Week 4: Share It

Dominic_Cheli
updated 2 wk ago
254replies

We made it.

Four weeks ago, this challenge began with A New Hope. You chose a piece, took the first steps, kept the momentum going, and stayed with it through the ups and downs.

Now it’s time for the final step:

Share it.

This week is all about recording and posting your piece. It does not need to be perfect. In fact, that was never the goal.

Maybe your piece isn’t exactly where you imagined it would be. Maybe there are still rough edges. Maybe there are passages you still wish you had another week with.

That’s okay.

The point of Unfinished Business was never perfection. It was showing up, sticking with it, and bringing something across the finish line.

So this week, post your recording! Whether it’s:

your full piece
an excerpt
one section you’re proud of
or your best take so far

Share it.

And then… get ready.

On June 6th, we’ll celebrate together during our Unfinished Business Watch Party, where we’ll enjoy and celebrate recordings from the community and look back on the journey we took together.

You’ve already done the hard part.

Now let us hear it.

You have until June 5th to share a recording with us, to be included on the concert!

- Noel_Nguyen
- 4 days ago
- Reported - view
My dear friends,

I am in sheer panic mode right now. My recording is done and the audio is good, but the video quality is unacceptable! Very shaky picture because of the mighty vibrations from the concert grand. I've been working on fixing it with a dozen softwares. I am not giving up, still aiming for a last minute submission!
- Akzent oder Diminuendo? • Hanon/Herz student
  
  Maria_F
  
  15 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  She doesn't always count "wrong," but she counts the same way in 3/4, 4/4, 2/4, 6/8, etc. My current teacher and my previous teacher have both been seeing her for years. My teacher's phone will randomly start playing her videos during my lessons sometimes, even when it is on the opposite side of the room.
- Larry_K
  
  15 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  It is certainly a triumph of social media marketing, I have to say.
  
  Now you see why I use a crude timing device to keep track of my practice time.
  
  I should put my phone in the freezer when I practice. Just once should do it. Ah, but I like all you wonderful people on here.
  
  Surely, somebody can fix her counting.
- hot4euterpe
  
  15 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Well, this is a very manicured window into the lessons. Besides the fact that there are many different teacher personalities, any teacher's intensity will change throughout the lesson!
  
  These clips seems to show a pretty standard performance preparation. The student clearly knows the notes well already. The piece is running 16th notes, so I am guessing all the counting is because there have been moments that the student doesn't maintain their drive and the teacher is helping them internalize it. The teacher is in a coaching role in these clips as the student is clearly capable of playing the music and the teacher is helping them elevate it for performance readiness (like a conductor). There is nothing that seems particularly unusual here to me but I am just inferring from a few seconds of footage clipped together.
  
  No intention of being contradictory but I am not hearing anything wrong with her counting in this particular video. This invention is in 3/4. The counting approach of "1 - e - and - a" is used for counting 16th notes (metric counting). You can switch to just counting eight notes by dropping the "e" and "a". Teachers go in and out of counting different levels of pulse all the time depending on what they are helping draw attention to.
  
  I suppose one could say that the montage does suggest that the counting is the specific thing that is improving the students playing from one clip to the next. That is definitely not the case! This teacher seems very committed to refining this young student's playing to a high level and there is much work off camera that has happened as well. I have every reason to assume from the clips that she is a very focused and thoughtful instructor!
- Larry_K
  
  14 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  I agree, I love her intensity and how engaged she is with the young girl.
  
  I want some of this intensity in my lessons. I have not seen it. Perhaps it is because we approach piano study in a more cerebral way. I’m thinking I need more of this kind of instruction.
  
  I will interview some teachers with this in mind.
  
  Am I just too boring as an adult student since there is no hope of my attending a conservatory or playing publicly? You don’t have to answer this question. :)
  
  When I was studying violin in my 20s, my Russian violin teacher said to me, if I had had you when you were 5, I might have been able to do something with you. It was both an encouraging and a discouraging message.
- Akzent oder Diminuendo? • Hanon/Herz student
  
  Maria_F
  
  13 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  That was one of the better videos of her that I have seen. I didn't notice an issue with her counting in that video, but I have seen others where she tries to count "one-y and a two-y and a" in 6/8 or 3/4 and gets mixed up/out of time. From what I understand, almost always counts loudly when practicing, regardless of the piece, and also when listening to music and occasionally during recitals.
  
  said:
  
  I want some of this intensity in my lessons.
  
  My new teacher is serious and academic, but she is definitely involved (counting to keep me in time, singing, etc.) but thankfully not enough to be annoying or distracting (I would be distracted by a teacher like Kym Corridan). I love my new teacher and I definitely learn much more with her than with my previous teacher.
- Peter_William
  
  12 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  in 6/8 there is a slight accent on beat 4 . 1 is emphasized like always..for each quarter note beat .. but the 16th would still be counted as
  
  "1e&a" or "1y&a" whilst the 8th would be counted as "1 & " and the quarter as usual " 1 2 3 4 5 6 " .. am I thinking about this wrong ?
  
  So I don't see what that teacher is doing wrong in the video..
- Akzent oder Diminuendo? • Hanon/Herz student
  
  Maria_F
  
  12 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  I wasn't talking about that particular video. I didn't notice a problem with that video either.
  
  said:
  "1e&a" or "1y&a" whilst the 8th would be counted as "1 & " and the quarter as usual " 1 2 3 4 5 6 " .. am I thinking about this wrong ?
  
  What you described would be 6/4, not 6/8. 6/8 is not usually counted in quarter notes; it is usually counted in dotted quarters, eighths, or sixteenths. The eighth note count is "ONE-two-three, FOUR-five-six" or "ONE-and-a, TWO-and-a" and the sixteenth count would be "1-and-2-and-3-and, 4-and-5-and-6-and." "ONE-ee-and-a-two-ee-and-a-three-ee-and-a" would be thirty-second notes.
  
  What I meant is that sometimes she will count "One-ee-and-a" on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4, and then "Two-ee" on beats 5 and 6 of that measure, and "and-a" on beats 1 and 2 of the next measure. It technically works, but it seems like she is not connecting the numbers to the beats.
- Peter_William
  
  12 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  sorry I misspoke. My apologies! you are exactly right. Thanks. In 6/8 an 8th is counted as 1 beat.. not what I wrote above as you rightly pointed out.
  
  I meant to say "ONE-two-three, FOUR-five-six" like you wrote above and you have explained the dotted counting as well very clearly. ( I see this in the Beethoven Sonata 7 - 2nd mvmt - where the counting is exactly as you wrote above)
  
  Your third para explains your point as well. Thanks
  
  BTW Ben Laude explains all this in his lectures rather superbly. But from what you have written above you are well past all those stages.. :-)
- Piano Teacher, Learner and Student
- br0wn
- 4 days ago
- Reported - view
this is very last second submission. Apologise for that.
- Andrew_Smith
  
  3 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Very nice CK! Thanks for sharing that. Clementi wrote so many good sonatas, and this makes me want to play it. I think I read in a bio of Beethoven that he greatly admired Clementi. Also, it looks like either you have quite large hands or a piano with narrower keys. Can you span an 11th? Cheers
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
- Peter_G
- 4 days ago
- Reported - view
Hello, here's my "Week 2" [sic] video of Rachmaninoff Bb Minor Prelude. Almost memorized, but don't dare yet to leave the score behing.

Events really conspired against me over the last month to keep me away from my piano.

This is still unfinished, (obviously) but a lot closer than when we started this challenge. I honestly don't know whether my technique can handle playing up to tempo at the Clim--- er, LET'S JUST CALL IT PAGE 3,-- but I'll keep at it, nudging the tempo in tiny increments, hoping it will eventually fall in to place. Plenty of other sections to polish in the meantime.

https://youtu.be/dt4N50sAHGE
- Andrew_Smith
  
  3 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Way to go Peter! Only week 2?! I really like this prelude, took a look at it years ago and decided that RH faster stuff after the intro section was too hard for me. And the video tech is impressive too!
- Noel_Nguyen
  
  3 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  I really love the clarity of your Rachmaninoff, not to mention the gorgeous tone of your touch... and your M&H BB! I bet there was some middle pedal magic in that performance. Or maybe just the magic of your fingers.
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
  
  Peter_G
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Hi Andrew, thank you for the encouraging feedback. But be not misled by my "Week 2" designation. I've spent a lot more than 2 weeks on this piece! Would you believe, a lifetime? I performed it in an adult-ed class recital 25+ years ago, and have revisited it many times over the years. My "Unfinished Business" for this challenge was (1) to bring it back up to speed (MY speed, that is), (2) "perfect" it (ha! good luck with that one!) and (3) make a decent recording of it, worthy of preservation, now that I have a good piano and amazing audio-visual recording technology all in one place at home.
  
  I call it "Week 2" because, despite the best laid plans, I had only about 7 days over the past month to devote to serious practice, and thus I still have a good way to go before I can say I've devoted a month to finishing this business.
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
  
  Peter_G
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Noel Thank you again for listening and commenting. It's reassuring to think that maybe something of what I am trying to convey is coming through.
  
  Yes the BB is a BBeast! 7 feet and over 900 pounds of power! I love it though sometimes the tone seems a little too BBrassy for playing something lightly, softly and smoothly. But methinks it more likely that the issue is in the technique of the player than in the properties of the piano.
  
  No middle pedal magic here, but a lot of (attempted) split second timing with the right pedal, as I attempt to hang on to the lower notes of the RH chords while playing the top notes staccato (around m. 40 ff). Naturally, simply holding down those lower notes is not an option as Sergei insists that your hands fly off elsewhere to play other notes. But I've relaxed about that pedaling a little after our "Tricky Passages" session with , where he said that the staccato signs don't necessarily require literal staccato so much as a bit less weight and emphasis than the ones marked tenuto.
  
  Coming attractions: I put the middle pedal to good use in the F Major and the D Minor, and am still trying to catch those half notes in the middle of the 'substrate' notes in the Ab Major, as well as the E Major, which we've talked about before. I will be sure to alert you when these are ready, so you can assess whether it was successful [or worth the trouble!].
  
  Edited to add: PLUS I'm looking forward to that Crown Royal if I get through all 24 Preludes!
- Pianist, composer and piano teacher
  
  Sindre_Skarelven
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Bravo, Peter! Absolutely loved it! How the main motif is popping out everywhere is just the coolest thing :D
- PViseskul
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  coming here for a second dose of your Rach after the watch party - got me interested to look at the score and saw 10th on LH ... that's quite a bit out of my literally reach here, oh well never mind. You played it very well despite the limited time you had for this challenge - hopefully more time to properly finish off this beautiful unfinished business :)
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
  
  Peter_G
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you Sindre. I'm so glad you liked it. It still has a long way to go before I get to that level of assurance and expressivity that you display with your masterful Chopin cycle, but I aspire to that. since the watch party, I've had 2 more good days of practice, working almost exclusively on two separate 8-measure segments, and with a few more sessions like that, I should be ready for a "Week 3" posting.
  
  Yes the little opening motive is virtually everywhere. Rachmaninoff comes up with a seemingly infinite number of things he does with it. Next in my queue is the A Major, where he does something similar with the motif of a simple falling 6th.
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
  
  Peter_G
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Dear Priya I so appreciate that you came back for another look. Yes there are many 10ths in the LH. Almost all of them have to be rolled, and they sound fine that way. I actually lean into the rolls in a couple of places..
  
  There is one 10th that appears multiple times, which I can just barely reach - the F-A in the LH. (mm9-12, 27 [big arrival], 37, 45 & 47), and I do try to play that one without rolling where I can. I have to lower my wrist and pull back from the keyboard so that my hand doesn't bump into the notes in between. With that I can just barely reach the F and the A with the tips of my fingers. But I can't execute this maneuver quickly nor can I get out of it quickly. So I roll several of these as well.
  
  The 10th at M 27 should be a big thunderous arrival IMO, which I do not want to roll. But I can't reach the 10th quickly enough nor with any power, with my LH alone. So I'm gambling by jumping down to the A with my RH, right in the middle of a bunch of 16th notes in the upper register. After leaping down for an emphatic landing on the A, my RH needs to leap immediatly back up to the treble. I have no assurance that I'll still be able to execute this at a faster tempo which I eventually hope to attain, so that's why it's a bit of a gamble to practice it this way.
- PViseskul
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  thank you for the rolling tips! I will let it stay in my growing bucket list 😄
- May_t
  
  2 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  What an impressive performance! I could really feel the emotion in your playing. Thank you for sharing.
- Larry_K
  
  Yesterday
  
  Reported - view
  It is so delightful to read your analysis of what it takes to play Rach.
  
  I think the sostenuto pedal is beyond my skill level.
  
  I actually thought my Yamaha DYUS5 upright would come with a sostenuto pedal because the YUS5 can, but Yamaha changed it to allow silent practice so it moves a stop rail.
  
  I was disappointed in the lack of a sostenuto pedal. But, it was Covid times and Yamaha upgraded me from the DYUS1 to the DYUS5 for a pittance because they couldn’t make their shipment date for the new DYUS1 I had ordered.
  
  I broached the subject of buying a grand with my wife but I got vehement disapproval. I need her to go off and study in Paris again for a couple of years. That’s when I ordered the last new piano.
  
  What piano are you playing?
  
  This guy gives a brilliant little tutorial on the use of the sostenuto pedal in ragtime,
  
  https://youtu.be/s1cVBPqQpgg?si=JlQoa6IL7tz9xGsU
- Noel_Nguyen
- 3 days ago
- Reported - view
Alright friends, I've been thinking, all this preparation, with practice videos and all, and probably my best recorded performance ever (not that this means much, but still), only to fail at the finish line, that just ain't me. And is right, I shouldn't deprive you of the fruits of my efforts. SO I will show you a preview now, while still working on fixing the video issues. Sorry for the moments of blurriness and jerkiness of the picture and the artifacts and whatnot. Many visual frames were lost forever like tears in rain. Sadly I do not possess the otherworldly videography skills of ! Thankfully the audio was recorded on a separate device and the sound quality is quite good.

I promise the submit the whole track at the next recital or challenge, whether I finish the visual repairs or not!
- Unfrozen Barroom Piano Player
  
  Peter_G
  
  3 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  wow! I hate to break it to you, but with piano playing like that, nobody's paying the slightest attention to the videography. There are two things that I can't believe after hearing this: (1) That Rachmaninoff really thought any one else ,perhaps except for himself, could play it; and (2) that some people, including you, actually can play it!
  
  thank you for sharing this despite your perfectionist's reservations.
- Andrew_Smith
  
  3 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  Great playing, Noel! I can see why you rank it up there in your recorded performances!

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Week 4: Share It

We made it.

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