Classical pianist covers Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'

Michael Jackson's pop classic 'Billie Jean' has been given a classical piano makeover by pianist AyseDeniz Gokcin. Gokcin previously shot to fame and acclaim earlier this year thanks to her classical take on the music of Pink Floyd.

The new project comes complete with a music video which shows the various extended techniques employed by Gokcin to create the unique sound. Explaining the sound of the interpretation, she commented that the idea was "to discover all the different sounds a piano can produce by using more than just the keys. Every sound on the track is made by the piano."

Besides the conventional use of the piano, she also utilised Mongolian horse hair to 'bow' the strings of the piano, a broken LP and her own hands for percussion. The famous baseline proved to be a particular challenge for Gokcin: "It is really hard to play, particularly the left hand ostinato."

Gokcin's interpretations of Pink Floyd songs led to a huge amount of interest when the band themselves shared Classic FM's news article on the project via their Facebook page. Watch an interview with her and Classic FM's John Brunning here.