Yoshi's Island athletic theme, sight-read by Tom Brier & Co.

[Cluv22]

that. was. awesome.

[Reknarock]

woman: "what is that, tom?"

tom: "it's yoshi's island athletic theme! :D"

older guy: "what?"

tom: "it's a game music"

older guy: "yeah, yoshi's island, i remember that"

Do I have this right? If yes, then it's sooo nice ;D

[Keeper1st]

@Reknarock Yeah. When the band added K.K. Ragtime to their repertoire based on my piano score of it, George came up to me and said, "Did you know that the real-life K.K., Kazumi Totaka, was the voice of Yoshi?"

[Reknarock]

@Keeper1st hahaaa and i thought i know alot about mario and yoshi ^_^

[coaster6]

Thumbs Up if you knew Tom before Gameinformer!!!!

[K2theLN]

HAHAHA BUSTIN OUT THE TUBA

[willyhuber]

Fantastic!!

[joeisnice]

man that guy is such a Tobias

[DocSicnarf]

He should be playing ragtime in a saloon.

[Jalreal]

I didn't know I liked this theme so much until I saw this video. Now I <3 Tom Brier and all the video game ragtime he does. Most badass.

[Jamie720p]

This video and the Athlete's Rag one always put a huge smile on my face

[Ziincito]

para tu asquerosidad porfa? SOLO DETENTE

[billgatesgfl]

GOD THIS IS AWESOME im downloading S nintendo emulator. *singing Tan-tan-tan-tan--tanda tandantandantanda........

[vlhfan]

Have Tom ever heard the words 'You played wrong mister'? No. He hasn't.

[mgbpr]

inspirador!!1

[trcsonic]

Awesome!

[rangergxi]

His beard is his power.

[Davimikyl]

why wouldnt the people in the back be quiet???

[Keeper1st]

@Davimikyl Because people are expected to talk and socialize during a party.

[MattTheOak]

@Keeper1st What a shit party. Only good thing about it is the DJ ;)

[TheChuckolator]

@Keeper1st Can I ask a question? On the sheet music, when you write the word 'simile' do you need to repeat the acciaccaturas every two bars in the left hand or not?

[Keeper1st]

@TheChuckolator "simile" means basically "continue like this" so technically yes, but you don't actually have to. I was just trying to break up the notes a bit similar to how the original has repeated chords.

[malrinko]

EVERYONE ELSE JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO HIM!

[Keeper1st]

@malrinko They had been, for hours. This is during a party AFTER the concert. People are expected to talk during a party. Tom himself has even chided someone who complained about people talking. "This is a party, sir!"

[LotsaSpaghetti84]

I just noticed that a lot of old Mario music was inspired by ragtime and bluegrass music. I guess that's because Shigeru Miyamoto is an avid fan of bluegrass.

[ObignoO]

12 people have not understood the true talent of this wonderful artist..

[MrLeonardfalkland]

Thumbs up if 'dat neckbeard' brought you here.. Just kidding! I don't care about the thumbs -- just saw those top comments and thought I'd say that I'm here because I love watching Tom Brier rock out on these wicked Mario tracks!

[Flagostomos]

so much talent... I wish I had the talent he has in his pinkie.

[AssailantLF]

Sounds so fucking great especially once he gets used to it and more into the tune

[FlashingOctupus]

THIS IS AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[DerAhlke9877]

well played!!!!

[Nair0x]

he looks llike my old music teacher oO

[JokinJoe]

No applause? I would be ecstatic

[TheLameloid]

3:32 that's a badass instrument

[imasicknah]

@Keeper1st This makes me mad, sad, excited, proud, and ecstatic. I love it! The only reason it gives me those dismal feelings are because I know I could never pull something off that amazing! I have one question, how in the world does he look at the music and hit the right notes with his left hand while reading the music? I play piano myself and have contrived an addiction to ragtime through. It has come to my understanding that tom has had many years of practice but still...

[Keeper1st]

@imasicknah I think what he does is simply notice what the chord sequence is then improvises the left hand, without looking closely at every single note. Thus he doesn't necessarily play the notes exactly as on the page (you'll notice he's playing a lot of tenths which are not on the score, for example).

[jamahl]

@imasicknah seriously? he makes some mistakes, but he can feel it. when you're that good at playin piano, you just blindly know where the notes are

[falconmanracer]

What an awesome job.

[kemmy15]

western style

[DrPwnU915]

DAM THIS GUYS GOOD

[PvtJelle]

@Keeper1st Can't you let play Tom once in a while on a MIDI-keyboard or electric piano to record the MIDI's. I'd love to have some of those to put into Synthesia :D

[Keeper1st]

@PvtJelle That would be fun to have, but the only MIDI device ever present at these events in Chip's upright that has a PianoDisc system. Tom does own a MIDI keyboard and even created an entire album (now out of print) of band arrangements where he played each part on his MIDI keyboard and layered the sequences together. It'd be cool if he'd post some hand-played MIDI renditions of things, but that's up to him.

[mig36su27]

Nice,lenon

[Nichtyger]

amazing

[treb1986]

4:40 I just thought at that shot it had Nintendi writen all over it.

The randomness! The randomness... :)

[trisiti]

Damn you Brier, making us all feel inadequate. I think that's why we all like FAIL videos so much. Makes us all feel better.

[madoushi1981]

Is there ANY way you can convince him to release a CD of just his take on game music? I would absolutely LOVE to get a clean version of this. Surprisingly, I haven't actually found any mp3s around; they're all just videos of people playing.

[Da7ideo]

Each time I watch this video a smile appears on my face. Thank you

[batistabomb619wwecar]

Is the brain action of attaching the action of reading the notes in height to playing the piano in width comparable with playing guitar hero? :D

[crabalockerfishwife6]

I want a western Mario game just so I can have him walk into a saloon with this playing

[Eniacbc]

Gameinformer!

[searingburrito]

@Eniacbc GAMEINFORMER!

[masterfly]

Thanks for posting the sheet music in the description.

[Obeseguy1]

game informer sent me haha love it

[Ninjaandy1975]

Thanks Tim Turi at Game Informer, for telling us about this one!

[Oppurtunafish]

This makes me stupidily happy. Thanks Tim Turi for telling us about this, and thank you for uploading this wonderful video.

[NFLDude56]

Thank You Tim Turi!!! Thump up if Gameinformer is the reason you watched this ;)

[ClonedRetro]

thumbs up if gameinformers super replay sent you here

[SKStylez]

@ClonedRetro is it on their website or what? I am a subscriber of their magazine and i never saw anything like this from them

[RoyalGreenTea]

This video makes me so fucking happy, I swear.

[JavierRuiz82]

A lot of fun indeed! ^_^

[bluecarpet12345]

this is the best version on youtube and he sight read it

lawl

[gotadrop]

AWESOOOOMEEEE!!!!!!

[tahtipuikkoblogi]

Seems they really liked the tune, and no wonder. Also in my top favourites :)

[kescores]

I never imagined this song would be so pretty.

[dynamitecandyman]

hearing tom play all these classic video game tunes just puts an endless smile on my face and brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. you guys are doing a fantastic thing here :)

[banditkowalewski]

I would gladly pay for an album of music just like this. I'm gonna wake up one day and find this on itunes or something, right? :P Pretty please?

[jasondesante]

this video is ridiculously ridiculously awesome. every bit

[Dinoropterix]

This is a testament to how well you write scores. I commend you!

[sevsquad]

if he put out soundtrack to that game I would buy it.

[GameKingMartin]

I love this so much xD Sub.

[dudeman548]

This is so great. So many memories, I printed off the music and am stoked to start playing this!

[lokilokiyeah]

This vid puts a huge grin on my face. I love it.

[f07x]

you guys are great

[Sonoskeakigawa]

Get him to play starcraft. Day9 will pull a kurt kobaine.

[ImTheWackhead]

@Sonoskeakigawa Hahahahashahahah that's funny.

[SamTheRogue]

This is my favorite piece of video game music ever. All the funnest levels in Yoshi's Island had this song in the background!

[SSBBsiggi]

omg i am so jelly *_*

[Boshtrich]

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

[Tony2Fingers2007]

this is amazing! I love when the whole band comes in so awesome!!!

[aYeAsuka]

If he ever makes some HQ records of his own jazz-like interpretations of video game songs, I would happily buy them.

[veratai707]

is this guy only so available that you have to hunt him down wherever he and a piano are both together?

[matholton]

Shiny Happy People. I love this video.

[CommunityScabies]

I'm so amazed at this.

[sweatpants1212]

big fan of the other videos, i clicked this one because i forgot what yoshi's island sounded like, my jaw dropped at :40. i would buy this man a drink!

[Stonehawk]

Better than the original! :D

[Keeper1st]

@aelosselys Yep, you got it. There are a lot of sight-readers out there. Where Tom excels is in his ability to embellish so quickly. Even on the first time through you can see him playing tenths in the left hand, and adding filigree in the right, none of which is on the page.

[dhawkins1234]

@aelosselys Actually a fair number of concert pianists aren't especially good at sight-reading. It's not really necessary if you typically spend weeks polishing and memorizing pieces for your performances. Professional accompanists on the other hand, can usually play almost anything you throw at them reasonably well. They have to be able to read/reduce orchestral scores on the fly. Different lines of work.

[caysonstaples]

Neckbeard. That is all.

[5atan5anta]

@caysonstaples

a very capable neckbeard indeed, take heed young nerd.

[Claizen]

Wow this guy is fucking talented

[Kaizu823]

Heh 0:34 ... it is like he picked the notes up with his fingers and placed it onto the piano keys, no... I'm serious.

[frenchfry113095]

can i like this a million times?

[enzo275]

I don't understand. So he's NEVER played these video games before/never heard the tunes? I don't understand how that's possible.

[Keeper1st]

@enzo275 I think most of us who were in the Atari/Intellivision/Colecovisi­on/Vectrex era never got into the Nintendo/Sega era that came along later because we had all graduated to computers.

[binks9997]

@Keeper1st Also thank you for posting a link to the sheet music. I'm going to be learning this tomorrow for sure:D

[jonah66669233288]

@Keeper1st is this actualy tom brier that owns this account?

[Keeper1st]

@jonah66669233288 No, of course not. My name is Ron O'Dell.

[phoskins]

@enzo275 He's a highly regarded pianist who specializes in ragtime and sight reading.

[lvowell]

@enzo275 I think he was practicing the piano instead, I mean have you watched the videos?

[wellfeedmonkey]

@enzo275 Obviously there are people out there with comprehension that you dont understand for things just as much as that statement is vice versa for them. Still got some growing to do grasshopper

[MrStrangeSensation]

@enzo275

If you're good enough, it doesn't matter if you've heard the song before.

Written music is very much like a written language. The only real difference is that sheet music is much more specific. Sheet music tells you exactly how to say (or play) every single note. How long should the note be, how loud or soft, should it grow or diminish, or blend into the next one, and so on.

If you're good, it's no different than reading out loud from a book. Tom Brier is just REALLY good at it.

[ObsidianArchangel]

I wish I could play even a fifth as good as he is

[megarandomplayer]

I hope someone has shown him some of Yoko Kanno's more ragtimey stuff.

[HoboMiracleMan]

@5:00 is pretty money

[vAznNoob]

wicked

[Doublegamingdudes]

love this song!

[boolossus777]

make him play "reach for the moon, immortal smoke" from Touhou

[nootrak123]

iv played this game hundreds of times with my little brother and this song always made me happy

[meatfighter]

Oh, I've heard people rumor about you. Your name must be "God".

[Kurosuki00008]

Please, i mean really please I want to play like him! :( He should start making Lessons or something! I´ve been playin piano for about 7 years and i want to improve more!

[AssimilateThis85]

Tom Brier is my background music at work while programming. Always.

[Keeper1st]

@AssimilateThis85 As Tom is a programmer too, I suppose he is his background music also! I've heard him say that he has written music down during breaks at work, actually, so I guess it is true.

[livardo]

@Keeper1st : He's a Unix guy isn't he?

[binks9997]

@Keeper1st He's a programmer? With his skill he could easily make a good living in music. I'm not close to his level and I do well enough.

[omegastar19]

@Keeper1st He is a programmer but doesnt play games?

[Hapistozic]

@omegastar19 You can program other things then game...but yeah that's strange

[xHighPotencyx]

@omegastar19 Programmers can do more than just make games lol

[jimbass1968]

Fantastic! I have loved this music for years! What a talented guy. Great stuff!

[Starfox64nintendo]

AARRRGGHH THIS IS TOO GREAT

ITS MAKING MY DAY ON SO MANY LEVELS D:

[ridjf]

Level 32 Bard

[Plastic100]

Haha! This is amazing!

[metallicaaaa1]

Beard power activated!!

[HectorAndresMayoral]

The things I would do to sight read like this man... THE THINGS I WOULD DOOOOO!!!

[TheMirageProductions]

LOL! OMG! lmfaooo

[TokiTokix3]

I love this ....so much.

[GoldenArcher96]

I would pay to hear this piano rendition in high quality without the background noise. I mean, who wouldn't?

[isaypwnsj00]

love it!!! most professional musicians should look into video game music! i could tell that the guy had fun playing too hehe.

[VannyARTS]

=D How cool to see and know that Yoshi's music is good and kool for parties and bars and it doesn't have to be a video game event.

[santfrias]

MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS POR SUBIR LA PARTITURA!

[Mapinga78]

When you see him correcting himself you think "what's so special?"....

BUT...while sight reading playing the tune, he is improvising (even at the beginning)!!!

WOW!!! 0_0

[saotele2]

Where is a photo, taken at 2:35? I want to see!

[Keeper1st]

@saotele2 There are plenty of photos of Tom at the piano taken during ragtime festivals; it's not like that photo there was the only photo ever taken of him! That was Kitty's husband taking that particular shot.

[saotele2]

@Keeper1st oh I see... Tom is Great, by the way!

[nh20003]

I watch this video almost everyday, this and the air platform theme video

[epilef1987]

OMG!, the pianist is CRAZY!, that was really impressive!!!! awesome! :D

[KasHCubeD]

I love how he recovers from an error like a boss! No doubt a trait of a pro.

[dennyfrontier]

How dare they not know that!

[pasionxrock]

haha, woow, this is awesome.

[BiKey9]

It's so great to see that senior people play my favourite video game song! :)

Beautifully played! :)

[couvepodre]

3:06 "Koji Kondo" ... My favorite vg composer..

[thesilversage1]

That was absolutely wonderful. I love it when professional musicians find out how much fun music from a video game or cartoon are to play. I kinda wonder how one of the chocobo songs from Final Fantasy VII would sound as rag. Maybe Fiddle de Chocobo or Cinco de Chocobo. Or maybe Delphino Plaza from Super Mario Sunshine or the Princess' Secret Slide from Mario 64. If you haven't heard them before, the Arita Band does a great Bluegrass interp of those two so it might make a cool ragtime.

[Keeper1st]

@thesilversage1 The reigning champion of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing, Martin Spitznagel, has a ragtime version of the Chocobo theme on his latest album (and a Super Mario medley and the Legend of Zelda theme, for that matter).

[g0t3nks]

When this man dies, I'm going to steal his heart and eat it to gain his power.

[V45844]

@g0t3nks

Don't be silly. God can't die. :D

[FellaDudeMan]

@g0t3nks While you do that, I'll use his brain to create the Tune Orchestrating Mechanism, or T.O.M., the Ragbot!

I'll duplicate his mental data to create little T.O.M.s about the size of your hand. After that, people will be able to plug him into their car stereos along with his little piano, and he'll play live music on request all the way to their destinations.

Of course, this is supposing that Tom himself doesn't live to be 305, which I hope he does!

[g0t3nks]

@FellaDudeMan

Genius.

[blazeypolska13]

@g0t3nks trololololololl

[smujohnson]

this man is truly God himself!

[VVeiss85]

i love later in the vid after you can tell he's pretty much memorized the form and really starts to open up with some improvised phrases....amazing sight reader though. also great stride piano player...i wish my left hand could move like that but i need about 1000 more hours of practice in that style first. :)

[MrTrackmeioi]

*head explodes* I wish I could sightread just as fast as he can... I JUST WISH.. and can ONLY WISH.. Dreams are for rookies :(

[Artuir82]

I can never, ever get tired of watching this.

[Suntaste92]

Awesome

[zivbu9]

why people are talking there?!

[Keeper1st]

@zivbu9 Because it's a party. People talk at parties.

[couvepodre]

@Keeper1st lmao

[Jikyu]

@Keeper1st It has to be like: When Tom Brier plays the piano, everyone listens." D:

[matoro1989]

@Keeper1st my ear would be glued to the side of the piano.

[guylaroche5]

awesome stuff, i love how he's oblivious to so many kids' childhood songs. do you guys ever show tom the original theme from the video games after he plays it?

[SuperBlanka10]

OMG i love this!

[mff6cchere]

That's very awsome being able to sight read like that! Not to mention, it's very awsome to see adults enjoying themselves to video game music! At least some people know that video game music can be just as entertaining as other music.

[Keeper1st]

@mff6cchere Yeah, music is music. Another ragtime musician I know, Martin Spitznagel, has three tracks on his latest album that are from videogame soundtracks. Look up "Face-Melting Ragtime" in the YouTube search box; I made a promo video for it with clips from each track and ordering/downloading information.

[UnstableArk]

I loved the energy in the room, and from one of my favorite games of all time no less.

On a side note, at 3:31, I almost thought the tuba man was gonna smash someone with that thing. He didn't, but still kicked some figurative ass.

[bendario]

Man, this is just so cool!

[PlushieClock]

I'm so jealous you can sight read like that...It will literally take me 18 hours to finally get that piece that you got in like 3 mins... How'd you learn to read that fast?! How long have you begin playing?

[Keeper1st]

@PlushieClock He learned to read music from age 5, which has given him an advantage of it being well rooted in his brain. He has said that he looks at music and reads it as easily as he looks at a sentence and reads it. You could say that moving his hands on the piano keyboard is as fundamental for him as a person who learned sign language from a young age; the hands just know what to do without having to think about it.