Week 3: Seeing the Big Picture

Chen Wu Thank you! This is very temporary - i'll be back next week!!

Gail Starr I think this is sounding great, Gail. I guess my question would be, which is more important to you: playing at the "right tempo" or keeping the lyricism intact? Probably not very helpful, but it's all I've got!!

Gail Starr you have such a beautiful touch! I love your interpretation. I think you’re so right to stick to a slower tempo for right now. The “right” tempo will come overtime. And what is the “right” tempo anyway?

Gail Starr lovely playing! It sounds amazing and I agree with Ursina on the tempo :)

I wonder how your RH feels playing through the piece as I'm not sure if it look at little tense. Your LH looks nice with good arm flow, and I love how you bring the voice out. If anything I think if the rubato on the downbeat beat is over done a little bit (as in done a bit too often).

Overall it's very nicely done 

Gail Starr Beautiful! Sounds so elegant! I actually love this tempo.

Vidhya Bashyam  You are so kind!  When I play it faster I feel like it sounds frantic.  Although, when I hear professionals play it on YouTube it sounds right…I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong when I increase the tempo?

Michelle R great point!  I’d ideally like both,  

Ursina Boehm good point! I’ve only been working on it since the Challenge started so I bet it will come up to tempo over time…

Priya Viseskul You’re right! I DO get tense after 2 pages!!  It might just need more time to “marinate”.  I just started it at the beginning of the challenge because I only tried it for 2 days when Henry’s Etude intensive was ending and I ran out of days.

Gail Starr That’s exactly how I feel when I play Schubert Impromptu 90/3 and try to play at the tempo of professionals

Gail Starr very impressed by how fast you are learning new pieces! Myself, I am a very slow learner

Vidhya Bashyam Yes, I wonder why we have that issue?  Is it muscle stuff?

Gail Starr getting tense - doesn’t that have to do with how you hit the keys? My former French teacher tried to make me learn the French school playing the piano, which involves a lot of exercises for isolation fingers and lifting your fingers when playing. I stayed with this teacher for five years, but then I finally made the decision to look for someone else. I had the impression to build up a lot of tension and also it slowed me down when playing fast. It is difficult to change one’s approach however. With my new teacher I try very hard now to play with more flat fingers and keeping my fingers relaxed on the keys when not using them. 

Ursina Boehm agree with you that isolating and lifting the fingers higher than is necessary contributes to tension and also prevent effort in speeding up. Comparing to RH, the LH seems much more free, with wrist and arm movements to assist the playing. I think some of that can be incorporated into RH. Gail Starr may be you can also try to work out relaxation points when practicing in rhythm/grouping? Check that you release the tension when on the long note or end of the group, and how your wrist moves through the phrase. I find that having point in a phrase where I can dip my wrist in a fast, continuous passages like this piece can help release the tension and maintain the momentum.

Sindre Skarelven Thank you!  I think I need some help, though.  I'm not sure how to get the right tempo without making it sound too "rushed".  Maybe I just need to let it rest for a week?  Sometimes when I leave a piece alone, it gets better all by itself over time...

Ursina Boehm You are an amazing piano doctor!  Or a piano detective?

How did you know that most of my teachers were French (even before I lived in France, LOL... ou bien "MDR").  You are correct, I think i need to change how my fingers approach the keys!

Gail Starr Sounds beautiful, Gail! I think you have internalized its lyricism, so there will be no problems of this matter when you play it faster.

Juan Carlos Olite You are so kind!  I try to be like YOU when I play.

Priya Viseskul Thank you SO much for your excellent advice!  I'll definitely work on making sure I'm not too tense during rhythm practicing.  The wrist is really important, too.  I think that some of the problem might be that I had nerve damage in RH several years ago after having shingles, so even though the pain is gone and I can move freely, my thumb, pointer finger and middle finger are still numb.  It doesn't bother me at all in real life, but this etude seems to require me to think through HOW I'm using those fingers.

(I'm REALLY lucky because I couldn't play piano at all for nearly 18 months, and I essentially just fine now.  Some folks never fully recover!).

Gail Starr concerning the French school of piano I was just referring to myself. When I started to learn the piano as a young child, I’ve learned it so differently and these 5 years with that (by the way very nice) French teacher were somehow confusing to me. I tried so hard to change my approach of playing, but it just didn’t work for me. I think that you play beautifully and based on your video I couldn’t see that you lift your fingers too high. You have a beautiful singing tone. Maybe this etude just needs more time to develop. Speed will come over time. 

Ursina Boehm So interesting that we share the same pianistic beginnings!  I'm actually going to start some Bach now and take a break from the Etude.  Sometime pieces improve when i leave them alone.