Group 4
Welcome to the latest TWO WEEK INTENSIVE on tonebase!
For the next two weeks either start learning OR take a Chopin mazurka in your repertoire to the next level through guidance and assignments from Jarred Dunn! Learn about stylistic advice, aspects of the dance and more!
Pianists of all levels are welcome.
----------
Assignment #1: Seeing the Mazurka
1) Watch Mazurka Dance Lessons 1, 2, and 3:
http://www.tance.edu.pl/en/lessons/show/dance/720
-Pay close attention to Lesson 3: the lesson builds rhythms from what we hear as a Waltz into a clear accent on 2nd beat, 3rd beat, and both 2nd/3rd beats
2) Learn one Mazurka
Choose one from the following suggested opuses for the whole TWI.
Week 1: Practice the LH:
-Op. 6 nr. 1, nr. 2
-Op. 7 nr. 1, nr. 2
-Op. 24 nr. 1 or 2
-Op. 30 nr. 1 or 2
-Op. 67 any
- or a different mazurka
Practice Activities:
a) Identify/mark all articulation in LH parts.
b) Clap the rhythm, emphasize accents and count aloud (speak louder for accented beats, eg. "one, Two, THREE" or "one, TWO, Three" etc.)
c) Identify/mark any unknown harmonic shifts or chords.
d) Find all cadences and notice unfamiliar accents (beat 2).
e) Voice tops of chords in LH or find a moving line (could be the middle notes of a chord that change).
f) Use RH for chords and LH for bass lines.
g) Circle any rests/pauses - they need to be heard.
Upload videos of your LH practicing/playing.
------------
ASSIGNMENT 2
Second Assignment: Continue your new Mazurka
Week 2: Practice the RH:
Listen to instruments, timbres, and moods in the following:
Kujawiak: https://youtu.be/RjV1bpxi0bc
Mazurek Dąbrowskiego: https://youtu.be/mTx45S-dQmQ?t=4
Chopin Mazurkas/Folk Mazurkas: https://youtu.be/n8OyddwnVbE
Look For/Listen For:
a) Learn the soprano part (melody), always sing/scream with it when you play. Think of dancers in this video: https://youtu.be/p6svoYBEWCs?t=10
b) Add ornaments after you learned the rhythms of the melody.
c) Dotted rhythms and triplets must sound distinctly different (no slackened dotted-eighth/sixteenths).
d) Accents on beats two and three can be subtle: try different levels of pressure/weight on the keys, to create at least four different accent types: sudden accent, leaning/swaying accent, light accent, heavy accent.
e) Remember that recording yourself is the best way to find out if you're actually doing what you intend. Record your melodic playing/singing/screaming whenever you practice.
Upload videos of your RH practicing/playing.
-------
- Sign-Up : starting July 14
- Course Period: July 17-31
- Class Size: ALL are welcome!
- Optional check-In via Zoom: July 27th 9am PT
CHECK IN VIDEO!
-
Jarred Dunn and all,
Next question, a big and perennial one: pedaling, esp. indications of pedaling in the score. (I’m using the Paderewski edition.)
How literally should we interpret a lack of pedaling instruction? Taking the example of Op. 6 No. 2 that Harriet Kaplan is working on, the “bagpipe” introduction has no pedal indication; should this be taken literally and not pedaled at all?
Other examples in Op. 17 No. 4:
- Mm. 1-4 and final measures, no pedaling at all?
- Mm. 36-42, pedaling only on the first two beats, the third explicitly not?
- Mm. 109-123, the pedaling is indicated in parentheses; why?
As always, your comments much appreciated!
-
Mark Forry Welcome! To po prostu mój praca.
-
Jarred Dunn A Ty jaką świetną praca robisz!
-
Mark Forry
#muzyknerd -
Jarred Dunn I would love to be able to read these letters in translation, although I suspect it would take a lot of digging to find the local music references. I'm also very curious about these instruments; what does he mean by "monochord"? Were cello- and bass-like instruments played together? Were fiddles playing both melody and harmony? What about hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes; we know they were common throughout Poland, did he mention them?
This brings up another question for me. I read Alan Walker's biography last year, and in the section about Chopin's time in Szafarnia, he makes reference to Jewish musicians and their possible influence on young Chopin. (There are also several uncomfortable passages here and elsewhere in the book about Chopin's anti-semitic utterances.) Walker says of Op. 17 No. 4: “The plangent ‘ethnic’ harmonies so characteristic of this particular mazurka are thought to reflect the influence of Jewish musicians he heard in the region of Szafarnia.” (p.78) While I found Walker's biography useful in many ways, I also thought it lacked an informed ethnomusicological perspective - that's one reason why I'm enjoying this TWI, so much attention to detail and nuance! Nonetheless, it raises interesting questions.
What did Chopin hear from Jewish musicians? Did they play Slavic Polish folk music or something distinctively Jewish, or some mixture? I read that klezmer musicians (whom Walker mentions) were active in Poland from the late 16th century, but I would guess off-hand that as professional musicians, they were more likely to have been active in urban settings than in rural.
Again, your thoughts most welcome -- I'll also check with a friend who knows klezmer music history in Poland.
-
Mark Forry what a question regarding Chopin's contact with Polish Jewry and its relevance to his folk music. Since I'm in the middle of commenting on several other things, I'd refer to you Jeffrey Kallberg's chapter "Chopin and Jews" in the book Chopin and His World, where he answers exactly what you're asking. You are right that Klezmer musicians were more active in urban than rural settings but as to the census data that would confirm that I'm not entirely sure. Chopin's Jewish friends like C. V. Alkan, F. Hiller, and F. Mendelssohn must have had some impression on him but you're right that most of Fryc's references to Jewishness and Jewish people are frightful. The A minor Mazurka Op. 17 nr. 4 was nicknamed "Little Jew" by Szulc, but that's another complex story that is the topic of Graziella Di Mauro's article on the piece. Let me know what you find from your friend who knows klezmer music history in Poland, I'd be delighted (zachwytcony) to know about that.
-
Jarred Dunn I spoke briefly with my friend Michael Alpert about klezmer musicians in Poland in the 19th century. He said (abbreviating a bit):
- Klezmer musicians were active in large and small towns throughout Poland by the early 19th century.
- There was not necessarily a significant distinction in Jewish cultural life between large and small towns; each was a "shtetl" (from G. Stadt).
- There were also Jews in rural areas in professions other than music.
- Many Jews, like Roma/Gypsies, were "service nomads"; i.e. they travelled professionally although they might have had fixed abodes.
- Klezmer musicians were likely to know both Jewish and local Slavic repertoire.
- The most common Klezmer instruments were fiddle, bass, and tsimbl (hammer dulcimer, like cimbalom in Hungary and Romania). More on tsimbl here:
https://yivoencyclopedia.org/printarticle.aspx?id=2236From all this, I'd say it's safe to assume that Chopin could have heard klezmer musicians playing Polish folk music and Jewish music. I'll keep looking around for more detail.
-
Mark Forry dziękuje bardzo! This matches the PL research I’ve seen on this topic and seems to be a confirmation!
-
-
Jarred Dunn Hi Jarred, I did this :
a) Identify/mark all articulation in LH parts.
b) Clap the rhythm, emphasize accents and count aloud (speak louder for accented beats, eg. "one, Two, THREE" or "one, TWO, Three" etc.)
c) Identify/mark any unknown harmonic shifts or chords.
d) Find all cadences and notice unfamiliar accents (beat 2).
e) Voice tops of chords in LH or find a moving line (could be the middle notes of a chord that change).
f) Use RH for chords and LH for bass lines.
g) Circle any rests/pauses - they need to be heard.
I don't know if it's ok or not! I will do a video this week end of my LH practice.
Reply-
Aline Valade Wow! :-)
-
Alexander Weymann Thank You Alexander! I don't know if it's good what I did! I hope Jarred will see it and give me some advice about it. I am not used to read the scores like this. I just start to do it, and I find that really interessting to do so. For the undertanding of music but also to memorise the pieces of music that I want to play. I never studied in music, I just had a private piano teacher for seven years, in my beginning, 40 years a go. But, since last January I have a piano teacher! And I find that really good for my progress. This course with Ben Laude help me to try to do this. Here is the link if you are interest by it, here on tonebase : https://app.tonebase.co/piano/library?tbModal=courseModal&tbModalSlug=benjamin-laude-music-theory-basics-pt
-
Aline Valade it's one of the many courses on tonebase that I have bookmarked, but not watched yet. But I've seen this particular one recommended so many times now that it seems I really have to listen to it soon! :-)
-
Aline Valade your score annotations are correct and now I’d like to hear your video! I saw that you don’t know how to voice top notes of the chords and will be able to help you more with voicing once I see you play on video. Thanks for posting this, it’s a great example for everyone!
-
Jarred Dunn Thank you Jarred! I will post a video this week end!
-
-
UWAGA! ATTENTION!
Polskie Instrumenty Ludowe / Polish Folk Instruments click below to hear and see!
https://folk.instruments.edu.pl/pl/instrumenty/categories/category/316
-
Here is my video of my left hand practicing Op. 67, No. 2. It should make you all feel good about your playing!
-
Nancy Brass Well, I can’t upload it! Will have to work on reducing file size.
-
Nancy Brass
-
Nancy Brass dzień dobry! Witaj! (Hello, welcome!) I heard your video, it's very steady in tempo and rhythm so far. I think that the lilt of the second beat and third beat can be more pronounced by waiting a bit longer on beat 2. Also in the triplets, feel the first note as a slightly emphasized note that the second and third notes are running away from and going into the second beat. It's a good start!
-
Nancy Brass Wow! What a great place to practice your piano! Great painting to!
-
-
Jarred Dunn two quick questions: 1.) when we record ourselves playing the left hand part of the chosen Mazurka, should we do that "dry" (without pedal), or with pedaling as written? 2.) in the Mazurka Op. 50 No. 3, I assume that the slurs in bars 65, 67 and 72 indicate phrasing (analogous to the longer phrases in bars 70-71 and 73-75), NOT that the upper note (F# or E, respectively) is to be tied over?
-
Alexander Weymann you’re right about two note slurs, the upper E and F-sharp are repeated. Use pedal! But practice without pedal to see the voice leading directions. Great questions, keep them coming!
-
-
Here is my practice vid. The pedal on my new piano has become incredibly squeaky and it's not getting looked at till next week...so I opted to record without pedal.
-
Rachel Doornink I hear a waltz, so my suggestion first is to linger slightly longer on beat 2 longer so you can feel the mazurek pulse (one-TWO-three). That’s the key to the main theme. Surely you can wait even longer on the e-flat major chord when the bass octave unfurls into a chord that (soon) you’ll hear as essentially as the trill in the soprano at the same moment. Give the second theme a swaying gesture of slightly elongated third beats (0:35-0:40). Dobra robota (good work): I suggest listening to Ewa Pobłocka’s recording.
-
Jarred Dunn Fantastic, thanks for the feedback, Jarred!
