This is definitely one of the favorites in the FFXIII Piano Collections. The tempo can be quite confusing when learning the piece. It is very important to pick up some half-pedaling technique as repeating big chords can muddle the sound very quickly if not properly “released”.
I would’ve imagined that after recording the Final Fantasy Piano Opera, everything else would be a walk in the park. Not so with the Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections. These pieces are quite difficult to play mainly due to the unusual rhythm (for me anyway), tightly-packed chords, and the fact that these are too different from the classical repertoire. Up until FFXI and the Piano Opera, if you’re trained in classical music, you shouldn’t have any issue learning the pieces where the flow of music just makes sense. To put it in perspective, Final Fantasy XII (12) makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. The XIII (13) is somewhere in between. In this case, I just had to tough it out. To my surprise, after learning the pieces, these are the most addictive tracks to listen to.
Originally I started with the Final Fantasy Piano Collections from V to X-2. Then I discovered the much more difficult Piano Opera arrangement. After recording all these, while I was concerned I ran out of Final Fantasy music to record, I finally found the sheet music for FF-XI…XIII. I also purchased the sheet music for FF-XV. I will have to skip XII as none of the pieces makes any sense to me nor do I think they would be enjoyable to listen to for most. It’s unfortunate that nothing I play is perfect, but should be pretty close and enjoyable otherwise.
Click here to go to the master index page for the Final Fantasy Piano Collections.