You can view the videos here on Google video:

Moszkowski - Serenata in D, Op. 15 No. 1
Chopin - Waltz No. 13 in D Flat, Op. 70, No. 3

I can supply the original .AVI files if anyone would like them.

I've been taking lessons since moving to Japan and I think I've improved a lot -- please let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Tristan

Wow, that looks really professional ! Although to be honest it sounds like shit with all the hiss and clicking sounds... If you can create mp3's without all that, they would be fine for the site. Yes I think the Serenata is far more brilliant and assured than the current version (whis was already pretty good).

What amuses me is your tendency to lift your wrists high up in the air. Is that something you learned from your teacher or did you always do it ? I ask this because my (Russian) teacher has done her best trying to beat that habit out of me. I am not quite sure why it is wrong and why it's better to keep the wrists at key level, or even below. I must remember to ask her next time. Perhaps others here can comment ?

Again, very well played. The Chopin is very nice too. Now go out and buy a real piano.... Your playing deserves it.

Hi techneut, thanks a lot for your comments.

I know the recordings are crap, but unfortunately I can't supply anything better than that for the time being... at least, not until I move back to the US (I moved to Japan back in August and will only be here for about a year). The clicking you hear is the camera refocusing itself as my hands move across the keys, and there's not really much I can do to get rid of it as it's just a normal digital (still) camera kind of a piece of crap. That digital piano you see also no sound outputs suitable for recording. It sounds like crap, anyway, but it's the best thing I can have here in my apartment.

As for the wrist thing, I'm not really sure what to tell you. I think the reason I do it might be because both of these pieces have parts in them where the hands overlap (the Moszkowski piece does it constantly throughout), so I lift one hand to fit the other one underneath.

It's much more likely that my technique is just bad, though. I'll be honest in saying that even though I've been "playing" the piano since I was a kid, I've really only been seriously studying how play it for the last year or so, and just started lessons last month. In other words, I still have a long way to go.

A real piano is definitely in my plans. I'm fortunate enough to be able to save most of what I'm making here in Japan, so hopefully I'll have enough to put a nice down payment on a good baby grand or something when I go home.

As for posting them on the site, I didn't really intend for these videos to go up here, I just wanted to share them you folks as a reminder that I haven't completely disappeared.

Thanks!

Those were nice, Toki. (aside from the crappy recording)
Now that we know what your arms and hands look like, maybe next time you can get your face in the picture?