Week 4: Post your Progress!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK FOUR 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 August 21 - 26th I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
Post your progress on your pieces! If you are able to perform or play through sections of your music, share it with us! Let's celebrate your hard work during this past month!
We will have a watch party featuring your recordings that you upload down below on this thread, but if you would like to play LIVE please considering joining the "back to school" recital!
Assignments:
1. Record a run-through or performance of your piece!
2. Post it below
3. Write down the progress that you have seen in the last month and share that insight with all of us!
-
Here is where I got with the Rachmaninov prelude Op.23 no 4. My goal for this challenge was to learn it, have it memorized and get a decent recording (along with the Mazurka i posted in week 2).
I chose this piece because I feel I have something unfinished with Rachmaninov, and this being a Rachmaninov year, I really wanted to learn this piece!
I had to spend a little more time on fingerings then usual with this piece, to get it to feel right in the hands. And the flowing nature of this piece needs more maturing. The last section in particular was mostly about remembering the notes for this recording.
I must say it's a joy to play, and I'm looking forward to work more on it!
-
Randall Wayne Thanks Randall! I鈥檓 glad to be on the right track, and I鈥檓 looking forward to work more on this piece! It鈥檚 so enjoyable to play and practice.
So sorry about your tremor. Glad you had the chance to play it!
-
-
Hello everybody, I am so sorry but I didn鈥檛 find the time to continue practicing seriously on the Polonaise-Fantaisie any more. We will be moving to Switzerland mid September, and there are just so many things that I have to prepare. I only think in To-Do lists right now. You are such an inspiring and motivating group! Thanks a lot and I hope to join again in one of the activities as soon as we have settled down. Best regards, Ursina
-
Ursina Boehm We totally understand! Moving is SO stressful. Hang in there...it will be over before you know it.
-
Ursina Boehm hello, it took me a long time to come back to the Polonaise-Fantasie, but today I finally managed to make a recording of it. Still a lot of things that can be improved, but I reached my goal from this challenge to enjoy playing the difficult passages!
https://youtu.be/ILtCuJlQiuw?si=EzOP3Ciji-9l3SDb
-
-
I took the liberty of giving myself another week with the piece. At this point, it feels "saturated" with practice, and it's probably as good as it's going to get for now. To bring it to the next level (and to a tempo appropriate for concert performance), I would have to either start working on it with a teacher or just let it rest and mature for a while before picking it up again. Still, I think it's a decent bit of progress for a month.
-
Alexander Weymann Wow, second cousin! I'm kind of in awe, not only of your playing, but also of your improvement over the month. Nice work!!
-
Alexander Weymann Wow - such intricately complex piece! I'm glad you decided to upload the piece for us here as the audio was not great for me when you played at the community concert (not sure it was on my side or whether you didn't have the original sound on). Amazing progress in just a month esp considering your busy work schedule!
-
Priya Viseskul sorry to hear that the sound wasn't good at the concert - Dominic, in his instruction video, did scare me into triple checking that the original sound was on, but I guess it still didn't work out. This recent recording was done with my iPhone plus external mic whereas the community concert was recorded on my laptop. Your comment tells me all I need to know about what recording modality to use in the future! (BTW, I played much worse at the community concert than in this recording, so if you didn't hear it well at the time, no harm done...
) -
Michelle R merci bien, ma cousine! I'll admit that the long hours of practice I invested in this piece over the last month are neither justifiable nor sustainable for someone with a day job. My boss must never know!
-
Alexander Weymann My first time hearing your playing, and I'm impressed! What a bear of a piece. Good momentum, dynamics, and handling of inner voices.
-
Marc M thank you so much; you are very kind. Yes, that piece is quite the workout. But it's extremely rewarding to play, not only because of the incredible concentration of countless different technical problems within a mere 3 minutes of music, but also because of its harmonic complexity and its passionate Russian sentiment. I fell in love with it as a teenager, had always wanted to play it, and have now - thanks to this monthlong challenge - finally taken the plunge!
-
Alexander Weymann Great playing of this complex piece! I can only imagine how many hours went into learning this.
-
Alexander Weymann I will not tell your boss that you have spent a disproportionate amount of time practising if you continue posting videos of such wonderful playing!
-
Alexander Weymann Wow! what a HUGE improvement since the recital. I love watching your facial expressions as you play. Your whole being is involved in this. Wonderful! Great job with a very difficult piece. Bravo!
-
Vidhya Bashyam Natalie Peh Jennifer Mehta thank you so much for your kind words! This was the first time I recorded a complete piece for tonebase, so your encouragement means a lot to me.
-
Alexander Weymann Bravo! Sounded wonderful and such detail in the harmonic texture of this piece, glad you were able to share the completed version :)
-
Derek McConville thank you so much, Derek!
-
Alexander Weymann Bravo Alexander! Your playing is really powerful and at all times the dramatic character of the piece is maintained. Pure and beautiful Rachmaninov; Bravo! We promise not to say anything to your boss
-
Juan Carlos Olite
thank you for that assurance... And thank you so much for your extremely kind words on my playing! They sure mean a lot, coming from you. Looking forward to hearing everyone's playing, including your beautiful Chopin, in the upcoming watch party! -
Alexander Weymann I couldn't seem to get Vimeo to play the recording for me just now, but regardless I saw it at the watch party and and was swept up into that rich and exciting flow. Well done!
-
Randall Wayne thank you, Randall!
-
-
I'm abysmally late to the challenge...sorry all! I was afraid to commit so I didn't post--due to travel I wasn't able to practice till two weeks ago, and I wasn't sure I'd have time to make any meaningful progress to post.
Turns out I had some time, and was able to make some meaningful progress on Chopin's Mazurka Op. 67 No. 4. I considered it "unfinished business" since I had only barely put the hands together at the end of the recent 2-week intensive with the awesome Jarred Dunn. So, here's a submission! (I know, this is technically after week 4, so if Dominic wants to leave it out of the watch party, that's totally OK.)
-
Marc M beautiful; I'm so glad you took the time to finish your chosen Mazurka (which I still have to do for mine). It's a lovely piece, and - to my ear - you really bring out the springy mazurka dance rhythm, alternating between slight delays and gentle forward rushes, that Jarred had talked about. (Also, I'm so glad that I now have some good company and am not the only one who's ten days late with his submission!)
-
Marc M Lovely playing, Marc. So glad you submitted this. I enjoyed listening.
-
Marc M Beautiful playing! Love this Mazurka. Glad you were able to finish it.
-
