I know embouchure for a wind instrument but you need to educate me what that means for piano.

Probably more of a metaphorical than a correct usage. Came from a college piano prof who used it to mean hand position, touch and attack,.

Thanks for the explanation. Probably needs a new term. I'm not sure you should be surprised that a mathshead plays well for I understand that there is good correlation between abilities in maths and music. But I'm reporting 2nd hand, whereas you see it directly.

Embouchure is totally being mis used here. It's only ever used to describe mouth and lip shape for flute and brass instruments, never piano.

"Plays well" is not what surprises me.
Being so expressive with complex voicings does surprise me.
That's something that probably can't be taught.

I can only guess my college professor used the term for a reason, John.
In a metaphorical usage, "correctness" is not always a prerequisite.

Call me thickheaded but what am I looking for here? I've been to many piano recitals and have seen kids do far more complex stuff. Sorry, don't mean to diminish his efforts.

Emboucher is French, meaning "discharge by a mouth." My English language dictionary gives several meanings. For music it means either the mouthpiece, or the adjustment of the mouth to the mouthpiece (what I think is normally understood).

Just because a word comes from another language doesn't mean that it has the exact same meaning in English, of course.

Um, not wanting to be a stiffy-killer or anything, but is that supposed to be exceptionally good or something ? Sounds like a pretty typical 14-year-old 'adequate' student pianist.

geoff

I'm happy to allow the term to be "misused". The prof was likening the pianist's hands to the flutist's embouchure. In the latter the quality of sound from the instrument is critically dependent on that. This thread is an example of something offered for admiration by an expert, but we're too inexpert to understand what we're looking at. Me, at any rate. But I look and try to see and hear what otherwise would pass me by.

Well, while we are recycling technical terms, I found the lip sync of the fingers a bit distracting. (The audio was noticeably delayed.) Is it only my machine?

Edit

It must be my machine setup. I downloaded it and it played in sync.

Thanks, Serena.
;?)

Two hands is easy when you are a kid and almost impossible to learn when you are an adult.
JJK

I found it beautiful, and I believe I see what musicvid is seeing. This is about interpretation rather than pure technical skill. There is a fluid motion to both hands, with little anticipation of the next note to be played. He's in the moment. Not something you see often in a young student.

The way the accelerando beginning at 1min is handled is much different than most students would perform it. He feels the music. There's a barrier of inhibition that has to be broken through before "playing" a piece becomes "performing" a piece. I think he's past that, and as his technical skills catch up with his heart, he's going to become quite a pianist.