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I want to learn all the nocturnes. about three more of the etudes, most of the preludes, and the rest of the Well Tempered Clavier. I think I got a ways to go - - -

Regarding your message - you didn't sound like a jerk but I was a bit saddened as I think we all were at the prospect of less interaction with you. Glad you got over your hissy fit.

Kathleen,

I listened to my recording of Garrick Ohlsson playing the preludes about a squillion times, then I went and bought the Alfred edition and set myself a goal of playing them all before I'm 50. (I have just a hair over 5 years...)

What edition do you use? Do you like it?

Back to the nocturne at hand--Frycek, you said you'd conquered the triplets. Which batch? All of them? There are several passages with triplets that are tricky for me. Any tips?

Cuz, I've been working on the ones at the top of the third page. Left hand triplets. I can't say I've conquered them. But at least now I can get into the cage with them without feeling in imminent danger of being devoured. They are by no means tame yet. What I discovered is for me the fingering 5 - 1 -5 -1 for the left hand triplets works, if that makes any sense. Other than that I've been practicing with a slow metronome a measure at a time.

Kathleen,

I've met Stephen King but can't say I know him... He got run over not far from my house... :rolleyes:

not on topic

You probably have to be there.

I never would have thought of 5-1-5-1.
We need a smiley for this:
[Off to the piano to try it out.]

My tee-shirt came in!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, Kathleen! Ol' Chopin is lookin' very studly indeed.



I tried Cousin Joe's 5-1-5-1 fingering, and it's almost working for me.

The first 5-1 works great. I was reaching for 5-2, and it wasn't working. And the last 1 is working good, too. I keep throwing in something else on the third part of the triplet--something like 5-1-x-1. I think I can get this to work...

Glad it's starting to work. I just fell into it, I think it's sort of a Bach fugue thing.

I had been making some steady progress on the piano- gosh darn it- before my husband got laid off and I had to get a paying job! Music is my passion and 3 weeks after I took the nursing job I got a job offer to teach music in Catholic schools- the pay is lousy- 30 grand a year, as a nurse, I make 40 grand a year for 20 hours a week- so I have more free time to practice piano, and to be in other bands- but I have been working full time for orientation, and I have only been practicing on 2 days a week- not enough! My down fall is FSFM- short for feeling sorry for myself. So I fight that in myself becuase if I give in to it, I tend to feel lousy. PIano is DIFFICULT- really- I am still working on getting the trill perfect in measure 6- I really wish I could practice 5 or 6 hours a day- I really love it that much, but life intrudes. So back I go now to the piano- after listening again to the recording Kathleen provided. My goal is to get the trill in m.6 and the roll in m. 7 just right. I did try to play one day last week without scales and Hanon and it did not work well at all.

Dear qtpi:

Please don't feel too bad. I'm retired, and I'm still working on the trill in m 6 and roll in . 7.

I agree totally. PIANO IS HARD!! But please do as I do. It took me a while to truly accept this fact.

Day by day, our progress seems non-existent. In fact, there are days when we actually do a little sliding backward (at least, it's happened to me.)

But when I think that just 6 months ago, I couldn't play a thing, literally, and now I have about 10 pieces in my repertoire, I am amazed.

Playing the piano doesn't exactly come easy for me. So, while some people can get through a page or two in a few days and it takes me a month, it does get discouraging.

But then I play the pieces I do know, and once again my self-confidence gets a boost.

And I am looking at the completion of this nocturne as a challenge that may very well take me a year. But so what. In the meantime, I will learn other compositions that aren't quite so difficult.

Take heart and keep the faith,
Kathleen

I'll have to try that 5-1 fingering. I've been doing 5-1-3-1. This page is like another nocturne all together. Of course I'm still struggling with measures 49--51. I can't read it up to speed so I'm trying to memorize it.

Hi MaryAnna:

I'm glad you like the T-shirt.

I forgot to answer your question about which transcription I am using. Well, I'm ashamed to admit it's from one of those CD's that contains all of Chopin's music. You just print out the composition you want. As for their accuracy, I have no idea. But the price was right. I think the CD cost about $12.00.

I do have a question that has been bugging me for some time. Just what is a Uro (sp ?) transcription? I've heard so many people refer to it.

Since I did all my housework and ironing for the month yesterday, I'm sitting at the piano today until I get that first page perfect. I also have to record my piece for the recital. I have one recorded all ready, but I'm not very happy with it.

I will need to refer back to both your and Frycek's suggestions when I get to page three.

Kathleen

Two a year is do-able Kathleen... I have faith in you... I bet you'll complete your dream. You have a lot of people backing you!

Just as long as you learn them, it's not necessary to perfect all 24... unless, of course, that is another goal of yours.

not on topic..

I just had my first piano lesson since getting out of the hospital. I played this nocturne and Clair de Lune, neither of which my teacher had ever heard me play before.

The nocturne went pretty well, considering that I picked it up so recently. My teacher liked Frycek's approach to fingering the triplets, but thought that my adaptation would probably work for me. We worked on my perennial problem--passages where a sustained note is held (say, with the thumb) while the rest of the hand does tricky fingerwork. I drop the sustained note every darn time. :rolleyes:

She was pleased that I'd picked up two such nice pieces on my own--I told her about the online groups--and kindly refrained from mentioning all the half-finished pieces waiting for me to get back to them.

MaryAnna, play Bach. Particularly some nice juicy pieces that really are intended for organ. Apple can recommend some. You'll get lots of practice holding sustained notes, etc.

Gosh, MaryAnna. I didn't know you were in the hospital. I recall reading something like that a while back, but it didn't strike home. I hope you are feeling better.

You obviously must be considering the fact that you know and have played both the nocturne and the lune.

I'm making some progress on the nocturne. Have started page two (strike up the band!). Just trying to get those notes that start up and then go down and up again, smoothly. Don't you just love my professional language. I hope to have both pages, one and two fairly down by Sunday.

Then I can start on the hard stuff. Holding notes down has always been a problem for me also. The ones I'm not suppose to hold, I hold. And the ones I suppose to hold, I don't. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the wild stuff.

Frycek. Thank you for suggesting this nocturne. I really love it. It's so stately, almost like a polonaise with its formal feeling.

Break is over. Back to the piano.

Kathleen

Kathleen, please don't think I'd be offended or anything if you focused less, or not at all, on the Lune. My study group is unsuccessful anyway... I don't plan on bringing it back unless someone bumps the thread. Yes it's sad... but really, I guess I don't fit well in these forums anyway. Always remember the Lune though, it is an outstanding masterpiece... I'm sure most of us can agree. I'm going to focus on my own personal projects right now, mainly the Lune and Sunken Cathedral... and I'll come here often to post in threads and give advice when I can and learn things from you amazing pianists.

If any of you wish to hear a bit about my trip at the Gulf Coast, please let me know... or post something in the "For Fun" forum where I have a nice picture of myself in my work clothes.

ChoBussy, I'd love to hear about your Gulf Coast trip. I grew up in Hattiesburg, 60 miles inland from the devastation. Katrina was still Category 3 when it got there. I visited in April and was amazed at how much repair work was yet to be done. I haven't been to the coast or to New Orleans, but I have relatives in both places so I've heard stories.

Kathleen, I had a nasty little hospital visit early in the month. All I'll say is, "Take care of your gall bladder and pancreas and they'll take care of you." I'm much better now--just gathering strength. I was glad to swap the Mozart and Bach and Gershwin (all of them either fast or "bangy") I was working on before I got sick for the nocturne and the lune because they were slow and meditative. I don't have the energy for the other stuff yet, but I'm getting there. (Not that Cousin Joe would understand--she was sick last year and she took up the Revolutionary Etude!)