Week Three: Vive la musique fran莽aise!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK THREE 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 May 23 - 30 I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!):
- Piece you worked on:
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
Sample daily update:
- Piece you worked on: Ravel's Prelude
- One thing you found easy: Learning the notes, and rhythms were rather straight-forward, and not challenging!
- One thing you found difficult: Shifting the Hands was a bit tricky to get smooth!
Feel free to make these updates as short or long as you wish!
-
It's been another wonderful week of practice, i'm so inspired by this lovely little piece I just love practicing it.
- Piece you worked on: Ravel's Prelude
- One thing you found easy: Surprisingly for me, i'm finding it easy to memorise sections of it (I haven't tried to memorise anything before)
- One thing you found difficult: Interpreting the dynamics. At the moment i'm not really hearing any dynamic changes.
Hope everyone's practice is going well this week
-
- Piece you worked on: Pavane pour une infante d茅funte - Maurice Ravel
- One thing you found easy: It's been very enjoyable learning this piece, and I feel a connection to Ravel's tonal language. So I found it easy to be motivated learning this piece.
- One thing you found difficult: I think voicing this piece "correctly" is pretty challenging. Ravel gives a lot of directions, and I would like to follow them the best I can (with a little personal flavor). The last time the main theme returns is the part I think is the most technically challenging, and I can use a little more practice there.
-
Sindre Skarelven Beautiful! Enjoyed listening to your interpretation.
-
Sindre Skarelven you are sounding great! I can see the voicing of the melody at the end must be tricky and I hear it coming through very well. Such a beautiful piece.
-
Vidhya Bashyam Thank you, Vidhya! :D
-
Susan Rogers That's good to hear! Thank you, Susan! :D
-
Sindre Skarelven , lovely playing. I wasn't familiar with this piece, but it sounds familiar somehow.
-
Anthony Miyake Thank you, Anthony! Yes, I鈥檓 pretty sure the theme is more well known then the piece somehow. At least I too was familiar with it before hearing the whole piece.
-
Sindre Skarelven Great job bringing out the melody above the repeated chords. You also have created a lovely tempo that moves the piece forward while keeping it calm, mysterious and rich.
-
Gail Starr Thank you, Gail! Yes, there is a bit of mystery to this piece. Calm and reserved, yet deep emotions underneath. I was so glad to see you in the audience for the concert yesterday :D
-
Sindre Skarelven Great interpretation, Sindre! I think you are voicing the piece very good and create the beautiful atmosphere of this music.
-
Sindre Skarelven You have inspired me to try to play in the next monthly concert!
-
Juan Carlos Olite Great to hear that! Thank you Juan Carlos!
-
Gail Starr Awesome!! Looking forward to it! :D
-
Sindre Skarelven that sounded really great! Voicing really coming across clearly and the melody was so heartfelt!
-
Derek McConville Thank you so much, Derek!
-
Sindre Skarelven Verrrry nice!
-
Tammy Thank you, Tammy! So glad you listened to this! I had a great time learning this wonderful piece.
-
I have been brushing up on three Debussy pieces previously learned - Arabesque 1, Sunken Cathedral and Girl with the Flaxen Hair. I also have been having fun reading through/exploring the Couperin Les Baricades Misterieuses and Gounod Meditation/Prelude Bach which I printed out from Dominic鈥檚 list at the beginning of French month.
-
Susan Rogers Great pieces you are brushing up on and exploring!
-
Sindre Skarelven yes, I am really enjoying French music month! :)
-
Susan Rogers Can't wait to hear your Debussy!
-
Gail Starr Thanks Gail! I tried making the Arabesque 1 video a couple of days ago but got really aggravated by my sustain pedal squeaking. It was really bad in the Ravel video too, but it鈥檚 so short I muddled through with it. I may wait to make another video until my piano technician comes out next month. I just get so annoyed hearing that squeak! :/
-
Susan Rogers I totally know what you mean about pedal squeaks! I don't have that problem at the moment, but when the weather changes it comes back. Soooo annoying. You sound lovely any way!
-
Gail Starr you鈥檙e so kind :)
-
