Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Pen Pal Thread

Welcome Musicpeacelove. This thread is just to chat about our playing and what's on your mind. Fell free to contribute!

My teacher has me doing quite a few sonatinas from one book - I've found it to be useful and in general I've enjoyed it. The most recent one I didn't find very interesting musically, so she let me get to a place where it was obvious I'd "gotten" it and then let me drop it. I expect I'll end up doing one or two more from that book at some point. I am glad that it's not all I'm doing though.

I finally had a chance to sit down with my recorder yesterday. I bought a new chord for the piano so I could record it "stereo". Before I got that chord I listened to a piano recording I made on it and it sounds so much better through that device than when I was recording the piano through the computer. I don't have to get rid of any noise so I'm extremely happy about that.

That file I'm making I've finished the major and minor scales and am on the section for chords which is going to take some time. Last night while I was looking up chord inversions I learned how those are made so I'm learning new things as I go.

Happy New Year everyone!

Anita I love learning like that - by researching and discovery. Glad the project is coming along.

Megan did you mention which Sonatina you liked the best? I just Listened to the K545 a few times and I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle this one.

CMB, I don't know what a MeganR Avatar photo is. Interesting my good friend is a PA, I gave her a signed and framed vintage symphony poster and found out her minor in school was music history. What a fitting gift, never knew she minored in music history. I have been listening to the great courses on my way to work for the past year and learning about all the great composers, it really makes me appreciate the talents of the classical composers. I don't play a lot of songs, mostly I work out of technical books for the piano class. However I have been using the The Big Book of Classical Music (Hal Leonard) the songs are not real easy for me so it takes me a while to get them. For the rhythm class I work on songs from the Fake Book the past year, so I have learned to read play jazz chords and I work on counting syncopation. Counting is my weakness. I was surprised that once I learned a song and then didn't play it, you lose it. I had worked on that Christmas song for 2 months to get it to sound good. My husband said why didn't I give the family a concert, I said I could but it would only be one or two songs and I would have to practice those for months before it was ready to play. I told him he needs to hire my teacher if he wants more than one or two songs. People who do not play don't realize what it takes to get a song to sound good, it is just not open a book and play if your not a professional or been playing along time.

Deb,

MeganR, just 2-3 posts above, has an avatar, which is a small photo under her username. If you cannot see it, it may be because you are using a mobile device. If so, try turning it sideways. She is a photographer, and has a beautiful photo of a neighbor's grand piano, artistically shot. Her homepage link has more photos on display.

Sounds like the courses you're listening to are interesting. Where did you find these? I too have to make an effort to count properly and when I'm lazy, I know it's not on. Another similar weakness I have is that I haven't learned to play through mistakes; they cause me to pause or repeat a measure, which is not good if playing for people. Maybe I'll work on squashing that habit.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I can't see Megan's photo/sig above - says Content Protected By Owner. This is on a laptop. If I copy the URL and open in a new tab, it's the same thing.

http://www.prayinghorse.com/img/s11/v29/p2694091634.jpg

MeganR, can please post your website where you sell your photography. Thanks

It's http://www.prayinghorse.com

CMB, the Great Courses music is taught by Robert Greenburg. https://www.thegreatcourses.com/

In the search box put music. However, once you find what you may look on e-bay and Amazon, they have used courses. I get the CDs so I can listen in my car. There are some also on Amazon audible. I walk every day and listen to the courses. I like the CD in the car because I can easily repeat the track. I would not have the time to watch a DVD, but that is an option. What has helped not to back track is the Dr. Beat DB 90 metronome. https://www.boss.info/us/products/db-90/ It is pricey compared to others (bought mine on Amazon). I used the voice count which counts for you (like 1 and 2 and, 1 e and a ect...) so if you miss the notes the metronome does not wait for you go back, it keeps moving forward which has helped. I also recently bought the SoundBrenner metronome that you wear and feel the beat. It is a vibrating metronome. SoundBrenner has an app metronome that is free on Googleplay. The vibrating metronome works with the app, but you could use the app as a stand alone. Just put metronome in Googleplay and it comes up. I have the app on my phone.

My teacher said I count some numbers faster than other, so the Dr. Beat has helped my counting because I use the voice all the time. I really try to count well at least for my lessons, if I start messing up the count he makes me count out loud for my 2 hour lesson. This has been a motivator to count right.

I'm "kind of" in two of them. My path is probably not a usual one because it's so heavy in remediating / relearning technical things and that is the major thrust.
One of them is the rondo movement in the Beethoven Sonatina in F major, Anh 5, no. 2. That's the one where within two measures in the first playthrough my left hand got tight and sore as I slipped straight into habits from self-taught childhood.
The other is one of the Beethoven "easy sonatas" - one movement of Op. 49, no. 1 in G minor. I don't know yet how far I will go with it, because some pieces are then put aside for when I have more skills.
To get an idea of the various places I'm at /working toward - This is a video working out physical solutions of Alberti bass. My original A.b. had a motionless arm and wrist, fingers spread permanently in position with fingers shooting down. This is hugely different and is one thing that seems to be working.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mvq9luc48sbss1o/17.12.30a%20Alb%20-%20idea%201.mp4?dl=0
The last part is playing with the idea that we also see in the resource Stubbie shared recently - the illusion of legato (though I didn't like it here). Btw, does anyone know what piece I'm playing? This comes from my childhood and I haven't a clue.
A really boring one involves pedal: my last piano forced these gigantic movements and the "technique" I developed gave me a sore lower back. One can add a touch of pedal to these pieces - and getting that movement right is part and parcel. This was a troubleshooting video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/txyqahuap2vxuah/17.12.25%20pedal%20work.mp4?dl=0
That was followed by this (after some corrections - some things were wrong in the first) - the movement is smaller - hands are playing staccato - they are actually notes of the Alberti bass of a passage in the Gm, as one possibility, but for practise. One idea was to highlight countermelody notes by stretching them between hand and pedal.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g4cvvc5vg9cuiuj/17.12.29a%20pedal%20sequence.mp4?dl=0

In a way different mindset and direction, in this last recording I "let go" of the technical basics to some degree, and was feeling out the musical side of this passage (coming into m. 55 - 72) I was exploring ideas of phrasing, dynamics, bringing out some main notes esp. a countermelody in the Alberti bass (the middle notes), and choosing when to add a touch of pedal.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h9janh530qfaiak/2018.01.01%20Gm%20feel.mp3?dl=0
I do not have the control that I want to have, so these things will probably be built more at a future date. I'm in this weird in-between place.

The Mozart K545 was one of the things in my grandmother's things that were passed on to me when I was a teen. If I say I "played" it back then, I dashed off the notes as someone would who has no lessons, doesn't get to see anybody else play, and who knows how it sounded. If I went to this piece, I don't know how much old muscle memory would have to be overcome, or if it could be done "afresh". The Alberti bass video above was a pleasant surprise, because I got quite outside of those destructive habits, and some of the motions seem to have stuck.

(Oh dear, this is long).

That's a lot of work you put into this subtlety but it will pay off! It sounded quite nice in the end, Keystring.

It's been raining for 2 days straight and my piano sounds like garbage. It's really disconcerting. Maybe I need a dehumidifier. My hands and fingers and brain all seem to need a little help today also. I'm still trying to polish my December pieces and move on to the next piece. Maybe I'll just sit back down and do some (out of tune) scales.

Anyone around? I received the print from Megan and put it up on the wall in my office; we'll see if anyone comments on it. Thank you, Megan.

Last week was more of the same for me. I began work on Liszt's Consolation; seems so simple yet so difficult to pull of that 4:3 and 6:3 timing consistently. I played some measures dozens of times and think I'm getting it. I'm also working on the octaves on the second page - specifically, using fingers 1-5 to 1-4 so as to play them with Legato. This piece is so beautiful. Have you heard it? If not check here....



How awesome is it to be able to watch Lisitsa play this whenever the mood strikes? I was so lucky to see her in a small venue locally last year. YouTube is so incredible.

Enjoy the week.

CMB, I would love to see the picture. I posted for her to provide her site where she sells her photography. I have collected some vintage classical music posters, however, my husband does not like classical music so when I was really excited about them, he said I hope you don't want to hang them up. After reading your post, my office would be a good choice. Thanks for the utube video.

Deb try clicking this link - the piano pic comes up on the first page I believe.

Thank you, cmb13. I do believe these things pay off.

Rain - my. But then in Florida you have no indoor heating as a rule so that if it gets even mildly cold that is great discomfort. We've been dealing with this kind of thing. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/coldest-capital-now-ottawa-1.4466107 At one point we had a wind chill factor of -40 which I now know is the same in Fahrenheit and Celcius. I went outside for the first time in days, and had a ski run up and down the sidewalks.

In regard to polishing and moving on --- I have learned alternate ways of practising. One is to be working at different levels on different pieces, and that can include only parts of those pieces. This can open up all kinds of possibilities. I have just revived Chopin op. 10 no. 1, which was not being practised to be at the final level, but to bring in certain physical movements. It dropped in 2016 and I never found the time to resume it as I had wanted. Right now a section of it is sitting somewhere among the Gm sonata, the F (m?) sonatina. I have just learned to fix how much and how I depress the pedal. In the etude the pedal is depressed much less frequently, but you are moving your body left and right constantly, so what does that do to the balance in your foot and legs? So there is some intertwining.

Keystring
Every house I know of in Florida has central heat..., even my 1970 middle-class house. And you would laugh but I’ve had the heat on every day, cranked up high

I lit a fire as soon as it dropped below 60.

Meanwhile in Australia... Sydney has just recorded its hottest day since 1939. In Penrith (an outer west suburb) temp reached 47.5 Celsius on Sunday. This is a 20 minute drive down the hill from me (I am in the lower Blue Mountains). The temp rose very quickly within an hour or so from my getting up 7am, 25 degrees and it was low forties by midday and I wasnt game enough to go outside to check again in the afternoon. Fortunately I have ducted aircon, best investment I made here. I dont have to worry about my piano as it is digital. However, we have had some wild storms so I unplug it then, even though I have a surge protector unit on the plug. And tonight my return to the piano for some pleasure playing as opposed to practice, was foiled by a prolonged power cut due to another storm rolling through. It wouldnt have helped having an acoustic as I cannot play without music and it was too dark by then to see properly. I might just call it a day and go to bed now, having finally just been able to cook and eat dinner. Lord knows no-one got any sleep last night with the wild storms. Chat later. Take care in the snow/heat/ humidity wherever you are!

And thank you for the Liszt cmb13 it was a beautiful gentle way to round off my day. Her technique is breathtaking; she just caresses the keys.