Greetings! Miggy is my name and music is my game :) I play the piano, and I've been playing it for almost 8 years now. I'm very attracted to female contemporary pianists. I know a lot of them and now I am going to make my top ten list of best female contemporary pianists as of 2010. I hope you enjoy. I've included short descriptions of the artists and attached pictures and links to their websites if you would like to check them out and experience their mesmerizing music, and hopefully you'll enjoy listening to them as much as I do.
Disclaimer: the webmaster of this blog did not take the pictures below. They belong to their respective owners.
- Christina Grimmie is really beautiful and very talented. She's actually a YouTube sensation. She's the very first piano-playing female YouTube personality I've ever encountered. I got really amazed because almost everyone who wants to gain musical fame on YouTube usually use the guitar. Christina is very unique. She covers a lot of pop songs including songs by Beyonce, Charice, Alicia Keys, among others. She also writes her own songs.
Her name pronounced as "tar-ya too-roo-nen." She is the ex-vocalist of the Symphonic Power Metal band Nightwish. She's currently pursuing a solo career. She's a lyric soprana; very powerful voice. I thought then that she was just a singer, but it really surpised me that she plays the piano too. Not a lot of opera singers can do this kind of feat.
- Amanda Palmer rocks, period :) She has a very big contribution to music because she is one of the artists to bring back the genre known as "Punk Cabaret" or "Dark Cabaret." What's very amazing about her is that she used the piano to play Punk music, which is very unique considering that Punk music is always dominated by heavily distorted, fast-paced guitar riffs. Because of her, the piano can also dominate not only pop music, but also Punk music
- Ahh yes, Stefani Germanotta is what who she was before transforming into the pop diva Lady Gaga. Despite criticism of her being weird, intersex or whatever, I actually like her. I bet Britney Spears, Rihanna or the Pussycat Dolls can't sit down on the piano and play their songs. She makes her own music, a very very interesting quality of a pop musician. Other pop stars just pay other people in order to make songs for them, but Lady Gaga's songs came from her own heart. I suggest watching her perform before she became Lady Gaga. You won't find a hint of obscenity anywhere.
-She's a very passionate pianist and singer. I really like her. She combines soul and jazz music. The combination of which will send shivers down your spine. She's definitely something.
- She's very cute. She was the one who introduced me to the genre known as "Antifolk." Her piano arrangements are simple, compared to other arrangements made by other pianists, but the one thing that propels her music to the highest level is her very poetic and passionate lyrics.
-She's actually the reason why I play the piano in the first place. I was just a kid back then, and I saw this girl on TV playing a piano, which was moving like a car. I dreamed of playing that song myself. I really wished she did more songs like "A Thousand Miles." Sadly, I think she's being a bit low profile now.
-Soul, rnb, jazz. Genres you would expect from African-American pianist and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. Next to "A Thousand Miles," "If I Ain't Got You" was the next song I had an LSS on. Her lyrics need a bit more poetry make-over though, but her extremely sublime piano arrangements are what propels her music.
-The goddess of Gothic Metal. She is the lead singer and pianist in the rock band Evanescence (ie. My Immortal, Bring me To Life). Her voice and lyrics are extremely beautiful. I simply could not describe how artistic she is. She writes her own music. It comes from her own heart. They will really touch you even though you can't really relate to it personally. She introduced me to the piano in the concept of Metal music, my most favorite genre of all time. You will never see a rockstar up on stage playing a piano. You will always see long-haired men, headbanging with their guitars. But Amy Lee headbangs with her piano. And I think that's very cool.
And the best-est-- the TOP ONE in my list of best female contemporary pianists of 2010 is non other than...
*drumroll*
1. Tori Amos- www.toriamos.com
- The Queen of Contemporary Piano for me. I see myself in her. She is a spontaneous pianist. She proves that you don't have to be an accomplished sight-reader (ie. playing music by reading from a score or sheet music eventhough you don't know how the song or piece sounds yet) in order to make good music. She is one of the few artists you used the piano to play Alternative Rock songs. At concerts, you will never see her stand up. She will always be sitting on a piano, or if not a piano, a keyboard or a harmonium or harpsichord. Sometimes she is not contented with playing only one keyboard instrument, but she sometimes plays two keyboard instruments with separate hands while singing all at the same time. She is truly legendary.
