| plumrach 05.12.2010 05:22 |
I cant remember if somebody said it on here or on youtube but it was mentioned that he plays the piano like a drummer plays the drums and i can see how because when playing piano live he really used to go for it and he always got fantastic sound from the piano. is a shame that in the magic tour he was using the piano less but i understand why when he wanted to make full use of the huge stage |
| mike hunt 05.12.2010 07:32 |
Brian May explains how i feel about freddie as a painist on the Making of ANATO. |
| plumrach 05.12.2010 09:15 |
What did he say? |
| Rick 06.12.2010 06:06 |
He's playing piano like a drummer: hammering. |
| mike hunt 06.12.2010 08:41 |
Brian also said he consider's freddie a great pianist, not in a technical way, but he played with a lot of passion. Which I agree with........IMO, Some of the piano player's who took fred's place either on stage, or in the studio later on In queen's career like Mike Moran and other's were way better Technically, but freddie had something you can't explain, his own style. Not Many great pianist could say that. |
| plumrach 06.12.2010 09:14 |
Whenever i watch anything where Freddie is playing the piano i enjoy it very much because he always looks like he is having fun himself |
| Over the Field 06.12.2010 11:11 |
There are technically better pianists yes, but how many of them sing while playing? As difficult songs as Freddie sings? Besides piano intros of Seven Seas of Rhye and Death On Two Legs are technically stunning, to me at least. Whole piano in Love of My Life is so beautiful and classical esque. My sister thinks that the short "piano solo" in It's A Hard Life is one of the most touching moments of the music by Queen, and I agree with that. How many pianists can arrange what Freddie did with keyboards in Was It All Worth It (orch. interlude), The Miracle or The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke etc. To me Freddie Mercury is my favourite singer and pianist/keyboardist of all time. |
| freddiefan91 06.12.2010 15:54 |
I would imagine that playing the piano, singing and connecting with the audience at the same time is quite hard but Freddie always made it look easy |
| Bigfish 07.12.2010 08:07 |
A good piano doesn't cross hands - any piano teacher will tell you... Enter Fred playing Bo Rhap.. ha ha. |
| Sebastian 07.12.2010 09:01 |
> A good piano doesn't cross hands A bad piano doesn't either - pianos have no hands, so how could they cross them? > any piano teacher will tell you... Not quite. It's not a forbidden technique. It's up to the performer. In many cases (like Bo Rhap), it's actually the logical thing to do. In other cases, it's pointless - that's what's contraindicated. But there's nothing wrong with hand crossing. > Enter Fred playing Bo Rhap.. ha ha. Loads of compositions have crossing hands, like Mozart's Sonata No 14 in C minor K 457 (link, composed 162 years before Freddie was even born! Another example: link |
| Bigfish 07.12.2010 09:21 |
Sebastian wrote: > A good piano doesn't cross hands A bad piano doesn't either - pianos have no hands, so how could they cross them? > any piano teacher will tell you... Not quite. It's not a forbidden technique. It's up to the performer. In many cases (like Bo Rhap), it's actually the logical thing to do. In other cases, it's pointless - that's what's contraindicated. But there's nothing wrong with hand crossing. > Enter Fred playing Bo Rhap.. ha ha. Loads of compositions have crossing hands, like Mozart's Sonata No 14 in C minor K 457 (link, composed 162 years before Freddie was even born! Oh God....should have known better.....oh well it is raining I suppose.. |
| freddiefan91 09.12.2010 07:23 |
I know its not relevant to this topic but i like how Roger combined the drums and singing because that cant be easy either |
| Jennie 09.12.2010 13:30 |
Freddie was amazing at playing piano as far as I've seen on videos! He truly had his own style, got great sound at the same time as he was singing very difficult songs and entertaining the audience 100%. He made it look so easy too :O I get cross eyed just looking at the 7 pages of sheet music for Bohemian Rhapsody, and Freddie wrote that! It's hard to believe he was a bit shy about his piano and guitar ability. He really played like a God! That being said, I've only just started playing keyboard and don't read sheet music well yet... |
| freddiefan91 10.12.2010 02:21 |
Freddie was one of those rare people who wasnt big headed about his wonderful talent |
| Soundfreak 10.12.2010 08:41 |
That was the great thing about many musicians especially in the 70s. They were all recognisable immediately. Guitar players did one note and you knew who was playing. Even drummers were quite easy to identify. And Freddie was one of the few piano players instantly recognisable. And that's the biggest thing you can achieve. It's sad that he gave up the piano on the later Queen albums. |
| chaim 10.12.2010 08:50 |
Yes, I must admit this got me puzzled too: "A good piano (player) doesn't cross hands - any piano teacher will tell you..." I've seen helluva lot of classical sheet music where crossing hands is called for. |
| plumrach 10.12.2010 09:09 |
Another Thing As Soon as Freddie started playing Boh Rap on the piano at Live Aid everybody knew what it was and you could hear the cheers and then the singing, that was a magical moment |
| Reid_Special_98 12.12.2010 06:45 |
Okay...I have to SHOOT DOWN the guy who made the statement 'A piano player doesn't cross hands'... Have a look at the first movement Beethoven's 'Pathetique Sonata'.... The person who made the statements about piano playing should do a bit more research. Piano teachers teach the prelimenary basics (myself included) and when/if a student can achieve a higher level, they would probably figure out that technique and repertoire would go 'outside' of the box. As far as Freddie Mercury's style...he was mainly a rhythmic player and often used a broken chord style for his playing. If you compare the KEY and Playing style to BoRhap and 'It's a Hard Life' - you will see that there are elements that are very similar. Solo excerpts aside - his playing was more or less akin to what a ryhthm guitar player would do - support the vocal. As Brian May stated on numerous occasions - he had a crazy sense of timing and rhythm - like a metronome. Once you begin to understand chords, and inversions and the way chords are formed, it's only a matter of time and patience and passion before you develop your own style. Just my own 2-cents. |
| Bigfish 12.12.2010 06:48 |
Shoot me down all you like dude but if you can find a piano teacher who'll let a beginner cross his or her hands then I'll put on a dress and call myself Betty. |
| Sebastian 12.12.2010 08:33 |
> Okay...I have to SHOOT DOWN the guy who made the statement 'A piano player doesn't cross hands'... Already done, long before you. > The person who made the statements about piano playing should do a bit more research. Totally agree. > Shoot me down all you like dude but if you can find a piano teacher who'll let a beginner cross his or her hands then I'll put on a dress and call myself Betty. link Nice to see you, Betty. |
| Bigfish 12.12.2010 08:36 |
Sorry Spermy but that's not a begginer. YST. |
| Sebastian 12.12.2010 08:43 |
be·gin·ner /b?'g?n?r/ [bih-gin-er] 1. a person or thing that begins. 2. a person who has begun a course of instruction or is learning the fundamentals: swimming for beginners. 3. a person who is inexperienced; novice. Source: Dictionary.com. The person on the video is playing a practice piece at a slower tempo than meant to (i.e. the person is inexperienced). In fact, Cramer (one of the best pianist of his era) composed it for people who were inexperienced in the instrument. Another way to call such target market is with a nice word that begins with B and ends with EGINNERS. So there you have it: B-E-G-I-N-N-E-R-S BEGINNERS Cheers Betty! |
| Bigfish 12.12.2010 08:47 |
Clearly he can read music you silly boy and knows chords so obviously not a beginner. Hello ?? Earth to Spermy ? |
| Sebastian 12.12.2010 08:56 |
Knowing chords and reading sheets is not exclusive for intermediate or advanced players. You can be a beginner and still read and know some chords. The person playing it was a beginner (at the time of filming it, at least). The person who composed it wrote it for beginners (i.e. people without enough experience to take on harder pieces). So it IS a piece for beginners, Betty. And by the way, I'm not the person who posted that video, so your 'Earth to Spermy' nonsense is misdirected. Betty: you don't stop being a beginner if you learn how to sight-read simple pieces like that one, just like you don't stop being a beginner German-language speaker if you learn a couple of verbs. |
| Bigfish 12.12.2010 08:59 |
Absolutely hilarious spermy - you just keep getting better and better. Now you enjoy yourelf on here won't you - I'm off for lunch. xxxxx |
| Sebastian 12.12.2010 09:02 |
I hope whatever you eat makes you understand that: 1. It is NOT forbidden to cross hands. 2. Being able to read music doesn't automatically make you intermediate or advanced. 3. I'm not the person whose nickname is Spermy. Cheers Betty! |
| freddiefan91 12.12.2010 09:29 |
Im going to wade into the crossing hands on the piano thing Surely whatever works best for pianists is to get the best tune out of the piano and if it means crossing hands ie boh rap and you get a great sound then why not i know beginners probably are not taught that but perhaps once they are a bit more skilled they can do that maybe im talking rubbish who knows |
| Sebastian 12.12.2010 09:33 |
Only that beginners ARE (or at least SHOULD BE) taught that. It's a valid technique. Usual? No. Far too frequent? No. But it does exist and it IS allowed. In terms of beginner/intermediate/advanced, it's like using contractions when learning a language or using a gear lever when driving: you see that happen in any level. |
| plumrach 13.12.2010 05:12 |
I love the piano sound on Freddies version of I was born to love you |
| thomasquinn 32989 13.12.2010 06:57 |
chaim wrote: Yes, I must admit this got me puzzled too: "A good piano (player) doesn't cross hands - any piano teacher will tell you..." I've seen helluva lot of classical sheet music where crossing hands is called for. ==== There are usually alternatives (though they often require rather large and flexible hands). Whether or not a pianist crosses hands will, 9 times out of 10, depend on how much he/she wants the notes played shortly after one another to blend. |