Group 4
IMPROVE YOUR CHOPIN ORNAMENTS IN TWO WEEKS WITH JARRED DUNN!
When playing Chopin, we face a tremendous challenge in using ornamentation to enhance musical expression. In this two-week intensive, we will learn how to make Chopin ornaments easier to play by targeting technical skills used in effortless trills, turns, grace notes, and arpeggiated chords. We will look at specific examples in Chopin's Mazurkas
ASSIGNMENTS
Your videos should show all three assignments!
- Learn over snap movement: practice for five mins per day on arpeggiated chords in Mazurka op.50 no.1
- Trills : the one I show is a preparatory step, because it’s a short trill. Try this movement of changing the key place with fingers 2-4-3 on many different locations/keys. Do this also for five mins per day.
- Grace notes: same as above, try grace notes on different keys, with forward arm movement.
Fellow Participants in Group 4:
Fides Cutiongco
Jarkko Janhunen
Heng-Pin Chen
Ashley
Maggie Lam
Blake Marble
Priya Viseskul
John
Lynda Irvine
Shoshana Kalson
Some tonebase productions to get you started
Penelope Roskell on Developing Cantabile Playing
Course: Jarred Dunn on Crafting Scales
Wrist Movement: A Pianist's Secret Weapon with Norman Krieger
Arpeggios Regiment with Jeffrey Biegel
How to get the most out of this course
- Start by watching the introduction video and practice the passages given in the video.
- Write a post where you have been struggling with ornaments in Chopin's music!
- Share two videos per week and help your course partners through feedback on their submissions!
Zoom Check-In: Tuesday July 26 10:00 PST (13:00 EST/19:00 CEST)
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Follow this link for the second week's assignments with Jarred Dunn!
https://piano-community.tonebase.co/t/x2hww25/week-2-new-applications
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With the arpeggiated chords in the example, is it ok to use 521 instead of 531? or is there preference for one over the other?
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Priya Viseskul Great question. Use whichever is more comfortable for you.
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I'm still getting used to the over shaped when playing the arpeggiated chords. More comfortable with the short trill. Generally I have problem with the longer trill such as those in Nocturne C# minor op posth ... the fingers can sometime get stuck towards the end of the trill. I normally use 23 for trill but recently starting to experiment more with 13 and 24.
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Hey everybody, don't forget today's Zoom Call with Jarred!
Zoom Check-In: Tuesday July 26 10:00 PST (13:00 EST/19:00 CEST)
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martin Sorry, I was unable to attend. In the future, it would be great if the zoom sessions were recorded. It’s obviously not a substitute for attending the session in person. But, it would enable people, like me, who were unable to attend, to learn from it. I feel like I missed a lot not being able to participate.
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Sorry for the late submission!
As usual, I've been busy so I made a quick recording of this. Hope it's ok!
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Heng-Pin Chen in first video, I notice your arm moves sideways rather than over the keys and down onto your thumb. I recommend a movement that brings your arm higher at the midpoint of the chord, then down on the thumb (an arc over the middle note of the chord). RH video is better - your arm is moving more in and out of the keys to help your fingers play freely. Nice work! Let me know if you have any questions.
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Jarrer Dunn Thank you Jarrer. Yes, I am more used to play arpeggiated chords by wrist side movement than over shape movement. I need to get more used to over-shaping so I can utilize both ways in different situations. By the way, I feel over-shape movement of left hand would make left thumb drop on the note and produce harsher sound. Any thought about that? Thanks!
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Heng-Pin Chen it’s a risk if the movement is sudden, but the arm and hand can move gradually enough to prevent a heavy or harsh sound.
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Jarrer Dunn Thank you for your comments!
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I just wanted to check in… I'm working on the Waltz in A minor Op 34 No 2. I find it so beautiful, and it has lots and lots of ornaments to work on. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm not set up for recording. So, I can't post a video.
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I have a question about bar 45.
I have small hands, so holding down the b for the full duration of the ornament isn't an option.
The stretch is ok.
Still not too bad.
Yikes!
Clearly, I'm not going to be able to achieve anything approaching a nice, crisp ornament using this approach.
My current solution is to let go of the lower b immediately after playing the upper b (of the ornament).
And move rapidly into position for the a.
Making this happen quickly isn't easy (yet), but I suppose lots of practice will make it work.
The other problem here, is how to pedal to achieve "crispness". In other ornaments like this in the waltz, I put the pedal down on the third note of the ornament. But here, I feel that I need to pedal from the first note, so I don't lose the harmony from the lower b. But, obviously, this muddies the ornament.
Thank you for any suggestions you have for improvement. Sorry that I have to do this using just pictures.
Shoshana
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And one more question… Would it be so terrible if I just left out the lower b? After all, I'm not preparing this piece for a competition.
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Shoshana Kalson about the ornament in m45 of Op. 34 nr. 2: use 454 rather than 342, and certainly don't hold the lower B for the full value - the ornament takes care of the tone "B" lasting longer. Crisp here isn't the goal for the ornament, singing tone and elegance are - pedal can be less classical and more romantic in style (experiment with 1/2 pedal, 3/4 pedal, etc).
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Jarrer Dunn Thank you for your input. Trilling on 454 isn't my favorite, but I'll make it work. More importantly, you mentioned styling this ornament -- singing tone and elegance. I imagine this applies to the other ornaments as well. It made me realize that I've never really studied the differences in playing ornaments from different periods and composers. Either I play everything as if it's Bach or Scarlatti, or I play according to what I heard my mother playing. When I think about it (and quite a few years have passed), I never actually studied Chopin, formally. I played Chopin for fun. And, my mom didn't play much Chopin (that I remember), so I didn't have a basis for imitation. Following your comment, I've suddenly realized that there's a big gap in my knowledge about the stylistic aspects of playing Chopin ornaments. Perhaps you could point me towards some resources. Thank you so much for your help.
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Shoshana Kalson let’s chat about this at the zoom meeting shortly! Link is posted below.
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Hi everyone! Let's wrap up this course with a Zoom meeting - here's a link:
Final Meet - Chopin with Jarred DunnTime: Aug 1, 2022 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada: 11:00PT, 20:00 CEST)
Join Zoom Meeting
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During our final meeting some people asked about keeping in touch and you're more than welcome to send a message to me here on Tonebase or look me up and contact me via my website! Thanks everyone!
