Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum The lark by glinka HELP

Am working on this piece now and wondering what level it is. I see all these 8 and 10 year old genius kids playing this piece on Youtube and frankly, I have no idea how they can move their little fingers so fast on some of those runs!

I am also having the most difficult time trying to bring out the melody in the section where the melody alternates between right and left hands. Are there tricks someone can recommend for playing it well? I am failing miserably when I attempt to bring out the melody by trying to emphasize those notes - sounds just like jumbled notes at this point.

Without knowing anything about your skill level it is difficult to suggest anything.

It sounds like a typical beginning student trying to play something that is miles beyond their skill level.

I may be wrong but with nothing else to go by, that is my belief.

Any more information for us ?

The OP registered just over 4 years ago, so I'm guessing they aren't a complete beginner. I could of course be wrong!

As for the melody alternating, what my teacher has me do is play it slow and staccato, focusing on the volume of the notes, and gradually speeding up until it feels natural to play it legato if that makes any sense.

I'm a complete beginner myself, so this may not have been any help, but good luck!

looks like above grade 8?

http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=18339.0

Didn't you just finish Alfred 1? [edit to add: never mind this comment, the other thread is from 2009]

My slow fingers are starting to catch up but it's been slow. Remember that many of those 10 year old wonders have been practicing two hours a day or more for 6 years. Hmm, not such a wonder now is it?

I suggest that if the piece works a little slower, do that. If it doesn't, you might want to put it aside.

As for the middle notes taking the melody, yes this is tricky. The Tchaikovsky piece I'm working on has this. Slow practice of course. Also, write the fingering you will use for the melody and then practice just that on it's own. That will really help you get the melody and the fingering for it into your head before you add back all the other notes around it.

I don't know this piece, and can't find the score on IMSLP. If you can post a pic of the section, I'd be happy to take a look.

Derulux, I think this video also shows the score.
looks quite hard, fast chromatic runs and chords etc. And it's almost 9 minutes if you keep a good pace

It's a beautiful piece, but very difficult. Probably level 8+ or something...

Great piece, but not the one OP is asking about.

This was originally a song which has been transcribed for piano by quite a few people. the one you mostly hear is the one by Balakirev. You can find the sheet music here:
http://henseltlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/balakirev_glinka_lark.pdf

Thank you both for your help. I had found another piece listed as "Glinka - Lark", and it wasn't either of these, so I'm glad we got that cleared up! wouter, that is a beautiful piece.. I'm going to have to get a printable score and run through that a couple times when I get home. It looks like fun.

Now that we're hopefully looking at the right score , does anyone know what measures the OP is talking about? The flip at 34, or the alternating hands at 50? Neither place looks like what I would consider a melody alternating between the hands (think of the trio in Horowitz's Stars and Stripes for an example a little closer to what I was originally thinking), but we all have different definitions.

Sorry, I've been away. How do I upload a picture of one section I am referring to? I have it in jpeg that I can upload here.

You could refer to it in the link outo posted - the bars are numbered:



By the way, I really love this piece of music. It's on one of my favourite piano CDs: If I Were A Bird performed by Michael Lewin (track 11).

Thank you! Bar 34 and onward is where I'm currently stuck. I just love this piece! So beautiful.

All right, so you're having trouble bringing out the melody when it's in the left hand? Piece of cake.

Without knowing why you have these issues, it's a little difficult to try and diagnose, but I can offer a couple quick tricks/tips:

1. Go really, painfully slow, and play the LH louder until it's comfortable. (This is the "obvious" approach.)

2. Tap on a desk. Hit harder with the LH than the right. As you get comfortable, change the pattern. Try a five-note "scale" on the desk. Try different rhythms, finger combinations, etc. Eventually, when it's all relatively comfortable, try the rhythm in the piece. When the rhythm is comfortable, try it with the fingering you're using. Then, put the pattern to the fingering. THEN go to the keyboard.