Minuet in G (Petzold) [Please Help!]

Pallas · 2024-11-01T14:13:21+00:00

I did not have a lesson this week because my teacher and I both avoided our crazily packed downtown area yesterday. So I have two specific questions on one o...

twocats

Pallas My teacher is letting me work out my own fingerings, but she gives me suggestions if my ideas don’t work

Me having more opinions, I'll put them under a cut.

I don't agree with this approach; I think good fingerings should be assigned to beginners (can be modified if it's not working for you) because you don't know what you don't know. Maybe your own fingerings are passable and playable but a different fingering would make things so much easier. Good fingerings are actually a key part of playing well because it can really affect the ease of playing (especially for fast passages; when it's slow you can get away with inefficiencies). I'm glad you're asking here for suggestions if your teacher isn't providing these upfront for awkward places. Hit me up anytime if you want me to help with ideas! I literally spend days working them out on a new piece, working, reworking. It makes sense to invest the time early so that when you practice and get it into your brain it's not with clumsy fingerings that you have to unlearn later.

Pallas

twocats I don't agree with this approach

I’m sure if we put my teacher’s whole pedagogical approach up for dissection, at least one person would argue every point. That’s one of the reasons why I had such a hard time finding a teacher to begin with. I believed the idea that it was possible to find a teacher everyone on the internet would agree with. 😂 But that’s not possible. My teacher seems to be a maverick in several ways, and I love that about her. I do believe in efficient learning! But I also believe in the value of making beautiful mud pies, and so does she. I think it’s just as inconsequential to change a fingering in the process of learning a piece as it is to change an ornament. We’re going to be changing all kinds of things as we go along. My goals allow for recursion, experimentation, and messiness. I think this a wonderful thing, proving that there is a lid for every pot, a teacher for every student.

Pallas

BartK This whole thing is why I added a plea at the beginning of this thread that we just take my teacher’s statements about the ornaments as a given. But a forum will do what it does, regardless. 😀 The internet is very very great … for arguing.

twocats

Pallas This whole thing is why I added a plea at the beginning of this thread that we just take my teacher’s statements about the ornaments as a given. But a forum will do what it does, regardless.

I listened for my first reply... and then promptly forgot afterward 😆

Player1

Pallas I think this a wonderful thing, proving that there is a lid for every pot . . .

Apparently you've never been in my kitchen. Lots of pots, few lids.

twocats

Pallas that's why I put it under a cut 😂 Your teacher sounds really great for you, and I'm glad you're also asking for help here when you need to figure out additional details between your lessons. I'm sure your lessons are packed already and she doesn't have time to cover everything that she would like to!

Pallas

twocats I'm sure your lessons are packed already and she doesn't have time to cover everything that she would like to!

This is really the thing. The format demands choices. We only have 45 minutes per week.

Nightowl

Pallas

This is really the thing. The format demands choices. We only have 45 minutes per week.

Maybe book 2 lessons a week, then you'd have more time to discuss technique and anything else piano related. You could even discuss your purchase of a grand piano - she would probably be able to offer plenty of useful advice on that.

Ithaca

JB_PT Funny - I used to think this of all baroque music because of the ornamentation. It took some time but I now like the ornaments...sometimes. 🙂

FWIW, I don’t object to ornaments in general, just in this piece in particular. 😁

Pallas

Ithaca I used to hate baroque music in general. I thought it was boring, stuffy, and I didn’t want to learn any of it. For whatever reason, all those old preferences flew out the window as soon as I started learning. Probably I refused to hate something that was going to help me get where I want to go. Why get in my own way? I never thought I would enjoy playing these pieces, but here I am, wanting to play the whole notebook someday.

twocats

Pallas I love that you're playing this piece and at max difficulty and loving it! I did not play it with any ornaments when I was a kid. How is your practice going? You're really progressing very quickly with your studies 🙂

hebele

Pallas I also thought baroque music uninteresting. But I find this minuet fun to play (well.. learning to play). More than anything in my method book so far. I've already started to eye some Bach pieces to learn 🙂

Pallas

twocats How is your practice going? You're really progressing very quickly with your studies 🙂

Thank you for the encouragement. I think things are going ok, but I really have no idea. For whatever reason, I always get a sense of going very slowly, but that’s probably normal. I’ve got the Dr. G color coding done, so I’ve got my marching orders for the next couple of days!

Pallas

twocats It’s ok. I know it’s fun to debate the details! 😂😂😂

Animisha

Pallas, when you feel like taking a break, maybe you would enjoy listening to this one:

Nightowl

Animisha Brilliant find, Animisha. I think I prefer this version to the original. 🙂

Pallas

hebele I've already started to eye some Bach pieces to learn 🙂

Elbow bump. 🙂🙂🙂 Piano so addictive.

Pallas

I just got back from my lesson. OMG, it was so hard to concentrate today. My scales were terrible but my pieces went pretty well. I have an answer on which fingering I'll use for my 4-note trill. I told her that there was a big discussion about it, and she got a laugh out of that 😂. She said she feels confident I can do either 3434 or 3243 because I'm playing all the other ornaments very well.

I'm always very shaky and nervous in the lesson, so it's a miracle I learn anything at all. I thought I was meant to be much further along with the two pieces, but she said they are very difficult, and I'm doing well, and we added a fun, extra easy piece to work on between the two hard ones, to give us a little breather in the very intense lesson.

It's an arrangement from one of my new Studio Ghibli books, "Always With Me," from Spirited Away the "elementary" level. Woo! ☺️☺️☺️☺️

Pallas

I renamed the thread, because I might want help with other lesson pieces later. Thank you everyone who helped.

Animisha

Pallas

Hi Pallas, how nice your pieces went well during the lesson! Congratulations! 👍

Pallas I renamed the thread, because I might want help with other lesson pieces later. Thank you everyone who helped.

Would you reconsider the name, because in this thread is a lot of valuable information for other students trying to learn Minuet in G. But with the new name, what are the odds that they find this thread?
If you need help with a new piece, you can start a new thread about it. 😊

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