Sonatina in E Flat Major

This song is a good example of the commonly recurring patterns in sonatinas. Often, there are one or two short melodies, or ideas, that are repeated and expanded on throughout the whole song. This helps to provide a sense of connection as it continues.

I remember writing on the sheet music for this song: OANO (Ornaments Are Not Optional!) In this song, I especially liked the left hand part (although it is fast-paced and can get tricky sometimes!)

2016 (!) recording - the new recording is below


Returning here in 2024, I've made some major improvements to this one. In the original recording, the left hand was very loud compared to the melody.

It sounded almost like I was "swinging" some parts, especially the left hand ostinato at the beginning. I'm disappointed. I used to think I always had a good sense of rhythm. Maybe my hands were too small back then. I don't have a video from then.

Once again, I was preparing for an RCM exam, so I didn't play the repeats as written in the score.
I even stopped and corrected in the middle of the recording. These days, if I had done that, it would've been a write-off for the recording and I would've made a new take. My teacher always told me to try and keep going after making a mistake, rather than stopping and correcting.

Thankfully, the original recording has good dynamics, and I didn't hold notes longer than written. I must have spent time practicing this.

I'm suspicious the tempo wasn't consistent.

Either the G major section was too loud, or I didn't set up my piano well so the loudest notes were "clipped" off.

I had one too many repeats on the trill section right before the second theme returns in Eb major (2:27 there, 3:48 here), but I think that happened on this new one, too.

New recording (2024):

Mercy Mercy Mercy

I wouldn't have learned this song if it hadn't been for one of the main principles in jazz: Listen, listen, listen! I haven't learned many songs without listening to them before, during and after learning them.

Golliwogg's Cakewalk

This is a nice, bouncy song that I learned last year. In fact, when I listened to it, I imagined these six-legged "Golliwoggs" dancing and playing outside. This is one of my favorite songs I've added so far.
Creativity is an important thing to consider when writing a song that will be enjoyable. (Although this would not be considered an appropriate song in the Classical period!) You can really see a picture when you hear this one. Listen to it, below.

Boogie Woogie Stomp

Listening to songs is a good way to inspire yourself to learn them on your own. That's what happened to me when I heard this song on YouTube.

I then decided to learn this bouncy song on my own piano. However, this wasn't the first of my jazzy songs, which you can hear more of soon. I also made some modifications to the original track, which appear especially after 1:50.

Boogie Woogie Stomp - composed by Albert Ammons

Sonata in A Major

Time for the first song……

I remember playing this song a few years ago for RCM grade 9, and there was also another song with the same title. (You can find that song here in a few weeks!)

I liked the idea of playing two songs with the same name, so I chose them both. If there wasn’t other information associated with the music (composer, date etc.,) then we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. In this song, I especially liked the E minor section at 1:00, and the part after the transition to A major at 1:50.

2017 recording:

 

Returning here in 2024!

Listening back to some of my oldest recordings, I decided they needed some polishing. This one, in particular, has almost no dynamics. I missed a lot of notes, and I had some issues with playing staccato eighth notes in one hand and legato eighth notes in the other. Looking back, I don't understand why I didn't sync them up. That was when I was still doing my RCM exams, too. To be fair, I went back and recorded this in 2017 after I was done my RCM exams, so maybe I wasn't as concerned.
 

Thus, now I bring you my latest version of
Sonata in A major
composed by Domenico Scarlatti