WEEK ONE Updates: Main Thread - What a delightful theme Beethoven wrote!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK ONE Main Thread for this challenge! 
Alright everyone - this is the thread where we'll all be posting our daily updates.
Make sure you've read the rules before replying (<- click)
Twice a week between September 20th - 27th I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Download the music:
Beethoven: 6 Variations on an Original Theme
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!):
- Variation you worked on:
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
Sample daily update:
- Variation you worked on: No. 1
- One thing you found easy: Learning the notes, and rhythms were rather straight-forward, and not challenging!
- One thing you found difficult: Shifting the Hands was a bit tricky to get smooth!
Feel free to make these updates as short or long as you wish!
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Should be able to play the entire work at first sight, but are looking forward to have some conversations about fingering, pedaling, speed, accents, etc.
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Salvador Morcego It is great that you can learn this piece so quickly! But indeed there are many opportunities to dig into the work with its details and find your own unique way to interpret the piece! Looking forward to hearing from you!
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My Sloppy first attempt.
I am wondering if my technique and handshape needs improvement.
- Variation you worked on: No 6
- One thing you found easy: Smooth Scale Passages
- One thing you found difficult: Details like phrasings and dynamics for fast passages.
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Daniel Chong You are off to a good start! Very nice!
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Sindre Skarelven Thank you for the encouragement.
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Daniel Chong Great work! for the scale passages think about moving your hand with your arm and letting your fingers "fall" into place! That can add more horizontal shape to the musical line! But wonderful, look forward to hearing more from you!
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Daniel Chong That is a great start! Kudos as well for starting with that challenging final variation. Your fingerings that are quite different from mine. If you鈥檙e interested, I can share the ones I use: they might work for you, too. Let me know.
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Dominic Cheli I'll try that, also!
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Monika Tusnady I could use some fingerings, too, if you are able to share!
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Daniel Chong You are off to an excellent start. So brave to start with the toughest variation!
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Monika Tusnady It would be awesome if you can share to me your fingerings.
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Gail Starr thank you Gail.
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Daniel Chong Gail Starr These are the fingerings in the final variation that work for me
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Daniel Chong After this variation the rest should seem easy to you ! Bravo !
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Daniel Chong Very nice playing! As others say, a very good start!
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Monika Tusnady Fascinating choice of fingerings Monika.
I will pick the ones that work for me. -
mariannejhampton hahaha Thank you Marianne.
Far from it, for me my strength is scale passages because I love and play alot of Czerny, cramer and hanon. I tend to be very weak at being musical as I tend to brush through the piece XD. -
Juan Carlos Olite Thank you Juan for the encouragement.
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Daniel Chong I especially liked Monika鈥檚 fingering for the chromatic scale鈥 hadn鈥檛 thought of ending on 5. It really helps.
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Daniel Chong I believe that you are underestimating yourself ! Good job !
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Monika Tusnady That's interesting that at the beginning of the scale you enjoy 5-3! For me, my hand gets a little too cramped there, but certainly I can see its effectiveness (keeping the hand using strong fingers/centering of the hand), and would say all the other fingerings are ones that I use!)
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Daniel Chong You certainly have good technique, but I agree with the others, you are also musical! Keep it up!
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Dominic Cheli Thank you Dominic
I am still trying to go through the scale passages with linear arm movement. Your videos on arpeggios changed my approach in piano playing. Together with Penelope Roskell's parachute touch. I just picked back the piano after ending my cabin crew career. It is still a very far road ahead as a new piano teacher. -
Daniel Chong Glad to hear the tonebase has been able to help you :))
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I worked on the theme and the first variation. I found the memorization easy; the difficult part was playing it evenly without long pauses between measures. I'm working, bit by bit, just getting it even.
