Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Im Not Comfortable When Playing Bach And Mozart

When i performing Chopin,Liszt,Schumann etc. pieces im very comfortable( After working hard on the pieces) But when i performing Bach or Mozart im always nervous and coward no matter how much time i spent on the pieces of mozart and bach also im always working with metronome even if chopin i wonder this is just me or how many people sharing the same problem with me ? And what is the solution ?

Sorry for my english i hope you understand me.

I use a totally different technique for Bach and Mozart than for Chopin. For Bach and Mozart curled fingers and tips all in a row, for Chopin a naturally curved hand.

is this because the sound you want to portray of Bach and Mozart is of a clean and metronomic style?
this is a common idea of how to play them, but personally i play both bach and mozart with a rubato feel when needed, for afterall, they aren't robotic composers devoid of emotion. all music requires some form of spirit, as it is a reflection of our inner nature.

Metronome is useful for not doing errors when performing. Also working with metronome doesnt mean you are a robotic im just tidy I know both are emotional composers like Chopin but music of them is much more systematic maybe this cause discomfort on me.

don't get me wrong i use the metronome when i begin a piece, but i was stating that it seems that people play Bach and such with metonomic accuracy even when they have completed the piece. not that this is wrong of course, it's totally upto the interpreter. if thats how you wish to play them then practice will eliminate any discomfort you feel.

Perhaps you should study the style suggestions for Bach and Mozart. As you might find there are guidelines and a lot of controversy as to how they should be done--just look at the different editions of Haydn, Mozart, and Bach. Some want legato, some semi-staccato, and others total staccato and the phrasing from one to another is different (often) and ornaments are not consistent.

There are some general guidelines tho and perhaps that would be something you should investigate. I don't know what books are available in Turkey and would imagine a good translation would work best for you or you could study and improve your English at the same time.

Others here will probably suggest readings on Mozart/Haydn and Bach performing practices.

www.royaltyfreemusic.com

Just type in MOZART sTyle and see what comes up.

It could be that you're just more comfortable with the playing style when it comes to romantic composers. Don't worry about it, just accept it for now.

That doesn't mean that you should work less on Bach and Mozart. Your approach to playing them might be a 'work in progress' for a long time (or maybe just a short time).

Actually, everything we do is a work in progress, isn't it?

Sometimes nervousness means that we care deeply about the piece of music we are about to perform. And a lot of times we just don't feel we are up to the task. But we have to perform anyway because it's a jury, or recital, or something.......accept that also, along with your nervousness.

Because though there might be 'deficiencies' in your knowledge of the playing style needed for certain works, it's the vulnerability that comes from acceptance of your nervousness and shortcomings that will cause certain facets of the piece to be communicated to the listener.

And no, it won't be perfect.

In fact, it'll never be perfect.

Ha, welcome to performing classical works.. I always feel like I'm naked. It's so much harder than romantic repertoire, but the more you do it, the better it will become.

You also need a teacher who really knows how to teach the classical stuff.

That's your choice, and that's fine. But I know of no good evidence that using a technique designed for the particular action of a harpsichord or fortepiano necessarily gives better results than a more contemporary technique as it has evolved on the modern piano with its stiffer feel and double escapement action. Mimic a Baroque keyboardist at the harpsichord if you wish, but do not presume without good argument or evidence, that that approach makes for the best sounding fugue on a modern instrument.

my opinion on metronome is that you should use it if you absolutely need to straighten out some passages, but don't depend on it.

i feel that you should trust your own inner pulse to help keep you grounded. the more you use it rather than using the metronome, the greater your own instincts can develop!

Oh thanks for your advices Mr. Richter i cant believe richer is here

I don't think it's a matter of the meteronome that's troublesome, but rather the style of composition. Bach tends to choose about 4 to 5 patterns then repeats them at random in each hand. It's the inconsistency in hands that can make it intimidating at first. Most romantic music remains consistent in technique in any specific passage. It's just something you have to adapt to. I used to have Bachnophobia until I said to myself "If you can't play Bach, you can't play anything." While opinions will vary, I felt severely handicapped before being able to play it. I havn't studied Mozart much, but seeing as he's in the same era, the same rules probably apply to him.

SO the solution? We all know it. All you can really do is dive in and give it a go one measure at a time. While the complexity of the work as a whole may be staggering, any given group or passage will usually be quite simple, so break it down.

The technique in Bach's time was very different. Players used fingers more, thumbs less. They "walked" with the fingers, which is not done in modern technique. Also, you're talking harpsichord music, not piano music. The pianoforte tranformed the sound, but it also served as a vehicle to transform keybaord technique.

Have you ever played a harpsichord? It takes a very different approach that demannds a light touch (otherwise you'll bust the mechanism and annoy the owner). I don't mean taking a modern electronic keyboard and turning on the harpsichord sound. I mean the actual intrument.

Any, as soon as you play a harpsichord, virginal or clavichord, the techique used to play Bach and Mozart becomes more readily apparent.

In regards to using different techniques at the piano and harpsichord or with Classical and Baroque music...

I have spent many years on my technique (had an arm problem and went the route of Taubman with great results, although I acknowledge that there are other good ideas out there about healthy technique as well). I play piano and harpsichord and use the same general concepts to play all my repertoire - afterall, isn't the point to be at the bottom of the keys without any pressing or effort? I do use early fingering in some of my repertoire but this doesn't change my technique.

I would just like to point out that whether you are playing Classical or Romantic repertoire, the mechanism of the instrument and the anatomy of the body does not change. If you have a healthy technique, you will have enough control at the piano to create a wide range of sounds that are appropriate for different periods.

I agree -- and that means I disagree with the thrust of most of the other replies. There are some people for whom it's just a matter of recognizing the different styles and different kinds of approaches, but for the great majority of players (IMO), it's just plain HARDER to make Bach and Mozart sound excellent.

P.S. When people say that Mozart is "easy" (which they often do), I think it almost always means that they're just not that sensitive to all of what's involved.

I think the physiology of our individual hands is a factor in shaping our comfort zone with different composers.

My small hands are utterly comfortable playing ARCT level Bach, intricate ornaments of Haydn and Mozart but I struggle with RCM level 10 Romantic music because the chords and stretches are too big for my hand. I can practice Bach uninterrupted for hours, but the Romantics make my hands hurt and I have to switch to other music after a while to rest my hands.

I love and want to learn all kinds of music but, contrary to many others, I am most comfortable with Bach, Mozart, Haydn and others quite simply because the music fits my hand size.

Mozart would die before he allowed anything more than the minimal movement.

I admire anyone who can play Bach with passion, precision and control. I am spending the summer months working exclusively on about a dozen of the Two- and Three-Part Inventions and Sinfonias. It is such a humbling experience!

Regards,

Bruce, I'm sorry you didn't hear my Bach at its best. I've just started Partita #2. It's so beautiful and it gives my hands a rest from the Ballade and Aufschwung!

I would at this juncture like to point out that neither Bach nor Mozart had a healthy technique. Unless you're fully grounded in your Taubman don't attempt the curling.