Group 1

 

Welcome to the latest TWO WEEK INTENSIVE on tonebase!

 

For the next two weeks either start learning OR take a Chopin mazurka in your repertoire to the next level through guidance and assignments from Jarred Dunn! Learn about stylistic advice, aspects of the dance and more!

 

Pianists of all levels are welcome. 

 

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Assignment #1: Seeing the Mazurka

 

1) Watch Mazurka Dance Lessons 1, 2, and 3: 

http://www.tance.edu.pl/en/lessons/show/dance/720

 

 

-Pay close attention to Lesson 3: the lesson builds rhythms from what we hear as a Waltz into a clear accent on 2nd beat, 3rd beat, and both 2nd/3rd beats

 

2) Learn one Mazurka

Choose one from the following suggested opuses for the whole TWI. 

Week 1: Practice the LH:

-Op. 6 nr. 1, nr. 2

-Op. 7 nr. 1, nr. 2

-Op. 24 nr. 1 or 2

-Op. 30 nr. 1 or 2

-Op. 67 any

- or a different mazurka

 

Practice Activities:

a) Identify/mark all articulation in LH parts.

b) Clap the rhythm, emphasize accents and count aloud (speak louder for accented beats, eg. "one, Two, THREE" or "one, TWO, Three" etc.) 

c) Identify/mark any unknown harmonic shifts or chords.

d) Find all cadences and notice unfamiliar accents (beat 2).

e) Voice tops of chords in LH or find a moving line (could be the middle notes of a chord that change).

f) Use RH for chords and LH for bass lines.

g) Circle any rests/pauses - they need to be heard.

 

Upload videos of your LH practicing/playing.

 

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ASSIGNMENT 2

 

Second Assignment: Continue your new Mazurka

Week 2: Practice the RH:

 

Listen to instruments, timbres, and moods in the following:

Kujawiak: https://youtu.be/RjV1bpxi0bc

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego: https://youtu.be/mTx45S-dQmQ?t=4

Chopin Mazurkas/Folk Mazurkas: https://youtu.be/n8OyddwnVbE

 

Look For/Listen For: 

a) Learn the soprano part (melody), always sing/scream with it when you play. Think of dancers in this video: https://youtu.be/p6svoYBEWCs?t=10

b) Add ornaments after you learned the rhythms of the melody.

c) Dotted rhythms and triplets must sound distinctly different (no slackened dotted-eighth/sixteenths).

d) Accents on beats two and three can be subtle: try different levels of pressure/weight on the keys, to create at least four different accent types: sudden accent, leaning/swaying accent, light accent, heavy accent.

e) Remember that recording yourself is the best way to find out if you're actually doing what you intend. Record your melodic playing/singing/screaming whenever you practice.

 

Upload videos of your RH practicing/playing. 

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  • Sign-Up : starting July 14
  • Course Period: July 17-31
  • Class Size: ALL are welcome!
  • Optional check-In via Zoom: July 27th 9am PT

CHECK IN VIDEO!

 

https://youtu.be/rvIjk9LS1Qw

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  • Here two practice videos (right hand and both hands). Mazurka op 56 No 3, mm 173-220. In a way I find it easier to play with both hands. Thank you very much for feedback, Jarred! 

    Like 5
    • Andrea Buckland dokładnie! 

      Like 1
    • Andrea Buckland Lovely! You have made so much progress in this complex Mazurka! I agree to that both hands seems easier than LH alone 🙂

      Like 1
    • Vidhya Bashyam Dankeschön, Vidhya!

      Like
      • Juan Carlos Olite
      • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
      • Juan_Carlos
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Andrea Buckland It's a very peculiar mazurka, beautiful and full of details, with a strong sense of drama. I like your playing, Andrea, very expressive.

      Like 1
    • Juan Carlos Olite thank you, Juan Carlos! I‘m very much enjoying learning this Mazurka. I feel it’s a whole opera in a nutshell.

      Like
      • Monika Tusnady
      • The Retired French Teacher
      • Monikainfrance
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Andrea Buckland this is beautiful! The clarity of each note and your obvious understanding of the structure charged this (section of the) Mazurka with greater emotion than anything else might have. Congratulations!!!

      Like 1
    • Monika Tusnady thank you so much, dear Monika! 😘

      Like
    • Monika Tusnady
    • The Retired French Teacher
    • Monikainfrance
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello, Here is my second rendition of this Mazurka. I'm much happier with its energy but somewhat disappointed with the trills - they isn't quite enough time for them anymore!

    Like 6
    • Monika Tusnady Bravo! I love your energy, tempo and the way you transition between sections! What a great Mazurka (and opus). Will add this to my ever growing list of Mazurkas to learn 😊

      Like 1
    • Monika Tusnady much better than last time; energetyczny (energetic), spontaniczny (spontaneous), o wiele ciekawy (interesting). On the last cadence of the B-flat section, sit back on the bench and let the rhythm come out naturally with a diminuendo. This place can be an exciting surprise for the audience but when performing it, we tend to anticipate the 8ve forzando rather than wait for it. Think of that place as educated screaming and let your hands settle onto the B-flats until the exact moment you've heard silence. Good effort on the Trio, this just needs a bit more time and you should be able to technically anticipate the jumps more comfortably. Keep on slow practice tempi with the Trio but fast arm movements between the lower note of the jump and the higher note. Będzie super! (it'll be great!)

      Like
      • Monika Tusnady
      • The Retired French Teacher
      • Monikainfrance
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Jarred Dunn thank you for that feedback, so helpful, as always. EDUCATED SCREAMING is a brand new concept to me, one that I cherish all the remaining days of my life. 
      And…I just love the Polish words you use. They make our Mazurka TWI into a complete cultural experience. 

      Like 4
    • Monika Tusnady I love it, Monika!

      Like 1
      • Juan Carlos Olite
      • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
      • Juan_Carlos
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Monika Tusnady Sounds wonderful, with very dancing mood and energy, Bravo Monika!

      Like 1
  • Chopin Mazurka Op 6 n. 1 Left hand - YouTube

    This includes the difficult bit! jumping up the keyboard. I know I haven't got those first three quavers evenly spaced yet. 

    Like 1
    • Richard George Littlewood Yes I hear that spacing now, thanks for recording only LH. I'd say the 5th finger part needs a bit more practice for precision and touching each key (esp. the lower tones of the 6ths). I noticed at the end your 4th finger plays but your arm moves back from the key: it'll be easier if your arm stands forward into the 4th finger to support it when playing. For the mazurka chord figures one-TWO-three, try for the middle bar having a bit more emphasis than the downbeat; that'll improve things significantly. Do roboty!

      Like 1
    • Jarred Dunn I'll look into that. I really appreciate your comments. Thank you for taking the time to listen!

      Like 1
  • Hi everyone! This is the link that should be above beside Chopin Mazurkas/Folk Mazurkas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8OyddwnVbE

    Like 1
    • Jarred Dunn Great! Thank you!

      Like 1
  • I recorded myself playing the right hand of Op 6. No. 1. 

     

    My biggest concern right now is how to voice and phrase the last 4 bars at the cadence of each section.  I'm trying to drop the volume as I enter into each cadence, and crescendo slightly at the end of each of bar to give it a sense of direction, and then drop suddenly to pp on the downbeat of the final bar.

    I'm also a bit concerned that I am over-voicing the grace notes in the Scherzo, but I can't really find a way to get around that technically.  Maybe I'm overthinking it.

     

    Please let me know of any other suggestions you have.

    Like 1
    • Steven Hart rytm jest ok (rhythm is ok). Allowing some accents at 1:08 to be heavier in alto voice on second beat is good but don't lose the soprano in the process. Oberek screaming at 1:17, check soprano notes - B-sharp should be the penultimate note of mm. 17 and analogous passages. Difference between dotted rhythms and triplets is clear. It's not advisable to make a ritenuto at the end of the phrases on f-sharp cadences; the triplet shouldn't lag. If the triplet lags, the descending rhythm (becoming slower) is harder to hear. In the grace-note passage starting m. 40, let your hand glide across leaps rather than physically jumping upward. The keys can fling you more loosely to give the leaps in sound a feeling of horizontal motion (technically speaking this can be difficult for the hand to feel because the tempo is always felt faster due to adrenaline and passage construction being more energetic). Dobra robota!  

      Like
    • Jarred Dunn Thanks for the feedback.  Much appreciated!

      Like 1
    • Steven Hart proszę bardzo!

      Like
  • Mazurkas Recorded by:

    Ignaz Friedman
    Artur Rubinstein
    Jan Smeterlin
    Tatiana Shebanova
    Ewa Pobłocka
    Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń
    Władysław Szpilman
    Aleksander Michałowski
    Moriz Rosenthal 
    Adam Harasiewicz
    Lidia Grychtołówna
    Wojciecj Świtała
    Hlena Czerny-Stafańska
    Ignacy Jan Paderewski
    Magdalena Lisak
    Maryla Jonas
    Raoul Koczalski (pupil of Mikuli)

    Like 2
  • Hello! I didn’t get any feedback on my video of the LH practice but I read the comments several other fellows got and tried to improve based on that. Hopefully, I will get recommendations on how to improve! Sometimes I feel the accents are a little harsh and there’s a section in the section B I am not really sure what to do, I will really appreciate your comments.

    I have also recorded both hands playing since it is almost over this intensive. 
     

    Thank you in advance for everything!

    Like 4
    •  good effort on this, pulse is clear. Don’t slow down at the transition into section B, this is a subtle transition with the double bar line mediated by the amount of time it takes to tie the E in soprano. Good dynamics in 1:20-1:45 with the chromatic alto and tenor voices, vary the level of crescendo or dim. so each iteration of this melody is different. Be careful about the dotted rhythm so it isn’t a triplet: this distinction has to be really clear. Last phrase triplets - let these feel flute-like (piszczałka) and airy, with an improvising touch on each of them (sometimes the first note of triplet a bit emphasized, sometimes the second note, etc).  

      Like 1
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