person.
It hurts so much, but I don't truly know them, I have no right to mourn who they once were, and yet here I am. This man I miss dearly, I feel his pain at having trained all his life only to lose it all, I only hope he gets better but my experience in the care home tells me not to hold my breath.
Sir, you are amazing, this video is amazing, please please get well soon. Defy the odds.
Also bittersweet as it's the home of Kitty Wilson, who passed away in 2016. Lots of my videos of Tom also feature Kitty on washboard.
Eleven years later this is recommended to me for literally no reason
TH-cam gotchu np
me too, lmao
Me 3
lItErAlLy nO rEaSoN... thanks for the original comment, bud
Who needs a reason?
Tom Brier. I know this video since it has been published to youtube. It's ever since been one of my all time favorites. Kind of an unbelievable mystery. I will never ever forget the incredible genious Tom Brier. I will come back to this any time (here I am, 12 years after). If there was a chance to see this live, I can speak for my whole generation, that this would will not only put smiles on our faces, but also keeps everyone moving. Tom is, musically, one of the most intelligent persons I have seen on youtube.
He was paralyzed in an accident years ago and can no longer play.
@@andybaldman Before the accident, I thought to myself more than once, "maybe someday I'll travel to California and watch one of those ragtime festivals with Tom Brier in person." Never took it all that seriously. Now, how I wish I had. 😪
I've played piano for almost 15 years and can't even imagine being able to sight read this fluently, absolutely mind-blowing
This is curing depression.
I get so inspired. Learning playing the piano on a more advanced level is definitely an accomplishment I need to fulfill in my life. It gives me so much relief sitting at a piano.
“Curing depression” if you ever need to talk I’m here
wanna regain it
I just keep coming back to this video over the years. This is one of the best rendition of this piece on piano ever. Really hope Tom can one day fully recover and get back in front of the piano he loves.
Back again.
I come back to this video every now and then. What a legend haha
The secret is that beard.
He's hiding extra hands in there or something.
@@allthemusiclive lol
It's amazing to hear his piano playing but your ability to write the score so perfectly is also spectacular! Well done!
It's quite weird, if you overthink it, that someone can convey happy feelings so effectively via the medium of a bunch of squiggles and lines on a piece of paper, with the help of some genius hands.
Vibrations sure are a great thing
@@hugohugohugohugo4800 vibrations are all things which is crazy. No wonder music can make us FEEL so much, because at our core we're just vibrations as well
This made me smile. Happy the algorithm recommended this. Love how the pianist played the pieces and played with his kin. I never saw different generations bonding over video game music. Made my evening better listening to this while getting work done. Kudos!
Yoshi's Island has some of my favorite music in gaming. Probably my favorite gaming OST, and the whimsicality of this theme almost makes me tear cause of the memories I have of playing it.