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Now we work on the right hand part, taking note of a special fingering at the end that helps to prepare the hand to move higher in the next measure. We then put both hands together, highlighting the specific notes where the right hand plays together with the left. Take your time, and with patience you'll be able to play through this challenging passage with ease.
I watched the webinar demo, and although the video quality appeared worse than the normal videos you post here (even when you switch to the "good" camera), it was still good enough and I thought the sound was very good.
Now about switching to the left foot when practicing the rolls to alleviate my back pains, that was quite a surprising suggestion. In the end, it doesn't work for me mostly because I'm even worse at pedalizing than doing rolls (humm, maybe the two are related and explain why I'm having trouble there...) Anyway, what did help was watching you play the whole thing. We could see your head move a lot from side to side while playing. I know some of it is "artistic" play, but it did remind me to not be afraid to move the whole body to comfortably reach the notes. You know, when you don't have a teacher, it's easy to get bad habits. Mine was being way too rigid, like a robot.
Since watching the webinar demo, I've allowed myself a lot more body (head/shoulders/arms) movement when playing and that made things infinetly more comfortable. I can now repeat the rolls almost a dozen times before feeling tension, at which time it's a good idea to switch to something else anyway. Before, I felt pain after the third roll practice.
I still have a hard time getting any velocity on these rolls, but I guess it will come with time.
A great thank you for taking time to answer my question in your webinar demo.
I'm so glad you found that webinar demo helpful, even if the resulting help was a bit circuitous! By all means, please allow yourself to loosen up and move freely about the piano, as long as it doesn't disorient you from the keys and hurt yourself in any way. I sometimes find that if i'm accompanying a really boring piece of music, my back starts to hurt because i haven't been inspired to "sway with the music!" I used to move around way too much as a youngster, before I started to appreciate economy of motion and efficiency of expression.
It sure is quiet in here. Not much posting except for Hugh's lessons. I'm on the tail end of of a 7day - 12 hours per day shift at work so I haven't had nearly as much time to spend on CDL as I would like. Today is my Friday and I'm off for 4 days starting tomorrow. Yes, I'm really falling behind in my lessons due to lack of practice but I'm hoping a couple of 3 hours sessons will catch me up. How's everyone else doing?
Hugh, I really like the webinar format. The sound and video on the second one is much better than on the first. I'm still looking forward to the webinar session in October. Any idea yet on cost?
Sorry, its just a bad time for me to worry about piano-- Church retreat over this past weekend, test back on tuesday, interview for an internship in 2 hours, big project due on thursday and a quiz on friday
It sure is quiet in here. Not much posting except for Hugh's lessons. I'm on the tail end of of a 7day - 12 hours per day shift at work so I haven't had nearly as much time to spend on CDL as I would like. Today is my Friday and I'm off for 4 days starting tomorrow. Yes, I'm really falling behind in my lessons due to lack of practice but I'm hoping a couple of 3 hours sessons will catch me up. How's everyone else doing?
Hugh, I really like the webinar format. The sound and video on the second one is much better than on the first. I'm still looking forward to the webinar session in October. Any idea yet on cost?
Woody
Hm! Sounds like "end-of-month-itis" - i know my own workload has really piled on these past two weeks, must be endemic!
Thanks for the feedback on the Webinar! I figured out how to stream at high quality, so that combined with the better webcam should make a huge difference. It's great to be able to work out these bugs ahead of time - great learning experience for me! As for cost, I'm planning on making this first one free so that everyone (myself included) can gauge how effective this format is for group learning. I may put up a separate post, but for now if folks interested in attending the webinar would be kind enough to sign up, that would really help me prepare for the party.
You can sign up for the webinar here by clicking the "Subscribe" button (feel free to invite others too!): Clair de lune Webinar Signup Page
Cheats galore! I show you a "swiss cheese" approach to the left hand, where we keep easy-to-find hand shapes for the fast passage, leaving out a few key notes for the right hand to "come to the rescue" in the next lesson. You'll see how this all works out in the end, it's a lot of fun untangling this otherwise tricky passage!
Hugh, As threatened yesterday, I'm back. I just registered for the webinar (a total of 4 of us registered) and got the confirmation email with the date and time. I assume that the 1 PM is eastern time zone which puts it at noontime here in the central timezone. Lacking a reply button on the confirmation notice I just wanted to confirm here. Thanks, Woody
Just wanted to add a big thanks, this is incredibly generous of you Hugh but I'm sure these lessons will be a big help to many, many people all over the world. I'm pretty much a beginner but you've given me the confidence to have a crack at Clare de lune. I've got a lot of catching up to do though!
Hugh, As threatened yesterday, I'm back. I just registered for the webinar (a total of 4 of us registered) and got the confirmation email with the date and time. I assume that the 1 PM is eastern time zone which puts it at noontime here in the central timezone. Lacking a reply button on the confirmation notice I just wanted to confirm here. Thanks, Woody
That's right, we'll be starting at 1 PM EST (USA). Thanks for signing up, and be sure to post any questions you'd like to address at the webinar! I'll post a "show agenda" a few days before the webinar so everyone can see what we'll be covering.
BTW, you can invite your friends to attend this webinar - click on the "Invite People" link and you can add email addresses of friends that might be interested in participating. I'll be making the video recording of the webinar available to registered participants.
We add the heroic right hand with some fingering gymnastics to save the left hand. The reason I use these fingerings is to help keep both hands from stretching beyond comfortable shapes, making it easy to use each hand as a "measuring stick" for cleaner jumps and position changes. Let me know if you find these fingerings helpful - if not, I'd be happy to "redo" this measure and show the more "traditional" fingering as an alternative.
Just wanted to add a big thanks, this is incredibly generous of you Hugh but I'm sure these lessons will be a big help to many, many people all over the world. I'm pretty much a beginner but you've given me the confidence to have a crack at Clare de lune. I've got a lot of catching up to do though!
I've signed up for the webinar too
Welcome aboard! Take your time with these lessons and please don't feel pressured to get them all down before the webinar - I'll be taking questions from beginners to advanced players, so make yourself comfortable and have fun!
I am learning a lot from your tutorials and enjoying them very much. I'm trying to apply many of the techniques you describe to my current piece. I like to memorise the pieces I play and would like to ask a question about this.
At what stage should you memorise?
Should you memorise right away, up front, when initially learning each section or bar, or at a much later stage (when you can play the whole piece)?
In your experience, would either of these approaches lead to mastering a piece faster?
Hugh , I am a new member to PW and I just discovered this thread yesterday.
I have to say, YOU ARE GREAT TWO THUMBS UP!!
I had so much fun watching your lessons yesterday afternoon. My name is Joy, but you surely have given me a lot of JOY!!!!
Thank you. Please keep up your good spirit. I really have benefited from your teaching.
BTW, will you talk about chord progressions one day?
Oh Hugh, what is Webinar? Does it mean you won't post your lessons on Youtube any more?
Have a wonderful wonderful wonderful day!!! Big thanks again!!
Joy
Welcome aboard, Joy! I'm so glad you enjoy these lessons, and that they give you so much - er - happiness!
Great question about the Webinar - i'm sure a lot of other people are scratching their heads asking the same thing!
A Webinar is basically a live video and chat conference over the web. Similar to my YouTube videos, I will be using several camera angles and a special program that can broadcast my computer screen showing the music and the program that demonstrates my pedaling. The main difference is that this will be happening live, so I'll be able to answer questions in real time and interact with everyone participating more directly. If you have a webcam, you can even request to participate that way, so that I can better see what may best help you improve your playing.
Another big difference is that I won't be under a strict time limit, as I have to be with YouTube videos (10 minute limits with those). This will be great for intermediate and advanced players who want to go more in depth with technical and musical aspects, as well as for beginners who might need extra help beyond the YouTube lessons. Depending on the volume of questions submitted, I'm planning to broadcast for 1-2 hours. I'll also be recording the webinar and providing that for registered participants.
The good news about the webinar i'm putting together is that you won't need any special software to install on your computer! If you can watch YouTube videos, you can participate in the webinar right in your web browser!
This is actually new for me too, as I've never done anything like this before (does anyone know of any other musicians who've attempted this?) As I'm still trying to get comfortable with techniques for broadcasting live as opposed to edited video, I'm making this first webinar free so that everyone (myself included) can see how effective this format is for learning piano in a group setting.
I hope you can sign up and invite your friends to participate! We can certainly explore different webinar subjects in the future - chord progressions would be a terrific topic!
Once again, welcome aboard and feel free to participate in the ongoing discussions!
Hi all, just joined the forum specifically for this thread. I guess I am ideal experimental material for these lessons . I bought a piano about one month ago with the specific aim of learning to play this piece. I am in my forties and although I remember 'FACE' etc from school, I have no music sight reading capabilities and have had only two lessons from a lovely lady who began the first lesson by bouncing a toy frog up and down the keys to the rythm of Three Blind Mice! Although she made me smile, I decided she was not for me. So last week I typed in my search box 'How long will it take a beginner to learn to play CDL' and to my delight I found this site. I have read all the comments posted and I see that for some, Hugh's note finding makes things a bit slow for them, but at the risk of sounding selfish, I do hope the same pace of learning is kept as it is proving ideal for me. If determination and the love of this music will enable me to play Claire De Lune, then surely I cannot fail ?? If someone offered me a million pounds or the ability to play this song reasonably well, I would not hesitate in declining the money (as long as my husband never found out LOL). Thank you so much Hugh for giving me an opportunity to fulfill an ambition of twenty years standing, much gratitude and warmest wishes to you. Now on with practicing those rolls arrrggggg.:))
Tracy1, please forgive me for being such an absent-minded host and neglecting to welcome you to this thread! I can't tell you how inspiring it is for me to hear your story of wanting to play "Clair de lune", and I hope these lessons (and upcoming webinars) help you discover the joy of making beautiful music for yourself!
I'll see if i can work on a lesson video to help you with those rolls if you'd like - otherwise, i'll try to make sure I include them as part of the upcoming webinar.
Once again, welcome aboard and feel free to post your thoughts and questions anytime!
Hum....ah.....I am trying to ask... Huh...hummm...Hey huge, may I ask again:
Will you talk about chord progressions one day?
See, I am soooooo embarrassed...
Once again, enjoy your video lessons very very much. Many thanks.
Good morning, JoyJane1028 Don't be embarrassed! That's a great question, and I'll see what I can do to create some "chord progression" lesson videos. I did a little bit of YouTube research, and while there's a lot of videos on the subject, they might seem a bit daunting for beginners. I think I have some ideas that might make the subject a bit easier to grasp.
Whoa! Add some lights and what a difference it makes in video quality! Sorry for not doing this sooner, folks! Anyways back to the music. We start by taking apart the left hand notes, and realize we have to stretch our fingers and do some light hand-over-thumb gymnastics (no right hand to the rescue this time, unfortunately). With a little practice, you'll see that this isn't so bad after all.
By all means, please allow yourself to loosen up and move freely about the piano, as long as it doesn't disorient you from the keys and hurt yourself in any way. I sometimes find that if i'm accompanying a really boring piece of music, my back starts to hurt because i haven't been inspired to "sway with the music!" I used to move around way too much as a youngster, before I started to appreciate economy of motion and efficiency of expression. 
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, I am a new member to PW and I just discovered this thread yesterday. 
YOU ARE GREAT 
Huh...hummm...Hey huge, may I ask again: