Week 2: Share your progress
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 2?
- You should have selected your new piece by now, so this week let's start sharing our progress
- Share a video or type what you have been working on this week! It is always interesting to hear how people start the learning process!
-
Here is the Prelude, unfolded (which I have been recording blocked up until now). My teacher wants me to play this in an extroverted, confident manner. I'll have to work on that a bit more! I also want to work more on dynamics so that they are more noticeable to someone other than myself. I'm happy that it is memorized.
-
Michelle R I love how you memorize right away! That's a big weakness for me.
-
Gail Starr To be fair, my pieces are quite short and simple! We'll see what happens when I begin playing longer pieces.
-
Michelle R Well done on both pieces! Really starting to take shape.
-
Michelle R Great Michelle! Your methodical learning process is paying off for sure. It might be a small piece, but you have added so much character to it.
-
Sindre Skarelven Vidhya Bashyam Thanks so much! (and I've gotten my wish - my teacher just gave me a Beethoven Sonatina in G to start learning.
) -
Michelle R Yeah! Can’t wait to hear your Beethoven
-
Vidhya Bashyam Me, too!
But first, I have a new Mozart minuet to learn. Then this weekend I'll begin the Beethoven - which is a longer-term stretch piece. I may start posting to my practice diary again, since the Beethoven will probably take a couple of months or more. -
Michelle R this sounds great; the fact that you are keeping the sound between fingers and between both hands so even makes it very effective.
-
Alexander Weymann Thanks so much, Alex. Now I just need to play it, in the words of my teacher: confidently, with self-assurance, playfully, and extroverted....
-
-
Hi everyone! Here two pages of the Rachmaninoff's Elegie (op3 n1), where we can feel the deep sadness and melancholy of this music, with its breathtaking melody. There is a lot of work to do, I am not very sure of the tempo, dynamics... Maybe I should be more restrained in these pages. And, of course, there are another three pages (more demanding yet, I think...) to work with.
-
Juan Carlos Olite Beautiful! I love this melancholy, soulful piece. I like the mood so far, it will contrast so nicely with what’s coming next. Curious if you have a favorite interpretation you have been listening to. Looking forward to more!
-
Bravo, Juan Carlos! This is already very touching!
-
Juan Carlos Olite Sounding powerful already! I look forward to seeing how your performance develops.
-
Juan Carlos Olite Such a heart breaking piece! Listening to you playing, I can already imagine the world crumbling down in sadness. Looking forward to hearing more!
-
Juan Carlos Olite So heartfelt and beautifully sung! I wonder what was going on in Rachmaninoff's life when he wrote this. Looking forward to hear how you will take this further.
-
Juan Carlos Olite Gorgeous, Juan Carlos. This is my favorite piece by Rachmaninoff, and it sounds absolutely lovely under your fingers. I look forward to hearing how you will polish it!
-
Juan Carlos Olite I love your tempo, Juan Carlos. You move the piece forward while not sacrificing building a beautiful line.
-
Juan Carlos Olite wow just stunning and only week 1! I love this piece and I love how it is so free flowing but it kind of threw me at first learning to let the right hand lead and not care so much about how precise the left hand was. I can’t wait to hear how beautifully you play the rest! You make me want to dig this one back out now and pick up where I left off which is also about where you stopped
-
Juan Carlos Olite sounds beautiful!
-
Vidhya Bashyam Andrea Buckland Marc M Priya Viseskul Sindre Skarelven Michelle R Gail Starr Andrea LeVan Heng-Pin Chen Thank you so much, piano friends! As Sindre I wonder what was going on in Rachmaninoff's life when he wrote this piece; do you know a good book, a good biography, about Rachmaninoff? Suggestions are very well welcome?
-
Vidhya Bashyam Thank you so much, Vidhya. My favorites:
- Nikolai Lugansky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFcuZK_Xu7c
- Rachmaninoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTUxrPJfpqk
- Jorge Nava: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH-n-UZ91Qw
-
Juan Carlos Olite Nice! I have heard and really like Lugansky and of course Rach himself. I will definitely give Jorge a listen next! He is so talented.
-
Juan Carlos Olite I vote for Jorge as #1
-
Gail Starr My vote is for Rachmaninoff playing.
-
