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Hi all,

Just saying hello and I wanted to post a video I made of Scriabin's first C# minor etude .. not the best quality and I need to get something that can record better, but anyway.

The first few years I played guitar as a teenager, I found a particular guitar forum immensely helpful for developing music theory knowledge, technique, practice, learning about new music, etc. and I know this place will help likewise with piano. I started a little under 8 months ago and am thrilled to be about 80% on one of my favorite Dvorak piano pieces that I thought I wouldn't be playing for years (one that my teacher had never heard before, which she said is very rare) -- the second movement in his American Suite, Op. 98.

Anyway, hello to everyone, looking forward to contributing here. Here's my video, constructive comments welcome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0JKI46_Iak

Very nice!

My only piece of advice is that this piece cries out for a singing melody line, which I think you could get by

1) identifying and really emphasizing the melody notes
2) de-emphasizing some of the repeated rhythmic figures that frequently occur on the thumb side of your right hand.

I really enjoyed your performance.

You did well, lad! Very promising for the future, some people such as yourself seem to learn very quickly . . .a lot of people here are well up on recording acoustic pianos, so you`ll be able to pick their brains.

Have much fun!

Nice. Thanks. The only thing I would say is play with a bit more feeling but on the whole well done

Hi Repoman0,

I will say some basic things about your playing:

1. Find a teacher

2. Your body and - especially hands- are working against you. Your hand is very stiff and moves like one big arm unable to bend... (hand I mean from forearm till fingers). You are pushing the keys with all your stiff hand, not with fingers.
3. I will not tell about mistaken keys, this is normal on pianoplaying, but we should going to perfection.

4. Your playing is full of bad habits and wrong playing, which you can either get rid off by having a teacher or doing really strong self-education on youtube.
Of course, you can play quieter and louder, you can do some basic plans, but it is long way from where it should be.

5. Leave Scriabin for like a two years or so. Go to the much easier repertoire. Start learnin piano with covering basics, which you don't have. Either technically and musically. There a lot of piano pieces which are easy to put keys down, but are very hard to play. This is one of them. This piece is each to hard for you. Much to hard. I just to need even need to listen to it to say it, I can see it by your body. You are putting all your force on it. You are figthing with your hands and difficulties.

6. Do not take my advices as hars or "you cannot play". But in fact - sorry, you cannot.

7. It's good that you want to play, I like your dedication and wanting to be good at this, but since you will not cover basics, you will end as a key banger, who you are now.

8. As summary - find a teacher. Do a huge backstep (which will be a backstep only in seeing by you your repertoire is like "easy" and "child"). But, in fact, you will land where you should be and need to be if you want to have fun from piano playing. If you go any harder pieces than this, you will fail, or your playing will be not hearable to audience. You just need to grab solid basics, which you should have when decidind on this piece.

I love when new people come to play piano, but I cannot stand when they are doing it all wrong. You are close to this.
Once again, do not take me as "you stupid leave it you cannot anything and go home".
I just wanted to point, where you are. If you want to be a better player, and have instead of fighting with the instrument, want to have fun, start from basics. Spend two years and they come to Scriabin again. After record this Etude once agian and you will understand me


You got kick in the ass, now it will only depends from you whether you will run out frightned, or will just think about your playing and learning and do it properly. You know, it's far better to play some really basic piece beautifully, than playing so difficult pieces wrong. You will grow to that level, but get yourself a lot of patience and hard work.

Good luck!
BTW you have great piano.



Just listen to him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S1MhgOxQ28

And look on her hands and body and then you will understand me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyQvJymWISQ

Or here, very good hands view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSyYh_PEsNo

Yes above all good advice. Very nice job for only 8 months. Not sure to what level you can bring it at this point but

* melody could brought out more, chords needs voicing
* I'd like to have less pedal if possible
* Your hands look stiff

Kapelli might be right that you can't play this properly at all, but if you like it, go for it and learn the hard way, better IMHO than getting bored. But a good teacher could help you keep it all in check.

nice work for such a short time, welcome to the forum. Will be very interesting watching your progress.

I thought OP already has a teacher. Or did you mean Get another teacher

I think some of the responses are very harsh.. mind you the OP did want feedback....

Thanks all, some good comments, particularly about bringing out the melody. That's one thing I need to work on when I play an acoustic, and I only get to play the grand pianos at my college's practice rooms a couple times per week.



You make a good point about the stiffness of the right hand, which I tried to remedy in a video posted below. I am more tense than usual when I make recordings. I do have a teacher, she suggested this piece to me.

I will disagree with your methods of learning .. I became proficient at playing the guitar by pushing myself to learn difficult pieces, whether I could play them as I wanted to or not. I improve them over time and of course it doesn't sound like Gilels or Horowitz right away. It'll get closer as my technique improves and in the mean time, I get to enjoy playing it. For me, I already know from 11 years of music experience that I will learn faster and better by refining exciting pieces like this over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0tN19u8A94

kapelli, your reply is totally based on your assumption that the OP didn't have a teacher, and so obviously he must have developed all sorts of bad habits. Well the news is he actually HAS a teacher, so how do you explain his "wrong playing"? Bad teacher? Maybe it's just that he's been playing only a few months and will develop his technique over time.

I'm happy to see the "get a teacher" mantra is also used against people who already have one! Yay, a trouble shared is a trouble halved

Strong blanket statements like these could be useful if you care to list at least few of the flaws you have seen. After all he has confirmed that he has a teacher .

A little careful reading of the original post would reveal that he does indeed have a teacher so that recommendation was invalid.

I think the playing is fine for so short a time. You're doing fine, just keep working on details.

This is usually a friendly supportive environment.

Nice playing! I enjoyed it. That's a fine effort for 8 months of playing!

Keep up the effort and remember that it is a journey that should be treasured...

Thanks for watching, everyone

And regardless of the slightly obnoxious tone of kapelli's post, he did point out that I need to concentrate on relaxing a little more, and it has helped me to make a more conscious effort toward that end.

I made another video tonight of a piece I learned at the end of last year -- Bach's Invention VIII. And I have some old videos that I need to put up. I'm looking forward to keeping that channel updated with videos of everything I learn because I find it interesting to track progress like that.

Bump! Here's another recording of an (apparently) little-known Dvorak piece -- Second movement from his American Suite in A Major, Op. 98. To play this piece someday was one of the main reasons I started playing piano, along with the first movement from Schubert's Sonata in D Major (D850) .. and many more, really. Anyway this is nowhere near perfect and is really meant for tracking my progress, but I'm reasonably happy with this recording, and I'm very excited to be playing this already.

http://youtu.be/grtEVMqONP4

edit: Hey look at that, I mentioned this in the original post. didn't even realize.