PIYW #7: "Play 'Over the Rainbow' Your Way" Is Now Live!

rsl12 · 2026-04-15T06:27:04+00:00

PIYW #7: Play "Over the Rainbow" Your Way (April 2026) Performers: Sophia rsl12 twocats WieWaldi navindra Emery diretonic ShiroKuro Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! Since February 16, participants have been working on Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. Enjoy their performances below. More information about Play It Your Way and about how participants prepared this piece can be found in the Meta Feedback discussion. The June PIYW, "How Long Blues", has just been announced! Also, be sure to participate in the May Quarterly Recital , which will go live on May 15. ALL comments must be polite and supportive, even when the performer has stated that any comments are allowed. "How to Give Criticism in a Nice Way: A Comprehensive Guide". Thanks for helping us to keep things friendly! Suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. We need suggestions for all genres of music, but particularly for the Classical PIYW which will be announced on May 16. (Ideally, the Play It Your Way piece will be playable by many different skill levels, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.) If you are still working on Over the Rainbow, you can submit your recording here at any time. This is an archive of the recital announcement. PIYW #7: Play "Over the Rainbow" Your Way (April 2026) Use this thread to submit your performance for PIYW #7 (details here). No one will be able to see your performance until the recital is published on April 15. Note that there is no deadline for this event! You are welcome to submit your performance any time, including before and after that date. Submission Template **Performer:** Name or Alias + Location + Experience **Feedback Type Desired:** (see below) Put the link to your performance here (see below for details). **Source of music:** ... **Instrument:** ... **Recording method:** ... **Additional info:** Tell your story or share any interesting details related to your performance! if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } You may use the following to specify the Comment Policy: No Comments Please! Positive comments only (no criticism or suggestions for improvement please). Positive comments and suggestions for improvement (no direct criticism please). All comments; anything goes! Link To Your Performance: If you have a video, that's great! Otherwise, audio-only is fine. Upload your performance to YouTube, Vimeo, Rumble, SoundCloud, or Google Drive. Your media may be public or unlisted but private will not work. The direct link needs to be posted so that the performance is embedded on PT. Dropbox option: If hosting your performance using YouTube or other service is not possible, then we will provide an upload option. Submitters are requested to keep their performances up for at least a period of 30 days and as long as possible after that.

ShiroKuro

WieWaldi thank you for the lovely compliment!!

WieWaldi this is what differentiates good players like you from beginners like me, who need several months of practice with many hours a day to get something similar.

Maybe, but it's all relative. For the piece I'm playing for my jury, I started it in January, and it wasn't until the beginning of March that I was confident it would be ready in time for the jury. By the day of the jury, I will have been working on it for just under four months.

What I mean to say is, the only thing that differentiates you and me is our start dates.

ShiroKuro

Sophia thank you!!

Sophia Pfft! Not fair!

Reading is just something that develops over time. You'll get there! Especially with all the challenges and PIYW you're doing here!

Nightowl

diretonic That was smoooth! 🙂 Another very slick performance from a seasoned performer.

diretonic

Sophia Well played and I definitely hear improvement, more confidence when compared with that previous recording. That aside, I think the arrangement itself is a handicap. So many half-note chords don’t offer much to hang a lot of expression onto but in the bridge, where there’s more movement (Someday etc…), there’s more scope and you use it. An engaging performance.

diretonic

rsl12 It’s a treat to listen to the full song, so very rare these days to get a chance to hear the ‘verse’ being played. And you top that with the full song, some improv and even a key change given added dramatic effect with a camera jolt…seriously though, great playing!

diretonic

twocats
This is a lovely traditional arrangement taking me back to the late 50s when Alberto Semprini would grace BBC radio’s Light program with his introductory catch-phrase “Old ones, new ones, loved ones, neglected ones...” then launch into a mix of popular classical pieces and songs played in exactly this style. Superby played and thanks for the whisper of nostalgia.

diretonic

WieWaldi
Maybe you've played an arrangement with chords with this degree of polyphony before but I was impressed by how cleanly (synchronously?) you play them - that’s not easy. I liked the slightly bluesy turn at around 50 secs, was that in the arrangement? Gauging your level (beginner, intermediate or whatever) against difficulty will always be modified by the length of time you take to ‘master’ the piece. So what? You pulled it off and your skills profited. Well done!

WieWaldi

diretonic Yours was truly a pleasure to listen to. The chords were very lush and you added some very nice embellishments. Also loved how you play with the tempo together with the dynamics to create tension and release. This is another example, you demonstrated how high your skills on the piano are. You mentioned Dorico, so I assume you did this arrangement by your own. What else can I say than well done; excellent work.
Glad you found joy to join the PIYW, your submissions are a very welcome enrichment.

diretonic I liked the slightly bluesy turn at around 50 secs, was that in the arrangement

Yes, it was exactly how the arranger noted it. He is a seasoned blues pianist and host free blues lessons on YouTube; I am following his lessons for three years, now.

KevinM

diretonic Listening to your version which is fantastic, so rich in depth. But I kept hearing elements of Bohemian Rhapsody in this. I think Queen (Freddie Mercury) must have lifted some of the musical ideas. Around the 30 second mark I'm hearing the same melody where Freddie is singing Nothing really matters to me...

Emery

ShiroKuro Hi ShiroKuro, thanks for the kind words. I actually have this one memorized but sometimes stare at my laptop when playing as it's open with Pianoteq running. I'm glad you like the sound of the VST, I chose the Shigeru Kawai one.

The score on the wall is just a chart showing all the variations of 7th chords and their names in C. There was a time I took some jazz lessons and needed a cheat sheet to show how a C minor 7th flat five is played, etc.

twocats

I've been so busy and haven't had a chance to listen to anyone's recordings except for @diretonic's, which was lovely!

diretonic

navindra Ah! -this is the arrangement Sophia played. You've just a slight tendency to rush in the last half of bar 4 and similar where that pause happens. Your timing is otherwise very good so it can only be a matter of concentration (or dealing with a kind of awkward silence - I recognise that in myself). Enjoyable none the less and I love the sound of your piano.

diretonic

Emery I spend a fair bit of time on YT's jazz and blues videos, Johnny May popping up all to often selling his wares, me anxiously hovering for the skip button. No surprise that he would boogie-up SotR but I almost liked the jazzy intro and he certainly has some enviable chops, as do you. Hope you'll hang around and give us the pleasure of your playing again.

diretonic

ShiroKuro An neat arrangement with some surprises. I can hear an expressive inner self waiting to forge past this hesitant phase; it's only a matter of time. One small criticism; maybe a little less sustain pedal towards the end where some of the harmony is getting fuzzy? I didn't notice it earlier so perhaps this was just tension build-up? But I very much enjoyed listening.

diretonic

A heartfelt thanks to all who listened to my recording. Preparing for PIYW has given me back some time and peace. I so regret others are not as lucky.

ShiroKuro

diretonic thank you!

rsl12

diretonic Preparing for PIYW has given me back some time and peace. I so regret others are not as lucky.

I enjoy PIYW immensely, and I'm full of warm feelings to hear that it means as much to you.

diretonic

rsl12 BIG thanks to you for setting up and maintaining PIYW - these things don't happen by magic!

ShiroKuro

diretonic exactly, thank yo for saying this!

@rsl12 my PIYW participation is sporadic, but I love that it’s part of PT! So thank you for all the work you do to keep it going!

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