Week 4: Final Submissions!
WELCOME TO THE LATEST COMMUNITY CHALLENGE!
For this challenge "A Fresh Start" the goal is to pick a BRAND-NEW piece to work on this month.
This is the time to finally open that score that you have been thinking about and get to work!
WHAT ARE WE DOING IN WEEK 4?
1. Let's share our final progress this week - post a video of a selection, part, or entire piece to showcase your progress this month!
-
I didn't have time to really practice on the piano this week, but did some thinking about the music. Today, while I was recording, I felt everything was different - tempo, mood, emotion, mind set, etc. - just different. I am not sure if it's in a good way or not. But, I am sure there are a lot to improve. Anyway, please listen to my final submission and give me some feedback. Thank you everyone!
Update on 5/9:
The 3 pieces are still in progress. I think I'll need another 2 weeks to bring the pieces to satisfied performance level, at least for me. This was recorded on 5/4, and I guess this would be the version for TB watch party. I'll post my final version on TY channel ASAP, so I can move forward to the next project.
Update on 5/10:
I made another recording, and it sounded better. I'll make it final as of now, let them rest for a little while, and start working on my next video project. Hope you'll let me know how you feel about this recording, good or bad, and give me some comments/suggestions if you don't mind. Thanks a lot!
-
Heng-Pin Chen Bravo, Heng-Pin! All pieces sounds so great, and especially the first one is very moving to me. I think that your way of thinking about the music has been very rewarding. Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and reflect, rather then practice over and over something that might not even be what we’re after. Anyway, well done!
-
Heng-Pin Chen Sounds beautiful! Very natural and flowing.
-
Heng-Pin Chen Really lovely! The first one is gorgeous: I enjoyed your dynamic contrast and color changes, and such a beautiful ending. I felt and heard much more direction in the second one; it flowed quite well and was a wonderful transition between one and three. Three is fun to listen to and your playing graceful and elegant. Bravo!
-
Sindre Skarelven Vidhya Bashyam Michelle R Your comments really gave me some inputs from the "audience." It always helps me shape my music. Thank you all!
-
Heng-Pin Chen Wonderful! Sounds so organic, yes like you've found your voice during taking a brief respite from the piano.
-
Heng-Pin Chen It is interesting how your mind continues to ‘work’ on the music even when you are not actually playing it. Lovely performance-thank you.
-
Heng-Pin Chen Beautiful. I really liked your soft crescendos and the way you leave breathing space between phrases without rushing.
-
Heng-Pin Chen Beautifully sung, Hen-Pin!
-
Heng-Pin Chen Well done. I'm obsessing over this piece now as well. So totally tuned in to the inner voices that you are bringing out so nicely.
-
Heng-Pin Chen excellent job on all of them! I thought you sounded more relaxed and played absolutely beautifully. So maybe you had that moment where you feel that shift in confidence when you’re working on a piece. At least that’s what sort of happens to me sometimes
-
Heng-Pin Chen Beautiful - so expressive and so much at ease
I sense a lot of yearning in the first one, nostalgia in the second, and such lively Mazurka. Excellent performance 
-
Angela Fogg Practicing away from piano is actually a good way too. I definitely need to work the ideas into my hands/fingers. There are still a lot of works to do before performing.
-
Andrea LeVan Yes, I did feel more relaxed now. Relaxation is one big topic I keep in mind while practicing.
-
Judy Kuan Angela Fogg Sedef CANKOCAK Juan Carlos Olite Jack vreeland Andrea LeVan Priya Thank you so much for your nice words and comments. It's great to be growing together in music during the past month.
-
Heng-Pin Chen great work. I like that second piece. It has a very pensive, slightly sad vibe generally, but occasionally resolves with a very funny happy cadence. Quirky but good, and phrasing and voices are handled well.
Third piece is good. At times I thought the second beat could use a bit more emphasis, with the melody ebbing and flowing in that way peculiar to mazurkas. Still, very enjoyable! -
Marc M Thanks a lot for your comments. Regarding the Mazurka, you are right. While I am playing, I am still searching a better way, musically and physically, to express emphasis on 2nd or 3rd beat freely and naturally. Still a lot of works to do, both at the piano and in mind.
-
Heng-Pin Chen I'm no Mazurka expert--have only learned Chopin's Op. 67 A minor one--but something that was very helpful for me was to try to play along with a good recording. Jarred Dunn recommended Fou Ts'ong's recording. The recording wasn't strange to listen to, but it was quite a shock to try to play along with it. Rushing the melody here, slowing down there...physically feeling what it's like to play with that quirky sort of rubato was very odd and instructive.
Peter Jablonski has an album of Scriabin Mazurkas, and the last track is Op. 2 no. 3. I think he has a good feel for mazurkas (maybe because his dad is Polish?)--you may enjoy playing along with that one. Or if you know any Chopin mazurkas you could do the same exercise and get a feel for it that way.
-
Marc M Thanks for mentioning these resources. I'll definitely check those out. Cheers!
-
Heng-Pin Chen thinking about the music away from the piano obviously did something good for your playing! It's always challenging to perform a piece that's so well known as that etude Op. 2 No. 1, but your rendition is very much worth listening to - very personal, with lovely phrasing and unhurried expressiveness. I didn't know the other two pieces, but I particularly enjoyed the true romantic swelling and relaxing, the ebb and flow, that you created in the short Op. 2 No. 2.
-
Alexander Weymann Thanks a lot for your kind comments! I am planning to keep polishing these 3 pieces and record a final version, hopefully in another two weeks.
-
Update on 5/9:
The 3 pieces are still in progress. I think I'll need another 2 weeks to bring the pieces to satisfied performance level, at least for me. This was recorded on 5/4, and I guess this would be the version for TB watch party. I'll post my final version on TY channel ASAP, for I want to move forward to the next project.
Update on 5/10:
I made another recording, and it sounded better. I'll make it final as of now, let them rest for a little while, and start working on my next video project. Hope you'll let me know how you feel about this recording, good or bad, and give me some comments/suggestions if you don't mind. Thanks a lot!
-
Heng-Pin Chen beautiful playing! Thanks so much for sharing your recording!
-
Natalie Peh Thank you, Natalie!
-
-
Dear all,
Hope you are well. Here is an excerpt of the Scherzo, the second movement of Sonata number 2, Op. 14 by Prokofiev. There is still a lot of work to do with this piece. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you for listening!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PkHHPoyNF/?igsh=MWwzZ3o2dGFzZXN6bQ==
Best wishes,
Aaron
