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Gee Anatoly...that was great for a first. Nice song.


My situation has turned to disaster. Started with computer not recognizing the recorder. Had work done online. Now the Ivory won't work either. Dislike these problems. Weighing choices now.
At least I can run my midi controller. With the Korg Synthesizer.
I also learned some from the recording. I was too much dynamic range. Didn't sound good. Toned it down some. Sounding much better. Interesting how it is easier to criticise when listening to the recording.
I'll get it up someday.

Thanks so much for your kind words, everyone!

I've decided to ask my teacher to help me learn this piece with pedal, and generally improve my playing of it. She'd previously said she thought it's played its part and I should move on, but while I'm sure she knows better what I should be studying, I just like this piece too much and really, really want to polish it, even if I have to find extra time to practice on it. Maybe I'll bring it yet to a monthly thread or a quarterly recital...

Thanks again for your wonderful encouragement,
Anatoly

Goodness! Everybody is doing such a good job! And what guts. I am impressed. I might have to see if I can muster the courage to post something, even if it's just my scales. I have never recorded myself play anything, let alone for anybody to hear it who isn't in my immediate family, haha!

Great job, everyone!

TwoSnowflakes the purpose of this thread is so you don't have to muster too much courage. It is a safe place for that very first recording even if it is scales (played well I quite enjoy scales......if only I could play them well). So go on give it a crack. I also think it is good to have a recording of yourself (indeed several) to let your future self hear how you have progressed.

If scales are what you are praticing, and you are proud of the result, Have At It!!!! The trick for me was to get "something" recorded. The hard part was turning the recoder to ON!!! I was just sort of figuing thngs out as I went, and no one was more surprised I had turned the recorder than I was!!! Since that first time it's gotten easier.

So, just record something. Chords! Scales!! Anything!!! It's an accomplishment when you get it done!!!!

+1 to what Earolmar and dynamobt said. And you learn soooo much about your playing when you record. I want to hear your scales, TwoSnowflakes

Ha, if the threshold is something I'm proud of, well, then I'm sorry to say nothing is really filling me with pride (errors, errors, ERRORS!), but I can certainly record something to show what I'm working on, and maybe both a) overcome my extreme fright of playing while someone else is listening**, and b) at least share where I'm starting from.

So maybe I'll record the piece I'm working on now, even though there are several errors I haven't really fixed. Or, heck, maybe you guys are going to get some scales. Hee.

**yes, I recognize that recording myself is probably easier since I can do it while nobody is watching, but I just want to stop having such performance anxiety! I swear, if anybody is standing behind me, simply wanting to see what I'm playing, I utterly freeze. Everything tenses up and then I can't play something I could play not five minutes before.

I have the same problem. You'd think I was playing at Carnegie Hall or something. My recital piece is a good example - it starts out bumpy, because I'm freaking out anticipating a mistake, and then, towards the end, I screwed up because I hadn't screwed up a certain section that bad and was nervous about finishing cleanly. That was the same for half the takes. Another 1/4th are because I can't remember if I played the repeat, and the remainder are because I'm frustrated and tense.

I also tense up and screw up if I think my neighbors can hear me!

But it really is getting easier. And no one has thrown me off here for it yet

Who wants to hear scales??? Yes, boooring, but I can't tell you how frightened I am just to put this up. Yikes. With age does not come courage, I guess. And I only just started back three weeks ago after a 25 year hiatus.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89452048/IMG_2076_small.m4v

Two Snowflakes, you are waaaaay too hard on yourself. You scales are very well played: even, fast, consistent. Double thirds are hard. (Not to say that the others are easy!)

Thank you for posting. You showed me a picture and soundscape of what to try for. I hope to hear more of your playing in the monthly Cafe, the quarterly Beginners and Beyond Recital, and/or the Themed Recitals (currently soliciting players for Grieg's Lyric Pieces).

Thanks.

You're right, double thirds are SUPER hard! I am happy just to play the thirds and sixths right now. There are a few pieces that I want to play that have some very rapid double thirds in there, so I'm going to build it into my scale routine in the next few weeks.

I've decided that nothing ventured, nothing gained, so here's the piece I'm working on. I've got a lot of work to do, and I have no idea why my wrists are doing such odd things, but the tension I can see in there is enough to stop a car, I think. I think I always played with too much tension, and now it's worse than ever. I can hardly write out a birthday card before my whole hand just claws down, so I'm going to seek out some exercises to really get that out so I can regain smoothness and velocity.

Anyway, enough with the explanation. This is three weeks in, after a 25 year hiatus:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89452048/Movie%20on%205-17-13%20at%2010.07%20AM.m4v

ETA: Chopin Nocturne Op. 20, No. 2, C minor

TwoSnowflakes, the scales were great!!! Quite the quick tempo too!!

And yes, we do know what courage it takes to post up anything of ourselves playing!! That's why everyone is so encouraging! We are all our own worst critic!

Just this past lesson, I started playing the Chopin Waltz by memory. I got so far and stopped saying, "It's not there". So, my teacher has me get up from the piano. Told me to actually walk out of the studio. When I get out in the other room, my teacher says, "Now leave Judgemental Janice out there so when you come back in you stop criticising yourself"!!! No one is harder on us than we are on ourselves!! Good job getting something recorded. It gets easier to push that buttom! Thank goodness for that!!

You're making me want to learn this piece! You are indeed way too hard on yourself. This sounds quite nice!!

Keep it up

TwoSnowflakes. Great scales (mine are like oatmeal, a bit lumpy)

Ok.... Here ya go. I won't bore you with all I went through this week to do this. Doh! I'm not real happy with the outcome. I'm tired of spending time getting this done. Just want to spend time on other things.
This is where I went changing the song at the top of page 51 of Alfred's All In One

Love somebody

rnaple, that was cool! I love the "chimes", and I loved the way you did the ending delicately. Way to go.

TwoSnowflakes - my computer is going into one of it's infinity loops as I try to load your scales, so I'll have to try later. But congratulations on recording and posting!

Cathy

Well done TwoSnowflakes, I am not so hot on the scales and can't even play two octaves, definitely not at that quick a tempo. Thanks for sharing and hoping to hear more.

TwoSnowflakes - well it is obvious you had a fair amount of practice before you gave up piano - my scales still aren't that fast or that smooth.
Welcome back to the ivories - can't wait to see what you will be doing in a few months from now!

Ron - sweet! Good precision - looking forward to hearing a longer piece from you next time round!

TwoSnowflakes - I loved it! I'd forget which pattern I was supposed to be doing somewhere in the middle if I tried that speed And if I hadn't read "double thirds" I wouldn't have known what you were doing at that point - wow! Brava - and well-recorded, to boot.

Cathy

TwoSnowflakes, lovely Nocturne. Thank you for posting it. It makes me want to investigate Chopin's Nocturnes, you make it sound beautiful and look easy.

I see what you mean about tension and wierd wrist motion (plus your video was reversed, making everything that much more curious!). Are you taking lessons? Does your teacher have any suggestions? I noticed the comments in PC on your scales and methods for finding relaxation at the piano. Something else you might consider for pieces is working on much easier pieces for a while. This is what I did last year: I felt like I had shot ahead and was playing a lot of music where I was barely hanging on. So I slowed way down and went back to basics. I think I'm now at or equal to where I was a year ago, but playing much better. (Hmmm, does that make sense? I mean, I'm playing similar pieces again now, but much more reliably and musically, and with less hanging on and wondering if I'm going to make a mistake).