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Those are wonderful pieces. Made me bring back one I was having trouble with about a year ago and now it seems manageable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmn6bcNm9GU
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ha, Mark,
I've got the Gymnopedie book here as well. There's 3 of them. After I am done with the Gnossiennes I guess I'll do those next to my Alfred's book.
It is such wonderful relaxed and soothing music to play. It may sound weird, but I really enjoy listening to myself when playing these pieces, late at night, when everybody else is sleeping. If you want to work on something like that again, I would propose Gnossienne nr 1, it is really not very complex, and easier then the Gymnopedies. I got initially a bit scared by the big number of sharps (I think, or flats?) but honestly, it's easy to play. very structured, slow speed & a lot of repetitive patterns. The left hand is basically just 3 chords.
Glad you liked it (I'll have to figure out a way to record myself if I keep on hanging around here, that's much more fun than posting someone elses efforts...)
Ingrid
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Originally posted by IngridT: ha, Mark,
I've got the Gymnopedie book here as well. There's 3 of them. After I am done with the Gnossiennes I guess I'll do those next to my Alfred's book.
It is such wonderful relaxed and soothing music to play. It may sound weird, but I really enjoy listening to myself when playing these pieces, late at night, when everybody else is sleeping. If you want to work on something like that again, I would propose Gnossienne nr 1, it is really not very complex, and easier then the Gymnopedies. I got initially a bit scared by the big number of sharps (I think, or flats?) but honestly, it's easy to play. very structured, slow speed & a lot of repetitive patterns. The left hand is basically just 3 chords.
Glad you liked it (I'll have to figure out a way to record myself if I keep on hanging around here, that's much more fun than posting someone elses efforts...)
Ingrid Gnossienne nr 1 is also a favorite. I looked it up and thought it was going to be difficult. I will have to give it a try. I love these slow mellow pieces. Thanks for sharing. Mark
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Gnossienne nr 1 is also a favorite. I looked it up and thought it was going to be difficult. I will have to give it a try. Yeah! Mark! Do it! My piano teacher gave me a 'go' on them when I was near the end of Alfred 2. And it worked! So assuming you're in Alfreds 3 as well right now there should be no reason to stay away from it. I know this is an Alfred's thread, but I'd love to share my Satie-love with some people over here as well! Ingrid (and you know what. The Gnossiennes 1/2/3 are very much alike in how you play them. If 1 works out, it's not that difficult to attack 2 and 3 as well. The last 3 is a different story though :rolleyes: Ingrid (tried out a quote and the graemlins for the first time. let's see if it worked!)
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I should look up the Gnossienes. I have worked on the Gymnopedies, but still don't play them as well as I'd like. I found the Gymnopedies not especially difficult from a note point of view, but playing them expressively and beautifully are a whole different thing! And they are also very much alike in the way they are played, so once you get Nr. 1 figured out, 2 & 3 are that much ahead.
Satie certainly had a gift for saying so much with just a few notes. Lovely, lovely music.
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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Originally posted by IngridT: Gnossienne nr 1 is also a favorite. I looked it up and thought it was going to be difficult. I will have to give it a try. Yeah! Mark! Do it!
My piano teacher gave me a 'go' on them when I was near the end of Alfred 2. And it worked! So assuming you're in Alfreds 3 as well right now there should be no reason to stay away from it.
I know this is an Alfred's thread, but I'd love to share my Satie-love with some people over here as well!
Ingrid
(and you know what. The Gnossiennes 1/2/3 are very much alike in how you play them. If 1 works out, it's not that difficult to attack 2 and 3 as well. The last 3 is a different story though :rolleyes:
Ingrid (tried out a quote and the graemlins for the first time. let's see if it worked!) Why don't you start a Satie study thread. just start the thread, and add those great links.
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Mark, I'll think about that Satie thread. Although I love the music, I don't know if I feel knowledgable enough to 'lead' something like that. Why don't you just start of with that 1st Gnossienne, that makes already 2 of us, and once we convinced a 3rd person to join we'll call it enough 'critical mass' for a separate thread, OK??
Since we've been a bit busy celebrating Sinterklaas here last weekend (dutch tradition with lots of presents & poems) my Gnossienne 6 did not get the attention it deserved. Fortunately both the Calypso Rhumba and Fandango were pretty easy, so at least I can play some things in a decent way for my teacher tomorrow...
Ingrid
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Originally posted by IngridT: Mark, I'll think about that Satie thread. Although I love the music, I don't know if I feel knowledgable enough to 'lead' something like that. Why don't you just start of with that 1st Gnossienne, that makes already 2 of us, and once we convinced a 3rd person to join we'll call it enough 'critical mass' for a separate thread, OK??
Ingrid I'll be on Gymnopedie nr.1 for a while, so I'll wait till I get to 1st Gnossienne before I start anything. And you don't need to be an expert to start the study, otherwise I would of never started the Alfred threads...lol
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Hi guys - it's been a few days - been busy bearing down on several pieces:
"Jazz Sequences" in Book 3 - some tricky fingering and hand movement making it just a little difficult to get it up to speed (Allegro moderato) but almost there - will start soon on the Haydn "Serenade".
Finished review of "Love's Greeting" (Salut D'amour) in Book 2 - easy piece to play badly but just a little tough to play very well - really like this arrangement and worked it over real good to get the right "sweet touch" on this - will start review of "Danny Boy" next.
Continuing work on a 2nd version of the hymn "Abide With Me" - will eventually combine it with the 1st version I did (already down) for an extended arrangement of this lovely piece.
Just started on Mozart's Minuet, K.94 - looks to be a good piece with some interesting counter hand movements and interesting harmonies & counterpoint.
Submitted "A Christmas Medley" to the ABF Holiday Performance thread - hope you've had a chance to check it out.
Hope you are all doing well with your Book 3 studies and other pieces.
Regards, JF
Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin
Current favorite bumper sticker: Wag more, bark less.
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Let me belatedly welcome Ingrid to the Alfred 3 thread. One can feel her enthusiasm for the piano. I like the idea of a Satie thread, but I need to finish Alfred's first.
When I last checked in I was stumbling with the "Mountain King", but as IrishMak said, repetition, repetition, ..., and I am now able to play it. I even like it, sort of.
I was also putting a lot of time in on "Trumpet Tune" which was fun to play, but I had to work especially hard at giving the right feeling to the 1/16 notes. As my teacher said, it isn't a straight 1/16 note, but an accent that emphasizes the march-like quality of the piece.
"American Hymn" and "Adagio in A Major" were next and these were fairly straightforward, except for the fact that I continue to have difficulty getting the LH/RH balance right. I have to concentrate very hard getting my left hand to play more softly than my right. In the Adagio, I need to improve my legato playing when the pedal is released. My teacher showed me a trick whereby I hold the LH root to carry some of the chord forward without the pedal and it fools the ear.
In any case, these pieces are progressing well enough that I've added "Prelude in A Major" and "Blue Rondo". The B and C sections of the Rondo are fun to play, although I find the transitions hard, just as I did with those in the "Mountain King".
Mark, how are you enjoying your new piano. I must confess that I'm a little down on my RX-3 right now as it is too loud for my room. I put in a string blanket which makes the volume almost acceptable, but it reduced the dynamic range of the keyboard and muffles the higher overtones. I'm thinking of converting it to a digital. Horrors!
Bob
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Originally posted by OldFingers:
Mark, how are you enjoying your new piano. I must confess that I'm a little down on my RX-3 right now as it is too loud for my room. I put in a string blanket which makes the volume almost acceptable, but it reduced the dynamic range of the keyboard and muffles the higher overtones. I'm thinking of converting it to a digital. Horrors!
Bob Thanks for asking! I had a problem with my volume for a couple of weeks but for some reason I got used to it or maybe I'm just playing softer. As for the piano, I'm really enjoying it, but disappointed with some overtone issues in the octave below middle C. They have sent two techs out and they worked on it without success. In fact they say that can't hear it. But I can hear it as well as my teacher and her piano technician husband can hear it too. They are coming out again after the holidays to work on it again. I hope it can be fixed. Mark
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Old Fingers-
Glad to hear you've managed Mountain King. It is kind of a neat piece, but tricky. The Adagio is, I think, quite pretty, as well, but I tend to like those slow, melodic pieces.
Alfred's is on hold here for the next couple weeks. This is "fun time," as my teacher calls it. We are working on Christmas music right now. A couple more complex arrangements, and more of the deceptive types- the ones that sound "fancy" but are really quite easy to play. That way, if someone asks me to play "something Christmas," I have a few things I can drag out- maybe! lol
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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Old fingers...Thanks for the welcome! I feel at home already here. And I hope my enthousiasm is going to help keep this thread as lively as possible! Looks like you're ahead of me in book 3 (like all of you here I guess, LOL!) so technical-support-wise I'll probably rely more on you guys then the other way around.
I see that most of you are on seasonal pieces right now. Me not really, I am re-playing some stuff I played last year out of an Alfreds X mas book. Real fun, because I remember working hard on it last year, and now it's a lot easier. O holy night, Go tell it on the mountain, A real sweet song called Ukrainian Bell Carol, and some impressionistic version of a Cradle Song?? (don't remember the exact title). Any of you working out of this book? I really need to get a set up to record and post some of my own playing. Will see if I can work that out during the X mas vacation...
Slightly seasonal I am now tackling the prelude in C major of the Well Tempered Clavier (the ambitious selection of book 3). And I'll be working on Modern Sounds as well. And of course the weird Gnossienne 6. Never played anything with so little logic, so many (occasional? is that the word?) flats & sharps, and therefore such an extensive demand on my note reading skills. Teacher told me bluntly to decrease the tempo by 50 % and only work on the first 8 or so bars for the coming week. BUT I WILL TACKLE IT!! Ha! (determined voice)
Fandango & Calypso rhumba went fine by the way. Nice pieces, and easy to play.
Did one of you mention the problem of playing different volume with left/right hand? I struggle(d) with the same. Even started a separate thread about it last week, in which I received several tricks to work on it, but also a lot of comments that it's also partly a mental thing (? still wondering about that). Do any of you work on etudes? My teacher had me started on a real neat etude book (eastern european, by Teoke, with 2 dots on the o that I never seem to be able to type correctly). It takes some perseverance to work on, but they are short (like 8 bars or so, sometimes even less) that really isolate one specific technical aspect of playing. Like the volume thing, or legato/staccato, or timing rests real well, etcetera. It's sometimes a struggle to start working on them (a real piece is more fun), but by tackling e real specific 'thing' in an otherwise simple and short piece of music does really help you concentrate on just that, which I hope pays of when playing 'real' stuff!
Ingrid
PS...can you all handle my english? I am fairly fluent when speaking, but now that I am exclusively writing on music I notice that I have some gaps in music terminology...I'm sure it'll get better over time.
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This is good stuff, Mark... I just found this piece in one of my books and started it out. And then bam, your post with the video so I can confirm how it sounds. Well played!
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Mark, from day one my piano has had some issues in the 5th octave. I've had five different technicians in to track down the problem, but none of them can hear it. On the other hand, I've had three players in, and they hear the problem instantly. I'm convinced that the technicians have blown their ears pounding on pianos all day, so they are the last people to consult for musical problems.
IrishMak, maybe with your time out I'll catch up to you. How far have you gotten in Alfred's 3?
Ingrid, I have to tell you that when I took on the Prelude in C Major my teacher's eyes lit up. As I have mentioned earlier in this thread I label the chords throughout the piece. During my lesson my teacher described why the chords were what they were and why certain chords used the root and others did not. He also related the loudness level to the chord structure. It was really neat. He said teachers love to teach from that piece.
As the person who is having difficulty with the LH/RH balance, would you please let me know the title of your earlier thread. In pieces like the Adagio in A Major, I can get the left hand rolling along and keep it at a lower level, but if the LH and RH notes are synchronous, I have great difficulty playing them at separate levels. However, getting the balance right is one of the most important things I've learned in making my playing sound more musical.
By the way, your written English is very good. I have a feeling your playing is quite good too.
Bob
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Originally posted by OldFingers: IrishMak, maybe with your time out I'll catch up to you. How far have you gotten in Alfred's 3?
I am working on "Toreador Song from Carmen" on page 94 of the All-In-One Book 3. I think this one will be around for a while. My teacher says it's not an easy one to get right, but she's also happy that I've gotten the rhythms right, even if it is at a ridiculously slow speed right now. I do still work on it here, but we've just put it on hold at lessons till after Christmas.
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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I gave up ( temporarily) on Star Spangled Banner. Working on Christmas music... need something to get me into the spirit:-) I'll be in book 3 for a while catch everyoone later
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Originally posted by piano4: Working on Christmas music... need something to get me into the spirit:-)
piano4 - still working on "O Holy Night"? Any other Christmas pieces? In addition to the Christmas Medley I did for the ABF Holiday Performance thread I'm also working on a delightful, but somewhat obscure, piece called "See Amid the Winter's Snow" (which is English, I think) - I may record part of it & post it here to give you'll a feel for its nifty melody. Regards, JF
Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin
Current favorite bumper sticker: Wag more, bark less.
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Oldfingers, you asked about the thread on soft/loud playing...it was this one: http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/32/7540.html I'm still struggling with it, but I am hope it will be one of those treshold-like things that'll suddenly work out. By the way, your written English is very good. I have a feeling your playing is quite good too.
And do you have telepathic powers or something? I've never been complimented on my pianoskills by somebody that hasn't heard one single note....Once I get some recording opportunity you'll have to let me know whether I lived up to your expectations! Anyway, I'm glad that my english is apparently OK. Untill recently talking about bars made me just thirsty, and a sharp reminded me of knives. LOL! I really have to look up some of the terminology used, since I frequently read stuff that I have trouble understanding. Triads? Fake books? We're getting really in the X mas mood here. All the kinds were are playing Jingle Bells and We wish you a Merry Christmas yesterday while decorating our (hopefully kittenproof) tree. I'm playing my old seasonal stuff, and discovered that modern sounds is not that complicated either (though not really my cup-a-tea music-wise) The Alberti bass is fine as well, only that triller(????right word? thriller is something else, I'm pretty sure of that) in the first little piece is killing me. To be honest, I don't really get which 2 of the 3 notes should be trilling. Anybody able to help me out there? The prelude in C is also fun. Only I have this strong urge to sing the ave maria along with it all the time. Maybe I should wait with that untill I can play it fairly well, this way it's a bit too much at once... Ingrid (Ah, and it's nice to see more and more people liking Satie. Maybe we'll get that separate thread. Meanwhile I plough on with my first 8 slow bars of Gnossienne 6...)
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Originally posted by IngridT: Anyway, I'm glad that my english is apparently OK. All the kinds were are playing Jingle Bells and We wish you a Merry Christmas yesterday while decorating our (hopefully kittenproof) tree. Ingrid - "All the kinds were are playing . . ." Not sure that English is OK - did you want to clarify that? :p Overall though, your English is very good The Alberti bass is fine as well, only that triller(????right word? thriller is something else, I'm pretty sure of that) in the first little piece is killing me. To be honest, I don't really get which 2 of the 3 notes should be trilling.
Anybody able to help me out there?
Ingrid A trill is a way to extend a single note by alternating between two neighboring notes, in most cases alternating between the given (designated) note and the note above it - this is usually indicated with a "tr" above the note to be trilled - for example, if the designated trill note is a C (and is a quarter note) you would play C-D-C-D quickly (as 4 16th notes), Regards, JF
Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin
Current favorite bumper sticker: Wag more, bark less.
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