Hugh,
I hope it's just my computer but I don't see the YouTube Link on your last post. The space is there but no link???
Woody

That's strange - i see the video myself. Is it still blank for you? If so, try going directly to the video on YouTube:

CDL Lesson #28 Measure 20

Yes Hugh, still blank for me. I haven't seen any of the others yet so I don't know if it's my computer or what???? The link does work - thanks.
Woody

It is working for me.

If this is easier, here's the direct link to the full YouTube playlist for "Clair de lune from Scratch":

Clair de lune from Scratch YouTube Playlist

Hugh,
Both of the links did work but I even tried re-booting my computer and still have a blank space in the posting. Carl said his is working so it must be something down here.
Woody

Mine works, too.

Hi Pianoloverus,

You raised several very interesting points, and here are a few personal thoughts and comments:

<<Is the main idea of the series to enable beginning students to be able to play a much more advanced and beautiful work then they would normally be able to do so they will become inspired and love to play/practice the piano? >>

Yes!

Sometimes, the "advanced" element is largely in the notation and reading the score, rather than the physical movements required (such as in this piece where there's sections in either 4flats/4sharps and so on). It provides methods and strategies to catalyse/accelerate the learning process.

<<Or is this meant to be a method for learning every new piece?>>

Yes!

I am a poor music sight reader, I consider myself to be a "decypherer" (e.g. "C" ..."a"...."t" oh its "cat" and so forth). I've found that by applying Hugh's very detailed review process to the current piece that I'm working on and identifying all the notes, considering all the fingering and so on, that it seems to be getting into my fingers much faster than the pieces I've studied during the last 2 years. Whilst I have been breaking my pieces into sections and identifying the hard bars, I hadn't gone as far as clinically dissecting down to each and every note so thoroughly, (I let this evolve with time (wasting time)). So during this week I stopped all "regular practice" on my current piece until I'd completed this process which took several hours or more over a couple of days. I will certainly be approaching all my pieces like this from now on.


<<Or is the idea to have a video of measure by measure "pre instructions" so they can deal with a piece that they normally would find too difficult?>>

Yes!

Funnily enough, I'd written a bit about this on my Blog. If you were going to climb a mountain you'd read a guide book and take a map (even if it was just a day long hike). If it was an expedition lasting weeks, you'd probably have a Guide. We may spend weeks or months studying a piece. So I can definately see the need for this bar-by-bar dissection of a piece together with informed advice on fingering, pedalling and putting it all together as being potentially very useful (if it were commercially available and from a reputable source).

There appears to be a lot of the old carpenter's saying here of "Measure twice cut once" (or similar) as well. That is, plan what you are going to practice and figure it all out carefully, before learning to play the parts (and possibly hard-coding in weak points, stutters, misstakes and so on). Figuring out all the fingering and notes, up front, checking how one phrase flows into the next, slowly and carefully seems so obvious and very important to me now.

<<Or something else??>>

Get everything you can from these tutorials. Even the simple things like crossing out the tied notes seems to help make things easier for me.

I can see that it may also be possible, that by being so careful and clinical with the study of the score of new pieces that once this process becomes instinctive and habitual, that there could well be major benefits towards improved sight-reading.

Just a few thoughts....

Hugh,
How much of what we're hearing in the lessons is your Cunningham and how much is PianoTeq3?
http://www.pianoteq.com/pianoteq/audio/Debussy-Clairdelune-HughSung-C3close.mp3 makes me wonder...

Ah! Good question! What do you think? I'll reveal the answer after we get some responses

Hugh, just wanted to say how much your instruction on the Grace Note helped me (I guess your fingering lessons did it)! I just got caught up today and I'm ready (after practicing, of course) for your next installment. I really feel like I now have TWO private teachers!

I also think the webinar would be great for alot of our "classmates". I'm not sure, for me, if it would work out since I don't have a webcam. But, it would be nice if the webinar could be accessed at any time. Just my 2cents. And, as always, many thank-yous for doing this!
CMohr

Bumblebee buzz....

BTW, CMohr, a Webnar is supposed to be live. Something that can be accessed any time would be what Hugh Sung is doing now, here in this thread.

Cheers,

I think Cmohr is referring to recording the webinar so that people who couldn't be there live could at least watch it.

Thank you munkeegutz! You beat me to a reply to Coffeelover.
I am definitely techno-NOT. Just thought if the webinar (like you pointed out) could be recorded ALSO, that those of us (I may be the only one-and in that case I guess I'm just out of luck ) who can't paricipate live could still glean some knowledge by watching when we could.

Sorry about that---CMohr.

BTW, the reason you can't participate was because you don't have a web cam, right?
(Correct me if I am wrong.)

I am not sure if that's right. Maybe Hugh or other Techee people can correct me, but I don't think you'd need a web cam to participate in the Webinar. Only person that would need a camera during the Webinar is Hugh. I don't have any experience on Webinars, but my impression is that you just log in to the Webinar site and watch Hugh teaching live, and then there is a box you can type in your messages to participate. Humm, I am not doing this well. Can anyone with experience explain this in better way? I just hate to see someone missing out a possible good opportunity.

You do need a web cam or a video camera to record a video of your playing if you would like to post a video, before the Webinar takes place, to discuss where you have problems with.

Coffeelover-
No offense. I'm sure you're right about the web cam. I still think that it would be nice if the webinar was recorded for viewing "non-live" - I think someone else had concerns about how people all over the world will be able to participate in a live webinar. I suppose some could be involved in the wee hours or during working hours, I don't know. And like I said, I'm certainly not one to chime in on technical advice - just thought it would be very cool to access extra in-depth instruction.
Cheers!

OK - SO after rereading previous posts, I guess the whole webcam thing doesn't really come into play. So, depending on how all this webinar thing works out, I SHOULD be able to participate. The "when" would be the only thing that may be problematic. Sorry, I guess I've been beating a dead horse here. Oops!

Hi CMohr - you'll be happy to hear that I'm definitely planning on recording the Webinar and making it available for downloads after the event, so those who can't attend "live" will still be able to watch afterward.

As CoffeeLover mentioned, you'd only need a webcam if you want to contribute videos to the class. Folks can still submit questions by text, or by live chat during the Webinar itself.

I'm thinking of aiming for a Saturday Webinar, starting at 13:00 Eastern Standard Time (1 pm in the afternoon New York City time) - that would translate into 10 am California time, 18:00 UK time, and 19:00 Germany time, if i'm calculating this correctly. More details to follow - i'm going to work on a separate website to make sign ups and scheduling/posting details for the webinar easier.

Lesson #30, Measure 22

Once again, we look at using our hands and fingerings in a "cookie cutter" fashion. Fortunately, the chords in both hands are shaped to make movement much easier. We end up by comparing the duple to triple rhythms from the previous measure, as well as exploring two different pedaling options.

Hugh,
Did you post lesson #29 here on Piano World? I went back through the previous posts and It's not there. BTW, I finally got lesson #28 (along with #30) after wiping all internet files, rebooting the computer and logging back into piano world. None of the previous lessons were able to be seen prior to the re-booting. What I haven't received is Lesson #29. I went onto your site in YouTube and was able to watch Lesson #29 there but there is nothing between lessons #28 & #30 on this thread.
Woody

Is there somewhere the lessons can be accessed in a single page? I've been truant for a while and it's sort of hard to dig though 25 pages of comments to go back to find old ones. Thanks!

Good Morning Bluekeys,
Yes, if you click on the "youtube" in the lower right hand corner, it will bring up Hugh's site with the current lesson. Once the You Tube site is opened click on Hugh's Other and it will open up everything on his site in cronological order starting with the latest date. He also has a link above in one of the postings. Hope this helps.
Woody

Thanks Woody. Got it.

Woody, I also don't believe lesson #29 was posted here. I got it from YouTube too.

Weird thing is, I now realize the edition of the sheet music I've been following all along has quite a different set of notes for the left hand of measures 21, 22 and (looking ahead to another edition I found which is similar to what Hugh uses) 23. I have no idea why nor do I remember where I got it in the first place. I think I'll try both editions for these 3 measures and choose the one I prefer!

senam,
Thanks for confirming that I haven't lost my mind completely. The problems I was having yesterday were related to having too much information in my cashe files. Once they were dumped the problem went away. I was hoping this issue was just something new and exciting. If you experienced the same thing I feel a lot better.

Hugh provided the score he is currently using early in thread. I would say within the first 10 posts or so. My score follows the score he is using exactly. Unless you already have a whole bunch of notations (like I do) you may want to use that one instead of the one you are currently using. On the other hand, choosing the one You prefer may be the best solution.
Woody

Woops! My bad - thanks for catching that, Woody! I'll post #29 here and then #30 once again to make sure the list stays relatively in order - sorry!!

I'm going to try to work on a dedicated website as a repository for all these (and future) lessons, to make it easier to scroll through. Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

Lesson #29, Measure 21

After mapping out the notes, I try to show how fingerings can be used to simultaneously mold the hand into comfortable shapes for different chords and serve as memory aids to find them faster. We also talk about using the pedal to connect notes, enabling you to keep your hands relaxed. I also draw a brief example of using shapes to distinguish note groupings (triangles for groups of 3, a square for even numbered groups of 2, etc.)

Lesson #30, Measure 22

Once again, we look at using our hands and fingerings in a "cookie cutter" fashion. Fortunately, the chords in both hands are shaped to make movement much easier. We end up by comparing the duple to triple rhythms from the previous measure, as well as exploring two different pedaling options.