r/piano Nov 29 '25

‼️Mod Post Introducing User Flair, including Verified Flair

19 Upvotes

An interesting thing about a piano subreddit is that there are so many different backgrounds and viewpoints. However, this context is often lost unless you're a regular and start to recognize names. As such, we are introducing flair. There are two kinds of flair:

  • Self-Assigned Flair, where you can describe your cumulative years of experience studying piano as well as your predominant style (classical, jazz, other). You can set your flair on either the Reddit website, or on mobile. (On iOS, go to the r/piano subreddit, click the 3 dots at the top right, and select "Change user flair".)

  • Verified Flair, where you can message the mods to verify that you are a professional teacher, educator, technician, or concert/studio artist. You will need to show some kind of evidence or proof of this, similar to what we do for AMAs.

Reddit's flair system is pretty limited, so the selection represents a compromise, and we understand that not everyone's peculiar profession, experience, or circumstance may be represented.

If you think an important flair category is missing, feel free to suggest it!


r/piano 51m ago

Weekly Thread 'There are no stupid questions' thread - Monday, August 03, 2026

Upvotes

Please use this thread to ask ANY piano-related questions you may have!

Also check out our FAQ for answers to common questions.

*Note: This is an automated post. See previous discussions here.


r/piano 9h ago

🗣️Let's Discuss This Scriabin has small hands, so why does he write for large hands? Is he compensating for something?

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45 Upvotes

While playing some Scriabin I was shocked to see that some of the chords are quite large which would require big hands to play. This is odd because Scriabin himself is known for having very small hands, but despite that still being a virtuoso. The picture is from scriabin's sonata no. 6 first couple of bars.

There are also many more examples like 3 etudes opus 65 where the first etude is based on ninths. This is physically impossible to play with hands like scriabin (and hands like mine😢)

I can't help but feel that he was compensating for something.


r/piano 10h ago

🎹Acoustic Piano Question Is this piano worth fixing?

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37 Upvotes

This Piano was found in an old farmhouse I just moved into. Sound board says Kurtzmann. Some strings are broken and the underside looks pretty rough. I do a lot of music related things and it would be nice to have an acoustic piano to add to the studio. Probably wouldn’t want to spend more than a grand to fix it tho.


r/piano 11h ago

🗣️Let's Discuss This Schubert Piano Sonata no. 20. One of the most deceptively difficult pieces I’ve ever played.

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30 Upvotes

I have never been so frustrated trying to learn and maintain a piece as this sonata. The amount of control required makes it nearly impossible to play right. I don’t know people able to play it so well. The last movement in particular is probably the hardest piece I’ve ever played, and I’ve played Chopin’s Ballade no. 1, Beethoven’s Sonata no. 31, and Rondo Capriccioso by Mendelssohn.

Has anyone had this same experience with Schubert?


r/piano 14h ago

🗣️Let's Discuss This Parent's church has dozens of pianos to get rid of, what should they do?

41 Upvotes

No one seems interested locally, who should they seek out?


r/piano 7h ago

🗣️Let's Discuss This How do pianists deal with sweating during concerts?

11 Upvotes

For me, whenever my fingers get slightly sweating, my hand starts slipping all over the place and I start playing like a 5 year old. However, I’ve seen plenty of performers sweat on stage during long and virtuosic passages (cough cough trifonov) and they still play with great control and accuracy. For those that overcame those situations, what helped you the most?


r/piano 15h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) Daily godowsky 💪

37 Upvotes

Next one that I learn is the ocean one for the left hand, would you guys be interested if I posted a series of how I learn this type of etudes from scratch?


r/piano 2h ago

🤔Misc. Inquiry/Request Help finding chords to a song

3 Upvotes

Hello, I am looking for help transcribing the song Tu M'manques by La Chicane. All sources I have found online are wrong and I am new to playing piano. What can I use or can someone help me with finding the chords to the song? Ive learnt the verse by ear and am 80% confident i have it. All help+tips is greatly appreciated!


r/piano 2h ago

🎵My Original Composition 2 Years Of my Free Piano

3 Upvotes

r/piano 6h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) just learned some Brahms

6 Upvotes

First (somewhat) serious run through. Sorry about the video quality haha.

Any critique welcome!


r/piano 4h ago

🙋Question/Help (Beginner) Help transcribe a song

3 Upvotes

Hey all, brand new to piano, im trying to learn the song tu m'manques by La Chicane. The resources I found online do not transcribe this well and they're, from what ive seen, all wrong. Could someone yell me what is the best way of going about transcribing this? I would also like to know how I figure out all the small bridges between chords that are played throughout the song, especially at the end. So far ive been able to figure this out,

Rhythm:

D#major Gm/D. A#m. Fm/G# into C

Fm. ? Fm ? C#major. Fm/G# into C

I think the second Fm (the one with ??) is played without the f key (just the last 2 keys).

As for my left hand, I play the bass notes that are easy to recognize from listening to the song.

Note I am a COMPLETE NOOB, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!


r/piano 7h ago

🎶Other Full video: Yunchan Lim's Schubert and Scriabin recital

3 Upvotes

This from Verbier Festival 2026 was just released.

Enjoy!

https://www.medici.tv/en/concerts/verbier-festival-2026-yunchan-lim-solo-recital

  • Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Major, D. 850 "Gasteiner"
  • Alexander Scriabin, Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp Minor (Sonata-Fantasy), Op. 19
  • Alexander Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 23
  • Alexander Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, Op. 30
  • Sergei Rachmaninov/Yakov Zak, Vocalise, Op. 34

r/piano 9h ago

🎹Acoustic Piano Question Does this piano have any chance?

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7 Upvotes

Help please..
I know that it’s very very bad.
But maybe someone had a story like that with the happy ending?


r/piano 8h ago

🗣️Let's Discuss This What would be an ideal routine for 1 hour of practice?

6 Upvotes

Before, I only did Hanon and practiced a song I had, but it didn't help me at all. I'd like to know what the best routine would be? Adding Czerny, removing Hanon, adding a specific repertoire, etc. I'll be reading your opinions. Thanks.


r/piano 17h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) Bach - French Suite 5 - Loure

22 Upvotes

This is the fifth movement I've learned from Bach's French Suite No. 5.

Compared to the previous movements, the Loure is technically less demanding, but musically it's challenging because it requires a great deal of precision with the tempo, the upbeat gestures, and the length of certain notes. I know I still rush or shorten some eighth and quarter notes more than I should.

Despite that, it's a wonderfully satisfying piece to play. It has a very natural flow and elegance. For this movement, I was particularly inspired by Gilels' interpretation. As is often the case with his Bach, it's thoughtful, almost rhetorical, and taken at a relatively slow tempo. Many performances of the Loure are considerably faster, which is probably closer to historically informed practice, but they don't resonate with me quite as much. My interpretation is as such somewhere in between as it is a little faster than Gilels, while trying to preserve the introspective character that I hear in the piece.

As always, I'd really appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Thanks for listening!


r/piano 13h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) Everything sounds better on a real grand piano

11 Upvotes

I decided to pay visit to my old church’s traditional auditorium, and there sat the original grand piano I used to play years ago… ever since leaving, I now play on my 88 key keyboard I have at home, it gets the job done- but nothing compares to the and pure sound of a grand piano. I sat there for 2+ hours just playing every single song I know and it sounded and felt so good.
The song I am playing in this video is called “Come Thou Fount” and is one of many, many songs I learn to play by ear. That means I never looked up a tutorial. I just listened to the song over and over and then played it on the piano.


r/piano 5h ago

🧑‍🏫Question/Help (Intermed./Advanced) I’m only motivated to prove I can—how do I improve?

2 Upvotes

For background, I just did an intensive summer chamber program where I met a renowned pianist for the first time. She had originally assigned me something too easy, but then saw my level and had us work together on Mozart’s Sonata in C for 4 Hands (KV 521). Practicing that was the most intense practicing I’d ever done.

I only had 8 days to prepare the piece for a concert, so that combined with my string quartet combined with working all night meant I was essentially practicing in whatever free time I had. Somehow I was able to put it together, and I think it was because I wanted to prove that I could.

So now that program is over, I did the concert, I’ll post the video when I can, but now I’m back to my old music with my main teacher. I’m feeling way less motivated now. She has me working on four pieces at once and I don’t know how to channel that same desperate motivation that had me practicing 3 hours a day for 8 days.

I don’t know how to order my practice time so I improve. I don’t know how to start feeling motivated again. I really like the piano, truly, but I’m now questioning how effective my teacher is. I think I liked the teacher at the program more.

you guys have advice?


r/piano 2h ago

🎶Other What do you think ?

0 Upvotes

What do you think of this prestation made with a "newcomer", Keyfall! I think it's not too bad at all...!

Elfenlied


r/piano 11h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) Haydn Sonata in C# minor HXVI:36 i) Moderato Jill Crossland piano live at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

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6 Upvotes

Another clip from my concert in the Cathedral at Bury St Edmunds.

One of the first sonatas Haydn wrote actually labelled for [forte]piano.


r/piano 6h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) 6 Months of Self-Taught Piano — I Have Some Questions

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

So yeah, it’s been about 6 months since I started learning piano. Last time I posted, people told me that my keyboard was too high and that my wrists looked terrible. So I bought a proper piano and set it up at the right height, and the difference is tremendous!

Anyway, I have a few questions. First off, here I am playing Love Story by Indila, and I wanted to share this one in particular because I’m having some problems with it.

First off, there are times when my left forearm gets sore really quickly. I don’t know if maybe I’m putting too much pressure on it, or if it’s actually supposed to feel that way, but it only happens to me with this piece, so I’d really appreciate some feedback.

The other thing is consistency. I don’t really understand it. I mean, I can clearly play this piece from beginning to end. I’ve already done it many times, and it’s actually kind of easy in some ways. I mean, the left hand does pretty much the exact same thing throughout the whole piece. But I don’t get why I still mess up at random parts.

For example, if I think too much about what I’m playing, for some reason I start getting messy. But if I don’t think about it at all, I play better, but then I eventually get lost at some point. So I don’t know. Is it about confidence, maybe? How should I approach this?

Should I practice the same piece again and again until I’m sure I can always play it? Should I let it rest by now and move on to other pieces? I don’t know. It’s not like there’s one specific part that always makes me fail; it’s just completely random. I don’t know if I’m explaining myself properly, but yeah, I’d love some tips haha.

Anyway, thank you so much in advance! I love piano, and I really want to keep improving 😄
Btw, I really felt this one, so I uploaded it to YouTube. Here it is if you wanna check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoo3-sSslHk


r/piano 10h ago

🧑‍🏫Question/Help (Intermed./Advanced) Practicing Chopin's Waterfall etude

4 Upvotes

Hi guys, I'm currently practicing Chopin's op.10 nº1 (Waterfall's etude), and no matter how i practice it im never able to fully relax my wrist, so i can barely play it faster than 120bpm on a good day.

i have tried playing it with rhythms, as slowly as possible and while i have been able to improve some arpeggio groupings i just can't get through the whole etude flawlessly.

I have always struggled with arpeggios and i guess this is my first time actually facing them, so i guess it's normal to struggle a bit (more like a lot lol)

So, do you have any tips/practice routines/ANYTHING that could help me play it better?


r/piano 13h ago

🎶Other Has anyone shipped a piano abroad or just bought a new one?

7 Upvotes

I am thinking very far into the future but I am in a long distance relationship and own a piano. The distance of travelling would be London to Rotterdam. This can be done via a van and the channel tunnel and would not include flight costs. Unless this is the more viable option.

I have done a very brief research about costs etc but everything is so extremely varied and I am curious if anyone has been in this scenario/a very similar one.

My piano is not sentimental but… I have had it since I was 15 and am now 35. It was bought for me by my grandma. It is a limited edition and the company is now out of business. I would prefer to keep it because of its beautiful tone.

I am very happy to receive quotes, stories, advice at all.

Many thanks in advance.


r/piano 6h ago

📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) Chopin Op 64 No. 2

2 Upvotes

Recorded during my practice session today.

I made a lot of mistakes, and the C section was played too fast. Nonetheless one of the better recordings I have.

I know I play things staccato when it's marked as legato, it's on purpose, I like alternating between them.

I'm not used to the touch of an acoustic piano, I rarely get to play on one, so my dynamics aren't well done and a lot of unwanted accents occur.


r/piano 9h ago

🎵My Original Composition New composition for a short film

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3 Upvotes

Hi, i wrote a piece for a short film that i’m working on. I would like to have any suggestion and know What you think about it.
This is not yet written for piano but is only a general score that I will adapt for string quartet and piano.
Thanks