Group 2

Hi all,

Singing is definitely harder than playing. Sorry for my lousy voice.

I have submitted the video of me playing and singing Scherzo no. 2 2nd theme.

https://youtu.be/chh_3yqeZwA?si=aMdYPFqCfQRLzvr9

Thanks Mr. Dunn for arranging this TWI.

Best Regards,

Fingers

Great work singing! Changing registers to accommodate your tessitura is helpful. I think your intonation and sense of vibrato can be more attuned to bass lines. Listen carefully to your voice + LH bass note (finger 5): this will help to ground you in the harmony and colour, to shape the phrases and help your ear sense of dynamics. Great start - this is exactly the process that we need to develop bel canto.

Zoom Check-in: Tuesday July 2nd at 11am PT. Bring any questions you have so far or important lessons/skills you're learning. Hope to see you there! Keep singing..

Group 2: we won't have a Zoom debrief after this TWI, so I'd like to ask you: how do you see your development in the last two weeks? Here are some prompts to get you started:

1) In one sentence, what did you learn from this TWI?

2) What skill do you need to practice daily to improve your lyricism in Chopin playing?

3) How easily (or not) was it to practice singing/solfege? What did you learn from it?

4) Which new practice methods began with frustration or struggle, but need to be used regularly until they are habits?

5) How important are harmony and colour to lyrical playing in Chopin?
7) What new understanding(s) did you gain about Chopin's music?

8) Do you have a new set of questions or topics to approach in your lessons?

9) How has your listening changed?

10) How has your score reading changed?

Dear Jarred, here are my takeaways from this TWI. I have learned a lot about Chopin and about my own playing.

1) Singing helps legato playing.

2) I need to learn to sing in tune, to control dynamics and use the pedal correctly.

3) I can't sing but having read and watched several Youtube videos, apparently I can learn to do an acceptable version of it if I make the effort. So I will start practising asap.

4) Practising really slowly but evenly; I tend to accelerate. And also, to have the patience to practice the two hands separately for a sufficient time.

5) Harmony is vital to all music I suppose but  colour is vital for lyical playing I think. Simple melody lines acquire narrative qualities if one can play them using different colours.
7) Awareness of the compexity beyond the surface charm.

8) I have to work on harmonic analysis.

9) and 10) I am more attentive to modulations, cadences etc. I am listening while looking at the score and making notes.

Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity and your corrections and suggestions.

Sedef

Dear Jarred:

Thanks for this TWI. 

1) In one sentence, what did you learn from this TWI?
Ans: Singing is helpful for phrasing with sense.

2) What skill do you need to practice daily to improve your lyricism in Chopin playing?

Ans: Read the music carefully and think about how music flows before playing. 

3) How easily (or not) was it to practice singing/solfege? What did you learn from it?

Ans: It is difficult to practice singing. 

4) Which new practice methods began with frustration or struggle, but need to be used regularly until they are habits?

Ans: Analyzing the harmony and trying to know the LH part very well are challenging. I won't say these make me frustrated though.  

5) How important are harmony and colour to lyrical playing in Chopin?

Ans:  While harmony changes, it also means color changing. It will affect how to express the music with rubato.
7) What new understanding(s) did you gain about Chopin's music?

Ans: More and more I am more careful on reading the phrasing marks in the music.

8) Do you have a new set of questions or topics to approach in your lessons?

Ans: I think the biggest issue I have is I know what I want but I cannot play it the way I want.

9) How has your listening changed?

Ans: I tend to listen to the music more about color and articulation.

10) How has your score reading changed?

Ans: I don't rush to play instead of reading the score more and more.

Thanks.

BR,

Fingers