Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Grieg recital: Proposal.....

Playing the wrong notes so people don`t notice is an art form. . . If they do notice, a grin which says "who spotted the deliberate mistake?" might be the best for damage limitation. . . better still if everyone (including piano player) is comfortably inebriated . . .

The grinding tedium of trying to practise something that doesn't fall naturally under my fingers has stripped me of most of my humanity so I'll probably have to stick with pretending to be knowledgeable!

Please to hear Rossy's in good shape, looking forward to the return of his off-beat perspectives.

Rossy is missed, and you can tell him not coming back is not an option, or there's a riding crop in his near future!

My digital piano is packed up, so the only chance of practicing I'll get is possibly tonight at my parent's if they're not there when we arrive. Then we're on the road for the next two days, but when we arrive in FL on Sunday I'll be able to practice on my Petrof! Yay!! I'm hoping that will magically improve my playing, because there are all kinds of wrong notes happening right now that I'm not sure what to do about.

The main problem lies in the Halling. Despite really working the one section after the glissando, it's still hit or miss. If I make it through, I have to do it on the repeat, and so far twice in a row has yet to happen! And it's not like I can do a Plan B on this section, because if I'm off on one note, the rest of the entire section gets off. I can't spare a moment to look at my RH and correct it, because the LH is too busy being a spaz jumping octaves! This is one of those times I wish I had eyes like a gecko.

I thought about what may possibly be causing the problems in the RH, and it may be because the LH has to do these large leaps that when I play up to tempo, I lose my balance. At slow tempos, I'm pretty grounded and the RH keeps me stable, but I think when it's up to tempo then all of a sudden my RH starts lifting off the keys too much like the LH. It's just a thought and one I'll have to look at when I'm back at the piano again in a couple of days. I'm hoping a solution is soon in coming!

All of the other pieces are coming along fine. From the Early Years is ready to record, and once I can get that and Halling recorded, I'll focus on memorizing the other pieces.

I may forgo memorization on French Serenade, but we'll have to see.

Butterfly is just lovely, and while I won't bring it up to break-neck speed, I think it will sound suitably fluttery. Did you know that a group of butterflies is called a flutter?

The Brooklet I think is misnamed and sounds more like a winter wind or something. There are no pedal markings except at the very end ehre, but I may disobey that order. I am loving all these pieces

I watched my son's teacher work with him on Debussy's prelude (from Suite pour le Piano). It has a nasty set of glissandi in the RH, with the left hand moving in downward octaves at the low end of the piano at precise points during each gliss. She just had him work the LH until the jump distances were completely in muscle memory so he could focus his attention on the interaction between the octave jumps and the timing of the glissando.

Hmm, I wonder if I just not look at the LH and focus on the RH...I'll give it a try. Those octave leaps are pretty far, but maybe I know the feeling well enough to not have to look.

Yes, and you could also muscle memorize the RH (know exactly where the gliss stops by sound, feel, and timing) while sneaking a look at the left hand as it moves. And of course, once you have done that both ways ... !

Glad to see Rossy Rostosky is doing well

Love it! I think I'll stand in this shadow.

Testing out my new recording software - here is Vanished Days: (my first ever recital )

Comments?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vryibuz779fuwwi/Vanished%20Days.mp3?m

I don't really know how to upload files yet, so I am using my Dropbox user account. Youtube doesn't seem to like "audio only" files.

I am determined to record early this week, so hopefully I will be fully finished! I put my piece away for several weeks hoping to gain some more perspective on it, but after pulling it out again I'm not sure that has happened. I've made a deal with myself that I can't start working on my next recital piece for November until I get this recorded, so maybe that will help make things go faster.

Super! Quite a challenging piece! A lot of time went into that. I would imagine you are reading and playing? You put a lot of dynamics into it and your piano held up nicely as well.

I uploaded a trial video of my piece to Youtube today. I used Windows Movie Maker and it would be very easy for you to put add a couple of pics and turn your piece into a slideshow. I used, I think, 9 pics for a 1:40 piece.

Thanks for your comments, yes, I was going through the PDF sheets from my iPad. I first heard about Vanished Days while browsing through one of the exam syllabuses of either the RCM or the London College, can't remember now. Then I heard a recording of this piece (youtube) from someone who joined the Grieg's Piano Competition and I was hooked since. I just had to learn this up.

Anyway, it was just a trial recording and perhaps when the due date comes I hope to make less mistakes while playing this piece. Er, is there a due date for the recitals?

As a second thought, I am also learning the "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen" and I find it much more difficult to play than this one.

I think we're supposed to be ready by Sept 15. I think one opus is going to be published (by the moderator for each opus), starting with Opus 12.

My work is op 12 no 8 and we are planning to have our videos all done and submitted well before the 15th.

Renjer, welcome! The way the themed recitals work is that at the beginning of the organizational process, back when this thread started, people pick which piece they'd like to play, one person per piece. People then submit YouTube videos of their playing to the organizers, and the videos are published in order when the performance of the recital opens, which will be Sept. 15. The list of performers and pieces is filled out already now. So unfortunately your recording won't be part of the official themed recital. We're delighted to hear it though. Consider posting it to the September Piano Bar. There are also quarterly recitals on your choice of piece -- submissions for the next Quarterly recital open on Nov. 1 and run to Nov. 14. Also keep watching ABF for an announcement of the next themed recital. Hope you'll be a part of it!

AZ_Astro, we're asking for submissions by Sept. 10. That gives the organizers time to put the threads together before the recital opens on Sept. 15, and also time to deal with any last minute problems.

@Pianostudent88: That's ok then, I wasn't aware that all Grieg's Lyric Pieces were already taken. Has the Sonata in E Minor been taken yet? I'm interested in the Andante Molto section because I vaguely remember this piece having appeared in the exams some years back.

Unfortunately in November I will be having guests in my house for quite some time so I can't really play the piano. Perhaps I will have to wait for the next one (February 2014, perhaps?)

I noticed there was an Alkan recital as well on the Pianist forum, however, I don't think my piece is up to an acceptable standard yet.

Renjer, yes, the next Quarterly recital after November is February.

For this themed recital, we're only playing Grieg's Lyric Pieces. You could record the Sonata for the Piano Bar, or record it early and submit it to the November recital (or later). There's also the Ecco Fatto thread for submitting your first PW recording, if you wish. (Ecco Fatto = Italian for "There! It's done!")

You can also always just make a thread and post a piece for feedback or just to share.

There will be another themed recital coming up, but the theme and timing have not yet been decided. Look for information on that sometime after the Grieg recital finishes being posted (we'll have one opus per day starting Sept. 15, so finishing up on Sept. 24).

Right! Thanks.

Can we do Schumann next time? Lots of pieces that are playable by intermediates.

Or Bartok - he gets no love in the ABF recitals. But the Mikrokosmos have something for all skill levels. I don't know why they aren't more popular.

Or we could make the New Age fans happy and have an all New Age recital Oh no, Einaudi!

Sam

Hey, hey, hey, now! I haven't even begun to record my Grieg pieces, so let's hold off on discussing what's next until we're done with what's now!

Don't mind me, just a little under the gun