So, I recorded a few videos. I'm not anywhere near finishing learning an entire piece; but, what I do have I would love to hear any feedback about, negative, positive, whatever.

so, this first one is the beginning of rondo alla turca. i don't quite have the left hand part down at the very end of the video but i am working on it.



the second is what i have so far of moonlight sonata. i started learning this mmmmmmm probably about 3 days ago.



and this last one is just a little something i wrote. i don't know anything about writing music so i am not really sure what to do with it, but I think it sounds cool, i think it is like 8 measures or so, i haven't written it on paper yet.






soooo keep in mind i've been playing since about november, so expect some mistakes. but anything you have to say would be appreciated


edit: the webcam on my macbook records everything backwards, so the top of the screen is actually my right hand side.

i don't know where you learned moonlight sonata, but that's not it...the first video was pretty good though for someone who just started in november!

It's the beginning of the first movement. There are 3 movements to Moonlight Sonata. The one you posted the other day was from the second movement.

Edit:
Well normally the triplets are played in the right hand with the left hand on a lower bass but he's using a keyboard and might've had to adjust, or is just using a different arrangement, who knows. In any case, regardless of key / arrangement it most certainly is Moonlight Sonata, even if not exactly in its original form.

Oh, and good work for having just started! Keep it up.

yeah i know there's three movements...

How did you learn the beginning of Moonlight Sonata mvt. 1? Was it by a computer program or sheet music? Programs can be very misleading, in the way that the finger positions are often not shown.

However, if you want to play this piece correctly, I suggest you take a look at this video (notes included):

I think it's fascinating how you play those triplets with the L.H. -- and it "works," whether it's "right" or not (although IMO everything is too heavy, but that's another story).

If I was just listening and not looking, I'd never realize you aren't playing it "right."

BTW.......why are you doing it that way?

It looks the video is a mirror image. If you look closely, the apparent left hand notes are higher pitch than the apparent right hand notes.

Way to go nameless! I noticed your comment about your MAC Book recording things "mirror image".

Some people learn the notes first then try to add dynamics, I would suggest trying to play the piece with dynamics at the beginning of learning at a slow tempo.

For example in "your" Moonlight Sonata it seems like the LH and RH are competing with each other. the RH needs to supplement the melody that the LH is doing, so maybe tone down the RH a little IMO.

Oh and my personal belief is to play with the fingers not with "heavy hand" movements, minimal hand movements. Not that you were, but just saying, and keep your fingers close to the keys instead of lifting them high up before playing the next note.

Finally I liked your composition it sounded like something from Castlevania for a second. I would like to see you finish it.

i'm playing the triplets with my right hand actually, the video is horizontally flipped for some reason. What appears to be my left hand is actually my right hand. I'll try to fix that glitch next time I record a video. so all the praise on how fascinating i play is unfortunately undue haha, to wellspear: i am learning from sheet music, thanks for posting that vid though it's pretty helpful.

D4v3: What do you mean when you say it seems like my hands are competing, or heavy? Am i slamming the bass notes too hard? I guess I kinda see what you're saying, how maybe my hands aren't really working together smoothly?

yes to the bolded question. While I make no allusions to being a teacher, I can only tell you what my teachers have told me when I played like that.

Heres an example of complimentary hands. The RH is keeping the "pulse" (pulses tend to be soft) of the song while, for the most part, the LH is carrying the melody.

Why do I say the RH is the pulse? Because it is repeating the same notes over and over. Very un appealing after a while if it is as loud as the melody, but set as a pulse(soft) accents the meoldy very nicely.



Complimentary hands



Obviously they are not so soft that they are in audible but certainly a lot softer than the melody.

namethief, you never did tell us all about your learning method.

I see you have a keyboard, which commonly has songs that come with it so you can "rote learn." I tried "rote learning" when I first started with difficult material, and I always found myself reverting back to the sheet music. I guess I just can't learn that way.

Speaking of rote learning, here is the ultimate rote learning tutorial of Moonlight Sonata. I found this the other day just from browsing around. This lady is so patient to play these pieces at a snail's pace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUCYTyKopYI

Cebukid,
Thanks for posting this video! It's been said over and over and over again that, if you want to learn your music well, you have to slooooow down. But we never pay attention to that advice. Now here's someone actually showing the benefits of that advice. Very helpful and, I might say, even inspirational. It gives me confidence to go and do likewise.

MichaelSteen, you're welcome! Her YouTube channel is pretty neat.

I think her tutorials are very good for those of us who read sheet music but "aren't sure" of how certain parts of a piece are supposed to be played. I haven't found any stuff that I want to learn just yet, but I did subscribe to her....

Very nice! I just started at the end of December and it is very very interesting to see someone who is just ahead of me in terms of playing time... but I think a lot more ahead of me in terms of playing ability!

Good for you !