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Gavin Koh
February 21, 2019 at 11:14pm

Here is my 6th nugget of knowledge - Music Map.
https://www.music-map.com

Discover similar new artists just by keying one that you like. You can key in classical composers, chinese artists (use their English names if possible), and of course, modern performers.

For eg., here is a map to Yiruma and a bunch of artists whose music is similar to his:
https... See More

Here is my 6th nugget of knowledge - Music Map.
https://www.music-map.com

Discover similar new artists just by keying one that you like. You can key in classical composers, chinese artists (use their English names if possible), and of course, modern performers.

For eg., here is a map to Yiruma and a bunch of artists whose music is similar to his:
https://www.music-map.com/yiruma.html

#general

www.music-map.com
Music-Map - The Tourist Map of Music
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Gavin Koh

I guess their database has been populated more with American / British artists. You might want to propose your own list of artists then at http... See More

I guess their database has been populated more with American / British artists. You might want to propose your own list of artists then at http://www.gnoosic.com/vote
February 22, 2019 at 9:55pm
Gavin Koh
October 8, 2018 at 1:15pm

Piano Trivia Time #10 - Answer 10 TRUE/FALSE questions. Please provide your answer as a long string. For example: "FTFTTFTTFT"

TRUE OR FALSE
01. The Church Organ is a wind instrument while the Piano is a percussion instrument.
02. New pianos need fewer tunings than older pianos.
03. The world record for most number of people playing simultaneously on a piano is 16.
04. On a piano, the naturals have always been white, and the sharps/flats have always been black... See More

Piano Trivia Time #10 - Answer 10 TRUE/FALSE questions. Please provide your answer as a long string. For example: "FTFTTFTTFT"

TRUE OR FALSE
01. The Church Organ is a wind instrument while the Piano is a percussion instrument.
02. New pianos need fewer tunings than older pianos.
03. The world record for most number of people playing simultaneously on a piano is 16.
04. On a piano, the naturals have always been white, and the sharps/flats have always been black.
05. The piano has 88 keys and 88 strings.
06. There are 4 types of vertical pianos: spinet, console, studio, and upright.
07. Pythagoras the mathematician was credited as the person who discovered the perfect interval, which is a ratio of 2:1.
08. All pianos start on an A key, but there are pianos that go even lower than that.
09. Una corda means you must depress the soft pedal, which is usually the leftmost pedal.
10. ThePiano.SG website was officially launched on 8 Aug 2015.

#general

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Tan Chia Huee

FFFFFTFFFF
October 10, 2018 at 1:26pm
Gavin Koh

Just like the game of Mastermind - 3 wrong, 7 correct.
October 10, 2018 at 2:08pm
Gavin Koh

The answer (which can be discussed further) is TFFFFTFTTF.

1) TRUE. The Church Organ IS a wind instrument that produces sound because of the passage of air through pipes, and because the... See More

The answer (which can be discussed further) is TFFFFTFTTF.

1) TRUE. The Church Organ IS a wind instrument that produces sound because of the passage of air through pipes, and because the piano has its key struck by hammers, it IS a percussion instrument. http://www.innovateus.net/content/there-difference-between-piano-and-organ

2) FALSE. New pianos needs the same (or more) number of tunings as older pianos. Piano strings have very high tension on them, and they just plain stretch as time passes. Hence, the need for tuning. http://www.betterpianoservice.com/how_often.html

3) FALSE. As of this writing, the world record for most number of people playing simultaneously on a piano is 21. Take a look at this feat achieved earlier this year in March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR3e71OO1tY

4) FALSE. Pianos by the original inventor - Bartolomeo Cristofori, were based on harpsichords. Cristofori's earliest pianos carried this same colour scheme: black naturals, and white sharps. You can read about it here: https://www.quora.com/Why-were-the-colors-of-the-piano-keys-reversed-in-...

5) FALSE. The piano does have 88 keys, but it has more than 88 strings. The treble pitches of a piano have three unison strings, the tenor range uses two unison strings, and the bass strings use only one string. The end result is that for 88 notes, there can be as many as 236 strings. http://www.piano.christophersmit.com/strings.html

6) TRUE. This statement is true; there are four types of vertical pianos: spinet, console, studio, and upright. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-difference-between-types-vertical-p...

7) FALSE. This part is true - Pythagoras the mathematician was credited as the person who discovered the perfect interval. However, the ratio of the perfect interval is 3:2, not 2:1. http://www.phys.uconn.edu/~gibson/Notes/Section3_2/Sec3_2.htm

8) TRUE. Not all pianos start on a very low A key. Bösendorfer pioneered the extension of the typical 88-key keyboard, creating the Imperial Grand (Model 290), which has 97 keys (eight octaves); this piano starts on an ultra-low C. Listen to the "Imperial" bass keys here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIOQ2Fwto8k

9) TRUE. Una corda (or rarely due corda) is used to signify that the soft pedal should be depressed. The leftmost pedal in a piano is usually the soft pedal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_pedal

10) FALSE. ThePiano.SG website was officially launched on 8 Aug 2014. The answer to this can be found on this page: https://www.thepiano.sg/about-us
October 15, 2018 at 11:28am
Gavin Koh
September 11, 2018 at 4:17pm

Piano Trivia Time #9 - What is the significance of these 7 stacks of biscuits when we speak of piano music theory? (Other than that Oreo biscuits would probably make great snacks for pianists.)

#general

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Gavin Koh

Here are a few good starter lessons on music modes.
[BASIC] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApJmWX_a9s
[... See More

Here are a few good starter lessons on music modes.
[BASIC] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApJmWX_a9s
[ADVANCED] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF47dr8sVyE&t=32s
September 15, 2018 at 6:49pm
Gavin Koh

What if you were to play one song using different modes? Well, it would sound something like this video link as they replay "The Flintstones" in Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.... See More

What if you were to play one song using different modes? Well, it would sound something like this video link as they replay "The Flintstones" in Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWaW2q1KM0Y
September 15, 2018 at 6:53pm
Gavin Koh

Here is another example with "Hey Jude" played in all 7 modes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXIF9mjHF9M
September 27, 2018 at 3:07pm
Gavin Koh

Possibly the least understood or used is the Locrian mode. I will compose a song employing Locrian mode and share it with you when done. Thanks.
September 27, 2018 at 4:46pm
Gavin Koh
August 24, 2018 at 1:42am

Piano Trivia Time #8 - With no clef or key signature evident, can you guess which of the following sequence of notes is the odd one out, that is by a different composer? If you like a cerebral challenge - name the four pieces.

#general

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Gavin Koh

Correct for #1 and #2. But, wrong for #3.
August 25, 2018 at 12:22pm
Gavin Koh

#4 is the odd one out.

Songs #1, #2, and #3 are all by French composer Léo Delibes.
- The first piece is known as the Flower Duet or also from the words "Viens, Mallika, les lianes... See More

#4 is the odd one out.

Songs #1, #2, and #3 are all by French composer Léo Delibes.
- The first piece is known as the Flower Duet or also from the words "Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs ... Dôme épais, le jasmin (Come Mallika, the lianas in bloom ... The jasmine forms a dense dome)", from his opera Lakmé, Act I.
- The second piece is known as "Divertissement - Variation dansée (Pizzicati)" from the ballet, Sylvia, Act III.
- The third piece is known as "Valse Lente" from the ballet, Coppélia, Act I.

Song #4 is from Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
- This is the leitmotif representing the "princess". It is taken from the symphonic suite Scheherazade. It is featured in all 4 movements.
August 30, 2018 at 9:12pm
Gavin Koh

You can watch all four pieces by following these links:
#1 - Flower Duet @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kWY8ruAZvA... See More

You can watch all four pieces by following these links:
#1 - Flower Duet @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kWY8ruAZvA
#2 - Divertissement - Pizzicati @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD9rCS4ewIA
#3 - Valse Lente @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b419tdIitcI
#4 - Scheherazade "princess" leitmotif @ https://youtu.be/v7U8gGl5IIk?t=37s
August 30, 2018 at 5:10pm
Adelynn Khoo

Flower Duet is very nice, even used in the old British Airways advertisement. Very lasting impression.

September 9, 2018 at 1:12pm
Gavin Koh
August 13, 2018 at 1:22pm

Piano Trivia Time #7 - Identify the piano composer who is associated with these two images. On a harder note, why and how do the images represent him?

#general

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Gavin Koh

In case you didn't know, the letters "B-A-C-H" in german nomenclature also refers to the Bach motif, a sequence of 4 notes that you may have heard in his music. Learn more about it in this fun... See More

In case you didn't know, the letters "B-A-C-H" in german nomenclature also refers to the Bach motif, a sequence of 4 notes that you may have heard in his music. Learn more about it in this fun video that tells us about the motif as well as hiding messages in music. Anyone up for musical espionage?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiS8gbkDISY
August 22, 2018 at 2:05am
Gavin Koh

Finally, to end this little puzzle entry, here is one of quite a few songs that actually features the B-A-C-H motif. It's Liszt's "Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H".
... See More

Finally, to end this little puzzle entry, here is one of quite a few songs that actually features the B-A-C-H motif. It's Liszt's "Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO1ZfJSOCvQ
August 22, 2018 at 2:15am
Carlyn Ng

Mind-blown!! Waaa..

Definitely won't be able to guess this right. Lolx.
So much knowledge to acquire. Thanks Gavin for sharing this, and many other interesting things.

August 23, 2018 at 12:56pm
Gavin Koh

Np.
August 23, 2018 at 1:31pm
Gavin Koh
August 9, 2018 at 10:15pm

Piano Trivia Time #6 - Is there anything different about the piano pictured below; what is it?

#general

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Gavin Koh

I kind of think of this as a person getting used to both left-hand and right-hand drive, but the complexity involved would be tremendous. If you could play on both, you would truly be an... See More

I kind of think of this as a person getting used to both left-hand and right-hand drive, but the complexity involved would be tremendous. If you could play on both, you would truly be an ambidextrous god!
August 11, 2018 at 12:01pm
Liew Soo Hin

I think driving is completely different from this. The way you look at the scores, and how you move your fingers will be really more challenging. Just imagining playing the first 9 notes of Fur... See More

I think driving is completely different from this. The way you look at the scores, and how you move your fingers will be really more challenging. Just imagining playing the first 9 notes of Fur Elise's on my left hand is already taxing my brain and finger muscles!
August 11, 2018 at 1:34pm
Gavin Koh

Conversely, it must be tough forcing a left-handed person to play on a "right-handed" piano? Perhaps somebody who is left-handed should chip in and share their viewpoint.
August 11, 2018 at 2:18pm
Adelynn Khoo

I've even heard of people saying that left-handed pianists are better pianists!
September 8, 2018 at 1:09am
Sng Yong Meng
August 1, 2018 at 4:07pm

Music Mickey spotted at Raffles City.

#general

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Gavin Koh
July 29, 2018 at 3:07pm

Piano Trivia Time #5 - Which piece was John Denver's "Annie's Song" first 5 notes based upon (see video below) - name the composer and the classical piece? Name a Frank Sinatra song that is also based off this exact same classical piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbAn3wWV7bM

#general

www.youtube.com
"Annies Song" - John Denver (Piano Cover)
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Gavin Koh

To round up this Trivia solution. You can play the piano version of "Moon Love" from this IMSLP download (starting from page 23):... See More

To round up this Trivia solution. You can play the piano version of "Moon Love" from this IMSLP download (starting from page 23): http://ks4.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/d/d4/IMSLP08001-Tchaikovsky_-_...
July 31, 2018 at 5:40pm
Adrian Huang

thx Gavin for your very detailed answers! kudos to you for coming up with the piano trivia quizzes.
August 1, 2018 at 1:30am
Gavin Koh

No problem Adrian. Just glad that Pianover users will get to enjoy and learn something new from it.
August 1, 2018 at 2:15am
Carlyn Ng

Thanks Gavin! Although I didn't comment on all the posts, I read through most of them.
August 20, 2018 at 1:20pm
Gavin Koh
July 20, 2018 at 11:33am

Book Intro #1 - "Play it again: An amateur against the impossible" by Alan Rusbridger. This is an inspiring book by the Editor of the Guardian, one of the world's foremost newspaper. Alan, who gave up the piano at 16, gave himself a year to learn Chopin's Ballade No. 1 forty years later, and this book deals with his focus, discipline, and desire. It is, above all, about the sanctity of one's inner life in a world dominated by deadlines and distractions. A great read - available at NLB (... See More

Book Intro #1 - "Play it again: An amateur against the impossible" by Alan Rusbridger. This is an inspiring book by the Editor of the Guardian, one of the world's foremost newspaper. Alan, who gave up the piano at 16, gave himself a year to learn Chopin's Ballade No. 1 forty years later, and this book deals with his focus, discipline, and desire. It is, above all, about the sanctity of one's inner life in a world dominated by deadlines and distractions. A great read - available at NLB (Esplanade, Tampines, Woodlands, and Jurong).

#general

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Gavin Koh

A short video about Alan's book by Alan himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwJKGEWarAk
July 20, 2018 at 11:34am
Gavin Koh

Currently going through this book and must say it's very well written and full of insights. The content is laid out in the style of a diary and I especially love the ending where Chopin's Ballade... See More

Currently going through this book and must say it's very well written and full of insights. The content is laid out in the style of a diary and I especially love the ending where Chopin's Ballade is analyzed thoroughly page by page, section by section - kind of like an amateur climber tackling the Matterhorn, one cramponed step at a time.
July 20, 2018 at 7:31pm
Adrian Huang

Very inspiring.
July 31, 2018 at 3:39pm
Gavin Koh

Absolutely!

Here is a single paragraph from the following entry "Friday, 25 March":

Lunch with Noriko Ogawa today. She's just flown from Japan and looks emotional and sombre. I... See More

Absolutely!

Here is a single paragraph from the following entry "Friday, 25 March":

Lunch with Noriko Ogawa today. She's just flown from Japan and looks emotional and sombre. I suggested a couple of weeks back that she might give a Kings Place concert in aid of the Japanese tsunami relief appeal. She immediately agreed - and promised to play the G minor Ballade. After a single course, we steal off for a very quick lesson in one of the rehearsal rooms in Kings Place. She begins by playing the piece to me. I realise that this is the first time since I started on this journey that I have heard the piece live and played by a 'proper' pianist. I've of course sampled numerous recordings on YouTube and iTunes, but nothing in the flesh. She plays it with incredible power and certainty - especially given the inner turbulence she must be feeling after such personal exposure to the tsunami, which has wrecked the concert hall where she most regularly plays. The piece today has an extra dimension - the sheer elemental feeling of some of the passages, that sense of being almost out of control, or rather in the control of wilder external forces. At the end, she seems shocked by what's happened. We both sit there in silence for a few moments. Noriko then asks me to play. I struggle - even though it's a new Steinway O - to make the piano sing, to tease a delicate sound out of it. On Saturday at Fish Cottage I was flying on my newly arrived Steinway. Further evidence that progress is not linear.
July 31, 2018 at 5:15pm
Gavin Koh
July 19, 2018 at 10:07pm

Thought I'd just share this interesting article I found on Spotify at https://insights.spotify.com/fi/2015/05/06/most-popular-keys-on-spotify/. It shows a pie chart that presents "The Most Popular Keys of All Music on Spotify." So, is C Major the most popular? Wrong.

#general

insights.spotify.com
The Most Popular Keys of All Music on Spotify
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Adrian Huang

Strange, no Bb or Eb, I thought they should be quite popular.
September 12, 2018 at 10:03am
Gavin Koh

As for the chart, you should look for the enharmonic. A#/Bb and D#/Eb are slices of the pie.

If you go here, you can also see how popular is a key. It appears there are not as many songs in... See More

As for the chart, you should look for the enharmonic. A#/Bb and D#/Eb are slices of the pie.

If you go here, you can also see how popular is a key. It appears there are not as many songs in A#/Bb and D#/Eb.
http://www.songkeyfinder.com/learn/songs-in-key
September 12, 2018 at 1:52pm
Liew Soo Hin

I vaguely remember there are many pieces written in c# minor, but it's only 2.1%?

December 1, 2018 at 10:38am
Gavin Koh

If Spotify is biased towards modern music and not classical music, then it's missing out on a big part of history. And, hence, that may be why you think the data is skewed. Numbers are numbers... See More

If Spotify is biased towards modern music and not classical music, then it's missing out on a big part of history. And, hence, that may be why you think the data is skewed. Numbers are numbers after all, and their context is "All Music on Spotify". So take them with a pinch of salt.
December 1, 2018 at 11:14am