Great - thank you so much - I appreciate your support and interest. 😀 Cheers Jane

Thanks Lara - glad you found the video helpful. One thing to remember if you're sitting on an office-style chair which can move on its wheels and also swivel, is that you don't actually want to be moving the chair sideways or swiveling on it in order to reach the upper and lower octaves. Ideally, you want to treat the chair in the same way you would a piano stool - it's stationary and doesn't move, and you adjust your body to the requirements of the piece. I've got a section on using office-style chairs in my tutorial "Sitting Pretty - is your Piano Stool the Right Height" which goes into a bit more detail, so you're welcome to check that out. Thanks again for getting in touch. Cheers Jane

You're most welcome - I hope it was helpful and addressed some of the queries you had. Being more aware of how you're moving your body, and in particular, transferring your weight from one sit bone across to the other as you move from side to side will be really beneficial. Cheers Jane

That's a good line - I haven't heard that before - but very true! Cheers Jane

Thanks so much - I really appreciate your feedback. And I'm of the generation where I do remember "Play School" with the house, various shaped windows and all of the toys!! Cheers Jane

Thank you Susan - that's made my day!

Hi, I'm glad you found the tutorial helpful and plan to give pedalling another go. Good luck! Cheers Jane

Cheers - glad you enjoyed it.

Hi, thanks very much for your suggestion - that's a good idea. I will be adding it to my 'to do' list of videos. Many thanks. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano Thank you Jane, I look forward to that video. You are very kind. Cheers

Thanks so much! I'm glad you found it helpful. Yeah - I'm a big fan of fun, colourful socks - I have lots!!

@@AccelerandoPiano welcome. That's great. Hope see more of them! Hahaha. Have a nice day!

That's fantastic! I'm really glad it was helpful and that you're well on the way to mastering this skill.😄Cheers Jane

Thanks very much Jonathan. We appreciate your advice and expertise. Cheers Jane

Thanks so much - I'm pleased it was helpful for you. Cheers Jane

I must have been the 54th instead. I looked over some of your videos and it seems (from my small sort through) that you don't get a whole lot of comments generally. Maybe it could help if you said something context-specific that helps spark comments, such as... what are your favorite ways to drill improved dynamics in your playing?... etc. Anywho, I thought I'd toss out a few thoughts while at the same time hopefully triggering more views for you due to increased engagement. I wish you the best!

Great - thanks very much! Glad you found it helpful. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano: Was this is real personally typed reply or some kind of bot-based system?

@@InspiredPlans Nope, not a bot - It was actually me. However, I see now that you made two comments, the 2nd of which I was not aware of when responding, so perhaps that's what has made you wonder :-) Thank you for trying to improve engagement with my channel. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano : I subscribed!

Hi pc2nite, Thanks for those thoughts. Getting quality sound has been something we have been working on, and it's great to get your thoughts on the matter. I don't have much flexibility in Camtasia for frequency equalisation, although at some point I may move to DaVinci Resolve which has much more capability in that dept. In relation to microphones, we got a lot of improvement when we moved to a matched pair of Rode M5 microphones, but if you have some model suggestions, or perhaps placement ideas, it would be good get those. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano Hello Jane. I am not a KZbinr and can only pass on what I have generally learnt as an amateur mostly about audio recording, sometimes from YT. Improving recorded audio, especially that originating from a mike (in a room, of course), can take extra time. Some record audio separately from video. Before being re-combined with the video the audio can be edited separately in a program like Audacity for example, which has EQ, compression, reverb and other audio effects. This type of audio editing uses much less computer resource than its video counterpart. If you simultaneously record both voice and the instrument sound to separate audio files then both can then be audio edited and have effects applied that suit each separately. Closer piano miking can reduce room reverb and tonal colouration effects not suitable for a listener of the recording who is in another audio environment. If too close then balancing the piano's dynamic range, its mechanism's sounds and the lack of reverb may also be an issue to the listener. Audio compression, a little volume limiting and reverb, eg as in Audacity, can help with these respects. Have you considered using a Digital Piano for YT? A direct connection from it to the audio recorder device may be more reliable, convenient and record more clearly than the piano which may suffer from being combined with the voice mike and room sound. A DP also likely offers midi data which, for example, can be separately recorded and used in software more clearly showing the notes being played that can be added as a strip above the overhead physical keyboard shot in the final video mix. Hope this helps. Cheers, Jonathan.

@@pc2nite Hi Jonathan, Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I’ve had a chat with Shane who helps me with the tech, and there are some ideas there that I will investigate when I get a chance to learn new tools and play with (potentially permanent) changes to mic placement (and channel separation). I do also have an option to mike me separately, so we’ll look at that also. Re. the Digital Piano idea, it’s not really feasible. The current setup is what I use for my private piano practice, and it works well for that. The YT channel is something I do to primarily to support my students, while also hopefully benefiting others. The goal is to get quality educational content in a reasonably quick time, so any changes to the process need to be aligned to and fit around the requirements for my teaching practice which keeps me very busy. I’ve added these to my long list of holiday tasks. 😊 Cheers Jane

You're very welcome - I'm glad it was helpful. Cheers Jane

You're welcome. I'm happy that it was useful. Cheers Jane

You're welcome - glad it was helpful. Cheers Jane

Thanks very much - glad you found it helpful! Cheers Jane

Hi, I presume you're referring to the 'Contact Form' on my Trotter Music Website (www.trottermusic.com). The submit button is hidden until you type the word "jane" into the 'where's the button' field at the bottom of the form, at which time the submit button will appear. This is an anti-spam protection and has eliminated hundreds of spam emails. Sorry for any confusion. Thanks for reaching out. Cheers Jane

@AccelerandoPiano thanks It Said Your first name and I typed my name.Thanks for clarification. I will submit the form tomorrow. Best wishes.We are all at the mercy of The Algorithms!!!

Thanks very much - glad you found it helpful.

Thanks for your thoughts. Cheers Jane

Thanks Jackson - glad you found it helpful. Cheers Jane

Glad to be of help!🙂

Hi Dave - Yes - no music! This Tutorial was specifically designed that way. As I mentioned in the video, an important component of being able to sightread fluently is not to have to look down at your hands frequently so you can read ahead and concentrate on what’s coming up in the music. The Tutorial is designed to give students some practical tips to develop this skill independent of the score. Rest assured, there will be more Tutorials in the future which will include music. Cheers Jane

Thanks Kevin - glad you found it helpful. Cheers Jane

You're welcome! I'm glad it was of use.

You're welcome! Good luck with trying out the exercises. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano Thank you 😊🤩⚘

Thanks Carlos - glad you enjoyed it.

@@AccelerandoPiano welcome! Hope see more.

Hi, I'm glad you found the video helpful. The Pedal Cam is a Zoom Q2n-4K camera with an HDMI output which is part of my virtual teaching studio system. I'm assuming you are just wanting to check out your own pedal technique cheaply - many video cameras have HDMI output which you could feed into a computer monitor which was close, or an external webcam plugged into a laptop could also be an option. Cheers Jane

Hi - thanks so much for your feedback. The Peda lCam is a Zoom Q2n-4K camera with an HDMI output which is part of my virtual teaching studio system. I'm assuming you are just wanting to check out your own pedal technique cheaply - many video cameras have HDMI output which you could feed into a computer monitor which was close, or an external webcam plugged into a laptop could also be an option. Good luck. Cheers Jane

@@AccelerandoPiano Thanks so much, Jane. Is there anyway you can show me how to set it up? I am not very tech savvy and really want to improve my piano skills.

@@AccelerandoPiano Yes, that's exactly what I would like to do is check my own pedal technique but have no idea how to set it up. I'm not very tech savvy so maybe you can do a video on it?

@@ladyp5511 Hi, Shane here - I'm Jane's Tech Support, and wrote her initial response :-). In terms of helping you, doing a video on how to set up is probably not useful, given there are multiple ways it could be done, but they all assume you have equipment that you may not have. To give you an example, if we did a video that required a laptop, and you don't have one (or have a Macbook when we use a Windows laptop) then the software we would use would be different etc. BREAKING NEWs: Jane has just come up with a really cunning non tech solution, Video coming shortly :-)

I've just created a short video on how you can do this at home. See kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqfHgoiDqphol9U Hope it helps.

Thanks Steven - I'm glad it was helpful. Cheers Jane

Thanks for your feedback Jon - I can see how an ad at the wrong time would be frustrating. Unfortunately that’s out of my control.

Glad you found the exercises helpful - I hope they'll be of use in your Haydn piece. Cheers Jane

Thanks a lot - I'm glad you found it helpful.

Thanks very much James - glad you found them helpful. Cheers Jane

Glad you found it helpful - the right hand of F Major can be tricky so the fingering is really important. Cheers Jane

Hi James - I’m glad you found that helpful. It’s probably not so much a case of consciously accenting the first beat of every bar all the time, even if it is only a small accent. The ‘flow’ of the piece, the phrasing, the rhythmic and melodic organisation, the performance directions (like dynamics) and the way all of these work within the time signature, will influence how you interpret the music and ‘feel’ where some notes may carry more ‘stress’ or significance than others. Having said that, the choice of time signature is a crucial part of a piece and will influence its character. The best example I can give is a waltz - this is a dance in triple time so it will contain 3 beats per bar. When playing a waltz, I often encourage my students to be slightly lighter on beats 2 and 3 so you get that lovely lilt and dance quality, rather than giving every beat equal stress. You could also think of a march, which is most likely to have 2 or 4 beats in a bar - an even number - so you can literally march to it - left-right-left-right.

Hi Diana, thanks so much for your great comment and feedback - it made my day! I'm glad you found the tutorial helpful and good luck with your continuing musical journey. Cheers Jane

Hi Julie I would use the ‘Play it on your Legs’ trick - just to check the weighting of your quieter hand versus your louder hand. Really try to feel the difference and do it slowly first. Then try taking a small 2 bar section at a faster speed - always checking your weighting. Try it again even faster. Extend the section you’re working on to 4 or 8 bars following the same process, and gradually try it out on the keyboard. The ‘Pretend Play’ technique will work quite well too - remember when you want to play the quieter hand for real, don’t overwork your fingers as this will mean you’ll tend to depress the keys faster and as a result, make the notes louder. Use your natural arm weight into the keys and stay relatively close. Also, try to feel the ‘gesture’ of the pattern which needs to be quiet - try not to think note by note but feel the shape of the music. That way you’ll avoid accenting every note and having it sound very syllabic and chunky, which of course, just exaggerates things even more. Finally, you could try perfecting and solidifying your technique on an easier piece alongside the current music you’re learning. Cheers Jane

Hi, thanks for watching. If you're interested in learning from me, please go to my Trotter Music website: trottermusic.com where you can complete the Contact Form and be added to my waiting list. Cheers Jane