A measurement of piano playing
How often the melody is detached rather than joined.
The same passage — Mozart K. 545, bars 1–4 — from the recordings that sit lowest and highest on this measurement. Every clip is a note list replayed on one sampled grand at one gain, so the only difference you are hearing is the playing.
Share of melody steps with a gap of more than 10 per cent of the interval.
Every piece in the library, with the range across its recordings. The units mean the same thing in every row, except for basic tempo, which is in each piece’s own beat.
| Piece | Recordings | Lowest | Median | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bach Prelude in C | 27 | 0 | 9 | 43 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 1 | 16 | 30 |
| Träumerei | 31 | 19 | 24 | 37 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | 25 | 32 | 64 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | 28 | 34 | 40 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | 26 | 35 | 47 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | 35 | 43 | 64 |
| Chopin Étude 10/1 | 31 | 30 | 47 | 62 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | 41 | 52 | 59 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | 45 | 54 | 60 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | 34 | 54 | 79 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | 45 | 55 | 69 |
| Ravel Pavane | 33 | 56 | 68 | 81 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | 49 | 69 | 85 |
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | 65 | 71 | 79 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | 48 | 72 | 99 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | 73 | 82 | 89 |
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | 64 | 83 | 91 |
A Disklavier capture — the pianist’s own key sensors, no microphone — was rendered to audio, transcribed as if it were a recording, and re-measured. The error the transcription step introduces, as a multiple of how far pianists actually differ on this dial, is 1.96. noisy The transcription moves this dial about as far as pianists differ on it, so no claim should rest on where a single recording sits.