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I started piano in the first place and since summer's over i'll be able to start up piano lessons with my teacher again and really start making some progress. I've always liked your sheets but were always intimidated by ithem, but if I sit down and really work at it I think I'll be able to make some good progress on them. Thanks for the long answer, I really appreciate all the help you've been giving!

And it gives me great pleasure to help someone who's actually interested in my cause and the stuff that I do - so thank you for your enthusiasm, it's inspiring for me too

I think a lot of things you might think are impossible for you can probably just be done by putting in enough practice; whatever it is you want to learn, I'd say try giving it a few practice sessions before deciding whether it's impossible or not
Besides, if you're too scared to play anything besides things that you're confident are in your skill level, you might not make it very far.

That's true, thank you. Only way to succeed is to go forward I guess, so I'll pick up some more challenging stuff

Braix makes a good point, and I'd just like to add on some ideas to that ^^

~

You can more-or-less divide sheets into three categories:
1. Short-term commitment sheets that are within your technical grasp
2. Sheets you've already mastered and/or are very comfortable with
3. Long-term commitment sheets that need constant effort and deliberate work over a long peroid to even execute properly from start to end

I think the perfect balance for your standard repertoire (i.e. playlist, except all live) is as many of category 1, about 3-6 of category 2, and 2-4 of category 3

~
When I was still learning classical piano, the tradition was to keep a few long-term commitment "exam pieces" in your repertoire and just drill those week by week. I saw lots of my peers stuck on those exam pieces with very little progress over months, sometimes years. It's quite easy to burn out if the only pieces you can play are the ones that demand mundane drilling and intense focus - personally, when I was doing a performance competition, I'd played one particular piece so much that I hated it to the core, which is unfortunate, because it was really beautiful as long as I wasn't playing it :p

The trick is balance. Do keep drilling the tough pieces, but don't put down the easy pieces too quickly just because you've "mastered it". It helps to go back and play something you're familiar with from time to time. Better still, find one of two easy pieces to keep in your repertoire and work on getting those as perfect as possible. If it helps, here's my current repertoire:

Easy stuff: Route 209, Lilycove City, Rustboro Nighttime Jazz, some original works ^^
Tough stuff: Battle at the Summit, Tarrey Town, Mt. Chimney

Most of my piano time is spent drilling the tough pieces and quick-learning pieces for fast recordings, but I try to keep the number of technically challenging pieces I'm doing at 2-4, because I feel I'd burn out if too much time was spent working on mundane stuff. Yes, the mundane stuff is important - but as much as building technique is necessary, I believe it's even more crucial to avoid burnout and keep the passion alive. Therefore, the easy playlist ^^

So do try out the stuff that seems impossible and work dilligently at those, but don't forget to have some easy sheets you've already figured out in your pocket for the funsies

Hope this helps!~

[Snowpoint City:]

Ever tried some of daj's sheets? ;p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfH-Yiby-dM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q0zfeJsANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSrl3PJq6W0

ahaha braix you're the best! <3 and i do like to believe sheets are generally easier to play than they look


Anyway! If you asked me to suggest my DPPt stuff, I'd more or less suggest these. As you said yourself, they're not easy per se, but they are the most reduced form of those tracks I could think of. Just some extra pointers and technical shortcuts:

~

Snowpoint City:
What the sheet hides is that you need to pedal quite well to make the music kinda-work, and there's a bit of challenging inner-voicing. I'd rank this around the top of the most musically challenging of my sheets, actually.

That said, it's not that tough to play the notes at a comfortable tempo. So if you'd like to learn this, it'll be one of those sheets you might revisit after some time, once you've acquired more musical skills ^^

~

Route 209:
This is my personal favourite sheet that I did. Not even going to lie here. And if you're learning this, there's lots of resources ready to help you (sheet music video, live cover with score, an album recording)! ^^

What makes this sheet tough is that there are LOTS of moderate-difficulty technical elements to learn. Left-hand double-voicing, staccato chords, some weird counting shenanigans too. But on the whole, it's not that tough - it'll just take some time to learn. So if you're willing to commit to this, firstly I'll be humbled and love you so much, and secondly I've actually helped a bunch of people through this sheet, so I know how to teach/guide the technical bits quite well - you'll be well-armed with guidance, but you'll need to put in a bit of effort~

~

Canalave City:
Pedalling in this sheet is a little tough, but for the first section, playing the notes shouldn't be too big of a challenge

The second section, though, is one of the parts I spent the most time working through when I was recording this track for the album. I like to think that you can feel the rhythms once you count it a few times, but it gets hard to count at times. I suppose you could play the rhythm quite freely and cut the right hand notes to only the top line though - that should make things easier ^^


If you do a sheet of mine, feel free to ask for technical advice - I've played through all of them, so I think I can help a little more than usual if you're stuck

That said! I think DPPt, while it is beautiful and deep as hell, it is also one of the most unfriendly soundtracks for both arrangers and performers. Very few pieces aren't rhythmically complex (thus the League theme stands out beautifully <3), so as a pianist you might find it tough to get easy-ish DPPt arrangements - I've tried my best on my channel ahaha~

I'd like to also suggest some other DPPt arrangements that I've tried! ^^ These are quite tough, but maybe they're in a style that I found tough and you might find easier. On NSM we have:

"Route 201", arr. Latios212
I found it hard to play the notes, but I have tiny hands. If tenths aren't too much of a stretchfor you, this should be okay

"Decisive Battle (Pokemon League), arr. Zeila
I'm not sure if this one's on-site yet, but it is bloody fun to play and not too tough if you bring down the tempo a little or cut the octaves to single notes (just hit harder, choose the bass notes xD).

"Spear Pillar", forgot who arranged this xD
In the same vein as Decisive Battle, except it's really quite learnable, pretty fun if you get into the whole destroying-the-world feel.

"Floaroma Town", arr. Dr Pamplemouse
This one kinda pushes it. It's not exactly easy, I suppose, and it has five flats, so unless you're familiar with D-flat major it might be hard to learn. I think it's one of those old sheets too?


Hope this helps, all the best

I did enjoy this very much, thank you. The way you conveyed your own feeling and passion for this piece, through the music, was amazing.
The ebb and flow of the passages reminded me of ocean waves under a starlit sky.

Ahh i procrastinated on this reply! >< So sorry for that, thank you so much for listening in - and thank you for mentioning the passion. This is a work that's so dang close to me, and it's inspiring to hear that you felt that :,)

Anyway, new video! ^^ Except, it's not mine - it's a collab that I've been working on with singer-songwriter-geek Jayhan on Youtube! She reached out to me with so much drive and earnesty to do something that wasn't VGM, and I was sold

This is a project that shows a slightly different side of my playing, I guess - what you see on the music stand is a haphazardly typed out structural guide. The whole piano part was improvised in acoustic rock style and done to a click. It was pretty nostalgic for me too, haha, kinda like reliving those old hippie band days <3

Do enjoy! ^^ And if you have time please check out Jayhan's channel, she did the ARMS Main Theme and Jump Up Super Star! ^^ Just imagine how great those would sound with her voice~

["Rainy Day" from Animal Crossing GCN]

Alright, so i've compiled a list of the arrangements that I've decided not to include in this playlist - so far, all the suggestions you've sent in are wonderful sheets that I love to read as a performer (good engraving and formatting and all, got to love nsm for that), but some of them aren't technically simple enough, or not structurally substantial enough. Which is a pity, but I really hope this doesn't discourage anyone from making suggestions! At most, I'd just like to give you guys a better idea of what I think the target audience would not appreciate seeing in an easy playlist too much ^^

~

Suggestions that didn't make it
(to 220817)

Spoiler

"Rainy Day" from Animal Crossing GCN
Those jumps are tough if you're not trained in jazz - plus this one feels a little too ambient and non-devloping. Basically, I don't think it's substantial enough as a standalone piece - great for ambience, not so much for playing ^^;

"Princess Zelda's Rescue" from Zelda: ALttP
That opening fanfare - the harmony is done in such a way that you can only write legato 6ths in the right-hand, which is a pretty advanced technique. The rest of the piece is just Zelda's Theme, which some other version should have in its entirety ^^

"Time of the Falling Rain" from Zelda: ALttP
There's no substantial melody part, making it better for ambience than performance. Really nice arrangement though, great track too~

"Gritzy Desert" from Mario and Luigi: PiT
Tough left-hand part which you must execute without looking at some points, and some pretty tough bits in the right hand like mordents for octaves. I think I'd find this quite tough at tempo, but I really like this one haiz

"Ballad of the Wind Fish" from Link's Awakening
Legato 6ths and middle-voice melodies are tough. Beautiful arrangement though.

"Mystic Lake" from Wario Land 4
It's rhythmically tough. Polyrhythms, tough rhythms to count in general, as well as a tempo that would expose those rhythms. I think it's okay, but this would intimidate someone who's looking for an easy, lazy-learning piece. :p

"Temmie Village" from Undertale
yug i swear haha i'll definitely play this though <3

"Paula's Theme" from Earthbound.
It's not really that tough. But to play this right you have to play the middle voice melody legato, and for that to be a thing you're basically playing legato chords throughout. So this is musically challenging, I believe - but I like this arrangement, probably will use it for some illustration some day

"Quiet Water" from Undertale
I don't think it's substantial enough, especially since the "Ruins" melody does recur throughout a fair portion of the OST. ^^;

"Stage (Picross)" from Pokemon Picross
There's a safe tempo, but I think passing a middle-part that's rhythmic in nature is quite tough, especially since you still need to sound the melody.

"Zelda's Theme" from Zelda: OoT
It's that intro again haha. I think I'll just do one version with the main lullaby xD

"Combat Preparations" from FE8
While I absolutely love this one, those dyads are actually quite tough. Leaving it out for now~

"You" from Hirugashi When They Cry
Five flats and some slightly tough jumps from chords to runs. Slight pity, though, it's quite beautiful~

"Frantic Factory" from DK64
Cut this out after trying to play it. Semiquaver octaves are quite tough - octave melodies in general at 110BPM are around moderate-tough difficulty, especially if you want to bring it to recording standard.

"Kraid's Lair" from Metroid
For the amount of effort you need to put in to get the arpeggios right, I don't think this track is extensive enough to make for a satisfying performance. But that's just my personal opinion haha and I'm kinda biased against Metroid, not even going to deny it xD

"Cinnabar Island" from Pokemon HGSS
It doesn't feel substantial for some reason...maybe there's not enough rhythmic identity in the left hand? Hmm.

"Id-Serenity" from FE: Awakening
I didn't have much trouble reading this, but it is a terribly intimidating score to look at, and there's a bit too many uncomfortable left-hand jumps for a beginner-to-intermediate-level pianist.

[close]

~

Feel free to ask for clarifications, and once again, there's really no harm done in suggesting sheets - thank you so much for all your suggestions so far, please keep them coming <3

Okie, so this will be a classical (post-romantic actually) question. I know daj doesn't like Rach, but, anyway:

Hehe, I'm happy you brought it up on this thread Insig! ^^ While it is true that I don't really like Rach (guys, bigger might not mean better), and i haven't played this piece, from the Rach stuff I've done and studied I think I can give a decent answer

I don't think I'll ever even dare to attempt this etude though, and honestly on the high-level classical side I'm not that amazing - so do take this as a suggestion and nothing more :p

This part is perhaps the easiest part of the entire piece, which... ain't fun. But, this part gives me trouble in particular because of the awkward chords. Any alternate fingerings would be appreciated, since the ones I've found mean I can't hold the tied notes or do the legato properly.

I thought about it for a bit, and here's what I have:
RH: 2/5 - 1/3 - 1/2/3/5, tied 3
LH: 5/1 - 2 - 5/3/2/1, tied 2

Rach probably didn't have the reach to hit octaves with 1/3 or 3/5, but he does suggest single-finger turns (i.e. no wristing) to hit weird stretches in some figurations like this one. The G minor prelude is full of those, and it's bloody annoying xD

With this fingering, you can use finger turns for full legato for every note except the bottom note of the right-hand chord across the bar. This is a semitone snap-motion from a white key to a black key, which is quite hard to execute (vertical wrist-flick, pivot on the tied note), but probably easier than the alternatives, especially if you want the legato ^^

As an aside, most of us mortals with normal-or-less sized hands cannot do a finger turn from an octave without some wristing - this is for the left hand part. So the focus should be restoring the hand's position for the full chord as soon as possible, after being left in a weird position from twisting over from 1/5 to 2.

...hope this makes sense, really hope it works. All the best!

How difficult is Littleroot Town? Just finished kakariko and was thinking of trying it.

Mm...it's quite tough. I'd suggest holding it off for a while - but if you'd like, I've got a "beginner's" version arrangement of this track somewhere in the cloud, I can share that with you

Technically, there's some pretty challenging figures you need to execute: the toughest of which is the cross-hand jumps which have to be done within an eighth note/quaver. Then, musically, there's lots of subtle details that give the track its essence - the grace notes to chords, middle voice weaving in the second section, huge unpredictable jumps in the left hand...stuff I wouldn't consider within the reach of people who'd just started out like yourself ^^;

It is really humbling, though, to hear that you're interested in trying this sheet of mine out. Thanks for that, hehe ^^

["Summers, Eternal Tourist Trap"]

Right! I'd just like to recommend Yug Guy's "Summers" (EB) sheet to you guys and sell it a little, hehe ^^

I think I'll be doing this for some of the lesser-known sheets that aren't that tough. Music is better appreciated with guidance and context, you know

"Summers, Eternal Tourist Trap"
Earthbound
arr. Yug Guy

Biggest technical challenges:
- A bunch of huge leaps that have to be done in tempo
- That intricate-ish dyad passage at the last line
- 1/1 jumps in the left hand in swing, and catching chords with 5432 fingering

Biggest musical challenges:
- counting the swing rhythm: rather, feeling the swing rhythm.
- actually having fun, because come on this sheet is so full of swag

~

I won't lie - I played this with basically zero context. I played Earthbound, but didn't really like the combat system and gave up at the Moonside quest.

What I do know about this piece is the nature of Earthbound music: quirky, playful, kinda unrefined (mostly). Which makes an arrangement as lively as this one ultra fun to play if you just let go and play by feel

I think, if you'd like to significantly reduce the technical difficulty of this sheet, cut notes from the first chord of each bar from the third line onwards. It still sounds okay ^^

But this is one of those sheets that I wanted to play for like, ten whole repeats on end. It's so fun haha. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed

And thank you Yug Guy for the sheet! ^^

Looking back an hour later it was clear I hadn't had my coffee yet but even if it was harsh my basic opinion remains the same

Good luck!

Was considering giving you an equally harsh retort for about a split-second haha, but hey, you can't deny good criticism when it goes down. So once again, thank you ^^

plus i've done music performance for long enough haha criticism is normal by this point

Open and honest communication is key, don't just try to figure out if she's into you like a high schooler would. That's just dumb. Make a move or tell her how you feel or ask her how she feels like a grown-up.

Exactly the reply I needed, haha, thank you so much

Yeah! ^^ I'm not going to just stand about and play the whole "guess who has a crush on who" thing. I'm going to do something.

Emotions are irrational things I suppose, ahaha. Thanks for the wake up call ^^

edit: cut this cuz a stalker flagged it to me! no shame has been incurred and a meaningful moment was created, but just gonna bring this down for safe-keeping

A couple things I noticed right away. The PDF of the first page is somewhat cut off at the bottom. Also, you don't have a second page title.

...well then. This is embarassing. xD

So that's what they meant with that whole "print size is different" thing. My bad, my bad ^^;

I'll fix it in a bit! ^^

["Song of Healing" from Majora's Mask]

Anyone have a recommendation for a sheet I could learn that's good for a new pianist but will help me progress some? I've kind of in a rut right now. I've been trying mimiga town but I can't get the left hand yet for the 2nd part and would like something to try on the side.

Am a Pokemon and zelda fan (only really enjoy the older zelda music wind waker and before), super mario galaxy is great too but I think all of those are probably too hard.

Honestly, when I checked up the sheet for "Mimiga Town", I laughed a bit. It's one of those sheets I'll look at and instantly give up. xD Too much counting, and it's not exactly feel-able.

~

If you're a Pokemon and Zelda fan, here's some stuff I've got, and if you'd like to keep it as un-intricate as possible:

"Song of Healing" from Majora's Mask
Definitely. It's got a beautiful melody, and you don't even need to pedal to make it sound good. As long as you enjoy the melody and can count 3/4, I think you can nail this sheet and enjoy it

"Story" from Minish Cap
Another beautiful tune, and the left hand part will be tough at first, but the "bass note + chord" figuration is quite common in piano works, so it's very useful to work early. ^^ Plus, you can take your time and this will still sound amazing.

Any Ocarina Tune from OoT :p
They're all quite nice to play! Plus, you could perform then in a series, which is cool

"Pokemon League" from Pokemon DPPt
I think this is an amazing sheet to pick up once you've mastered a few previous ones. It's technically quite simple, but musically challenging. If it's tough, cut notes from the chords and cut grace notes - it'll still sound quite okay. And hey, you probably know this tune <3

"An Unwavering Heart" from Pokemon BW
It's quite challenging musically, and you need to plan the way you play the middle voices a bit, but it is absolutely beautiful once you nail it. Taught me a bunch of techniques like double chord spreads and "ghosting" notes, so it's really got a fair bit of musical depth. Notes are not that straightforward but fun to learn - probably won't hurt to cut the middle voice in the second section too ^^

"Title Screen" from OoT
Deku's arrangement is absolutely on-point and super awesome when you get it, but you need to pedal quite well and do some left-hand leaps. It's quite manageable at a slower and freer tempo though

Hope that's enough suggestions to get you started! When you say you're a beginner, I'm assuming you mean you've played less than ten or so sheets, so I suggested the sheets that weren't that intricate over the ones that were actually easier to play in terms of hitting the notes. All the best for your learning! ^^

Shouldn't these videos be set to Unlisted so we can see them? Or did you mean to set it to Private?

They're scheduled! ^^ I do need to keep up a constant stream of content, ahaha, so no one should know that I did 17 videos in advance even though it is blatantly obvious that I did.

This one is just a little thing that I really need to do because Youtube is Youtube, derp. ^^; That said, all the sheets (and scans) are ready for access in the folder if you'd like to check those out

Hey, we all know this one ^^

[rewarding]

I think I have the two simplest sheets on site, both in the Mario section:

"Countdown to race start" from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and "Retro Theme 2" from Super Mario Galaxy. That last one might require a rather large finger/arm span, but the timing and keys should not be particularly hard to pull off.

Mm, thanks for the suggestions man! ^^ But I think these are good examples of sheets I won't include in this collection - lemme explain myself and hop on your suggestions as a starting point, if i may:

While, yes, people want to play something that's simple, if you're going to put in effort into searching for a sheet to play and learning it, you'd like a rewarding experience as the end product. So, minimum effort for maximum reward - minimum difficulty for maximum satisfaction.

Musical satisfaction is a product of, mainly, musical progression - in theory, "structural progression". You'd like to hear the progression of a melody that keeps coming back in different moods, because that outlines a metaphysical journey of some sort that our ears follow. In essence, I believe the main essence of a satisfying piece is good structure.

While little snippets of music like these are nice, there's very little structural progression to it, and if you were to commit the effort to learning these, chances are you'd be disappointed that at the end of it, you just played a jingle that ends as it is. You want to create a musical journey and draft it to your personal compass, and for that, you need structure.

A nice little example: "Kass' Theme" from Breath of the Wild (arr. Latios212) ends in 30 seconds if you do the repeat, which is probably shorter than your "Retro Theme 2"...but within the 15-second repeat of music, you get the development of a two-bar melody and a recurring motif with harmonic movement - big words for "musical movement in a clear direction".

Hope this makes sense, and sorry I had to make an example out of your suggestions haha. </3 Thank you for suggesting, though ^^