What Piece(s) Are You Working on Right Now?

Pallas · 2024-05-31T12:42:16+00:00

I've been posting my progress inside an Alfred thread for some time now, but I'm interested to know what other people are working on, not just us method book...

iternabe

WieWaldi Edit: in your last videos, you played really beautiful. You developed a very good sense for musicality. Don't let this be destroyed by the impression you need to play faster just because someone else did.

I am curious what contributed to my version at faster tempo less musical. Is it just the speed itself, or is it something else I did differently?

WieWaldi

iternabe It is hard to tell. Let me try, you are generally hitting all keys harder, a bit of hammering. I feel the melody should be soft, but you had a tack of staccato in it. In the slow version I had a feeling of a bit of rubato as well. In the fast one, you did beat-beat-beat, except for the end. Your ending was very good, loved the smooth slowing down and getting softer.

BartK

iternabe

I haven't listened to any previous version but I think this tempo is good. It does sound a bit choppy though. To make it more flowing and musical you should think in phrases rather than notes or measures. Imagine signing the melody line. You start a bit softer and then it grows to a high point and then tapers off. The final phrases should be like an echo - much softer.

A few comments about your technique. In the LH you are using too much finger movement and not enough rotation. Your hand arch is too flat and your joints are collapsing. Go extremely slow and observe your hand shape. The knuckle joints should be the highest point of the hand and make a nice arch, and when you press keys the last joint of the finger should not collapse inwards. It's better to practice slowly with correct form than try to go faster and ingrain bad habits.

iternabe

BartK Your hand arch is too flat and your joints are collapsing. Go extremely slow and observe your hand shape. The knuckle joints should be the highest point of the hand and make a nice arch, and when you press keys the last joint of the finger should not collapse inwards.

@BartK I noticed that in my video recently, too. And I've been trying to figure how to correct it. It sounds like simple to fix, but it turned out more complicated for me. I may start a new thread on this topic. Thanks for point this out.

WieWaldi

iternabe BartK Your hand arch is too flat and your joints are collapsing...

@BartK I noticed that in my video recently, too. A

This I noticed, too. And I remembered someone saying, imagine to hold a orange in the palms while playing. On the other hand, I have seen many fantastic players in YouTube like Peter Bence and Jonny May, and they are often doing a very flat hand, too.
So who am I, myself a total beginner, giving tips about technique? Only thing I can do, is to tell if I liked the outcome.

BartK

WieWaldi On the other hand, I have seen many fantastic players in YouTube like Peter Bence and Jonny May, and they are often doing a very flat hand, too.

What looks flat isn't really flat. Even Horowitz didn't have completely flat hands. It's true that in some music the hand has to be more spread out and flatter. The important thing though is that the knuckle bridge should never be lower than the fingers at the instant the fingers are hitting the keys and all the joints have to be stable.

BartK

Pallas Today, I'm having a stern talk with myself about my sections. No, dear, it doesn't actually matter that you already decided on section breaks. If you can't learn a whole section in one 3x3x3, then the section is too long and you need to find what part is giving you fits and narrow focus until you solve it. BUT MOOOOOOM. No But Mom. It's a BRAIN thing and you're not gonna change your brain just because you want to. Your brain is your brain!

Hilarious! I can totally relate. 🤣

Player1

Pallas

I loved that measure!

thepianoplayer416

Making recording to a piece I played 2 years ago at a slower tempo. Going to try to make it to the online recital submission.

lilypad

Pallas If you can't learn a whole section in one 3x3x3, then the section is too long and you need to find what part is giving you fits and narrow focus until you solve it.

What is 3x3x3? Sounds promising.

BartK

Pallas
I thought 3x3x3 means 3 sets of 3 reps for 3 days. Maybe not.

You're not overselling it. I can confirm that this really works like magic for any repertoire. I'm more in the habit of doing 2-3 sets of 5 reps but the exact number matters less than the method.

iternabe

BartK I thought 3x3x3 means 3 sets of 3 reps for 3 days. Maybe not.

You're not overselling it. I can confirm that this really works like magic for any repertoire. I'm more in the habit of doing 2-3 sets of 5 reps but the exact number matters less than the method.

How well does the 3x3x3 work for polishing dynamics and articulation? I can see it works well in getting the notes and rhythm right because mistakes and corrections are more obvious. But when working on dynamics and articulation, I just feel there are infinite shades that getting them exactly as desired and consistent between runs can be quite hard (and maybe depends a lot on how exact I want?). Three reps often feels quite too few for fine-tuning. Thoughts? Tips?

BartK

iternabe How well does the 3x3x3 work for polishing dynamics and articulation? I can see it works well in getting the notes and rhythm right because mistakes and corrections are more obvious. But when working on dynamics and articulation, I just feel there are infinite shades that getting them exactly as desired and consistent between runs can be quite hard (and maybe depends a lot on how exact I want?). Three reps often feels quite too few for fine-tuning. Thoughts? Tips?

Yes, for that you have to have a recording setup that's ready to go at all times and use it a lot. Turn on the recording then play a phrase a few times until you feel you played it the best you can. Then listen critically. Then try again a few times and listen, etc. Each iteration you try to improve something about your playing - phrasing, dynamics, notes sticking out, whatever it is you hear. If you're not used to doing this you might be shocked at how bad you sound but this is exactly why you need to do it. Over time your impression will better match what you hear in the recording and you will be able to fix the musical aspects of your playing in fewer repetitions.

You should be doing this every practice session and not wait for your teacher to point out what has to be improved.

BartK

BartK Yes, for that you have to have a recording setup that's ready to go at all times and use it a lot.

Oh, and by 'a lot' I really mean A LOT. Like, if I'm working on a phrase I might do 10-15 recordings-listening of that single phrase in a single practice session while I work on it. I do that for every phrase.

iternabe

BartK Yes, for that you have to have a recording setup that's ready to go at all times and use it a lot.

That is exactly what I have. And I use it a lot. One benefit of DP + Pianoteq is it automatically detect gap in silence and use it to segregate MIDI recording to smaller chunks and make playing back the last run or phrase super convenient. There is even no need to stop the audio recording while listening to MIDI playback.

pseudonym58

Currently, I'm working on numbers 2, 7, 10 and 19 from the "Quelques Riens Pour Album" by Rossini. They are all fairly short pieces, and present various technical and stylistic challenges (to me, especially).
In addition, as an etude, the opening solo passage in Ravel's Concerto for the left hand (slowly 😄).
Unfortunately, I don't have anything ready to contribute to the current piano recital here, but I hope to make it to the next one!

TC3

Something for our next recital! 😃

Sophia

TC3 Something for our next recital! 😃

Smart move! I know that I had a recording ready a few weeks in advance and it felt sooooooooo good 😃 I will make sure to do the same next round too!

To stay on topic: I'm still working my way through the Alfred book (just about to start Blue Rondo which claims to be a blues) and also just started lesson 14 of the blues course. Not working on anything on the side 😁

pseudonym58

Sophia is "Blue Rondo" written in 9/8 (as 2-2-2-3) by any chance? Or am I confusing it with a similarly-named piece by Dave Brubeck?

pseudonym58

No, I'm mistaken. That's "Blue Rondo à la Turk":

« Previous Page Next Page »