Freddie's style of piano playing

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.

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

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.

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.

> 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viFOI1QA_DU

Nice to see you, Betty.

Sorry Spermy but that's not a begginer. YST.

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!

Clearly he can read music you silly boy and knows chords so obviously not a beginner.

Hello ?? Earth to Spermy ?

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.

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

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!

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

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.

I love the piano sound on Freddies version of I was born to love you

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.
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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.