Simonb

  • 14 hours ago
  • Joined May 26, 2024
  • @Simonb when I mentioned finding other pianists, I didn't mean in order to play duets with them, but rather to be able to listen to other pianists, and have other pianists listen to me -- for example, to have musical parties with different kinds of musicians playing, including other pianists.

    Simonb I've never played classical music with anyone else, and I don't think I want to.

    I don't play classical music either, and I do generally play solo music. But there are lots of (non-classical) pieces that are written for piano + violin or piano + cello, and that's I'm aiming for when I play with string players.

  • Thatโ€™s fantastic @Simonb !

    And 12 gigs a year is once a month, thatโ€™s a lot!

    And I think the social element is really important, and wonderful.

    So far, I have found one person here to play with, but our schedules donโ€™t match up well so e donโ€™t play together as often as Iโ€™d like. Hopefully I can find a few more musicians, and a few pianists, to have some more varied musical interactions. Given that weโ€™ve only lived here for a year and half though, I think Iโ€™m doing ok. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Thanks everyone! ๐Ÿ™‚

      @navindra re the shakes, exactly. I never get the shakes while trying to record.

      I also don't get the shakes (not the real shakes, like yesterday) when I play for people at my home. There, I'm in control, I'm usually playing more than one piece, and also I'm not sitting in an uncomfortable chair listening to 8-year-olds murder "In the Hall of the Mountain King" for 45 minutes immediately prior! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

      I never experience the shakes when I play at home, I don't get them in my lessons.... And I didn't get them a week or two ago when I played the piano in a lobby here on campus while random people were walking around.

      Also, @navindra , no, not that kind of pedal! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ It was a bluetooth foot pedal for turning the pages on my iPhone.

      On breathing, yes, thank you everyone, that's now on my to do list! :grin

      @Sam

      I wish I could say it gets easier, but that has not been my experience! But I keep doing it for some reason...

      No, it doesn't exactly get easier, but in my experience, it gets more "do-able." I have conquered the shakes before, I can do it again. I'm just rusty (thanks, pandemic. ๐Ÿ™„

      Well, not even "conquer" the shakes, that's not my aim (because I don't think it's possible really). My goal is to co-exist with the shakes so that they don't derail me.

      That's why I wanted to play in yesterday's recital in the first place, just to feel that and remind myself, or relearn, how to co-exist.

      @Simonb and others re concentration etc. This is absolutely a mental problem, moreso than a piano/technical problem. Although, having said that, I went through and listened to the recording and marked several spots to zoom in on over the next week or so during practice.

      But it's really about concentration and controlling my focus.

      One time when I talked about this with my teacher, he said "you need to find more things to pay attention to in the music" which I think is a really interesting way to put it.

      @Pathbreaker

      Wow, thanks for sharing that story and congrats on your performance. I can almost feel it myself! You're mostly able to play without thinking about it except that you can't completely do that.

      Exactly! I think in the spots where I tripped up, I was relying too much on muscle memory. And when I lost concentration, I didn't have "articulated" memory or enough attention on the score to easily recover.

      I read "the Inner Game of Music" years ago, I decided now is a good time to start reading it again.

      Because I think that, right now, what I need to hone more than anything else is my inner game.

      But I feel so motivated now to do it! Which I wasn't expecting. I didn't think performing,and flubbing up, in this recital would have that effect. This wasn't a true "crash and burn" (I've done that, this was no where near that bad). But usually have a performance that doesn't live up to my ability or expectations, I'm disappointed. Not now.

      Hmm, is that a good sign or a bad sign? j/k ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

      • ShiroKuro Wow, thanks for sharing that story and congrats on your performance. I can almost feel it myself! You're mostly able to play without thinking about it except that you can't completely do that. And if you're disengaged, it's kind of jarring when you start to think about some details, especially how things are going kind of nice. Classic trap!

        So interesting what @Simonb said about concentration and nerves. I think a loss of concentration is a pretty good interpretation of what happened when you weren't breathing but everything was going fine. For me, it's possible I start thinking of other things. Sometimes I find a good balance is for me to follow the melody as I play. That way I don't overfocus on too many details but stay engaged. Same as what @keff said.

        It sounds like you have a lot of positive takeaways from the experience. There's no way you could have learned those things without going through it. I agree with you about playing more than one piece. I find that I start to settle in after the first few minutes. Especially AFTER I've made some mistakes and just get that out of the way. I just responded to your other thread without realizing you already performed!

      • Nightowl (and there are a lot of them)

        This is very true!! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

        Anyway, thank you for your kind comments!! This whole thread has really given me back my confidence!

        Obviously it's not perfect, and as @Simonb rightly said, it never will be. But I think it will be good enough, and I can both enjoy playing it and learn something in the process.

        Let's see what my teacher has to say on Wed! ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Thanks everyone, lots of food for thought here! And also, I feel very encouraged! I'm definitely going to play this on Sunday! ๐Ÿ™‚

        @Simonb yes, I'll be playing with the score out. I always use a score in a performance situation.

        @Nightowl , those are great comments, thank you! Re playing multiple pieces, the recital I'll play at this Sunday only allows one piece. It's the concert I'll play at in late November where I plan to play three pieces, and this piece (Sept Song) will be the middle piece.

        re your comment here:

        You play the piece in a steady way, but I think the issue is that you are not differentiating enough between the lengths of short and long notes

        This is such an interesting comment! I think it's because I'm playing with some degree of "fear" -- IOW, fear of messing up, fear of getting lost or fear of moving into the wrong next section.

        @Player1

        I like it very much and if you played to that standard at the recital you'll do extremely well.

        Never compare yourself to a professional.

        Thank you for the nice compliment! And the important reminder!! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

        @twocats

        I take it back

        No, no, don't! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

        Jokes aside, my teacher uses the term "convincing" -- this was in the context of me talking about the parts where I'm not playing it as written, and he'll say "yeah, it doesn't matter as long as it's convincing."

        I think your original reaction shows that I'm still not there yet, because how I played it wasn't quite convincing. It's getting close, but not there yet.

        he's written it so it's a little off-beat but it's intentional! I would try to play it softer and more delicately in the left hand like he does

        This, definitely. Ffrench is excellent at voicing, and he brings a softness to spots where I'm just pounding desperately at the keyboard ....

        • TC3 Ok, seems as @Simonb need to share his crown for the coolest travel-piano...
          I find the look of this retro piano just amazing!

          Congrats!!

          • TC3 replied to this.
          • TC3 likes this.
          • @Simonb I definitely get that and I don't think you are unusual. My father started playing when he was a child (different instruments, none of them piano). Of course he became a professional (solo performer, in an orchestra and later full time teacher) and then when he finally retired, he kept on playing for pleasure. Even when he became too sick and too weak to do anything else, he still managed to pick up his instrument every single day until the day he passed. Some people are simply born for music ๐Ÿ™‚