I purchased Nyman`s score for "The Piano" yesterday. It is popular and easy to find (my local music store had three copies.) This thread is for people who already have the sheet music and have learned, or are currently learning, to play it. Did you think it was easier to play than it sounds? What has been your greatest challenge? That kind of thing.

I`m more of a composer than a performer, but so far "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" seems to be within my skill range. After a couple hours I was able to play the main theme pretty much up to speed, with only a few mistakes.

My question is about pedaling. Nyman provides pedaling directions in several of the other pieces, but not in this one. Does this mean it should be performed without the pedal? If it`s played without the pedal, then it becomes even more important to hold down the melodic notes for their full durations in both the LH and RH, which will make it even more challenging. I`m also concerned that using the pedal too much will make it sound muddy.

Do you use the pedal when playing this piece? Any other performance tips? Is this piece just too popular for its own good?

Thanks for your help!

rangergordon
Salt Lake City, UT

P.S. If you are looking for the sheet music, please post to the other thread. Please do not post requests for sheet music here. Thank you.

Knowing when to use the pedal is an essential skill for a pianist, but you said you`re not really a performer so I guess you`re not taking lessons at the moment. Use it when you feel is necessary would be my answer. I haven`t bought the piece yet so I can`t tell you when I personally use it but I`ll let you know when I start to work on the piece.

why is everyone so obsessed with this piece? It`s very very simple keys (chords, tones, whatever you call it), it`s not actually hard or impressive in the slightest (and I`m not gloating, I`m at most averagely talented at piano).
It`s just not a particularly good piece!

Do people ever talk about piano on the piano forum, or is it mainly set up so people can criticize other peoples` posts and look for "free sheet music"?

Frankly, if you don`t have anything constructive to add to the discussion I don`t understand why you bother posting. I`m not "obsessed" with the Nyman piece, I just decided I wanted to learn to play it. I was surprised that there were so many posts regarding this piece, but that none of them were actually useful or interesting, so I started this new thread. You have successfully added yet one more useless and uninteresting post to the forum. Congratulations!

you`re like, so laid back man...
nah seriously though, I am so goddamn sick of this song, and yes I have played the whole song, Michael Nyman is so overrated. I mean talk about a complete lack of versatility, every song is the same! HOw can a man become so famous through being so modular and repetitive?
By the way haven`t you learned anything from the huge threads about him? YOU DON`T HAVE TO BUY THE SHEET MUSIC... idiot.
There`s another useless and uninteresting post for your precious thread, you`re welcome.

here`s a post that`s talking about the piano:
why don`t you people stop caring how others view you and go for something other than popular music? The best and most beautiful music for piano is, without a doubt, classical music. There is no modern comparison to the great classical composers, instead we have jokes like Michael ***ing Nyman... I could go on. Many people find classical just too non-mainstream, and are ashamed of playing it. Learn to play jazz. I doubt many people on this forum know what jazz is (I mean really KNOW what jazz is), jazz is an experience more than anything, I put about 5 years of my life entirely into jazz, it was more than worth it. Please, just don`t restrict yourself solely to music into the charts, it wasn`t written for piano players, it was written to back up manufactured bands and the like.
Grow up rangergordon it`s just an internet forum.

Once again, if this topic bugs you so much why did you bother responding to it ... um, twice[/] this time? That adds up to a grand total of three posts to a thread you hate. Granted, the posts weren`t very well thought-out, so I imagine you won`t miss the thirty seconds of brain power it took you to formulate them.

You ask how a man can become famous by being modular and repetitive. Gee, I don`t know: ever hear of Philip Glass? How about Arnold Schoenberg? Certain styles of music simply are[/] repetitive and modular. If they bother you, you can take comfort in the fact that nobody`s forcing you to play them.

Like you, I`m disappointed by the level of discourse on this forum. For one thing, I don`t appreciate being called an "idiot" simply because I chose to purchase a legal copy of the sheet music. If you are in the habit of illegally downloading copyrighted materials, you`ll probably feel like an idiot when you get slapped with a lawsuit by the publishing industry. They can be real bastards.

I also find it curious that you`ve assumed I`m into corporate pop music; in fact, I was vaguely embarrassed to purchase the Nyman because it happened to be in the "New Age" section of the music store. To tell you the truth, this was the first popular sheet music I`ve ever purchased. (I actually wasn`t aware it was so popular; after all, the movie is like 10 years old. It wasn`t until I read this forum that I realized that so many people are way into it.)

Since you`re so interested in the contents of my musical library, most of it is classical, with some Afro-Cuban tumbaos and a bunch of trad. folk music from the British isles. I`m just saying you shouldn`t make assumptions about what people are into; you have assumed a lot about me and my musical interests that is simply not the truth. And, yeah, I will set the record straight.

It`s great that you`re into jazz. Congratulations. Yeah, I`d agree that jazz is much more about real musical expression than corporate pop ever could be. But, jeez ... it`s not like you`re the only person in the world who has discovered this. You make it sound like being into jazz is really obscure or something. It`s okay to feel proud of yourself--I`m just saying I don`t know why you seem to feel the need to criticize other people in order to build yourself up. Maybe you`re just insecure. Obviously, you`re not secure enough to use your real email address when you`re mindlessly criticizing people in the forum.

I like this piece...in fact I will admit to liking several new age pieces. The new age style is modular and repetivive by its very nature, and I find this quite pleasing and accessible to average pianists like myself. As for the pedalling, I try to use as little as possible, but am not good enough to do without it entirely or else the piece sounds detached and awkward.
Give the hostile nature of certain contributors to this thread, I would like to mention that I play piano in a blues band and listen extensively to classical music, and am not just into `new age crap`.
At least the posts attracted an intelligent and articulate reply from rangergordon above - something which should be encouraged!!! After all, this is the piano forum...or is it the freesheetmusic forum - it`s difficult to tell.

can anybody send me sheet music from M.Nyman film "the piano"?please people....

ANYONE WHO BELEIVES THAT "THE PIANO" BY MICHAEL NYMAN IS A PEICE THAT THEY CAN SIMPLY BASH OUT ,THINKING HOW IMPRESSIVE THEY SOUND, NOT USING EITHER THE ACCENTS OR THE PEDAL IN THE CORRECT PLACES ARE BLIND TO THE BEAUTY OF MICHAEL NYMANS WORK AND SUCH COMMENTS SHOULD BE DISREGARDED. FOR THE RECORD THE PEICE SHOULD BE PLAYED WITH THE USE OF THE PEDAL THROUGHOUT ,PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION ALSO TO ACCENTED NOTES AND TIMINGS THROUGHOUT.

Hey, I played this as an option piece for my Grade 9 Royal Conservatory Repertoire. It is a difficult piece to master, having many different note patterns and arpeggios in both the left and right hand. If you can get a feel for the song, it will eventually just flow through. Don`t get discouraged if one part will be a challenge, just keep practicing, slower, hands seperate than faster together.

This is a great short piece bt nyman, why is everyone saying its not, I agree with the last comments made, it is difficult to master, but it is not that difficult technically. I have played this piece for years and I dont agree with someone saying its not impressive to play or watch or listen to. The original recording by nyman will never be surpassed, it is excellent. How can you not like this piece? I think alot of people misunderstand its intentions, because it is supposed to be a scottish (I think) dance like piece-the main theme anyway, not all the other complimenting notes.

A great piece, even if it doesnt appeal to you, its still a great piece.

Hey I love this piece. The film is superb and the score is fantastic. I would love it if somebody e-mailed me a copy of the main theme. I am a beginner but I am eager to develop and try and play exceptional pieces of music and this is an exceptional piece of music.

Jon.

Yeah, I agree with some of the previous people. This is a great piece, in a simple key, technically not that tough, but to play well...really well, in a singing style..`Yes`..always hard to do consistantly.

I`ve been playing it now ever since the movie was made, and although my technical skill now has far exceeded the piece, who cares. Everyone loves it and people request me to play it all the time. It needs moderate pedaling and the main tune has to be brought out above everything else.
Mike