Young Oliver Ståhlbrand

Me and my 5 year old son Oliver made a few videos for fun this morning. Three simple children songs which he has been learning in recent time. Music has been around him all the time since childhood and he has shown interest all the time but it is not until this year he became interested in practicing regularly. He can now play with both hands, all fingers and he has a good ear for pauses and tempo and from what I have heard, that is a good sign. Youngest submitter on PS for sure. Enjoy .

 

Cute. I could play like that when I was 12!

 

(about Lila Snigel)

very very very nice!
There is not (speaking seriouly, with children no irony!) much difference when you or Monica or
me or Andrea or others smile, play, enjoy themselves with a piano in front a camcorder. The play and the psychic behaviour is the same. More os less notes, dynamics, errors.......details.
Bye Robert and thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you all. He really enjoys playing now and he thinks it is exciting to have his playing recorded. He is a bit impatient when we are recording but who is not? You are right Sandro, I also felt that it was not really a lot difference between us and him playing. Just more complex music.

Musicblau: I had him started when he was 1 1/2 and I managed to learn him a very short piece playing with one finger. I think one could start very early but the difficulty is to find the motivation for the kids. Now he slips off and practice himself from time to time and that is a very good sign. You should start with your son too or at leats have him listen a lot to classical music. Oliver fall asleep to Mozart every night .
He is having a bit trouble with the rhythm in Broder Jakob (The brother of Jacob) as the 8:th is to be performed with fingers 4-5-4-3, probably performs Lilla Snigel (The little snail) best and am not really there yet with Björnen sover (the bear is sleeping).

 

That was fun to see. He seems very dedicated and serious, and when he has a problem he thinks it over and decides on the right action before continuing, instead of mucking it up. That sounds like a very good sign. If he is a bit impatient during recording, we can be sure he is your son :wink:

Must be great if your kinds are interested in classical music. I do miss that in mine. Having said that, my son, who's just moved out, surprised me by asking if he could take over all my vinyl recordings once he's bought himself a record player. Seems to be genuinely interested in good music after all. Maybe there is hope yet.

 

You got a point there for sure .

It is never too late. But yes, it is great that we share an interest as I feel I have something to give. And also prevent him from making the same mistakes I did. I hope it will last.

 

i just saw them! how funny when he looks at the camera.. oh dear
bye, Mr Duffy

 

We recording three new pieces this morning. They are quite a bit more difficult than the previous he recorded 2 months ago. I hope he continuous to improve this fast .

Sorry for spamming the forum. Guess I am just proud .

 

Respect, I wouldn't play with such pink wings on my back , I assume the use of them is that he keeps his back straight?
His wrists are a bit unquiet, but despite of that he has feeling for rhythm and makes remarkably progress, congratulation.

 

Great to see a kid enjoying himself so much ! He got a bit carried away with the Heavy Moon but otherwise very disciplined playing. Sure you should be proud.

 

Thanks!

The video gets out of sync with the sound and it gets worse the longer the recording carries on. So if it looks a bit strange, that is the reason.

The wings on his back are just for fun. He likes to wear them and dress in his older sister´s masquerade costumes. It is just a happening that they were on when we made the recording.

So far, I teach him by myself but we follow a standard course here in Sweden. Unfortunately, I have not found and courses to so young kids as he is. Usually, they suggests a starting age of 8 to 9. I think I can give him the training at least this year before I get help from a professional.

I know his wrist position is very low and that comes from sitting too low. It might be a good idea raise his position so that he does not get stuck with a bad technique. I have a real adjustable piano chair for my grand and perhaps I should exchange his chair for mine...really, I think I will do so .

He seems to have a very natural approach to rhythm and tempo as long as he concentrates on doing the right thing. The end of the Ballade is a very good example where he does the end really professional. Slowing down and goes from mf to p. I never needed to teach him that, he just applied the fade naturally.

But he is not always easy to control at the piano and am for most of the time pretty undisciplined. Playing intentionally wrong, very fast, very hard etc. Something that he does which is pretty amazing is to leave out all left hand's C or some other key of his choice. It is actually not so easy to leave out a key just like that, which proves his very good memorization of a piece.

My plan is to gradually increase his practice time. Today it is perhaps 15 minutes per day. If I can just make that 30 to 45 minutes during the autumn, he would make a very rapid process as he learns very fast. He always learns in the same pattern as below:
1. He just listens the first 5-7 days of the next piece.
2. I take one if his hands and press down the right keys for him and play the other hand myself.
3. I hold a pen over the keys to be played of, for instance, his right hand while I play the left.
4. He plays hands separated.
5. He partly play the hands together.
6. He play all together and he refuses to do so until he is certain it will be correct. He usually plays them correct the first time he play hands together.

 

A clear sign that he's going to be the next Horowitz.... 8)