BachScholar Cory Hall

[arungargstl]

I'm looking for opinions or answers about the enigma that is Cory Hall, the self-styled BachScholar.

I have now seen many of his videos spanning many genres. My conclusions about his playing are as follows:

He has a very limited technique with visible strain and tension in the fingers
He has almost no tonal palette, and disregards many articulative, dynamic, and musical markings in the scores.
His ability to memorize many pieces is relatively impressive.
His ability to voice properly, display large structural ideas, and produce emotive moments are almost non-existent.
His theories on Bach are displayed WITHOUT any logical proof, and his performances of Bach's work show a lack of harmonic and structural awareness.
He openly bashes the Chopin Études, labeling them as overplayed and frivolous; he then proceeds to post lessons and performances of the Fantasie-Impromptu, E-flat major Nocturne, D-flat major Prelude.
He holds degrees from prestigious conservatories and graduate/doctorate programs.
He disables and deletes any comments that aren't positive: whether they are constructive or hateful seems to not matter. Any feedback that isn't positive is immediately removed.
His biography seems to be more of an autobiography where his accomplishments are lauded as prophetic and groundbreaking.


I don't like to dwell on the negatives of people's playing, but I am utterly dumbfounded as to his following, where people treat him as an authority in piano pedagogy.

Any opinions on how he maintains a following?
Is he deluded, or is there any genius to be found in his eccentricities?

[visitor]

i think he needs a haircut

[hardy_practice]

Very keen but sadly a non-entity.

[pianist1976]

His 1929 Steinway is one of the worst sounding Steinways I've never heard.

[faulty_damper]

i think he needs a haircut

So you're saying his appeal is his ponytail?  I'll admit, seeing horses play the piano is quite impressive, and I'm not easily impressed!   

[hardy_practice]

Is that a pot plant on the pedestal?

[chicoscalco]

I can't help but hate him

[chicoscalco]

Yeah, maybe this is why...
"Cory Hall (b. 1963) is a classical pianist, composer/arranger, recording artist, music editor, master music engraver, and independent scholar who operates the popular BachScholar YouTube Channel, which currently features over 500 performance and tutorial videos that receive 12,000 daily views worldwide with a total of over 17 million views. Hall is renowned for his pure tone and virtuoso technique, rapid learning abilities, and prodigious memory (with several hundred memorized piano performances) and records on his vintage 1929 Model L Steinway. Hall has many interests and has served many capacities including: concert artist (solo and accompanist), private piano teacher, college professor (humanities, music, piano), church organist, independent scholar. Hall holds music degrees from California State University, Sacramento (B.M. in piano), The Eastman School of Music (M.M. in piano), and The University of Kansas (M.M. in historical musicology, D.M.A. in piano). His major piano professors include Dr. David Burge at the Eastman School of Music and Richard Reber at the University of Kansas. In addition, Hall has participated in master classes taught by some of the world's foremost artists and pedagogues, including: Abbey Simon, Claude Frank, Daniel Pollack, John Perry, Nelita True. During his doctoral studies at the University of Kansas, Hall studied musicology under the late Professor Dr. J. Bunker Clark, a renowned music editor in his own right and scholar of American music. The present publishing company is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Clark, who for many years, even after graduating and moving on, served as Hall's professional mentor who provided much inspiration, encouragement, and advice.In addition to excelling in the traditional classical piano literature, Hall is regarded by many to be one of the world's foremost interpreters of Scott Joplin and classic ragtime music, ca. 1900-1920, which he often livens up and embellishes with his own unique arrangements. Hall has recorded most of Joplin's works on YouTube. As a composer, Hall often combines intriguing blends of diverse styles such as classical, pop, and new age and at other times uses his own unique romantic virtuoso style to create evocative character works, both sacred and secular. Hall's main research interests include tempo and alphanumeric symbolism in the music of J.S. Bach. Still in progress for twenty years is his theoretical treatise "Discovering Bach's Secret Tempo Code", which introduces a groundbreaking theory that determines the precise tempos (in beats per minute) Bach intended for all his works. In 2010 after two years of hard work on the BachScholar™ YouTube Channel, the always visionary and entrepreneur-minded Hall began to have dreams of a new and exciting kind of company. This company would truly be a dynamic and multi-faceted company of the 21st century that takes full advantage of our current online and global world — a family operated business that produces the world's finest digital sheet music and offers both Skype and Local piano lessons to students of all ages, levels, and nationalities."

Let's play the game "who wrote this bio??"