Week 4: Submit Your Recording for the Chopin Watch Party!

Dominic_Cheli
updated 3 days ago
140replies

Update!

Our Watch Party has been re-scheduled for this upcoming Monday at 11am PT!

It’s sharing time! Drop your recording below so we can cheer you on at the Chopin Watch Party — happening Monday October 20th!

What to Post

A video of your Chopin piece — polished, messy, dramatic, cautious... all versions welcome.
Write what you worked on this week — tone, voicing, octaves, courage, not throwing the score across the room, etc... 😄

Deadline

Please post by Tuesday, Oct 15th at 9:00 AM PT so I have time to build a playlist worthy of Chopin and popcorn.

- Hai_Nguyen
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
Hi everyone,

Here is Scott’s recording of Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00u7APriYKI

Any feedback and suggestions to help Scott improve his interpretation and playing would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks to Eloise and Dominic for organizing this valuable challenge. Although Scott wasn’t able to complete the weekly assignments due to school commitments, he learned a great deal from Eloise’s insightful videos and from the thoughtful responses of Tonebase members.

Warm regards,

Hai

(Scott's dad)
- Andrew_Smith
  
  5 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Wow. Wow. And 12 years old! The technique and phrasing seem so fully developed, very fluid. I suppose on a very close listen there are little tips a teacher might offer, but on a first listen I (and I'm not a piano teacher) my reaction is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm always curious how a young person learns advanced pieces -- obviously children memorize extremely easily/can quickly move away from looking at the score, but, say, when they are younger, like 8 or 10 years old, how do they manage the note reading/deciphering difficult pieces? (no need to answer, but probably a teachers' forum type topic). Congrats to Scott and thanks for sharing!
- Philosophy teacher and piano lover
  
  Juan_Carlos
  
  5 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Amazing, absolutely great! A very young artist playing a gorgoeus Chopin. Congratulations Scott! A huge bravo!
- Hai_Nguyen
  
  4 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks so much for your kind words and thoughtful comment!
  
  Scott actually taught himself to read notes right from the start of his piano journey about four years ago — it came naturally to him as he learned piano and theory side by side.
  
  By age 12, in addition to passing the RCM's ARCT practical exam, he had completed all of the music theory and history requirements for the ARCT diploma — which are roughly equivalent to third-year university-level music theory courses.
  
  Compared with the UK's ABRSM system, I’ve found that RCM places a strong emphasis not only on performance but also on the academic side — theory, harmony, analysis, and history that are integral to piano training. That foundation has really helped Scott understand and learn advanced pieces efficiently.
  
  Thanks again for the encouragement — Scott was delighted to read your message!
- Andrew_Smith
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
Hi all -- so I discovered that I can't play this cleanly when filming/under "pressure," so I'm not sure how much is due to nerves versus insecure technique, but anyway here is my rendition of Etude opus 10. no. 3. But I improved this piece compared to 20 + years ago, I've learned/improved some details on technique and looked at the score more closely, so it's been a great learning experience. Maybe after a month or so a performance of it will feel less daunting. Thank you Dr. Kim for all the care and help you have provided -- and Dominic too!
- PViseskul
  
  7 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  expressive and beautiful - thank you for sharing ❤️
- Mark_Cooper
  
  7 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  this was a creditable rendition Andrew , you caught the Spirit of the piece very well
  
  we will have to work out a strategy to beat the camera nerves! I suspect the more one records oneself the easier it gets …
- Andrew_Smith
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you Priya!
- Andrew_Smith
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks Mark! and yes, the more I press the record button the more I get used to it.
- Victoria_Macdonald
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  I share your red button nerves, but have to say you seem to play that damn confidently. I would be overjoyed with such a performance. My favorite etude.
- Andrew_Smith
  
  5 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you Victoria! Always a work in progress!
- Philosophy teacher and piano lover
  
  Juan_Carlos
  
  5 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Great playing, Andrew! I like your warm and expressive voicing. As for the camera nerves... I guess they're getting better after a few Tonebase challenges, but you know, it's natural and universal.
- Dolores_Bacon
  
  4 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  this was such a lovely performance - you talked about 'filming under pressure' and maybe that accounts for the quickness in place, but the beauty of this piece and the inner voices was quite evident and you should be very pleased with what you shared with us!
- Grace.11
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
https://youtube.com/shorts/TmR9Lm2Lg6Q?si=fCOO_Vc9Z251UBbf

Submitted with waning confidence but my desire to participate over-ruled my common sense. New to Tonebase, haven’t played much in many years but got a baby grand for retirement and need help getting started. My Tonebase coach pointed out my collapsed hand arch and inflexible joints, my inconsistent rhythm and the importance of memorizing the piece. I can’t say I came close to mastering any of those areas in the past few weeks but this is about the best I can do now. *Special thanks to Dr. Eloise Kim for helping me with the analysis in week 1. Looking forward to improving with Tonebase and participating in the community.
- Victoria_Macdonald
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  You're off to a great start and with a beautiful piano. If too retired and toook up the piano, and find the Tonebase resources and supportive community so helpful.
- Andrew_Smith
  
  5 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  I also think you're off to a great start, and I think you made the right decision to share your playing. I am not familiar with the piece -- thus I couldn't hear anything "wrong" (that is, one often sounds better to others than to oneself) and I'm sure you'll keep making good progress.
- Grace.11
  
  4 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you for the warm welcome.
- Grace.11
  
  4 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you for
  
  the encouragement!
- Andrew_Smith
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
A note to Dominic/team -- there are videos posted in week 3 that do not show up in this week 4 thread. I'm just wondering if folks who posted those would like them to be included here/all in one place/for the watch party?
- PViseskul
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  There are also some posted on the watch party page as well
- Patrick_Fleitz
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
Good morning! Here is my submission, the Mazurka, Op.63, No.3. I found myself working on the contrapuntal section at the end more than any other part...it's a beautiful Mazurka and I'll continue working on it. Thanks Dominic, Eloise and Tonebase for the inspiration!
- Victoria_Macdonald
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you for sharing this. You really balance both the poignancy and power of this piece beautifully.
- Patrick_Fleitz
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  thank you so much for your kind words!
- rebecca_LAM
- 6 days ago
- Reported - view
https://youtu.be/y84y7uh7Bgs?si=u43p7sJK6e-jpIGP

here is the nocturne B flat minor op9 no 1 that I have been working on the last few months. Thanks for Dr Kim ‘s guidance on the tonebase coaching and the additional help on harmonic analysis here. She is such a great teacher and has been instrumental in guiding me through this piece.
- Victoria_Macdonald
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  This is going to be gorgeous. It's such a beautiful piece and you're playing is so fluid. Your feeling for the music is really coming through.
- Amateur piano enthusiast
- Marc_M
- 6 days ago
- Reported - view
I have a video of Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No 4 etude...currently adding my score notes. Will be up in a few mins. :)

This week I did a fair bit of slow-to-fast metronome practice on specific sections, with an occasional play-through. I need to practice intentionally breathing at the end...I tend to get nervous there and stop breathing, and by the time I hit the last right hand flourish I'm too tense to continue, haha.