Week 2: Share your progress - get feedback!

Week 2 Assignment: Make a short video. First, discuss what voicing and tone you are aiming for in the passage. Second, state the practice technique/techniques you used to achieve your goal. Then, perform for us to receive feedback on your progress.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTPM8TylNBc

32 replies

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    • Kerstin
    • 8 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello everyone. Sorry, I am a little bit late. Here my practicing.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/v7BzxvoRhHU?si=P0gN0ZkLMzEhfH0A
    And now it sounds better.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/fd9bS9YKHWs?si=DSwLpzgVpMPz6LiR

    These TWI always pushes me forward. Thank you. 🙋‍♀️

      • TWI
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Nice work! Sometimes, instead of dropping (motion from fallboard into your lap) you slide inwards towards the fallboard while playing the chord. It is inconsistent both ways, sometimes doing one or the other. Just make sure to practice in small chunks (like 2-3 chords at a time) and make sure they are all played with the same motion. :) 

      • Kerstin
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks for your help. 👍

    • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
    • Juan_Carlos
    • 7 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello Dr. Osterkamp and everyone.

    Here is my video, a bit late, but yesterday it was impossible to upload it because it seems that the Tonebase page wasn't working properly.

    This course has been very helpful in improving my chords. During the second week, I managed to play the beautiful first bars of Schubert's Sonata D960 better, but I know they are still far from being played well.

    Thank you so much!

      • TWI
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Nice work! There are a few passages where you are attempting to create a legato in the top voice by using "legato fingering," where you try to connect 5, 4, 3, for example. This isn't forbidden BUT even when the fingering can connect in this manner, we still want to individually attack/drop on each note for control and tone. The fingering should never make it legato (that is an organ technique)... rather, the pacing and way in which we release and attack each note is what gives the sound of legato. So, you can use that fingering as long as you are still dropping on each note.... I find sometimes doing fingerings for the sake of connecting can lead to bad habits of holding and stretching, so just be careful :) 

      • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
      • Juan_Carlos
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thank you very much for the feedback and advice. I'll keep it in mind.

    • WYN
    • 6 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi Leann. regarding the rapid chord passage in bars 93–102 of Chopin's Barcarolle, I have recorded my practice feedback for the second week.

    1. My goal is to play the right-hand chords fluently and legato, with a tone as bright as the sun, while minimizing mistakes in the left hand during fast passages and achieving a balanced volume between both hands.
    2. The approach I adopted involves:
       · For the right hand: striving to connect the melody smoothly, using the pedal where legato cannot be achieved by fingers alone, and expressing continuity through dynamic shaping such as crescendo and decrescendo. However, I am uncertain to what extent I have succeeded in this.
       · For the left hand, which I find more challenging, I mainly used three methods:
         · Practicing left-hand chords by grouping them into smaller subsets and treating them as an independent melody to sing along with. I found that this helps me recognize the connections between chords and execute them with less physical effort by utilizing arm movement and rotation.
         · Drilling transitions between two lower-position chords, which has been helpful for managing large leaps.
         · Practicing arpeggiated (rolled) chords, which allows me to play four- or even five-note chords with a more relaxed wrist and firmer fingers.

    I would appreciate it if you could provide feedback on my second-week video and suggest ways to help me refine my approach and address any shortcomings.I've noticed that I still sometimes miss notes in the left hand, especially in passages that involve playing an octave followed by a large leap to a chord requiring the fourth and fifth fingers—or when the fifth finger lands on a black key. For example, in the left-hand large leap on the last beat of measures 96 and 97... This is also related to me playing a bit too fast at the moment.

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      • TWI
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Hi Wyn!

      1. When you are talking about connecting the melody with the fingers, we never want to use fingers to create legato... that is an organ technique! Rather, the transition between every note, the release time and the way in which we attack will create the sound of legato. We as pianists don't actually need to connect, stretch, or anything of the sort. Your hand will be dropping on each note independently controlling each note and the relationships of the notes will create the illusion of legato to the ear. This being said, you might want to revisit some of your fingerings in the top voice to make sure that you are always using the most comfortable fingering. You should play with what makes your hand the most at each for each drop, NOT what can be played as a "legato fingering." I think that is partially responsible for some locking in your RH wrist.... in the first recording, I notice that even though you are trying to drop and relax the wrist is frozen in place... I think that is because you are trying to manipulate and connect the top voice with finger playing. 

       

      2. On your second practice video, the wrist looked much better and things were generally relaxed. However, when you release each note, you are coming UP off the keys in the air. Instead, you want to make you releases very small and never allow your hand to come upward or off the key. That upwards motion is the reason that you are currently missing notes and are not able to achieve the speed you want. Coming off the key takes time, so it slows down your ability to increase the tempo and then pushes your hand too fast and causes mistakes. 

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