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Joined: Dec 2008
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[...] I tend to steep myself in everything I try...listening to both amateur and professional performances over and over and over again until I can with some confidence identify the way I want to play a piece... that's at the same time consistent with my technical abilities. Just because something sounds good to me, doesn't mean I'm able to play it that way... [...] To me, that's somewhat putting the cart before the horse or, at least, perhaps I should simply say that my approach to a piece is quite different from yours. I prefer not to listen to performances until I have made up my own mind about the piece, based on what I (think I) know about the period and the style and what the score tells me. Then, I may listen to a few recordings to confirm my ideas or to get different ones, but I do avoid listening "over and over and over again" to what others do while I am trying to determine how I am going to interpret a piece. Regards, Hey Bruce, Let me first say I think that all things being equal, your approach is much better. Frankly though, I lack the musicianship. I'm largely self-taught and have come to classical music late in life. More importantly, I don't have an abundance of talent. Maybe in a few years as I gain more experience? Hope so. I And Lil, I agree, really quite ghastly to hear myself for the first time. My reaction was pretty much like Mark C's..."There must be something wrong with the recording equipment!" Hah! Some things are relatively easy to fix though. I'd been much too heavy with my left hand and there's no more effective way to ruin an elegant Chopin Waltz...or nocturne....than with a pounding left hand. Yikes. Not pretty :-)
Last edited by cardguy; 02/02/12 04:36 PM.
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Joined: Dec 2009
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Hearing what ails you is a great thing, but one must know how to mend what's amiss. No argument, Stores. And I hope it's obvious I'm being somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But at the same time, I don't have the ability to hear myself sufficiently well while playing. I miss too much. (My self awareness is slowly improving though, I'm sure as a result of all this recording....) I think it also helps that the pieces I'm working on with my recorder are pieces I've been playing for a year or more. I tend to steep myself in everything I try...listening to both amateur and professional performances over and over and over again until I can with some confidence identify the way I want to play a piece... that's at the same time consistent with my technical abilities. Just because something sounds good to me, doesn't mean I'm able to play it that way... So yes, a real teacher is necessary. But I think it's hard to over-estimate the value of listening to yourself on a recording device.. Learning to listen is one of the most difficult things for a musician. We're already involved in so many capacities while playing that actually listening (and not just hearing where we're at on the page) isn't something we readily do. Slow practice is a great help in this regard and yes, recording yourself does help as well, but as I stated you must know the how before amending what needs to be fixed. Let me challenge you to stop listening to recordings as a way of "finding" what it is that you want to do. Do your homework and think about what YOU want to do with whatever you're working on. What do you think the composer is trying to say and how can you convey that to your audience? That recording you're listening is an "interpretation" that belongs to someone else. The best advice I can give you at this point, since I'm thinking you don't have one already is to get yourself a teacher.
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
♪ ≠$
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 977
500 Post Club Member
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OP
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 977 |
"Learning to listen is one of the most difficult things for a musician. We're already involved in so many capacities while playing that actually listening (and not just hearing where we're at on the page) isn't something we readily do. Slow practice is a great help in this regard and yes, recording yourself does help as well, but as I stated you must know the how before amending what needs to be fixed. Let me challenge you to stop listening to recordings as a way of "finding" what it is that you want to do. Do your homework and think about what YOU want to do with whatever you're working on. What do you think the composer is trying to say and how can you convey that to your audience? That recording you're listening is an "interpretation" that belongs to someone else. The best advice I can give you at this point, since I'm thinking you don't have one already is to get yourself a teacher."
I lost my teacher a few months ago as he moved to another part of the country. Before that, yes, I was on my own. I'm not disagreeing with you, Stores. I was talking with my wife about this yesterday. I really feel somewhat dishonest in "borrowing" interpretations from others. I should be able to find my own way in that I was a pretty good improvisor back when I played keyboard in a rock band about 7 million years ago. But I nonetheless often feel pretty much at sea when confronted with something new in the classical realm.
Last edited by cardguy; 02/03/12 02:20 PM.
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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