Piano, finally

Piano Finally is a podcast by an old bloke who is learning the piano, finally. I cover the process of learning the piano and music theory as an adult learner. I also review piano books, hardware and other materials from an adult learner's perspective.

Piano, finally is a music podcast hosted by David Reidy, with 105 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

David Reidy hosts Piano, finally, a music show with 105 episodes published.

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  Episode #104

  Episode 104 - On Paper

  Oct 4, 202620 minS1

  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.

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  Episode #103

  Episode 103 - Background Music

  Sep 27, 202617 minS1

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #102

  Episode 102 - Short

  Sep 13, 202614 minS1

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #101

  Episode 101 - Listen widely

  Sep 6, 202619 minS1

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #100

  Episode 100 - A Century

  Aug 30, 202617 minS1

  G'day, everyone. Welcome to show number one hundred of "Piano, finally" ! It has taken a while to get here, but things have been pretty busy. Musically, the biggest event was the Belong choir concert. We performed two sold-out shows at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville with a ten-piece band. Despite some early logistical hiccups with the stage setup, it was a spectacular experience. Reflecting on the past hundred episodes, starting the piano wasn't quite a spur-of-the-moment decision. I began with a backup plan, but it has become a pretty important part of what I do. I'm finding that the old saying, "the journey is more important than the destination" , is very much holding true. Saying "yes" rather than "no" to joining a vigil choir eventually led to all of this. Where to for the next hundred episodes? I'll be adding lead sheets and popular music to my learning, making my playing more entertaining and accessible. This has given me a reason to explore new stage keyboards. I'm waiting on a Yamaha Montage M8X and am already using a MODX-M6, so expect some different sounds soon! The choir singing will continue, Devi will be back for piano lessons, and the podcast will keep going. I'm also planning to discuss traditional software tools and electronics I use for learning. I've also been enjoying other music recently, seeing the Pink Floyd Experience in Penrith to celebrate fifty years of Wish You Were Here , and performing off-book with the choir at the Blackheath Choir Festival. What have I been practising? I'm working on a lead sheet version of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here , Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" , and The Spice Girls' "Wannabe" . If you'd like to contact me, email is best at david@pianofinally.show and the website is www.pianofinally.show . This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples, the first musicians in this place. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present. Until next week, I hope your piano stays in tune, and you enjoy your time at the keys. 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.

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