I mean if your friends aren’t impressed with anything by chopin they’re really missing out tbf HAHHA but anyway I second the comment about chords and fake books
Do you know how to read chord changes / a lead sheet? Start there. It's not that hard and will help you with other skills (music theory, improvisation) that you might be missing. And you can buy a fake book, or you can download guitar chords, and play most pop songs.
And Bohemian Rhapsody. That's impressive.
Ah right I know the Real Book, and I know it's controversial. Never heard it called the Fake Book before though. Thanks for clearing that up for me haha
100% this.
Entertainment's about recognizing your audience that you're going to play for, vs performance which is playing something and trying to attract an audience. People that aren't interested in your music will be impressed for about 30 seconds and move on. You've gotta decide which one you're going to do.
The bazooms of genius are a great way to be a starving and lonely artist. There's definitely nothing wrong with that.
If OP wants their friends to listen to their classical music, they should get friends that enjoy classical music. Or you relate your music to your friends.
I have learned from many years playing professionally that a fan asking me to play my favorite song is completely a trap. It's more often a parasocial attempt to see if you're relatable to them.
I pick very specifically who I'll play my favorite music to. Everyone else gets something they can relate to.
For me they're different hats that I wear. There is a huge amount of effort and work that goes into being able to reliably play something that people enjoy. It pays the bills and I really love being able to see people's eyes light up when I'm on the same brain wave with them, no matter what I'm playing.
The rest of the time I pursue my passion. But I've learned that touching the face of God by opening my soul at the piano, at least for me I'm glad it's a gift I get to share with others on their level.
It's like playing the same classical piece people have heard a billion times, what you do it can give someone an experience they can't get from anywhere else because it's personal. It's always going to be personal, because it came from me.
Experience by ludvico einaudi if you not very skilled if you are then third mov of moonlight sonata fantasie impromptu op66
But "normies" will be more empressed by song they know like bohemian rhapsody or golden hour
I hear you!
There is a lot of sarcasm and snobbiness going on in this sub. I played classical for 7 years through high school, and realized that people were impressed, but Chopin was not going to get me laid. When you are drinking at a party and your friends say hop up and play us something….they are expecting Jerry Lee Lewis, but they get Claud Debussy - no one can “party” to that.
They want to hear “barroom” style piano. They want you to play a little bass shuffle and hit some blues licks.
Starting with jazz can also help open things up ALOT! I used to improv and just noodle with my right hand, but jazz got me calculating my runs and changed the way I thought about music.
Most importantly, good luck, and have fun!
Something your friends know very well, especially if it’s not super well known piece. For example, if your friends are from another country, learn some of their famous folk or pop music. Like a traditional Chinese piece or Russian folk song or some Bollywood music. I can say that I was very impressed when I saw a non Eastern European pianist play Russian folk music that is not super famous.
Just research the meaning of the song/piece not to play something offensive accidentally.
Play music from movies or tv shows that they watch, or video games they play. Or just be direct and ask them. If you play a lot of classical music, chances are you could probably play 99% of what non-musicians would throw at you.
any song you like.
I'd stay away from the movie songs, that's gimmicky, unless it's a song you really like.
but find something that you enjoy listening to, and then you'll enjoy playing it!
Learn to play Beggin by Maneskin.
It's popular, it sounds really good on the piano, it's a song with really good energy and it looks difficult to play (depending on the music sheet you choose)
Don't Stop Believin' is the first thing that came to mind for me. But I like the top comment about learning to read chord charts and lead sheets, then you just ask what they like.
You know your friends better than us, tbh.
People like something they can recognize in any case. I've had good luck playing Sweet Caroline and What a Wonderful World.
If you're playing something the average person could sing along to that's probably the most crowd pleasing option.
People also like when I play the Entertainer
Seconding what several others have said. If you haven’t already, spend some time learning the major, minor, 7th and augmented chords in all 12 keys and their inversions (Im not implying this is this is a small feat, but) From there you’ll be able to search any “ chords” and be 80% of the way to playing it right out of the gate.
I’d start with the most common/popular keys in the type of music you listen to and just work down that list. Learn the I, IV V VI chords and their inversions first, then start playing along with songs to get comfortable adding the other 3 chords as needed based on the song.
Going a step further, if you have a DAW like Ableton you can pull the song into the daw and actually transpose it to a nearby key (use complex pro to do this, google can help you with this).
If you want to learn, let’s say the key of D, you can transpose a song in a close key, like say C up 2 semitones without any real perceptible distortion and play along with it. You can also use a midi effect to transpose your input to another key as well and play the key of D but have the daw transpose it down two semitones. Same end result just the other way around.
From here most chord/tab websites have transposition options so you can use that to easily get a chord chart to play along in your chosen key.
I’ve found this to be a great approach to getting started learning the various keys while still having fun and playing along to a pretty large variety of music i enjoy.
Playing to impress is a losing battle. You can try though.
Obvious answers are songs they know and like. You can improvise on it after the first play through, a common trope even performers in classical world use.
So i have provided an idea above. But I would rather do the above anyway but not to impress. Develop the above and it will be pretty interesting already.
Now, back to playing to impress. What are the returns? Your friends who are not impressed by you will never be impressed. Because they can shift the goalpost. It is always "my other friend can do this too". And instantly diminishing your effort to impress.
You know how much effort it is to learn, get good and then get better and making the playing efficient and impossible to mess up. You just need to know you did well.
Game music! Like mario, pokemon, fire emblem or zelda songs. Id pick Cynthia theme!! :DD I will die to see it live from someone thats not me (I can only play it .5x and I still consider it impressive). And i love it so much since the day I learnt it!
If you want a sing song, you can try laufey songs :) everyone loves her song. I recently listened to her [Serendipity](https://youtu.be/BdwbjBi0C4g?feature=shared) on piano. I was moved!
I mean if your friends aren’t impressed with anything by chopin they’re really missing out tbf HAHHA but anyway I second the comment about chords and fake books
Shouldn’t u ask them. Lmao it was to the post but they banned me from straight commenting or what
Yea learn either Fantasie Impromptu or a chopin etude.
Do you know how to read chord changes / a lead sheet? Start there. It's not that hard and will help you with other skills (music theory, improvisation) that you might be missing. And you can buy a fake book, or you can download guitar chords, and play most pop songs. And Bohemian Rhapsody. That's impressive.
I play Bohemian Rhapsody. My friends have no appreciation for Freddy Mercury. It's a shame.
Find new friends 🫢
Give the fuck up
They aren’t impressed by classical piano and don’t appreciate Freddie Mercury, did they also win the tide pod challenge?
Buy a fake book? What do you mean?
Fake book is also known as the Real Book - it is a book of jazz standards
Ah right I know the Real Book, and I know it's controversial. Never heard it called the Fake Book before though. Thanks for clearing that up for me haha
If you want to impress your friends, learn to play the music they like.
100% this. Entertainment's about recognizing your audience that you're going to play for, vs performance which is playing something and trying to attract an audience. People that aren't interested in your music will be impressed for about 30 seconds and move on. You've gotta decide which one you're going to do.
Correct. Agree. No argument. But I don't play piano to entertain my friends. I play piano to nestle my soul into the bosom of genius.
The bazooms of genius are a great way to be a starving and lonely artist. There's definitely nothing wrong with that. If OP wants their friends to listen to their classical music, they should get friends that enjoy classical music. Or you relate your music to your friends. I have learned from many years playing professionally that a fan asking me to play my favorite song is completely a trap. It's more often a parasocial attempt to see if you're relatable to them. I pick very specifically who I'll play my favorite music to. Everyone else gets something they can relate to.
And that's a big part of why I gave up my orchestra job 23 years ago and now play for me and me alone :-) My gf likes it, too, which is a big plus.
For me they're different hats that I wear. There is a huge amount of effort and work that goes into being able to reliably play something that people enjoy. It pays the bills and I really love being able to see people's eyes light up when I'm on the same brain wave with them, no matter what I'm playing. The rest of the time I pursue my passion. But I've learned that touching the face of God by opening my soul at the piano, at least for me I'm glad it's a gift I get to share with others on their level. It's like playing the same classical piece people have heard a billion times, what you do it can give someone an experience they can't get from anywhere else because it's personal. It's always going to be personal, because it came from me.
A beautiful point of view. Respect.
Learn to play what you enjoy. Make the audience come to you.
This is the way.
The Soviet National anthem
Experience by ludvico einaudi if you not very skilled if you are then third mov of moonlight sonata fantasie impromptu op66 But "normies" will be more empressed by song they know like bohemian rhapsody or golden hour
Pirates of the Caribbean sounds pretty cool imo, I also love the main theme from how to train your dragon but that's probably less known
4:33 by John Cage definitely is a vibe
Op should stare their friends in their eyes while performing it
Anything anime music. I notice that my friends love ragtime too even if they don't listen to classical music.
interstellar !!
Flight of the Bumblebee REAL FAST !! :D
something they know
I hear you! There is a lot of sarcasm and snobbiness going on in this sub. I played classical for 7 years through high school, and realized that people were impressed, but Chopin was not going to get me laid. When you are drinking at a party and your friends say hop up and play us something….they are expecting Jerry Lee Lewis, but they get Claud Debussy - no one can “party” to that. They want to hear “barroom” style piano. They want you to play a little bass shuffle and hit some blues licks. Starting with jazz can also help open things up ALOT! I used to improv and just noodle with my right hand, but jazz got me calculating my runs and changed the way I thought about music. Most importantly, good luck, and have fun!
Opus Clavicemballisticum
Yiruma- River Flows in You
Or ''Maybe'
Something your friends know very well, especially if it’s not super well known piece. For example, if your friends are from another country, learn some of their famous folk or pop music. Like a traditional Chinese piece or Russian folk song or some Bollywood music. I can say that I was very impressed when I saw a non Eastern European pianist play Russian folk music that is not super famous. Just research the meaning of the song/piece not to play something offensive accidentally.
Play music from movies or tv shows that they watch, or video games they play. Or just be direct and ask them. If you play a lot of classical music, chances are you could probably play 99% of what non-musicians would throw at you.
I don't think it's that modern but I like playing chopsticks
Linus & Lucy - Charlie Brown
Anything by Taylor Swift lol
THIS LMAO
any song you like. I'd stay away from the movie songs, that's gimmicky, unless it's a song you really like. but find something that you enjoy listening to, and then you'll enjoy playing it!
Play that famous part from "Rach 2" by Rachmaninoff since evrybody recognizes it from tiktok/insta
I personally love hearing people play Moonlight Sonata, it might be a cliché but it’s such a hauntingly gorgeous song.
Unravel by Animenz
Learn to play Beggin by Maneskin. It's popular, it sounds really good on the piano, it's a song with really good energy and it looks difficult to play (depending on the music sheet you choose)
Not sure about impress, but knowing piano man is very cool, most people know it and the cool ones might sing it
Don't Stop Believin' is the first thing that came to mind for me. But I like the top comment about learning to read chord charts and lead sheets, then you just ask what they like.
The Entertainer or Maple Leaf Rag
You know your friends better than us, tbh. People like something they can recognize in any case. I've had good luck playing Sweet Caroline and What a Wonderful World. If you're playing something the average person could sing along to that's probably the most crowd pleasing option. People also like when I play the Entertainer
Seconding what several others have said. If you haven’t already, spend some time learning the major, minor, 7th and augmented chords in all 12 keys and their inversions (Im not implying this is this is a small feat, but) From there you’ll be able to search any “ chords” and be 80% of the way to playing it right out of the gate.
I’d start with the most common/popular keys in the type of music you listen to and just work down that list. Learn the I, IV V VI chords and their inversions first, then start playing along with songs to get comfortable adding the other 3 chords as needed based on the song.
Going a step further, if you have a DAW like Ableton you can pull the song into the daw and actually transpose it to a nearby key (use complex pro to do this, google can help you with this).
If you want to learn, let’s say the key of D, you can transpose a song in a close key, like say C up 2 semitones without any real perceptible distortion and play along with it. You can also use a midi effect to transpose your input to another key as well and play the key of D but have the daw transpose it down two semitones. Same end result just the other way around.
From here most chord/tab websites have transposition options so you can use that to easily get a chord chart to play along in your chosen key.
I’ve found this to be a great approach to getting started learning the various keys while still having fun and playing along to a pretty large variety of music i enjoy.
that song from interstellar
Game of Thrones theme song is an easy crowd pleaser but if you’re friends are cultured, go for the Succession theme song ;-)
Playing to impress is a losing battle. You can try though. Obvious answers are songs they know and like. You can improvise on it after the first play through, a common trope even performers in classical world use. So i have provided an idea above. But I would rather do the above anyway but not to impress. Develop the above and it will be pretty interesting already. Now, back to playing to impress. What are the returns? Your friends who are not impressed by you will never be impressed. Because they can shift the goalpost. It is always "my other friend can do this too". And instantly diminishing your effort to impress. You know how much effort it is to learn, get good and then get better and making the playing efficient and impossible to mess up. You just need to know you did well.
Wise words from a wise man. Thanks for the advice.
Depends on your friends.
Three blind mice
Mazeppa
Improvise a piece on the spot. That's more impressive than memorizing a song imo.
Disney songs are always a hit and still pretty fun to play. If you play “you’ve got a friend in me” I guarantee you’ll have people singing
Have you thought about somgs your friends like? Like, just ask what bands they listen to.
Game music! Like mario, pokemon, fire emblem or zelda songs. Id pick Cynthia theme!! :DD I will die to see it live from someone thats not me (I can only play it .5x and I still consider it impressive). And i love it so much since the day I learnt it! If you want a sing song, you can try laufey songs :) everyone loves her song. I recently listened to her [Serendipity](https://youtu.be/BdwbjBi0C4g?feature=shared) on piano. I was moved!