Really interesting to see it from the pianist's point of view instead of the dancers'. Loved the explanations, too. You play beautifully, and they're very lucky to have you.
What a dreary teacher. Its annoying that the teacher wants slow music in even the usual quick 2/4 and 4/4 exercises. You have to be so inventive to keep it fresh. Well done! God She Makes the whole class sound never ending.
I'm a music student at uni right now, looking for opportunities for pianists and I am so glad I found you! This would give me such valuable info about working as a pianist esp for ballet. Thank you for putting videos up!!
This is so cool. I thought ballet music was all classical. To see modern music played and you reading from a lead sheet/real book is really inspiring. Don't know if I could concentrate with all the ladies though! I played in a local band for over twenty years and also did a lot of solo piano gigs. I'm in Reading, Pa. But now I'm out of the business as long as I was in. Also you have nice playing chops and being able to play on request is a lot harder than it looks. You make it look easy. I liked the Christmas Time is Here tango. I'm sure Vince Guaraldi would have liked it too!👍 You have a nice gig there. Thank you for sharing.🎹
Thanks for showing us your day job! Been a follower of yours for a long time and this video was all parts beautiful, informative, and relaxing. I'd watch an entire series of this.
Holly molly! You are such a fantastic pianist. I wish I could play in one percent as good as you do. I’m bloody jealous! Yo should make a soundtrack out of it and sell it. I would buy it!
I recently started playing for ballet and I hope to be half as good as you someday! I especially love how you played Frosty the Snowman. You made the syncopations feel so natural :)
You play very beautifully, and you’re a talented improviser. The ballet mistress’s unorthodox musical preferences, I don’t prefer. As a former dancer myself, I would rely on the music’s propulsive rhythms to time my own movements. For example that “Frosty the Snowman” with its pounding march for the grands battements was perfect!
I agree. You are a good pianist obviously, but I do not like the teacher’s preferences. As a ballet pianist too, this runs against every instinct I would have to support and guide the movement musically. The whole class felt like one long tendu with plié. It’s almost as if the teacher simply wants the music to be background decoration, not an integral part of the movement. It feels like a real under-utilizing of the accompanist’s role.
Instantly subscribed when you starting playing smash mouth. 😂 Seriously though thank you for making videos like this! Great inspiration and helps understanding an awesome profession!
Watched whole video. I enjoy arrangements of every song you uploaded on this channel and even if I knew you have improvised a lot in most of them, I just now realised how skilled you actually are. Really impressive. Do you enjoy your job? Does ballet interest you?
Hi Musical Noone. Thanks for watching and for your compliments. I enjoy my job a lot! Sometimes it's too much playing though and I wish I could take more time off here and there to recharge. Ballet is very interesting-it's an incredible art-form and the more I learn the more I appreciate it. The relationship between music and movement is something that I wish I had learned more about in college.
@@heavypiano Thanks for answering. I probably speak for everyone subscribed, we all wait for the Scatterbrain cover. Also have a nice last days of this year. Cheers.
Great video!!! Congratulations for your beautiful playing and for sharing your knowledge :) I'm an accompanying musician for dance and I really appreciate this content! Please do more ;P I'm considering very seriously to create a youtube channel and to explain/analyze/question/define the huge content that playing for the ballet class has... There is almost nothing on Internet, and every new pianist playing for dance has no tools. Even for the ones that have more experience is always great to listen to other pianists and to see how they approach to the ballet exercises in terms of styles, ideas, etc. I hope I'll start soon with this project!!! I'm going to share your great video :)
Thanks! Check out the book "Dance and Music: A Guide to Dance Accompaniment for Musicians and Dance Teachers" by Harriet Cavalli for some helpful information.
@@heavypiano Hi! Thanks for the recommendation. Actually, I know this book pretty well :) I used some of its content to do my research for my master program in 2016 where I investigated the role of the pianist in the ballet class. Please take a look at this link gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/38368/1/gupea_2077_38368_1.pdf The videos of the ballet exercises are here: gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/38368?locale=sv :)
I agree! Great great video and a shame there is not more out there to learn the tricks for ballet accompanying. Thanks for the video. Would love to see more!
@@MisterDelay hi! I’ve seen that you have subscribed to my TH-cam channel 😃😃😃 I’ve created 15 videos already! I think you’ll find them helpful and inspiring 😉
I'd really love to have a segment of my ballet class where the piano piece "Family" from Super Mario Galaxy is playing.. It's a slow and beautiful 3/4 piece and I really love it. I also do believe that it should be a fitting piece for a class. If you ever listen to it, you'll know why I'm in love with it.
Thanks! In general everything is in measures/phrases of eight. So usually 32 bars of music is enough, but you have to watch to make sure they aren't repeating sides or going directly to the second side.
The exercise is kind of a temps lie w/ port de bras forward (?) I'm just playing sustained improvisations in a minor key. The teacher prefers sustained music with clear cadence and phrasing every 8-bars.
Great insight. I can't help but think of the film Suspiria and Thom Yorke's soundtrack, particularly the song Suspirium! I'd love to hear you improvise over that one! th-cam.com/video/ISkEKLYRxi0/w-d-xo.html
It's is so mesmerizing looking at the dancers' movements. so graceful! I am a collaborative pianist and I have been considering about studying ballet accompaniment in future, but I am doubtful about it as I am not a natural improviser. Do you have any advise on this? How long did it take one to understanding about all the ballet movements and work smoothly with the teacher and students? Greatly appreciate your feedback!
Hi 88 keys 47 Strings. I would recommend watching a few classes in person and taking some notes about the different styles used. I also have a ballet piano youtube channel that has several class examples for new pianists. I could send you a link to that if it might help you!
You play ballads for rhythmical excercises like frappes and petit battements. Ok, they are company dancers, they manage by their own, but don't yiu get asked to give more energy by teachers?
Hi ipa. If you read my description at the beginning I explain that this teacher wants a specific style of ballads for rhythmic exercises. It's not a normal way of playing for class.
Only watched part of it. Too painful. Piano music is great. The dancers, terrible. Are they amateurs who have rented a stage for a community performance?
![เจ็บที่ยังฮัก - ม่อน วรวิทย์ [ Official Mv ] จอนนี่มิวสิค](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KALIGSRSjFs/mqdefault.jpg)
Really interesting to see it from the pianist's point of view instead of the dancers'. Loved the explanations, too. You play beautifully, and they're very lucky to have you.
Thanks!
What a dreary teacher. Its annoying that the teacher wants slow music in even the usual quick 2/4 and 4/4 exercises. You have to be so inventive to keep it fresh. Well done! God She Makes the whole class sound never ending.
Ha! It's just a different kind of challenge to try to keep the music interesting.
I love seeing a ballet class from the pianist’s point of view!! I’m a ballet dancer and I’ve always loved piano🤍
Oh wow thank you so much for sharing. Pianists are so important in a ballet class as dance is nothing without music. We really appreciate you!
Thanks Phoebe! You're welcome.
I was absolutely not ready for the All Star part
This is fascinating and so peaceful! If I was one of the students I would be so distracted with your excellent playing. Truly beautiful work!
Man this is so impressive, such conscientious improvising. Thanks for letting me be a fly on the wall
I don't know how many times I've watched this over the past years, but this, this is my favourite ever thing on TH-cam.
Ha! Nice to know people are still watching this video.
If you're still doing this, please please add another one of these! @@heavypiano
I'm a music student at uni right now, looking for opportunities for pianists and I am so glad I found you! This would give me such valuable info about working as a pianist esp for ballet. Thank you for putting videos up!!
This is so cool. I thought ballet music was all classical. To see modern music played and you reading from a lead sheet/real book is really inspiring. Don't know if I could concentrate with all the ladies though! I played in a local band for over twenty years and also did a lot of solo piano gigs. I'm in Reading, Pa. But now I'm out of the business as long as I was in. Also you have nice playing chops and being able to play on request is a lot harder than it looks. You make it look easy. I liked the Christmas Time is Here tango. I'm sure Vince Guaraldi would have liked it too!👍 You have a nice gig there. Thank you for sharing.🎹
He's great but he should throw some Stones in the mix!
Thanks for showing us your day job! Been a follower of yours for a long time and this video was all parts beautiful, informative, and relaxing. I'd watch an entire series of this.
Thank you for this! I did classical ballet for 12 years and this video brought back many memories!
You're welcome, Mia!
Holly molly! You are such a fantastic pianist. I wish I could play in one percent as good as you do. I’m bloody jealous! Yo should make a soundtrack out of it and sell it. I would buy it!
Lovely Document. Thanks So Much Maestr@s!
Thanks for sharing a bit of your world. 10:55 improvising bit was my personal favorite.
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it.
This is fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
I recently started playing for ballet and I hope to be half as good as you someday! I especially love how you played Frosty the Snowman. You made the syncopations feel so natural :)
Excellent. Helpful to new accompanists! Thank you!!!
Just got my first gig as a ballet accompanist and this video was tremendously helpful! thank you!
This is absolutely wonderful :-) Playing AND descriptions
Thank you! And I want ‘Centre’ class, too. :)
Beautifully played. So peaceful.
who the hell would ever dislike this?
Fantastic and very creative!
You play very beautifully, and you’re a talented improviser. The ballet mistress’s unorthodox musical preferences, I don’t prefer. As a former dancer myself, I would rely on the music’s propulsive rhythms to time my own movements. For example that “Frosty the Snowman” with its pounding march for the grands battements was perfect!
Thanks Aves!
I agree. You are a good pianist obviously, but I do not like the teacher’s preferences. As a ballet pianist too, this runs against every instinct I would have to support and guide the movement musically. The whole class felt like one long tendu with plié. It’s almost as if the teacher simply wants the music to be background decoration, not an integral part of the movement. It feels like a real under-utilizing of the accompanist’s role.
Can we have more long videos like this? It's really nice to hear what you play during a whole class.
I also really love how you slip in covers of pop songs here and there. That's such a treat. Oh and that rendition of Scatterbrain is stunning.
This is the beaf video i have ever seen. I wish there were more and more and more videos like this🌻 thank you sir for brighten our days!
You have incredible talent!
Instantly subscribed when you starting playing smash mouth. 😂 Seriously though thank you for making videos like this! Great inspiration and helps understanding an awesome profession!
I really appreciate what you played!
Amazing. I wish we could have a pianist for our classes, but we're not a theatre, hust a little ballet school😂
this was so interesting to watch thank you!!!!
I'm glad you found it interesting!
Hi! As a dancer, its so refreshing to undertand things from 'the other side' as it were! Who were you playing for here?
Hi! This is a pre-nutcracker warm-up for Ballet Austin.
I really liked this. This makes me want to go into playing for ballets!
Watched whole video. I enjoy arrangements of every song you uploaded on this channel and even if I knew you have improvised a lot in most of them, I just now realised how skilled you actually are. Really impressive. Do you enjoy your job? Does ballet interest you?
Hi Musical Noone. Thanks for watching and for your compliments. I enjoy my job a lot! Sometimes it's too much playing though and I wish I could take more time off here and there to recharge. Ballet is very interesting-it's an incredible art-form and the more I learn the more I appreciate it. The relationship between music and movement is something that I wish I had learned more about in college.
@@heavypiano Thanks for answering. I probably speak for everyone subscribed, we all wait for the Scatterbrain cover. Also have a nice last days of this year. Cheers.
That's a really beautiful piano
You are amazing! You play beautifully I really wish I can play as good as you, I’m also a ballet accompanist
Thanks Jing!
Man! I wouldn't have recognized Go Tell it on the Mountain if you didn't label it. I'm just 2 mins in, and great playing.
Really interesting and super helpful!! you're great :)
Thanks Silvia!
This is beautiful, what an amazing job!
Thank you so much for posting.
Love this!!
Great video!!! Congratulations for your beautiful playing and for sharing your knowledge :) I'm an accompanying musician for dance and I really appreciate this content! Please do more ;P I'm considering very seriously to create a youtube channel and to explain/analyze/question/define the huge content that playing for the ballet class has... There is almost nothing on Internet, and every new pianist playing for dance has no tools. Even for the ones that have more experience is always great to listen to other pianists and to see how they approach to the ballet exercises in terms of styles, ideas, etc. I hope I'll start soon with this project!!! I'm going to share your great video :)
Thanks! Check out the book "Dance and Music: A Guide to Dance Accompaniment for Musicians and Dance Teachers" by Harriet Cavalli for some helpful information.
@@heavypiano Hi! Thanks for the recommendation. Actually, I know this book pretty well :) I used some of its content to do my research for my master program in 2016 where I investigated the role of the pianist in the ballet class. Please take a look at this link gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/38368/1/gupea_2077_38368_1.pdf The videos of the ballet exercises are here: gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/38368?locale=sv :)
I agree! Great great video and a shame there is not more out there to learn the tricks for ballet accompanying. Thanks for the video. Would love to see more!
@@MisterDelay hi! I’ve seen that you have subscribed to my TH-cam channel 😃😃😃 I’ve created 15 videos already! I think you’ll find them helpful and inspiring 😉
@@marianapalaciospianist seeing this right now! Can’t wait to watch!!!
Well I found this very insightfull and interesting, thankyou.
I could never do this!! I’d be so scared and mess up keys
It is pretty daunting the first time you play for a room for of dancers! You get used to it though.
heavypiano you are extremely piano talented !!
thank you for sharing!
awesome, thanks.
Great video and talent. Really interesting :)
Hi ! Thank you for your video😊
There is no preperation count! It’s interesting❤️
I love your piano
Have a niceday
🎹🎹🎹
Wow so this is like what’s going on in your head when you’re playing. interesting...
I'd really love to have a segment of my ballet class where the piano piece "Family" from Super Mario Galaxy is playing.. It's a slow and beautiful 3/4 piece and I really love it. I also do believe that it should be a fitting piece for a class. If you ever listen to it, you'll know why I'm in love with it.
Hi Anthony, thanks for the suggestion! I checked it out and I'll give it a shot today for class. :)
@@heavypiano let me know how it goes :)
When I played, I had my back to the dancers. It was kinda depressing.
By the way, the tendu theme what you call a Tetris theme is a Russian tune called "Korobeyniki(Коробейники)" :)))
..hhhhaaaaa sigh..Beautiful 🎶💓
You are an amazing pianist! They are so lucky to have you as a ballet pianist. Can I ask how you know when it ends each exercise?
Thanks! In general everything is in measures/phrases of eight. So usually 32 bars of music is enough, but you have to watch to make sure they aren't repeating sides or going directly to the second side.
That's a wonderful sounding instrument played by the right person. How did you record audio?
Hi Lexander, thanks for your kind compliments! I'm using a Zoom H6 with a pair of DPA d:vote CORE 4099 piano mics.
I love the improvising one starting from 9' 55, what would you name it?
The exercise is kind of a temps lie w/ port de bras forward (?) I'm just playing sustained improvisations in a minor key. The teacher prefers sustained music with clear cadence and phrasing every 8-bars.
요런 장면들 너～무 좋아여！^.^
Realmente te gusta el ritmo sincopado no?
gracias
Great insight. I can't help but think of the film Suspiria and Thom Yorke's soundtrack, particularly the song Suspirium! I'd love to hear you improvise over that one! th-cam.com/video/ISkEKLYRxi0/w-d-xo.html
Oh cool-I hadn't seen this video before somehow. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll add it to my list.
How much money do you make per class pls tell us 😫😫😫
Hi Danny, it's hard to say because I'm salaried. Usually we pay between $18-25/hr for hourly playing and most classes are around an hour and a half.
ARE YOU SIGHT READING????
What did you play when you were warming up? At min 0:32
I'm improvising over some chords in a 3/4 meter.
@@heavypiano love it 😊👍👍👍
How long have you been playing?
Hi TwoPolesGaming. At the time of this video I'd been playing piano for about 24 years and professionally for seven years.
What pieces are these?
It's is so mesmerizing looking at the dancers' movements. so graceful! I am a collaborative pianist and I have been considering about studying ballet accompaniment in future, but I am doubtful about it as I am not a natural improviser. Do you have any advise on this? How long did it take one to understanding about all the ballet movements and work smoothly with the teacher and students? Greatly appreciate your feedback!
Hi 88 keys 47 Strings. I would recommend watching a few classes in person and taking some notes about the different styles used. I also have a ballet piano youtube channel that has several class examples for new pianists. I could send you a link to that if it might help you!
You play ballads for rhythmical excercises like frappes and petit battements. Ok, they are company dancers, they manage by their own, but don't yiu get asked to give more energy by teachers?
Hi ipa. If you read my description at the beginning I explain that this teacher wants a specific style of ballads for rhythmic exercises. It's not a normal way of playing for class.
Explanation given here: th-cam.com/video/fnvpHEsEL3w/w-d-xo.html
Only watched part of it. Too painful. Piano music is great. The dancers, terrible. Are they amateurs who have rented a stage for a community performance?
Savage!
@@heavypiano Maybe savage, but true.