Should I patent my system?

Welcome to the thread, Mati-
O-Hazukashii~~

Good luck with your practice! (And me, too.)

Hey all you Clair de luners and Hugh,

Has anyone heard from the player from Sweden lately? I just got to thinking, he was doing so well....I hope he didn't meander over to the Piano Teachers forum and read "Hugh Sung's Clair de lune" thread - he may have done so and thrown his piano out the window. A couple posters over there were pretty harsh - If they are teachers, I'm glad they are not mine. I am very glad that so many people came to the Sweden player's defense (Hugh included)- I just think some of the comments were rude.
Now that we have some "classmates" posting progress videos, it would be nice to hear from him again.

I felt I needed to say this - we are not all aspiring to be concert pianists - we just want to play beautiful music, be it for friends, family or even just ourselves.
Rude comments to beginners trying their darnest to play a beautiful piece of music should have no place anywhere.

CMohr

Beautiful, CoffeeLover! Really, really beautiful!! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful performance! Believe me, I know how hard it is to record something, especially for video, and you did a magnificent job!

I can't tell you all how much fun I'm having putting these lessons together and connecting with so many wonderful people around the world! This is when music is at its most magical, when it brings people together. I can only hope everyone else is having as much fun as I am enjoying the beautiful sounds coming from our respective pianos and the wonderful combinations of notes crafted together by Monsieur Debussy!

Oh, by the way - i'm going to work on getting your video and audio synchronized for the webinar. I downloaded the video file and will "remaster it" so that we can all better see your hands coordinated with the beautiful sounds they produce. Bravo again!

Hugh-

I am very glad to hear that you are also enjoying these lessons so much.

Wow, you can remaster my recording? Cool! I was wondering why the picture and audio didn't synch, anyway. (Of course I couldn't do anything about it becuase only thing I did to make this video is just clicking on the "buttons" on YouTube Web Cam download page.) Compared to you, I feel like a cave woman...

Wait a minute, I didn't know you can download someone else's video file from YouTube??? Who am I kidding, I don't even know how to download my own video to my computer. Where should I look to learn how to do that?

Oh, thanks for taking time to watch my video, and for such kind words!
I am excited about the Webnar. Thanks again.

hugh, out of curiosity, how do you do this? I would use youtube-downloader and a *.avi fps editor...

Hi, lesson mates;

I thought it would be helpful to understand this poem if you haven't seen it yet. I found this article just now. The link to the original article is on the bottom of this message.

Paul Verlaine's "Clair de lune"

'Clair de lune’ (’Moonlight’) is from Verlaine’s early collection Fêtes galantes (Gallant Parties, 1869). It is presented here in the original French with a simple English translation below. Any inaccuracy or inelegance is my own. (Note: a “bergamasque”, or “bergamask”, is a rustic dance originating in Bergamo, Italy. Apparently.)

Clair de lune

Votre âme est un paysage choisi
Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi
Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.

Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,

Au calme clair de lune triste et beau,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.

English translation;

Moonlight

Your soul is a select landscape
Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.

All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,

With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble statues.

Paul Verlaine, 1869

Reacting against realism and rhetoric, the Symbolists tried instead to evoke a mood, an essence, an Ideal. Just as the Moon takes its light from the Sun, they sought to illuminate seemingly inaccessible subjects indirectly, by creating reflections. Here we have masks and dancing, fantastic disguises, fountains sobbing in ecstasy, moonlight: a swirl of suggestive images that speaks volumes about the human soul without really saying anything. Rather like music, in fact. Both Ravel and Fauré composed pieces based on Verlaine’s poetry, and this poem inspired Claude Debussy to write his own ‘Clair de lune’, the third movement of his Suite bergamasque and the work for which he is now most famous. (A wonderful performance by David Oistrakh and Frida Bauer can be found here. “Sad and beautiful” doesn’t even get close.)

http://thereaderonline.co.uk/2009/03/featured-poem-3/

Here, you can use this nifty application to download Youtube videos:
http://deturl.com/www.youtube.com/watch

Thanks, jazzyprof!

Lesson #33, Measure 25, Part 1

We get introduced to two new symbols: the 8va ("octava") symbol, and the "squiggly line", otherwise known as the "roll". After quickly mapping out the notes, we spend a good bit of time exploring various options for rolling the notes, from a simple unison roll, to a more complex "harp-like" note-by-note roll. Let your ears decide which effect you like best, and have fun experimenting!

For anyone using the Safari web browser (Mac or PC): while you're watching the video stream, bring up the activity window (Cmd-Opt-a (Mac)), or (Ctrl-Opt-a
(PC)) and in the list of all the items that make up the page you're viewing you'll see the video stream (it'll be the item that will be still loading - #KBs out of #MBs (and the KBs will be going up)). If you double-click that line, that item will be downloaded to whatever folder you've setup as your downloads folder. It'll be a flv (Adobe Flash Video) file. Any application that can play FLVs will play it. I have the entire CDL series (in HQ) in a folder on my hard drive, and can watch them wherever I am, Internet connection or not.

Hugh-

I am curious about these pieces by Ravel and Fauré. What are the titles, if you don't mind? (If you know them already, I mean.) I'd like to search for the scores and recordings. It will be easier to search with titles. I will keep trying searching by myself without titles meanwhile.

Oh, btw I loved your last lesson on measure 25 with different options to play those squiggly notes! Keep it coming!!

Hugh,
I have noticed that I do have a problem with keeping the left hand softer than the right hand when playing moderate to pianissimo. It makes the chords sound cluncky. This is espically noticable in the early measures where the left hand and right hand harmony lead the right hand melody. Yes, my piano does need to be voiced, but I should be able to control it is there a way to tone it down?
Thanks,
Woody

Okay, Ravel wrote Clairs de lune I - IV, and Fauré wrote Clair de lune! That was easier than I thought! Sorry. Ignore my previous post.

I have noticed the same with my left hand!

Bump-ble bee; bum-ple bee, buzz-ing

Apologies! Yesterday's NYC recording session was pretty brain-draining, so I wasn't able to get around to editing the next lessons. I'll have some time this afternoon to catch up, so today's post will be later than usual. Hope the class can forgive the tardy teacher!

JeffBC, thanks a lot for this tip. I've known there was some way to do this for a long time, but didn't know where the secret lies.

Hugh
Thank you for taking all of the time to prepare the lessons and reply to the posts. I didn't realize that there was a parallel thread on the piano teachers forum that you have been responding to as well.
I've enjoyed the lessons and although we are first now coming to the part that I've had the most trouble with, the time to get to this point, has provided time to listen to others playing this piece on youtube and comparing thier interpretations, to help improve my own playing of the piece.
I applaude your patience and ability to respond to the posts of others in a positive constructive manner.
thanks again
Julius

I demand a refund!

Hugh,

No matter what comes up or people say, take as much time as you need to prepare for the lessons. No explanation is necessary. We are the greatful ones. Work and family come first. We free loaders here can wait, maybe reluctantly, but we can wait.

Munkeegutz your outburst has not gone unnoticed - it's an extra 1/2 hour of "Clair" practice for you young man!

Woody

My thoughts exactly. Never feel your incredibly generous time is an obligation!

I second the previous posts.

Please, Hugh don't feel you need to rush the lessons (at least on my account)! Measures 25 & 26 seem a little tricky to me and I know I'll need extra practice. As others have said, we all appreciate the tons of time and effort you are putting into these lessons, and I for one am still thrilled that you are! More giant thank-yous!

CMohr

Lesson #34, Measures 25-26

Rolls, rolls, and more rolls! In this lesson, we explore these delicious rolled chords, and I reveal a fingering "cheat" inspired by my old teacher Jorge Bolet, one of the greatest modern pianists who was a very pragmatic musician when it came to working out technical problems on the keyboard. This brings us to the end of the 2nd page and the start of the most difficult section of the piece in upcoming lessons.

Lesson #35, Review of Measures 19-26

Before tackling the next section of the piece, I thought it would be a good idea to review the musical "paragraph" we just worked on. We talk about some advanced pedaling techniques, where the fingers are held in a manner that mimics the sounds of them being held by the pedal - a technique my old teacher Jorge Bolet called, "pedalizing" - and how that technique can be used to effectively connect and clean the sound when used in conjunction with the foot on the damper pedal.

Hugh and lesson mates,

That cheating was a great suggestion! I have an idea to upgrade this cheating so that nobody can tell that you are cheating because this is going to sound exactly the same as non-cheating verson.

When you play those four notes with right hand, play them in following order, i.e., play them in the original order.

C-A-E-A (2-1-3-5)

Hope you like it.

Cheers

Bravo, CoffeeLover! That's a terrific "cheat modification"! A bit more advanced for some people who may not be used to rolling, but certainly very do-able and easier to play than the original version! Thanks so much for that creative contribution!

Wow, measures 25-26 are giving me backaches! I don't know if it's my posture or what, but practicing repeatedly these rolls, which means both hands are on the right side of my shoulders, end up hurting my back after a while. Normally if I played a piece where most of the notes are high, I would shift my position on the bench to the right. But this is only two measures and I fear that if I practice them by centering myself on the rolls, my hands will get confused when I take my normal bench position centered around C4 for the whole piece.

Yes, I do try to practice a set of rolls, then practice something else more central or on the left, then back to the rolls. But it still hurts a bit. Any suggestions? It's probably no big deal as I'll probably master the rolls shortly, but it often happens in pieces where a few measures are totally on one side of the body, and that always hurts me a bit.

On a side note, this is so cool! I'm having a great time learning to play CDL. I hope everyone is. Thanks again Hugh!

Bum(p)-ble Bee; Bum(p)-ble; Buzzing