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  • EMTA Music Artistry Program — I got an Honorable Mention! 🎖️

As I had mentioned previously, on Saturday I participated in the Music Artistry Program with Dr Yuna Roh as the visiting artist.

We arrived a little early and so we got to see some other participants play and receive feedback from Dr Roh.

It was awesome! Dr Roh really knew how to put the participants at ease, she sang and used really cool/descriptive/animated language to convey her musical ideas. It was really great to see the participant immediately get it and play the improved interpretation right back.

When it was my turn, I got to play Bluebird followed by Canon in D. My memory was spot on but sadly my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I had some minor glitches due to the shaking but recovered in real time in all cases.

The hands shaking problem is not something I can replicate at home and I have no idea if I'll ever be able to conquer it. It really destroys a lot of my hard work and prevents me from executing the way I want to.

One other thing that threw me off was the piano. It was a Bösendorfer, so I just naturally assumed it would be incredible and better than my own pianos. However, the first few notes threw me off. One key felt/sounded weird and I'm not sure if it was just room resonance or tuning or a keyboard issue. It would have really helped if I could have warmed up on the piano, I'm sure I would have mastered it better for the performance.

I never thought I'd ever have this problem, but my own pianos are just too great. When I sit down at what I feel is a compromised piano, it throws me off on the spot. I think this means I need to practice more on random pianos. Maybe I need to visit thrift shops or churches and find a way to sneak in to the venue to practice before a performance.

When it came to feedback, I thought Dr Roh would comment on my execution of the more complicated parts, but she seemed happy about those. In fact, she addressed something very basic and something more musically advanced.

She called out the balance between my left and right hand. It's admittedly something I've been struggling with for a long time, but there couldn't be anything more important to address. I start out with a good balance but as soon as I try to execute my dynamic progressions (i.e. go louder or go softer), my balance is off. This particular piano was loud, so I needed to work extra on my right hand to bring out the melody.

This is something we all know, but it's a core problem I have and would do well to continue to work on.

The other ideas Dr Roh gave me was to visualize different colors while playing the different chords to help paint a different picture. She also helped me with variations during the repeats, particularly by thinking of different scenes or feelings while playing. The last thing you want to do is repeat yourself.

It was all very cool and very deep, and I think will continue to serve me well musically going forward.

This was all over in 10 minutes, a mini-master class, and Dr Roh said she wished we had more time! However, it's all I could manage psychologically. 😃

🎖️ To top it all off, my teacher later informed me that Dr Roh gave me an Honorable Mention for my beautiful performance in the EMTA Music Artistry Program!

Another younger and more advanced student who played Bach and Beethoven pieces was selected for the Honors Recital. He's been making huge strides in his progress and unquestionably deserves it.

The past week was a tough one and I just wanted to celebrate a little. 🙂

I couldn't have asked for more and it was a fantastic and enjoyable learning experience!

--
Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
TIME

    That's so great, congrats!! I also need to practice on different pianos more and in front of people and overcome my shaking (although it's inside my body, not in my hands). Hopefully it gets a little easier every time.

    It's so awesome that you did this!!

    Wow, @navindra how wonderful!!! Congratulations! Also, I love reading this story esp, because I’ve heard you play both of those pieces, so I almost feel like I was there!

    navindra The hands shaking problem is not something I can replicate at home and I have no idea if I'll ever be able to conquer it. It really destroys a lot of my hard work and prevents me from executing the way I want to.

    I totally sympathize! I have written about my shaky hands problem a lot, so I won’t rehash it. But I do want to say three things.

    First, I think teachers and experienced pianists can tell when we are being impacted by the shaky hands, and the only feeling anyone ever has in that instance is sympathy. People know it’s not a reflection on our playing ability, and most importantly, the impact of shaky hands on our playing is never actually as bad as we think it is. This is why she was able to give you such helpful feedback, because she could you, hear your playing.

    Second, I can say, after playing piano as an adult-beginner for just over 25 years now, the shaky hands problem absolutely gets better, more manageable. You’re right, it is (in my experience at least) impossible to truly recreate this problem at home, even with an audience. But experiencing shaky hands in real situations (away from home) will make it better. We can have another “shaky hands” thread if you want to talk more about it, but for now let me just reiterate, it will definitely get better.

    Third, playing an unfamiliar piano is always a challenge, especially when it’s a subpar instrument or has a wonky key etc. (I’ll spare you the sorry about one time when I was playing at music party, the hosts owned a grand but didn’t play themselves, and one of the bass notes below middle C, when pressed, did not return. My piece played thst note repeatedly…)
    Like playing through the shaky hands, this is another skill that gets better with practice, and playing random (crummy!) pianos definitely helps.

    I share these things to say, don’t let them discourage you. You obviously did a fantastic job, and you have much to be proud of.
    🎶🎶🎶

        navindra Congratulations on putting yourself out there, and for getting great feedback.
        I need a Dr, Roh in my life! 🙂

            Rob Thanks! Yes, she was amazing.

            I was just remembering some additional feedback she gave me on melodic phrasing for Canon in D. Since it's a melody everyone has heard before, she sang different variations that I could experiment with to make it my own e.g. articulating different notes in the primary melody.

            This was definitely a very eye-opening and impactful 10 minutes for me!

            --
            Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
            TIME