The Stars and Stripes Forever: Sousa-Horowitz Transcription

[YellowTieGeezer]

Wow! And you're not asian.

[capcentre]

AWESOME!!!!

[amourkayanyan]

amazing =] very talented u are.

[8Ho03EdONl1liL]

Thanks for posting!! Your technique isn't perfect (gee, I wonder why lol) and neither was Horowitz'. I like your style of playing (better than Mr. H in some parts imo). Congrats!! Awesome job.

[rjackman1981]

To the 13 people who disliked this, may I say in all due respect you are fucking idiots. That was amazing dude.

[alpha3327]

Bravo...Bravo...Bravo!!!

[josevaladez]

Congratulations ! Great performance. Greetings from Monterrey, México. José.

[robaarm]

very good i wish i could play the piano

rob

[nstehli]

come to my school and play this for my piano final in june ..... hahaha i wish, good job though.

[AlysiaCO]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! You are extremely talented... I gave you a standing ovation lol... Such a joy to listen to. I aspire to be that good, but I'm a LONG way off

[benapril27]

good for you for learning this! excellent job!

[jromias]

You're talent is truly amazing. You're so young, your technique is continuing to develop and yet you play so incredibly strong and well. I am in awe each time I watch this. Thanks for sharing your beautiful gift and I'll look forward to a trip to the Walt Disney Concert Hall from Palm Springs to watch you perform! Perhaps accompanying Cecilia Bartoli? But I would be satisfied to sit for two hours in that hall and watch you perform!

[Entertainer114]

@GayPan247092 You know your video isn't all that bad once spammers start noticing it ;)

[snustin44]

Yeah, that was pretty fucking AMAZING!!! I'm learning this piece right now, and let me tell ya.. she's a BEAST! Like you had said about the bass part, that really IS the hardest part about learning this one... I keep having to slow myself down when I get carried away.

[bikeous23]

Nevermind. I found the sheets within the comments, i am amazed every time I watch this.

[bikeous23]

This is crazy. Sheet music?

[jromias]

WOW! I read recently how the word "amazing" has lost its significance in our daily landguage, but after watching this and hearing the performance, it is nothing short of AMAZING!

[Stefan2797]

very good! i play piano and bassoon and oboe and saxophone and any clarinet u can name but i have a fantastic teacher who should teach me this. i enjoy listening to other pianists

[PianersAreFun]

Those double-trills at the end look difficult! were they hard to perfect?

[Entertainer114]

@PianersAreFun After having to learn the Chopin double-thirds etude, the trills in this weren't as hard. The hardest part was the left hand jumping around. I never got it perfect.

[niklaslinux]

@Entertainer114 Left hand jumping is always hard, Ragtime is a good training for this.

[CrzybuthatsHowItGoes]

@niklaslinux That's what i was thinking.. this march fits as ragtime. crazay.

[futuredussault]

I truly enjoyed listening to you play this piece! :) Such talent you have to play Horowitz amazingly! I've been playing for over 9 years and have never attempted this arrangement but I'm wanting to now but everywhere I go to get music, I can never find his arrangement. :( Is there a certain place I can get this? When I do find and buy it, are there any suggestions/recommendations you would give to someone who's trying to learn that would help?

[Entertainer114]

@futuredussault Thank you very much. If you check out some of the other comments, you'll find the link to the website where I got the sheet music for this piece. It should be on one of the comments somewhere :)

[southernboirj76]

the MOST awesome piano playing EVER!

[dahur]

Damn, this is so amazing. I just love it. I can't imagine how long it took to learn.

[kleinbogen]

Before I even try to learn this piece, can you tell me how wide your hands have to stretch to? 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th? Thanks!

[Entertainer114]

@kleinbogen From what I remember, during the first part, mainly octaves. Lots of jumping in the left hand, and some tenths. In the middle "piccolo" section, there's much more stretching and quick jumping in the right hand. That's the hardest section; the chord shapes are often awkward and the left hand has to take over the middle voices a lot. There are 10ths in there too. Maybe 11ths.

[kleinbogen]

@Entertainer114

Thanks for your response. I guess I have to skip this beautiful piece. My fingers can't stretch that wide.

[Entertainer114]

@kleinbogen You can still try it. There are finger stretching techniques/exercises out there. I don't have the biggest hands myself, and I don't hit all the stretches perfectly. Some of them, like at 0:51, I need to "roll' from bottom to top. All I'm saying is, don't give up if you want to learn it :) Best of luck!

[kleinbogen]

@Entertainer114

Do you really think I can still learn it even though my fingers can stretch to 9th and unable to get to 10th? Will rolling the fingers make the sound weaker and lose the punches that it meant to be? Thanks so much for your encouragement.

[Entertainer114]

@kleinbogen With enough practice, you can build the technique for those stretches. But that takes a lot of time. If you can't reach the 10ths, you might just practice it with octaves instead for awhile until your technique gets there. I try not to roll if I can help it, but sometimes I have to, because my hands aren't big enough to punch out the 10th.

[VONHIMMELBACH]

I LOVE IT!!! :D

[BradSD25]

I've listened to over 45 covers of this song, and this song clearly leads the pack. In fact, it does a big egg fart on the competition and then says, "who ya daddie?"

[HelloKezhia]

ur AMAZING!!!

[ixcuincle]

Well done!

[Purplvr53]

Sounds perfectly in tune to me.....

[txcowgirl83]

I can't believe it every time i hear it. 

[markpianoman]

What a shame the piano is so out of tune!

[Entertainer114]

@markpianoman Yeah, agreed. We have 4 pianists in our family, so it's rarely in tune.

[markpianoman]

@Entertainer114 It would drive me crazy to have to practice on an instrument that much out of tune.

[BabyGrandProductions]

Hardest thing about this is bringing out all the voices. You're playing three or more lines at a time in some places, and regardless of which hand any line is being played by at any given moment, you have to maintain a consistent tone color unique to that line. Tough work. Don't underestimate the helpfulness of learning Bach fugues for that kind of thing...

[Entertainer114]

@BabyGrandProductions You're so right, that is the hardest part. Thanks for the advice.

[tonkythewonky]

dayummm!

[DJR33331]

BEAUTIFUL! How can I get a hard copy of the music?

[Entertainer114]

@DJR33331 Google vkgfx.com for the sheet music to this. Jackpot :)

[DJR33331]

how can i get a hard copy of this?

[bikeous23]

Wow! That was amazing!

[guycrosswell]

2:15 onwards is just breathtaking, ive been playing piano for ages now and still dont know how two hands can play the melody bass and flute solo all at once, you are amazing! and with a few clean ups here and there and some more flowing expression you could easily be up there with some of the best pianists in the country

[Entertainer114]

@guycrosswell Thanks a lot for the kind words. I was in a rush to tape this before leaving home for school for a long time. So this was not my best take, and there are quite a few annoying mistakes. With more time, I could have warmed up and played a cleaner take.

[dahur]

Damn. That was SO good! maybe the best I've seen. I can appreciate all the hard work you put in to learn that piece. Well done.

[txcowgirl83]

Holy Moly this was the best rendition I have ever heard. , AWESOME!!

[Politan182]

Complimenti interpretazione fantastica 5*

[jzv0001]

I don't care who you are or how long you've been playing the piano, it is a major accomplishment to able to even come close to play this peace right. The tempo at which you play it, I think, really makes soar. Its funny I bet that top octave and half hasnt ever been played like that before.

[elieltanr]

your piano needs tuning badly

[MrVladimirHorowitz]

In the words of the great maestro, Horowitz. " Everyone plays it so hackney, so fast, they should play it much slower."

[L4RSLink]

Good played, better than i can!

But its still to fast, you have to imagine your walking at normal speed.

[MrVladimirHorowitz]

Horowitz would hate it, why did you play it so fast, is a march. listen to him playing it and then revise it

[Entertainer114]

@MrVladimirHorowitz

I understand what you mean, and I've heard his original version. So yes, Horowitz would likely disapprove. But I prefer to play it faster, and there's nothing wrong with that per se. And some marching bands I've heard play it as fast as I did.

[Rauskucker]

Great job!

Otherwise I don't like military music, but that song is phantastic. And this version too.

[vincentws03]

I see the shadows of Volodos around you

[southernboirj76]

horowitz would be proud! awesome my friend!

[Leyvegetayable]

one word amazing

[TheMikester307]

I caught some wrong notes and clunkers in that. Cherish them! Horowitz, Rachmaninoff ect. didn't play everything note-perfect! Your interpretation of this piece floors me! You ar heir to the Romantic Pianists! Play it your way and critics be dammned! And have fun!

[misscharlene85]

Absolutely amazing! I feel honored to know a prodigy like you!

[tommy9882]

nice tempo great passion

[kraftpr]

BRAVO SIR!!! I've heard it said or read somewhere that Maestro Horowitz's compositions and arrangements were often so difficult that no other pianist would dare attempt to play them except Mr. Horowitz himself. Thanks for sharing your astounding talent!

[Chrisjuchniewicz]

This is so true.

[b12isabeast]

how bout i do a duet with you!!! lol

[petong37]

สุดยอดเลยจากประเทศไทย  fromthaiand

[ze590597]

outstanding job!

[steinwaygrande1]

excellent playing !

[ClassicalH]

a little fast but still good

[prontony]

What a joy.

I have absolutely no musical ability...but to see someone such as you get out there and share his blessed gift is so very moving.

Thank you !

frank

[hosk1963]

WOW!!! I don't think I've ever seen anyone play piano that well! Absolutely splendidly brilliant job!!!!!!! :O

[jcrichfield24]

Excellent playing.

[Maxobillion]

Brilliant, good sir! Absolutely splendid!

[newpowergeneration]

that was great! it had to be better than last time!

[dancerbo1]

I've never seen it played by one person!!! That...was...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!­!

[robbe8889]

god bless america!!!

this is really well played"!!!!

keep on doing this !!!

5 stars *****

[thepianomaniac]

This is amazing!

[paulbinko]

Marvelous, marvelous presentation! Much better than my organ clip, I think! :-)

[Lai10marie]

those hands are sooo fine..

[xavyier]

magnifique :)

[hklifeguard]

It shows, you're talented.

[wildUncleJohn]

WONDERFUL! I know many piano students who have studied for 11+ years and cannot do THAT. I'm showing this to all my young friends taking lessons as an example of what can be achieved with hard work (and a bit of talent :-) -- WE NEED more classical pieces like this from you to show them!! THANKS!

[Entertainer114]

Thank you very much. I'll try to get some more videos up soon, though there's another classical piano video of mine already on youtube if you're interested.

[wildUncleJohn]

You mean your HR#2? I've watched that a dozen times, even left you a comment under my other persona (jgolini). Are you a piano/music major? Planning on becoming a pro? Being A Liszt fan I have to ask if you know La Campanella :-)

[Entertainer114]

Haha, thank you very much. No I'm not a music major. This is what I do in my spare time. Practicing piano were a big part of my life from age 8-18. Since then, I've been learning just things I want to play. And no, I never learned La Campanella, but my younger sister, who's at conservatory, played it. Thanks for your compliments :)

[snplnktt]

where did you get the sheets?

[fornello123]

what kind of piano is it?

[Entertainer114]

It's a Kawai. I like Kawais, but I admit we bought ours used and it's never perfectly in tune because it's constantly being played by my siblings and me.

[motomotty1]

ready now

[Tiberius717]

You are wonderful! Remember what Horowitz himself used to say, though, complaining to players about always playing it "three times faster": "Military march is a walking march". You should mesure the step, don't rush and take breathes between phrases. You have a fantastic tecnique anyway. Bravo!!

[dahur1]

I really enjoyed this!  Great job!!

[weatherboi]

Great talent guy, keep working at it. :-)

[southernboirj76]

OMG! dude! awesome! lol one of my fav songs and you did it very very well.l.kudos

it is also my anniversary, 18 years, with my partner kent and i....

[rockdots]

Very nice! Happy 4th!

[lacrymosa85]

Solid..

[kossuth132]

inspiring for such a hard piece, really. thanks for the cheering up!

[jakeshadow79]

treble needs to be tuned bad, some of those notes were obscene...

[tnmtemerity]

Those notes are out of tune - I'm not sure why you got tumbs down for that. The Playing is rather impressive.

[jaimevieuxtemps]

I am sure it is someone complaining about the note at 1:37

[snplnktt]

i didnt hear anything wrong with it.

[iPikee]

What kind of piano is that? Please reply

[muziqueonmymind]

this is how i would play it lol

[Standardx3]

awesome

[ovthegr8]

how can anyone say he made a flaw during this piece, it was perfect on all sides, i give it 50 stars! great job eric

franz

[LawtonECHS]

lol it's a pun! i love it! (50 stars, on the video and on the flag!) intentional or not, that's creative.

[pigeonhawk1]

overpedaled, in the first page, u just bang the keys, however it is outstanding that u can play this ,music, and 2 slow for my taste, during the down chromstic part, it seems like u r speeding up, bravo!

[mjr78363]

That absolutely amazing!@

[mjr78363]

Hey is there any way I could get that sheet music from you if you have it I've been wanting to learn this soo bad.

[johnbaptistlulu]

very good. 4 stars.

[n1973s]

You should keep pursuing music...lots of talent on the piano.

[n1973s]

Man, I had no idea you could play like that! Sounds awesome to me...

[BrentAudi]

Very nice!

Your interpretation is great!

Your poor piano however. Your upper register pins are slipping bad! I don't know how you stand the sound!

Is it an older Yamaha?

Great video though.

Brent

[stratman2009]

I am somewhat dismayed at the fact that there is no mention of John Philip Sousa in the video description. He was indeed a true American treasure, and as chief executive of his estate, it brings me great sorrow to see his absence from the keywords.

Sad day.

[stratman2009]

What a stud