Piano, finally

🎙 Episode 66 – Nothing’s Wasted

Welcome back to Piano, Finally, the podcast of one bloke learning piano later in life. This episode didn’t go quite as planned—I was meant to be sharing a recording from Devi’s piano showcase, but thanks to a calendar mishap, I missed it by a day. Disappointing, yes—but not wasted. The extra practice means I now have four polished pieces ready to play whenever someone asks.

🎧 YouTube Spotlight – Davi...

Episode 65 – Aspirations

Welcome back to Piano, Finally, the podcast from an old bloke learning the piano. With the showcase just a week away, I’ve doubled practice sessions—half an hour in the morning, twenty minutes in the afternoon—rotating between the Kawai NV10 and Nord Stage 4. Devi’s electric Kawai will be the instrument on the day, so I’m aiming to be ready, even if the occasional wrong note slips through.

🎧 YouTube Spotligh...

🎙 Episode 64 – Purpose

G’day and welcome back to Piano, Finally. This week I had something like a first public performance—playing my four showcase pieces for a junior music class I was covering. They asked, I played, and it went alright. With just two weeks until the actual showcase, I’m ramping up practice but not aiming for perfection—it’s about learning, and sharing the journey.

🎧 YouTube Spotlight – Ten Keyboard Sounds EVERY P...

🎙 Episode 63 – Narrow or Broad

Welcome back to Piano, Finally. Apologies for the break last week—I came down with Influenza A and even had to miss my lesson with Devi. Thankfully the antivirals worked, and I’m back at the keys (though you may still hear a touch of it in my voice).

This week included some extra performances by senior students preparing for their exams—Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Dire Straits were all on the program....

🎙 Episode 62 – Why Are We Playing?

G’day and welcome back to Piano, Finally. This week included two very different performances: Circa and the Art of the Fugue at City Recital Hall, and Radio Luxembourg at The Joan in Penrith. Both highlighted the power of live music, from Bach’s intricate counterpoint to the raw energy of 1960s rock and pop.

🎭 Performance Reviews

• Circa and the Art of the Fugue combined the Australian Brandenbur...

🎙 Episode 61 – When Are We Going to Use This?

Welcome back to Piano, Finally, where I share the ups, downs, and sideways detours of learning piano later in life. This week’s opening note: if you contact me via Buzzsprout’s FanMail, I can’t reply—so if you’d like a conversation, please send an email to david@pianofinally.show.

It’s Science Week here in NSW schools, and between showing science demos to preschoolers and heading out to ...

🎙 Episode 60 – Choosing Six

Welcome to Episode 60 of Piano, Finally, a podcast about learning the piano later in life and enjoying the journey along the way.

This week, tickets went on sale for the Out West Piano Fest. It will be held in October at Blackdown Farm in Bathurst and features five concerts over three days with meals included. Wynona Wang, prize-winner at the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition, will be performing...

🎙 Episode 59 – It’s Our Job

Welcome to Piano, Finally. This week brings a few changes in how the show is recorded. The entire episode has been produced in Cubase using Steinberg’s SpectraLayers for audio processing. Recording the MIDI data from the Kawai NV10 directly into Cubase has improved the quality of the piano sound—now I just need to work on improving my playing!

A warm welcome to new listeners who found the show through Mar...

🎙 Episode 58 – Listening In

G’day and welcome back to Piano, Finally—where a bloke learning piano later in life reports in from yet another theatre foyer. This week’s episode was written from the Northern Foyer of the Sydney Opera House, in the sunlight beneath John Olsen’s mural Salute to Slessor’s 5 Bells. A pre-concert talk with Jaime Martín and Genevieve Lang turned out to be one of the highlights of the week—more on that later...

🎙 Episode 57 – Reading and Writing

Welcome to Piano, Finally, a podcast about learning the piano—later in life and without the pressure. This week’s episode has been recorded a day early as I head off to the Opera House for another concert in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s subscription series—more on that next week.

🎧 The latest episode of the Chopin Podcast focuses on the Polonaises, including one I hadn’t heard before: the Polon...

🎙 Episode 56 – Leaving Evidence

G’day, and welcome back to Piano, Finally, where each week I share the detours, lessons, and progress from learning piano later in life. This week’s episode was written from the foyer of the Bell Shakespeare Company’s theatre, ahead of a performance of Coriolanus—more on that at the end.

🎭 Term’s over, holidays have begun, and with piano lessons on break too, I’m gearing up for more time at the keys....

🎙 Episode 55 – Play Like No One Is Listening

G’day and welcome back to Piano, Finally, where an old bloke keeps learning the piano, one step (and one podcast) at a time.

This week’s script was written in the foyer of Carriageworks ahead of Aphrodite, a world premiere chamber opera by Nico Muhly. The venue, with its industrial charm and bold programming, is perfect for discovering new voices—and maybe a future Taylor Swift. More on t...

🎙 Episode 54 – Under Pressure

Welcome to Episode 54 of Piano, Finally, the podcast of one old bloke making his way—note by note—through learning the piano.

It’s been a big week at school with the Creative and Performing Arts Showcase on Wednesday and a packed end-of-term schedule coming up, featuring the walkathon, carnival, and Battle of the Bands (yes, I’ll be in the dunk tank again). The week also brought a tech upgrade with a ne...

Episode 53 – A Community

G’day and welcome to Episode 53 of Piano, finally, the podcast of a bloke getting around to learning the piano… finally.

This week finds me writing from the foyer of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith, not the Opera House this time. I was waiting for Shake & Stir’s touring production of 1984, and I have to say, it was an impressive adaptation—just five actors and some clever use of vide...

🎙 Episode 52 – A Dangerous Business

G’day, and welcome back to Piano, Finally—a podcast from an old bloke finally learning the piano. This week’s episode was written once again from the busy foyer of the Sydney Opera House—where Vivid’s light show and some eye-watering appetiser prices ($825!) set the scene before another performance by Sir Stephen Hough.

We begin with an update from the Cliburn piano competition, streaming live on ...

Welcome to Episode 51 of Piano, Finally! This week, I talk about how my piano practice was affected by long work days, debating competitions, and the occasional musical side quest — like programming the Nord Stage 4 to sound like the iconic synth from Van Halen’s Jump. (You’ll hear my first attempt in the progress section.)

In the spirit of broadening musical horizons, this episode’s recommendation is the Early Music Sources channel...

G’day, and welcome to Episode 50 of Piano, Finally! This week marks one full year since the podcast began, and in that time, fifty proper episodes have made it to air. In this episode, I take a moment to reflect on the journey so far — from consistent recording and practicing, to discovering the joy of small but meaningful progress at the piano.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the Sydney Opera House foyer, waiting for a Stephen Houg...

Thanks for tuning in to Episode 49! This week, I talk about why piano lessons are back, how progress changes when there’s someone else listening, and whether it’s worth having a piano teacher at all (spoiler: yes, it is).

🎼 Back to Lessons
Lessons resumed this week after the summer break—though it’s a short term, just five weeks before Devi heads overseas again. Playing the Spindler Canon and the Bagatelle in F in front of some...

🎹 Episode 48 – Dancing about architecture

Welcome to Episode 48. This week, I reflect on remixing, musical distractions, and the sneaky ways we convince ourselves we’re making progress.

🎧 Remixing in the Classroom
Year 9 music students had a workshop on remixing, led by two presenters, including musician Nyxen. I got to sit in on parts of the day and was surprised by how much I enjoyed her music and her breakdown of the product...