Piano Images

Well, first a quick update on stuff:
American Idol finished, after an incredibly long finale filled to the brim with... well, with filler. Congrats Jordin. Enjoyed performances from all idols, did not enjoy performance by Bette Midler and have no idea why she was there, but whatever. For a slightly better review, go to Josh's blog because I don't have the energy to review it properly.

Went to see Pirates 3 yesterday. I thought it was great. For a much better and more comprehensive review, go to Amy's blog because I don't have the energy to review it properly.

So I have this piano sort-of recital tonight, it's almost like a practice exam, and well, Amy was talking about being assigned mental pictures for her songs, and I said I already do that... kind of. I've been doing it all year, and last year too, but not so much a picture as harnessing a feeling and pushing it out in the piece. See, I've always felt like there's more to piano, or music in general, than just hitting the right notes as quickly and loudly as possible - I think it has no point if you can't pass on a feeling, and so I try to create one. And so, if you happen to be interested, these are the feelings I associate with each of my exam pieces.

Here's That Rainy Day - It's a study, a very old jazz piece. It has words:

"Maybe I should have saved
those left-over dreams
funny, but here's that rainy day.

Here's that rainy day
they told me about
and I laughed at the thought
that it might turn out this way.

Where is that worn-out wish
that I threw aside,
after it brought my lover near?

Funny how love becomes
a cold rainy day
funny, that rainy day is here."

Definitely reminds me of my friends changing schools - how you know, I got so comfortable and secure and never thought I'd be left out in the cold, until I was. So I grasp those emotions - loneliness, almost disbelief - for this one.

Study: Morning Bell
It's a really beautiful, peaceful song. It makes me feel like I'm one with the world and with everything and it's all going to turn out ok. It doesn't take a lot of effort to create feelings of joy and contentedness before I play this song - as I play they just sort of come.

List A: Sonata in c-
This is the one that says "I ain't givin' up." You can't hold me down when I'm playing this song.

List B: Sonatina in Bflat +
It's kind of like life, you know? Some parts happy, some parts not quite so happy, but it keeps on going, it doesn't slow down, and you always wind up on the bright side anyway.

List C: Chanson Triste (A Sad Song)
This one reminds me so much of a friendship I have... it's painful, because I'm not able to see this friend at all or talk to this friend half as much as I would like, so I've come to associate our friendship with some measure of pain and wistfulness. At the same time, it's so beautiful and so wonderful to be friends with this person that I wouldn't trade it for the world, and when we do talk, there are bright moments... but it's all so bittersweet. This is like the piece because it is sad, but it's so beautiful that the sadness is worth it.

List D: Mysterious Summer Night
Amy's little sister called this song "evil," and in a way I suppose it it. It lives up to its name, in that it's quite mysterious, and it brings up all kinds of feelings of confusion and lost-ness for me. It's like, you've got everything figured out, you're on top of the world, and then bam, someone whips a curveball at you and everything changes, and you don't know what's going on anymore. Sometimes your confusion makes you mad, and sometimes you just resign yourself to being confused, but in the end... you're still confused.

So there ya go Amy, that's what to listen for tonight, haha.

~~~

"Go for a jog, make yourself a smoothie, read an Archie comic - it's gonna be alright."