Week 1 Assignment

Pat Van Buskirk Hi Pat! Thank you for joining this TWI! Great question. In this particular excerpt, I would apply the first week's assignment of the 'finger-pedaling" more for the RH melody because that has to really sing melodically in this particular excerpt. One more tip for Chopin Nocturnes, is to play with a more flatter finger approach to achieve a warmer tone in the melody. I will talk more in-depth of the actual timing of the physical pedal-ing in next week's assignment :) but certainly, this LH excerpt is not possible to 'connect' everything with the hands only, especially in those larger intervals. So when you do add the pedal, the pedal will have to catch the first bass note of the LH in order to keep that in the harmony. The physical "change: of the damper pedal is actually happening right at the beginning first note of each measure and then the foot goes immediately back down. That asterisk for the pedal is placed as a 'preparation' for the pedal change. In the meantime for this first week's assignment, you can practice the LH (without the pedal), playing with a slightly lower wrist and 'open' hand position in this particular excerpt, which can help enable a more smoother connection in between the notes. Hope this helps, and happy practicing :)

Ambs Wonderful choice! I look forward to hearing about your practice :)

Ambs Lovely work Ambs! Many of Chopin's pieces, especially this particular prelude requires a singing melody line, and I can see that you are achieving this well in your video. Great work! Yes you are correct when the damper pedal adds in, it will be following along the harmonies of the LH changes. So the LH alone without the pedal would sound dry. I would suggest to practice adding the LH too this week when you are able as an experiment. You can continue focus on that finger-pedaling in the RH while the LH lightly pulses on the keys, staying physically closer so there is less 'separation' of the chords. Of course, playing this excerpt without the pedal will sound a bit raw but this can be a helpful practice to give yourself a mind map of when you would like to add the damper pedal for color. Happy practicing !

Michelle R Wonderful Michelle! Great to see you here :) Look forward to hearing about your practice!

Michelle R Beautiful work, Michelle! That is indeed what I am asking for in this week's assignment! You are doing wonderfully with the finger-pedal technique. I like how your right arm is also relaxing nicely into the keys to help achieve that legato-line in the hands. I would encourage you to also apply the same for the left arm, moving in the opposite direction of similar relaxation motion. This helps us feel the 'breath' in between the line and therefore, achieve a singing sound. Happy practicing!

Michelle R Totally understand! So sorry you had an injury :( but glad you are on your way to recovery! Do what is most comfortable for you as you continue to fully recover of course! Thank you for your dedicated work

Michelle R Hi Michelle! Your pedal plan looks great to me! I agree with your idea on measures 19-20 and 23-24 of adding a slight break of pedal-ing with each of those chords, to achieve the portato articulation marked in the score. In your hands physically, what can help with this is to 'brush' the keys with an 'in-in' motion, while staying physically close, so that the articulation is expressed in the hands. And later the pedal adds color to that. I am happy to share a video later today of those two measures as an example! 

Michelle R To follow up from my response, here is my video attached!

Kerstin Looks fantastic, Kerstin! I can see you really paying attention to the line and doing all the 'physical' work in the hands. Bravo. It indeed is an interesting experiment to practice without the pedal! I hope you find this exercise helpful

Kerstin Hi Kerstin, wonderful to hear that you discovered discovered a lot of the legato work with the hands without the pedal. And yes, I do suggest to practice pieces without the pedal when first learning a work, or even when you have learned the work well and want to do some deep dive in-depth polishing of certain sections. Practicing without the pedal helps us really hear everything much more clearly and magnified; therefore we can further polish solidly to another level before adding color with the pedal. Of course, then adding the pedal is a whole another technique, but that will be focused in Week 2's assignment!

Ellen Weaver Hi Ellen! Thank you for sharing your video. Wonderful job! You are doing great in achieving a legato line and balancing the voices. When practicing without the pedal, I suggest it can also be helpful to practice slowly to enhance everything further in detail. And applying a more relaxed arm motion while applying the finger-pedal technique in the hands (that you are already doing) can also help create more breathing + singing line for this passage too.  

Michele Hi Michele, great to have you, and thank you for joining this intensive! Your video looks wonderful, and I can see your focus on connecting with the fingers. I suggest also applying a more relaxed and open arm position can help achieve a longer line in the phrasings too. Your pedal-markings also look fantastic, and I do not think it is too many changes. Ideally, we actually want to change after each harmony in Beethoven's works in order to avoid blending of different harmonic chords (unless Beethoven himself indicates otherwise). I will be discussing on how to time some pedal changes in next week's exercise so hope that comes in helpful too! Pedal-ing takes a lot of trial and error too before we decide on a set plan, so this early start on writing it down first is a great before physically applying. Happy practicing!