Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Members Recordings - Pianist Corner Brahms, J. Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 2

Any feedback appreciated. Started learning this piece late last year but I still can't seem to make it sound musical...

The best thing you could do is get the piano tuned.

I am just a student, so you can take all of this with a small grain of rice. Maybe there will be a kernel to think about

Look at the score for about 1.0. Are you playing the correct treble notes?
Measure 2: treble f sharp to A: I would suggest rotating your hand more to the right and starting the movement Dooner so there is little gap as possible
Phrasing: end of phrases as in measure 3, practice with the final chord of the phrase a little quieter than the previous chord
Phrasing and dynamics: think about how it would be sung and play the melody with that in mind. If you were a singer, wouldn’t you maybe sing a little fuller on the top notes?
Keep the tempo moving : around 1:06, shouldnt there be a slight increase to build to a climax?

And really, your poor piano needs to be tuned

Just want to comment on the "tuning" thing:

First of all, and maybe this is more a comment on my ear than anything else, but I have to tell you, my ear isn't terrible...

THE TUNING ISN'T BAD.
In fact, I'd say that as these things go, it's easily in "OK" territory.
Let me put it this way: A couple of times I've had to perform on pianos that were in worse tune -- and I didn't consider myself particularly deprived on that basis.

Plus: Especially right now, with the situation we're having, I think it is particularly inapt to be making an issue of the tuning, especially with such emphasis, and especially when -- really folks -- it isn't bad.
This isn't a good time to be having people come into your house unless it's an absolute necessity, and, not necessarily for this member but potentially for anybody, there could be a financial issue, especially at a time like now, and if it is, you could make the person feel 'poor' by saying stuff like that.

But mainly: The tuning isn't bad. It's OK.
I'm demanding on a lot of things about piano playing and music, but the tuning of a piano like this one wouldn't be one of them.