Piano, finally

G'day, everyone! Welcome to show 105 of Piano, finally, a podcast by an old bloke who is discovering music because he got around to learning the piano, finally.
This week, we're diving into the world of adaptations. It's easy to just go along with the flow of mass-produced stuff, but often the most satisfying path is throwing out those standard offerings and going your own way. We'll look at how we adapt music, and how we adapt our setups to get our practices just the way we want them.
What's Been Playing: I've spent a lot of time exploring the Montage M synthesiser. If you have one, or are thinking of getting a Montage or MODX keyboard, Keir Darby's video series, Montage M Demystified, is a really valuable resource. I also highly recommend checking out a video from Woody over at Woody's Piano Shack. He got a chance to play a real CFX—Yamaha's top-of-the-line concert grand piano—and talk with a piano technician. It's a beautiful instrument, which is good considering a CFX in Australia costs around a quarter of a million dollars! Watch Woody's CFX video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVveFcY2Uqo
Essay - Adaptations. Adaptations have long been a part of music. Sometimes it's taking a piece written for three violins and basso continuo, like Pachelbel's Canon, and turning it into a staple of the piano repertoire. In my choir, not one piece of our repertoire was originally written for a choir; they are all adapted from single-voice songs. Being in the bass section means we often get stuck with the root notes and the rhythm—there are a lot of pum-rapa-pum-pums in the ABBA song Fernando—but it makes those times we get an important part of the song even more special.
My playing has also led me to adapt my music furniture. Because the Montage is a stage keyboard, it doesn't have speakers or a music stand. So, I got out the CAD software and used my 3D printer to over-engineer a pair of small shelves that clamp to my Liquid Stands frame to hold my Adam D3V speakers. I also designed two interchangeable music stands that fit above the keyboard. Adaptations give us a way of making one-size-fits-all designs into truly personal pieces!
Learning - What's New: The singing lessons are showing results! We performed Ain't No Mountain High Enough this weekend, and I found I could get through it quite comfortably and sound pretty reasonable, even on the higher notes.
On the keyboard front, I've adopted the Rockschool syllabus from RSL Awards for some more contemporary music practice. I picked up the Grade 1 Keyboard and Grade 1 Voice books online, which include great backing tracks. Check out Rockschool here: https://rockschool.io/
I'm also doing the next lesson in Guy Michelmore's melody writing course, and getting reacquainted with Mathematica to make some diagrams for the new Physics course.
Closing: The rain went away, and the weather turned lovely for our performance at the Parramatta Pride Picnic. It was a fun performance, and the audience seemed to enjoy it!
Looking ahead, I'm not sure if there will be a show next week, as the choir has been invited to sing at a memorial service for our founder. The following week I am doing the St Vincent de Paul van on Sunday evening, which will mean no show on the 25th.
If you'd like to contact me, the email is david@pianofinally.show, and the website is www.pianofinally.show. Let me know where you are in your journey, what's going well, and what the challenges are!
This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungarra peoples, land that always was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening to the podcast.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

G'day, everyone. Welcome to show number one hundred and four of Piano, finally. Let's see if I can get everything right this week!
Welcome, I share some thoughts on renewing my Sydney Symphony Orchestra subscription and provide an update on the choir's progress for our December concert. We've got the repertoire sorted, and thankfully Sweet Disposition is reserved for the Perth festival, so I get a pass on that bass part! Also, a quick reminder that early-bird tickets for the 30th Blue Mountains Music Festival are available until mid-November: https://www.bmff.org.au/
What's been playing I have been enjoying Daniel Thrasher's fun classical pieces (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gStpYu84aRQ), a brilliant one-take cover of Pink Floyd's Money by sina-drums at Abbey Road Studios (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMuG3XoOw0l), and Pierre Piscitelli's fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how he makes his videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSYpQPZH43s).
Essay - On Paper: This week, I explore my approaches to using sheet music, and whether it is better on paper or digitally.I share my current setup, which involves some very nice Blackwing pencils (https://thesydneyartstore.com.au/collections/graphite/products/palomino-blackwing-soft-graphite) for paper scores, and a 13" iPad Pro running Newzik for digital scores.[cite: 4, 5] While digital is incredibly convenient for syncing finger numbers and annotations across devices, paper still has its place.[cite: 5, 6] Electronics will never replace browsing through Sappho Books (https://www.sapphobooks.com.au/) or DaCapo (https://www.dacapo.com.au/). Let's embrace both!
Learning - What's new: I've got the new practice space set up, placing the Yamaha Montage M8x in a spot where it gets played numerous times a day.[cite: 6, 7] I'm slowly but steadily working on Pierre Piscitelli's tutorial for Candle in the Wind. I'm also preparing to dive into Guy Michelmore's new course on Harmony.
Closing & Progress I'll be taking the Montage to the repairer to get the broken knob fixed. We also have a choir performance at the Parramatta Pride Picnic coming up. Finally, I share my progress with the Montage, experimenting with the opening of Candle in the Wind and the Trumpet Tune.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

G'day, everyone. Welcome to show number one hundred and three of Piano, finally. I'm on holidays! Term 3 is over, and I'm planning to use the break to get the secondary music spot better organised for some short practice sessions. My new Yamaha Montage M8x keyboard has arrived, though it has a slightly broken knob that I'm getting sorted. I also picked up a hard case for it, which is quite a bit heavier than the case for the MODX M6!
Just a quick reminder that early bird tickets for the 30th Blue Mountains Music Festival are now available. You can grab yours here: https://www.bmff.org.au/
What's been playing Last week, ABC Radio's The Music Show covered a fascinating family singing continuously for 400 years, alongside Brian Dessner's new cello concerto, The Trembling Earth. I also had a fantastic workshop with the Luminescence Chamber Singers who travelled up from Canberra to help us with phrasing and timing for our upcoming choir concert. Check out their October concerts and a video of them performing All is Well here: https://www.luminescence.org.au/
On YouTube, I found two great videos. Pierre Piscitelli has a wonderful tutorial on Candle in the Wind, which is definitely on my list to learn. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKFhbSLn-Vs. Also, check out Every Piano Player's Worst Nightmare... (Here's what to play) by Piano with Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfNZ4rvYTsA. I might give her suggested piece a try next time I'm early to choir practice!
Background Music This week, I've been pondering a question: is music always meant to be listened to? At a recent school building opening, two brilliant Year 10 students played live background music. They were fantastic, yet mostly ignored as people mingled. It got me thinking about how background music is everywhere—from supermarkets to weddings—and whether having live musicians fade into the background is a good thing for them financially, or just frustrating when their hard work is overlooked. Let me know how you balance live music and paying musicians proper respect!
What's New I've started working on the opening bars of Candle in the Wind and slowly navigating the hundred-plus controls on my new Yamaha Montage keyboard. My long-term goal is to learn the process of picking up a lead sheet and producing something decent, rather than just playing the right notes from a full score.
Closing I went to see some of my students in a local, cut-down production of Beauty and the Beast by Fantasia Showstoppers, and I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional singing! Find out more about them here: https://www.fantasiashowstoppers.com.au/
If you'd like to reach out, email me at david@pianofinally.show or visit www.pianofinally.show. Let me know where you are in your musical journey!
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but that these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

G'day, everyone. Welcome to show number one hundred and two of "Piano, finally", a podcast by an old bloke who is discovering music because he got around to learning the piano. It’s been a relatively quiet week musically, consisting mostly of a voice lesson, choir rehearsal, and some evening practice. However, this week’s show is shorter than usual. With fun events happening after work every day next week and finalising all the marking for the term, there wasn't enough time to write the planned essay on what goes on behind the scenes when putting something big together. The new school building was also opened on Friday, complete with open day events and fantastic background music provided by students to celebrate the school's fortieth birthday.
Festivals and Summits This weekend is the AltStrings Practice Summit. While primarily aimed at string players, this free summit for amateur adult musicians has a lot to offer, so I opted for the paid version to access the recordings rather than paying attention at 2:30 in the morning. Also, early bird tickets are now available for the 30th Blue Mountains Music Festival happening next March. Grab them here: https://www.bmff.org.au/.
What's been playing The third season of the ABRSM "Start Here" podcast has surprisingly dropped two new episodes covering Punk and House music. The series is comprehensive and an excellent way to expand your musical horizons. You can listen here: https://shows.acast.com/abrsm-start-here. On ABC Radio, "The Music Show" featured a look back at the career of John Farnham, diving deep into "You're the Voice". Check out the episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/john-farnham-whispering-jack/107070578. This ties into a new biography and an upcoming musical based on his life premiering in November. Get tickets to the musical here before it sells out: https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/2026/productions/whispering-jack. Other than that, I'm listening to choir practice tracks like "Barefoot" and "The Day You Went Away" to get a proper feel for the music.
Learning - What's new I've made a bit of progress in the "How to Write A Great Melody" course by Guy Michelmore. I've been using the motif generator to come up with short, one-bar phrases that will form the basis of my next exercises. To get closer to playing familiar pop music, I've been exploring the types of keyboards used in classic recordings. David Bennett recently released "Top 10 Rhodes Songs of All Time", which covers the development of Rhodes pianos. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CV0Jv1Z0To. Pierre Piscitelli also has his own version of Rhodes intros, which you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CimnsB-IHpk. I’ve been using these videos to play with the settings on the Nord and MODX.
Progress at the Keys The Trumpet Tune is coming along nicely, and I finally have the timing of the trills working properly into the next notes. With the right-hand working, I'm starting to bring in the left-hand chords. Excitingly, I'm making a start on a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". With the Montage M8X arriving this coming week, I've purchased a package of settings based around Pink Floyd's music and am testing them out.
Closing Piano practice will take a back seat this week as I attend the 2027 season launches for the Sydney Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare, plus a read performance of Henry VI Pt 2, the annual Astronomy evening at Macquarie University, and a vocal workshop. If you want to reach out, email david@pianofinally.show or visit www.pianofinally.show.
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.

Welcome to show number one hundred and one! Thanks to everyone who stuck around, and a special thanks to Bill Hilton for mentioning the milestone in his newsletter. Over the next hundred episodes, I'm introducing two new sections: what I've been looking at and listening to for general musical education, and an in-depth look at something I've learned during the week. I'll still occasionally review equipment like the Yamaha Montage M8X when it arrives to pair with my MODX M6. 
What's been playing Over the last few weeks, I’ve added new tracks for the upcoming choir concert. Singing in the choir has forced me to learn music I'd never normally consider, like the K-pop Demon Hunters track Golden. I've also been enjoying The Whitlams' Blow Up the Pokies, kd lang's Barefoot, Tainted Love, and Moon River. 
On the piano side, I attended a brilliant concert in Newtown featuring improvised music by Mark Isaacs and performances by my piano teacher, Devi Mammak. She played her own compositions, along with Beethoven and Chopin, and finished with a wonderful interpretation of the second movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata played in the style of Chopin. If you're around Sydney in September, try to catch these Wednesday evening concerts in a great acoustic space: https://events.humanitix.com/host/eight-o-clock-sharp https://www.emus.space/events/2026-09-02-88x8-mark-isaacs-and-devi-mamak/ 
I also saw Lucas and Arthur Jussen brilliantly perform Francis Poulenc's Concerto for 2 pianos in D minor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. We also heard selections from Poulenc's Les Animaux Modèles and Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome. Conductor Stéphane Denève even brought an original 78rpm record of a nightingale to play on an era-appropriate gramophone during the Respighi piece! (Catch the broadcast on ABC Classic FM on 18 November). 
Listen widely It’s common to stick to safe, comfortable music, but being adventurous pays off. Whether through choir repertoire, SSO concert series, or podcasts like the ABRSM's Start Here and the ABC's The Music Show, there are countless ways to discover incredible new pieces and artists. For less than the cost of an album each month, you can access almost everything ever recorded, so get out there and listen widely. 
Learning - What's new I've started a new online course from Thinkspace Education by Guy Michelmore called How to Write a Great Melody. I'm not planning to become a composer, but it’s a fun way to understand the process. So far, we've analyzed melodies like Baby Shark and Schindler's List. 
Progress I'm working towards the November piano recital. This week, I practiced the right-hand melody for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on the synth and worked on the Purcell-based piano piece Trumpet Tune. 
If you'd like to contact me, email me at david@pianofinally.show or visit www.pianofinally.show. 
The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but that these show notes were created by Gemini.
Send me a text message.
You can contact me:
via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
the show website, www.pianofinally.show
Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
and on YouTube 
all the podcast directories - list
here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link. 
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.