Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Clair de lune from Scratch - YouTube Piano Lessons

Count me in for Clair de lune! I've been dabbling with this piece for a while, and Hugh, your lessons have me hooked - you're a wonderful teacher!(Love the bumblebee buzzing)!
When I first started back at the piano a few months ago, the first thing my husband said was, "You have to learn Clair de lune". He downloaded the sheet music for me and I took one look at it, said that he was nuts - it has 5 flats, changes keys, etc! A while later I tried to play through it. It was VERY frustrating. I am SO happy you are doing these video lessons! I'm looking forward to the next one. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!

CMohr

Hello Mr. Sung,

Regarding your previous comment about interpretation, would you suggest that when learning new music, this one, or any other, that you start out play exactly by the page as noted; neutral as you say?

Is it ok to throw in some of our own interpretation while learning something new without doing any research; obviously dangerous, but is that generally acceptable, or if I haven't a clue, then it's better to play it as written and risk sounding boring?

Thanks.

The page gives very little, the music lies within the context of the genre and period. There is no 'exactly by the page as noted', there is the composer's intention which you should be obliged to search out. Sorry to sound harsh but I believe beginners should be on the right track from lesson one. I think you may be referring to individual expression? I don't go a bundle on that either, but that's an individual thing.

Great question, 4evrBeginR! When I was teaching "Star Wars" to my son, I was thrilled to hear him play the arrangement in all different keys, changing rhythms, jumping to different octaves - he was literally playing in the musical sandbox, and I couldn't be happier to hear him genuinely experiment with the expressive possibilities of music!
By all means, throw in your expressive instincts into learning a piece of music! For many classical musicians, we've lost the "sandbox" fun in interpretations, and I'd like to encourage all of us to recapture that sense of experimentation and discovery. One encouragement I'd like to leave with you is to think of music as a language; if you don't read French, for example, and sing the words of a French chanson without understanding the meaning of the words, your interpretation is going to miss a huge part of the fun of playing with all aspects of what the song is actually saying. Having said that, though, there've been wonderful performances of American songs by non-English speakers who don't really understand the words at all, but latch on to what they love and enjoy in the music, and give a thoroughly thrilling performance!
Start with what you enjoy and understand of the music, and have fun putting your own personality into the performance/study. The wonderful thing about learning is that it never stops!
Hope that helps - and I hope you'll share your interpretation with us!

You are so welcome, CMohr! Don't be intimidated with all the flats and key changes - we're going to take things a little at a time and walk you through the piece, step by step. Just remember to have fun along the way! And please let me know if I go too fast or if I do something that makes the learning process frustrating. Welcome aboard!

Sure, who needs meaning anyhow!?

I'll get my coat.

Lesson #7: Measure 5

In this lesson, I share some more thoughts on fingering strategies, give a brief overview of eighth notes and other types of note values that affect their length and speed, and get a phone call from my Karate master! LOL! Ah, domestic interruptions!

Lesson #8: Measure 6

In this lesson, we review the origins of the "G clef" (also known as the "Treble Clef"), which is used to help identify notes in the upper range of the keyboard. We also introduce the "F clef" (also known as the "Bass Clef") which is used to find notes in the lower range of the keyboard.

Lesson #9: Measure 7

In this lesson, we look at repositioning hands by phrase groups, transitioning to a new musical "sentence" or phrase, and why changing fingers on the same note sometimes makes sense.

I'm also in, although someone must have way too much time on their hands, if they can keep up. Or maybe I should just begin skipping the posts and concentrate on the videos.

Great stuff and I actually rather enjoy the fact that you don't spend too long getting the timing just right. The simplifications/omittances and speed in the lessons are perfect. For me.

Hugh Sung, I can't tell you how much I am enjoying your tutorials. I love all the fine details as we dissect this all time great classic piece. Thanks again!

Thanks, I completely relate to that. My children loves singing along to whatever they hear, not just Italian/German/French, but also Japanese animee songs and the theme songs from (uh, sorry) those dreaded Korean TV soap operas (one famous one in particular performed by young children and the kids love it), or something more serious like Pie Jesu in Latin. They don't have a clue what they are singing but sing along so well. It's amazing. Of course, my kids don't give any thrilling performances, just cute whenever they sing in these foreign languages.

Oh, btw, I'm in the SF Bay Area, and there's programming in just about every language on television, just in case you wonder.

I have been lurking along this thread, and frankly I do not even have anything of value to offer now, except to say that I am truly enjoying the tutorials. I am aso realizing that although these are meant for beginners I can see things that would help more experienced players as well.

Thank you Hugh!

I am pretty good through the first five measures. Thanks for the reminder of the tied Db in the 4th measure. I was playing it again.
I got a bit off track because my music sheet starts the bass cleff on the 7th measure instead of the 6th shown on your music. But, I'm good.

I suspect I will fall behind as we get deeper into the piece, but just reading along with the video and making notes is great.

I'm in, and thank you for doing this! I've been playing for about 3 years and learning to read music, and for the past few months have been on a Satie kick (here's my latest - Gnossienne #4). Clair de Lune has always seemed intimidating, but your early nibbles around the edges are making it less so. Delightful teaching style... hope I can keep up as it gets tangled in there!

Steve

Hugh, I find it hard to adequately express my gratitude for the time and effort you put into these tutorials. We are all very fortunate to have you on this forum.

By the way, watch those very talented fingers. My master warned me numerous times to spar with my hands closed. I didn't listen until I got kicked in the hand one night, and broke my right middle finger. Lesson learned!

Lesson #10 - Measure 8

Sorry this took so long to post - YouTube was acting like molasses this morning!

In this lesson, we work on some pretty challenging material; we look at a special fingering that breaks an apparent pattern, learn about thinking ahead like a chess player, and about taking advantage of notes that hold vs. notes that move for fingering strategies.

Hugh,
Count me in also. Sorry about starting so late, but I just found this thread today and have some catching up to do.

Your teaching technique and presentation are really clear are very easy to understand. Great job!!! It's apparent that you enjoy your treaching as much, perhaps more, than your pplaying ability. I personnaly am glad you ahve both.

I'm looking forward to the future lessons. For me, it's too soon to have any questions yet.

Thanks,
Woody

Lesson #11: Measure 9

Now we approach one of the most beautiful measures in the piece, where the hands swim over and under each other towards the top of the musical phrase. I'm using a virtual piano program called Pianoteq to illustrate how to use the damper pedal. My acoustic Cunningham Grand Piano has a QuietTime system installed, which uses special sensors on the piano action to transmit MIDI signals, allowing me to simultaneously route them through my computer to use in programs like Pianoteq.
We also talk about pivoting fingers, and why I encourage you to cheat and skip that technique by just using the damper pedal
A challenging measure to work on, but by taking things one at a time, you'll see it really isn't so bad!

Welcome aboard, Woody! If you're an absolute beginner, then don't try to take on too many lessons at a time - I'd recommend trying just one a day or every two days to start. If a particular lesson takes longer, don't sweat it! I'm hoping that the small increments will make it easy to "digest" for anyone, especially for novices.

If you're more experienced, you can start jumping to lessons that deal with specific measures. I always do a quick review of the previous measure leading into the lesson measure.

Feel free to post questions, or better yet - submit a video showing your progress using these lessons! I'm dying to hear how effective these lessons are for beginners. Am I going too fast? Assuming too much at a time? Let me know and I can try to adjust the lesson formats accordingly.

Above all, have fun!!