Week 2: Amplifying your message!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK TWO 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 January 30 - February 6 I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
1. Specify at least ONE aspect of the piece that you love most! (Ideally write this down here in the forum below!)
2. Ask yourself this question: "How do I AMPLIFY the experience of this moment for the audience?"
3. Consider your answer, write it down below, and then let us know how you are trying to implement this!
4. Submit your practice video below!
Example:
I love Debussy's piece "L'isle Joyeuse", especially the moment of the climax where the music transposes from A major and then briefly F major and then to B-flat major (measure 236). I need to focus on saving my reserves of energy for this passage, and have a fast speed of attack, plus a rich and explosive Left Hand pinky for that bass!!
-
Hello everyone! I love this Ballade Nr.4 because it has such a diversity of emotions - sometimes sad, sometimes angry, sometimes I have the idea he is reveling in good memories and so on. I choose bars 169-190 , a passionate flowing part. I still have to work on the melody and it could also be a little bit faster and bring out this little lines (I don’t know the English word) in the left hand. And I have to practice on the balance of all these voices. Really fantastic are bars 175 and 176. Here we have three notes (right hand) against two notes (left hand) and a little melody with right hand pinky - but this melody is the first note of four notes in this linie. Need some more practicing. Hope you enjoy.
-
Kerstin Here a picture of these 2 bars.
-
Kerstin Love your playing. The pinky melodic line was beautiful
-
Priya Viseskul Thank you !
-
Kerstin Loved to hear this! A beautiful Ballade, and great choice.
-
-
I love the sound of longing and heartbreak in the Beethoven op 78....I am trying to bring that out more while also just trying to get all the notes, not easy. But I think it has improved. https://youtu.be/3Qsxs4XiTgM
-
Brett Miller Hi Brett, the link you provided will not play.
-
Brett Miller Sounds great! You are definitely bringing out the emotions in the sonata.
-
Brett Miller I'm not so familiar with this piece, but love where you are going with it!
-
-
Thank you @Darrell Jenkins for pointing that out....should work now?
-
Brett Miller Yes it works now, nice work on this one! I haven't heard this sonata in a long time. It's definitely going on my list to learn.
-
-
Mozart Piano Concerto No.23 slow movement part 2. I love the long, singing melancholic lines of the piano part in this movement and the gentle supporting orchestral accompaniment. I’ve been trying make the orchestra and piano parts sound separate and distinct from each other to give the impression of soloist and orchestra. https://youtu.be/yDj6pLN25iQ
-
Hazel Truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing
-
Hazel I really love this piece and you accomplished the distinct sound of pianist from the orchestra portion. Just what I needed to hear today!
-
Hazel Beautiful!
-
Hazel
-
Hazel Very inspired playing, beautiful Mozart!
-
Hazel I love your floating touch! You get a nice sweet sound in the right hand. Makes me want to learn this!
-
Hazel Beautiful!
-
Hazel Lovely!
-
Hazel I think you did a great job of pulling out the solo part without it sounding at all harsh. Lovely!!
-
Hazel wonderful, you play it so gently and sensitively!
-
-
Life became busy and practice went by the wayside for a few days! The right balance is not always easy to achieve… Time to refocus and return to the piano… It is hard to put into words why I love Rachmaninov’s Op 16 no 5. The lilt of the base line running through the whole piece and driving it forward. The harmonies he creates. This is an early work, but you can already hear hints of what will come later. The simple, yet achingly beautiful melody line. The push and pull of dynamics that hints at an inner turmoil somehow kept under restraint. The second voice that arrives like a ray of hope in the final section. The simplicity of the writing is deceptive. I am forced to find different colours and textures in my playing in order to make sense of it. And it can be played many different ways within the framework of the score. So (like Bach) there is always room for spontaneity, it is always open to new possibilities and I never get tired of playing it.
-
Oh dear, the damper pedal has developed a loud squeak! I tried recording today - squeak, squeak, squeak. Not sure when the piano technician will be able to come…
-
Gillian Decamped to the digital piano until the squeaky pedal gets fixed... practicing 2nd page. Trying to make the left hand more like a boat rocking on water. Not sure if it's successful or not. I find it really difficult to let it breathe, ebb and flow. I tend to be very metronomic - even without a metronome!!... Maybe if I drink a bottle of wine I will loosen up a bit. https://youtu.be/rtQStbr1pZw
-
Gillian Sounds good, Gillian! Excellent job!
-
