Week 2: Keep up the Great work!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK TWO Main Thread for this challenge! 
Awesome job everyone! You are doing so great, and I am loving the videos + all the hard work! It is inspiring see the level of commitment/enthusiasm you all have for this music!
If you need some help with the piece, check out a livestream that goes INDEPTH with this piece!
https://app.tonebase.co/piano/live/player/liszt-schubert-community-challenge-indepth
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 August 23rd - August 30th I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Download the music:
Download a CLEAN Copy of the score
Liszt's: Soirees De Vienne No.6
Download a score with section numbers for managing your practice!
Liszt's: Soirees De Vienne No.6
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!):
- Section you worked on:
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
Sample daily update:
- Section you worked on: No. 1
- One thing you found easy: Learning the notes, and rhythms were rather straight-forward, and not challenging!
- One thing you found difficult: Playing the trills/ornaments in an elegant way was what challenged me the most.
Feel free to make these updates as short or long as you wish!
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Well I tried 1-4 and although the notes and rhythm weren’t difficult my swollen arthritic hands had difficulty reaching the right notes . I think I really messed up the first waltz and it sounded even worse because the piano is out of tune .
Anyway- Section you worked on: one
- One thing you found easy:The notes
- One thing you found difficult: The notes are easy to read but harder to play ! Making it sound like a dance rather than a funeral March . Every time I tried to play it faster I started missing the right notes and created quite a bit of dissonance.
- Section you worked on: Two
- One thing you found easy: The notes and the slower tempo.
- One thing you found difficult: Interpretation
- Section you worked on: Three
- One thing you found easy: Although it’s the same flavor as no 1 it seemed easier to play as the chords aren’t packed with as many notes
- One thing you found difficult: The last three bars of the section .
- Section you worked on: Four
- One thing you found easy: The notes are easy enough
- One thing you found difficult: Dealing with all the hair pins etc , adhering to all the different tempo and dynamic markings.
I listened to Dominic’s wonderful explanatory livestream and for some reason I couldn’t put his advice into my playing - https://youtu.be/PCPV4G5zGdo
Found this quote from Tom Waits tonight and it’s my excuse !
’The piano has been drinking , not me ! ‘
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mariannejhampton Great work! I see your determination, and perseverance. Bravo! I enjoyed your video!
Brett Gilbert mariannejhampton Let me know what types of things are giving you trouble and I can try and clarify some of my points from my livestream if I can!
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Dominic Cheli Thank you Dominic . I really want to know how to speed up without completely losing it , it’s been a problem for me for ever . I am looking forward to your memorization livestream as that may help me , maybe if I can’t memorize every note I can work on the trickiest parts ? Anyway , I’m having fun and really enjoying your teaching and this group.
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mariannejhampton I missed your video earlier as it didn’t appear as a thumbnail - thanks for sharing and fantastic job for maintaining the accuracy and consistency, Love your Tom Waits quote!
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Ching Lee Goh Thank you . I love adding quotes . This is my favorite quote of all time
The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection—even though nothing more than the pounding of an old piano—is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing star.
Logan Pearsall Smith
Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946), U.S. essayist, aphorist. "Art and Letters," Afterthoughts (1931).
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Thanks for all your kind comments to my submissions 1-3 in the 1st week! That was the easy part! I’ve been working on 4-9, but have not had enough practicing time as I was waylaid by other pieces! My difficulty remains the triplets - my mind understands how they should be done, but the fingers are not cooperating as expected. I really enjoyed Dominic’s lesson, and I love his waltz ‘swing’ which I try to replicate but not succeeding very well - a complication is that with repeating passages, I get lost deciding when to go full ‘swing’ and when to pull badk.
Interestingly, I found a way of handling the sixths that feels more natural to me - using 131413141314 - that’s somehow more comfortable than the 142514251425. I started practising the descending running notes in the closing bars with only my RH. Dom’s 2-hand is really ingenious - but I’d to persist with my RH to see if it produces a different descending chromatic line accenting on the 4th finger.
Hopefully I should be able to post a video in the 3rd week. I’m looking forward to seeing other submissions . It’s so interesting to note that no 2 people play the same way. Diversity is the spice of life!
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Ching Lee Goh I love your idea of the 1314 fingering for the sixths. I'll try it!
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Ching Lee Goh Interesting idea on fingering as I found Dominic's 1425 switching difficult to do smoothly, but perhaps I just need more practice. 1314 seems to work well, and I've also been using 1415, as it I find it easier to keep thumb consistent. The descending "cadenza" was a bit challenging for me trying to introduce the left hand, although I understand the idea. It's easier for me to keep to right hand for now as well.
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@Ching Lee Goh Your quote is so appropriate …….
“ It’s so interesting to note that no 2 people play the same way. Diversity is the spice of life ! “
I’ve really enjoyed hearing everyone play , seems like a new piece every time !
I’m looking forward to hearing 4-9 next week . -
Ching Lee Goh That is great that you found a more natural fingering for yourself! I agree, that not all hands are the same, and what works for me might not work for others. I like my fingering because of a repetitive "macro" pattern that the hand produces by alternating in that fashion, but I recognize that it might not be ideal for everyone!
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Hello everyone!
My comment of this week:
- Section you worked on: the whole piece.
- One thing you found easy: as I said last week, you always know the formal harmonic plan and the main melodies to emphasize.
- One thing you found difficult: I think it is very complicated to play sections 5 and 7 with the same dancing feeling than the others.
After the great session of Dominic, I have a lot of information to put into practice, very much work to do. So, I hope to upload e video at the end of week 3.
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Juan Carlos Olite Looking forward to your video!
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Juan Carlos Olite Looking forward to hearing the whole piece .
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Juan Carlos Olite Great! Thanks so much for tuning in!!!
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As promised, here is my video for the second week were I've focused on memorizing the piece.
Also, from yesterday I tried out Dominics fingerings for the sixth in section 5 and 7. For section 5, I like it, and it feels comfortable in my hand once I got used to the motion. For section 7 the sixth interval is a major sixth, and it switches a little back and forth witch made using the second finger a little harder. I know Dominic has a bigger hand than me, so I am not sure if this one is as well suited for me. If I only use the thumb it's pretty easy. What you gain by using the second finger (at least what I noticed), is that you get a little more feel for that lower note: When only using the thumb, it's more of a bouncing feeling, but with switching between thumb to second finger gives a little more control and attention for that lower note. I might try it a couple of more days, and then decide whether I keep it.
So the official lines:
What I found easy: Playing the cadenza using the left hand for the "bottom" note as Dominic suggested is pretty easy. But also more musical, so I like it!
What I found challenging: When the piece is just memorized, it takes a little more focus just to make sure the notes are correct, and since there are some similar parts with slight similarities one need to be little more alert.
For the coming week I will focus on getting the piece at a performance level, and focus more on the music.
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Sindre Skarelven Super impressed you memorized the whole piece! I've always had difficulty memorizing for some reason. Anyway, quite an accomplishment and it sounds great!
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Sindre Skarelven Great job, Sindre! I like it very much! There are many beautiful moments! In two weeks you have the piece in your mind and hands, amazing, Bravo!
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Brett Gilbert Thank you so much! I think of memorization like a muscle that one trains with finding the right "weight" and strengthen it over time. There are of course some useful tips one should know, and I'm sure Dominic will touch on that during the Live session this Tuesday. Thanks for listening!
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Juan Carlos Olite Thank you so much for these comments and compliments! Thank you for listening! :)
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Dominic I was wondering if the sheet music for the version you are playing is available? Would be fun to add in a little extra sparkle ;)
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Sindre Skarelven Wow that was wonderful from the beginning to your smile right at the end ! I particularly liked your cadenza and the fact that it was all memorized too .
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Sindre Skarelven wow! Great work, I hear your ideas and am so impressed that you’ve already memorized the whole piece.
fantastic! -
Sindre Skarelven BRAVO Sindre!!! Love how you created your video, with all the titles at the beginning. And great work creating a strong sense of drama in the opening! Yes using the 2nd finger gives a bit more independence for each voice of the hand, but the thumb can also work just fine! Glad you adjusted the cadenza in this fashion, easy is a good thing! Awesome job memorizing this piece!! That is quite an accomplishment!!!! Sindre Skarelven here is the sheet music:
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Dominic Cheli Thank you so much for the compliments!!
I think I have found a really nice way to do the fingerings for my fingers now :)
And thank you for the sheet music, let's see what I can do with it for this week ;)
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mariannejhampton Thank you so much!
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Hi everyone,
I started the challenge last week, but this is my first post. I am really loving reading everyone’s updates and comments. I also really appreciated Dominic's lesson on the piece; it gave me lots of ideas and some good technical pointers.
It's good to know that I'm not the only one challenged by the ascending 6ths in section 5. But my fingering solution seems different--I don't always change fingers when coming off black keys onto white keys. For example, in the ascending passage that begins with a G# and an E, I use 13-14-25-25-14-25. I find that this just feels much more comfortable, and I can still get a fine staccato even with keeping 25 between the 3rd and 4th chords.
Section you worked on:
I focused on section 4, 5, 7 and 8.
One thing you found easy:
For the most part, the left hand is straight-forward.
One thing you found difficult:
Memorizing. I am perennially challenged by memorizing music! And it does not get easier as I get older!
I recorded a video but the audio was just terrible. Once I figure that out, I’ll post a video.
