I’m so excited. I was so lucky to see The Piano Guys in concert last night at The Kings Performance Art Center in Melbourne, Florida. It was a dream come true … ever since I was introduced to them by some dear friends I’ve become an ardent fan.
Last night was a wonderful experience. It was what I expected and more.
Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson where the front men during most of the concert. Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek graced us with their presence and the talent in the last song “Marching Ants” and the encore “What Makes You Beautiful”.
They were witty, down to earth, approachable, down to earth and, of course, very talented! Now, if possible I enjoy and love their music even more.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek. They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
On of the first songs they played was this “Without You“. A wonderful cover.
Here it is for your enjoyment.
~~GALLERY~~
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~~ Without You~~
Piano/Cello Cover – ThePianoGuys
~~Uploaded on Nov 10, 2011~~
Original song written by David Guetta, Taio Cruz, Frederic Riesterer, Rico Love, Raymond Usher, Giorgio & Tuinfort Arrangement produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
A special thanks to our filming location, Metcom Studios. They have an incredible studio in downtown Salt Lake City!
Anyone who has been following this blog knows that I’m a huge fan of The Piano Guys.
I will be at one of these venues for their concert. Can hardly wait!!
What do you get when you mix up a marketing genius that does video, a studio engineer that writes music, a pianist that had a successful solo career, and a cellist that does pretty much everything?
The Piano Guys: a miraculous meeting of “guys” with the same intrinsic purpose – to make a positive impact in the lives of people all over the world through music videos.
This is the last song of The Piano Guys 2. Feels like saying goodbye to a good friend. I will be looking for more songs by these great, innovative musicians. I’m sure they have plenty others up their sleeve.
Stay tuned to see what I find!
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician.
After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Begin Again … featuring Megan Nicole & Alex Goot” from their second CD with a major record label.
~~Taylor Swift — Begin Again (Piano/Cello Cover)~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Published on Feb 13, 2013~~
~~The Story behind the song~~
Ironically this song for us was about beginning again and we filmed it in a café on a Wednesday (see Taylor Swift’s lyrics). No kidding. But what’s crazy is we didn’t plan it that way. Just like so many of our songs and videos, miracles made it happen.
We were writing another cover tune and it was flowing like molasses uphill in January. After beating our heads against the wall for too long trying to make it work we stepped back and reset … and decided to begin again. But like so many things in life the struggle had a great payoff. While we were writing the cover-tune-fail we found inspiration from a classical piece, as we often do — J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” (Cantata No. 208).
As we were listening to this piece it called to memory a tune from Taylor Swift’s album, “Red.” Her “Begin Again” melody and Bach’s Cantata seemed so well matched it was a mash-up made in Heaven. We switched to Swift’s tune immediately and our arrangement finally started flowing like the Fountains of Versailles. There were even moments (especially the Bridge melody of “Begin Again” and the primary melody of the Cantata) when the two seemed to play off and echo each other naturally. We wanted this arrangement to be a mix of the two styles — a pastoral, classical feel paired with a pop-country vibe … polished off by a bit of Valentine romance.
Then it was on to find a location! We just did what we always do … find a bunch of locations that have potential only to find, at the last minute, that they don’t fit, can’t work, or won’t allow us to film…then, after all we can do, we’re gifted a location by a miracle! The day before we were scheduled to film, one of us woke up with an image in his head — a vision of a green European garden café. Where could we find any living plant, let alone a quaint outdoor Euro-café, in the middle of winter in Utah?
A GREENHOUSE!
As this blessing would have it, we found a perfect indoor garden setting in a greenhouse with a café vibe that was just what we had envisioned. And it was 4.3 miles away from where we were meeting! On top of that, an employee there said she was a “big fan” and went straight to the owner for us … who turned out to be a high school friend of Steve’s parents! And what day could they fit us in? A Wednesday. We don’t believe in coincidences.
Life’s too meaningful to believe in meaninglessness.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician.
After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “More Than Words” from their second CD with a major record label.
~~More Than Words – Extreme – Featuring Guest Artist, J Rice~~
The Piano Guys
~~Uploaded onNov 4, 2011~~
~~Story behind the song~~
For this week we randomly selected a suggestion from our subscribers and challenged ourselves to write an arrangement in less than 24 hours. Thanks to J Rice (The Vocalist) for the collaboration. We’ve been wanting to collaborate with J Rice for awhile now and it finally worked out! He has an incredible voice and a great YouTube channel.
Arrangement produced and written by Steven Sharp Nelson, Jon Schmidt & Al van der Beek
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Cello & cello-percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson
Vocals: J Rice
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Instrumental video produced by Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, & Shaye Scott
~~More Than Words – Extreme~~
~~Uploaded onNov 22, 2009~~
Music video by Extreme performing More Than Words. (C) 2004 A&M Records
This song is perfect for this time of the day. It’s the time to go to sleep once I complete this post. The sleeping baby lullaby.
Sweet dreams, dear readers!
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
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They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician.
After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Twinkle Lullaby” from their second CD with a major record label.
The past few months we’ve been filming time lapses of the beautiful desert sky in Utah. These ended up working perfectly with Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson’s arrangement of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
We hope you enjoy it!
~~Credits~~
Arrangement produced by Jon Schmidt
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
~~Locations of Time-lapse~~
Kolob Mountain, about 35 minutes away from home
Warner Valley, a couple miles away from home
Sand Hollow Sand Dunes, a couple miles away from home
Gunlock Reservoir, 10 miles away from home
Brighton, Utah
Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson played at Flat Iron Mesa Park
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Me and my Cello – Happy Together” from their second CD with a major record label.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop.
He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Me and My Cello – Happy Together (Turtles) Cello Cover~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Published on Mar 30, 2012~~
Many people ask why Steve is SO HAPPY when he plays the cello. We followed him around with our cameras on his day off. We think we now understand why.
**NO INSTRUMENTS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO**
We used a “stunt” cello for these scenes just in case — and we were really careful out of respect for the instrument. After all the filming, “Jackie” (named after Jackie Chan since he does all his own stunts) only had one minor scratch inflicted by a shopping cart (this proves the saying that statistically there are more shopping cart accidents than sky diving accidents).
~~Story behind the song~~
This music video was one of our very first ideas as ThePianoGuys.
It originated when we were filming “The Cello Song” the first project that Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek, Tel Stewart, and Paul Anderson did together (which is also the first time they all MET!)
As we were finishing the all-night film session, we starting talking about the many “uses” of the cello and before we knew it we were laughing about how funny it would be to make a movie about “cello bonding” — spending quality time with the cello. We didn’t feel like we could ever get away with making this video, but we just couldn’t help ourselves. For a while Al and Steve tried to write an arrangement of two Bob Marley tunes for the background of the video.
It wasn’t flowing, so the project was abandoned for several months. Since the making of “Cello Wars” we haven’t really had the opportunity to throw “funny” at our audience. And to be honest, we’ve missed it. We all love to laugh — especially at ourselves. It keeps the pressure of producing videos every other week bearable. We revisited this concept, but this time with a new tune — the Turtles “So Happy Together.” It fit perfectly. We ended up with a lot more scenes than we could use—some of which we were sad we couldn’t fit it. Maybe we’ll make an “extended version” one day.
“This video is dedicated to all of my music teachers that taught me to have FUN with music — to let it live and breathe rather than insist it be dead and dissected. As for my other music teachers that didn’t teach me to have fun. I’ll try to make a video for you some other time.”
~~Steven Sharp Nelson~~
~~The Turtles – Happy Together – 1967~~
~~Uploaded on Aug 31, 2011~~
“Happy Together” is a 1967 song from The Turtles‘ album of the same name. Released in February 1967, the song knocked The Beatles‘ “Penny Lane” out of the number one slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the group’s only chart-topper. “Happy Together” reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1967. The song was written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon, former members of a band known as The Magicians. The song had been rejected a dozen times before it was offered to The Turtles, and the demo acetate was worn out.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Charlie Brown Medley” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
His work is often described as New Age music with pop elements of hook and melody.His works were also featured on sample discs for the IomegaHipzip Digital Audio Player with the pieces “Sacred Ground”, “All of Me”, and “Waterfall”.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop.
He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Charlie Brown Medley~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Uploaded on Aug 31, 2011~~
We thought it would be fun to do an impromto concert for our favorite audience, and it was a blast. We hope you enjoy it in the spirit in which it is given. We met some incredible people at Stirling Court in St. George, Utah.
~Credits~
Original songs by Vince Guaraldi
Music produced by Jon Schmidt
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Cello & cello-percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
~Video produced by~
Paul Anderson
Tel Stewart
Shaye Scott
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Waterfall” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
His work is often described as New Age music with pop elements of hook and melody.His works were also featured on sample discs for the IomegaHipzip Digital Audio Player with the pieces “Sacred Ground”, “All of Me”, and “Waterfall”.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop.
He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Waterfall (Jon Schmidt Original)~~
~~ThePianoGuys~~
~~Published on Jun 13, 2012~~
Written when he was 17, “Waterfall” is like an old friend to Jon. It
got him the cutest girl in his high school, made him the life of many
parties, and has been a big hit with pianists and piano teachers
alike. Jon says that in high school it was proof that chics dig even
ugly guys with skills.
This tune has significant
meaning to Jon and all of us at ThePianoGuys because It played a
pivotal role in convincing Jon to commit to a full-time career as a
pianist. An earlier video of Waterfall was done as a pre-TPG
experiment. This version is ThePianoGuys’ official video release.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Just the Way You Are” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
His work is often described as New Age music with pop elements of hook and melody.His works were also featured on sample discs for the IomegaHipzip Digital Audio Player with the pieces “Sacred Ground”, “All of Me”, and “Waterfall”.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
He has studied the cello (still his primary instrument) under Ryan Selberg, Stephen Emerson, and John Eckstein. He obtained a degree in music from the University of Utah School of Music, graduating in 2002.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop. He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars (Piano/Cello Cover)~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Uploaded on Jan 27, 2012~~
~~Story behind the song~~ As always our subscribers give us the best song suggestions.
We think “Just the Way You Are” is one of those melodies that only comes along every once in a while. The word ‘love’ is tossed around a lot today. This arrangement goes out to anyone that feels something so deeply for someone that words can’t even begin to describe. Jon says, “I tried to represent the song lyrics which match how I feel about my wife to a tee. The way I feel about her affected the musical arrangement big time. It shows that ‘amazing’ girl how I feel about her (after 20 plus years of marriage.)”
We hope everyone can relate. We hope everyone hears the very deepest side of what they feel for someone when they listen to this song.
Funny moments to look for:
Jon’s death bed, pause at 04:00
Arrangement produced by Jon Schmidt
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
~~Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are~~
[OFFICIAL VIDEO]
~~Uploaded on Sep 8, 2010~~
“When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change
Cause you’re amazing, just the way you are
And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while
Because girl you’re amazing, just the way you are
The way you are, the way you are
Girl you’re amazing, just the way you are”
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “All of Me” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
~~Success~~
It Is What It Is 