Thursday, November 30, 2006

CP plays Bach Vol. 1 - Glenn Gould he ain't



Bach's Prelude No. 4 in D Major
Welcome to the first in a series of house concerts at the home of CP and Poor George. Guest performers are welcome.

One of my few idyllic childhood family memories is of participating in house concerts put on by my father and his musician friends. Various musicians would gather at one of their homes and play for each other. Charming and civilized way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and so much more productive than inter-sibling fistfights or random emotional outbursts.

My piano, which I love for its action, sounds rather brassy in our new apartment space, and so we need to figure out a way to muffle it a bit. My brother-in-law did the handy camera work on this first round, and we will continue to strive for ways to improve the sound quality for your listening "pleasure."

Bach has always been my first love, musically. I recently learned this little ditty at Poor George's request. It's deceptively complicated, but I am charmed by the repeated question and answer between the right and left hands.

I haven't been playing much for the past few years, and have fallen back into some bad habits which this video reminds me to correct.

Remember, Glenn Gould he ain't, but we can always dream.

Thanks to Pink Fluffy Slippers over at Cello Et Cetera for inspiring me to post videos of my music.

CP

19 comments:

Dale said...

I'm always jealous of people who can play music. I like it when Pink Fluffy posts her music too. I also enjoyed the suspense of whether the chin would enter the frame again or not. Nice going CP.

Coaster Punchman said...

Ha! That's actually Tobey's chin. He usually stands in for me for any chin or mouth shot.

Joe said...

That is so cool. I've made several failed attempts over the years to learn to play instruments. I really admire people who stick with it and play just for the joy of playing.

Katie Schwartz said...

do the meemish I posted! I want more dish about punchboy ;)

Katie Schwartz said...

god, I am such a pushy cuntsteinowitz. should I apologize or shall we let it slide?

Coaster Punchman said...

Never too late to start, Bubs! As they say in that song in Camp, "Do you wanna come out and play the game? It's never too late!" (I take all my cues from pop culture, remember!)

Katelah, love the yid-schtick, I practically want to hallisch every time you do it. Sure, I'll work on your meemish later tonight!

jin said...

Wow.
Fucking AMAZING....

*Oh!...I forgot I'm not supposed to say that here....um....*

......

Fucking AWESOME!

(Is that better? ;-)

I gush about the things I can do, so I freely gush about things I CAN'T do, too. I cannot play any musical instrument what-so-ever! (Not for lack of trying, either!)

Will you put up one of George playing too sometime? How about a duet? This isn't going to be one of those posts that you say you'll do in a series & then never do it again, is it? :-(
*jin holds her breath*

Coaster Punchman said...

Jin! I KNOW you're waiting for more on the Mama Gin series - I'm working on it! I promise!

Has there been another "series" I promised that fell through?

Yes, George will indeed be part of the house concert series. He is excited! I have to figure out how to make the sound better, though. I could start by getting the damn piano tuned.

Thanks for the props though - that is very "sweet" of you!

Anonymous said...

Okay, okay- like you play a piece okay, then PFS plays the same piece, and and okay, someone mixes it, Jin throws in some treats and we can have an electronic soiree! No really, you and PFS should perform a duet on line.

I think you play very well.

Anonymous said...

I am in awe and totally jealous. I have always been initimdated of the piano so anyone that can play it has my utmost respect. Bravo! Bravo!

lulu said...

You do need to post you and PG dueting, you guys are so good together. As always, I am amazed by your musical talent.

GrizzBabe said...

I think you play very well. You would make great after dinner entertainment!

Anonymous said...

I wish I could play piano. I wish I could play guitar, I wish I could play the flute, oh and the violin too. I really envy people with musical talent, that video was amazing. Nothing like music to soothe that last nerve on a Friday...thanks I needed that. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey, good job! Now you've raised the bar-- I'm wondering how I can get video of my hands added to my recordings.

I love Bach loads, too.

Anonymous said...

Yay! That is so cool, CP! I'm inspired to do a little more videoblogging now.

Coaster Punchman said...

Thanks for the props everyone - it's a fun little project, and inspires me to do something about making that instrument sound a little better. George is planning to make a guest appearance.

Gread idea about the virtual duet Old Lady - if you want to learn how to do thi mixing PFS and I can each send you our clips!

Marni, nothing to be intimidated about. Surely you've played "Chopstix" on the piano?

Lu, I'm amazed even to know you. BTW, just saw Wendella off this morning. She's a hoot as always. Her dry wit keeps me giggling nonstop. George liked her too.

Grizzbabe, after dinner is the speciality in my family, especially on holidays when we annoy my dad with our sing-alongs.

Bluez, why not pick up an instrument now? As I told Bubs, it's never too late to start.

Thanks PFS - as I said in my post, you were my inspiration. Thanks especially for the Google video tip.

Bella, I've seen a few of your video blogs & look forward to more. I love this whole multimedia journaling thing.

Melinda June said...

You suck. You should be ashamed of yourself. Actually, you rock. But I wanted to be different. Those totally look like your hands, by the way. How'd you do that?

Molecular Turtle said...

That was pretty impressive.

Coaster Punchman said...

MJ, those ARE my hands. Oh, is that the funny thing again? Are you being funny?

MT, thanks!