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Joined: Feb 2009
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I spent about 25 years avoiding performing for anyone and it was among the worst possible things I could have done in terms of musicianship. I'm working hard now to undo a really strong mental block that's been built up for far too long.
Piano must be the only instrument where study isn't linked to an immediate performance. I guess I know a few composers with the same attitude. But e.g. a trumpeter plays in a band. What else?
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Today some composer played on the main square in my city. A huge crowd was gathered. He is some guy from Germany born in Italy and he has 9 albums. Similar in style to Eunaudi. I asked him if I could play one of my compositions, it was a grand piano with an amplifier. I sat and played, my feet were shacking uncontrollably by the time I was done. The crowd applauded me there was people everywhere behind me in front of me on the side, the piano could be heard from far far away, I finished in a very impressive manner with double octaves in chromatic order descending to the tonic and people seemed to love it. For me it's easy to play them fast but for someone who hasn't played it sounds very impressive. Here is the guy, his name is Davide Martello, here is a picture I snapped: That was a great experience! I am glad I had the courage to sit and play there. I guess the huge crowd arrived later? :-)
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Joined: Dec 2010
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I guess the huge crowd arrived later? :-)
No...those are just his groupies. He is standing with the crowd. Congrats Teodor!
Ron Your brain is a sponge. Keep it wet. Mary Gae George The focus of your personal practice is discipline. Not numbers. Scott Sonnon
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Joined: Dec 2009
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Today some composer played on the main square in my city. A huge crowd was gathered. He is some guy from Germany born in Italy and he has 9 albums. Similar in style to Eunaudi. I asked him if I could play one of my compositions, it was a grand piano with an amplifier. I sat and played, my feet were shacking uncontrollably by the time I was done. The crowd applauded me there was people everywhere behind me in front of me on the side, the piano could be heard from far far away, I finished in a very impressive manner with double octaves in chromatic order descending to the tonic and people seemed to love it. For me it's easy to play them fast but for someone who hasn't played it sounds very impressive. Here is the guy, his name is Davide Martello, here is a picture I snapped: That was a great experience! I am glad I had the courage to sit and play there. I guess the huge crowd arrived later? :-) Hi, I knew someone would make a comment like this. So to answer your question, the huge crowd only gathered when I was playing then they went home. But seriously, I am standing in the crowd front there in this picture. And let's hope that we get older groupies next time. Check out the guy though, his music is cool. Anyone could play a few tunes like I did but he plays for hours upon hours straight and well into the night when it's dark.
Last edited by Teodor; 06/04/13 01:09 AM.
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Joined: Dec 2012
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I spent about 25 years avoiding performing for anyone and it was among the worst possible things I could have done in terms of musicianship. I'm working hard now to undo a really strong mental block that's been built up for far too long.
You don't have to trot out every single piece you've worked on in the past two years, but if your friends won't listen to you perform a piece or two that you've been working on hard, they're not your friends. No matter whether your performance comes off or not.
And, honestly, they'll probably enjoy it and they'll be flattered you asked.
Music is hard enough. Don't impose unproductive and arbitrary limits on yourself. You are so right Whizbang, I'll start this evening; a friend is coming for dinner, I'll ask her to arrive a bit earlier so I can play my recital pieces for her (little more than five minutes)!
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Joined: Apr 2009
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Of course the huge crowd is sophisticated enough to stand on the open side of the piano for the best sound! The small crowd went to the other side to get into the picture.
Learner
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Whizbang - that's the spirit! Great encouragement and look, Torquenale took the challenge almost instantly! Woohoo!
Teodor - that's pretty cool - it must have been fun!
18 ABF Recitals, Order of the Red Dot European Piano Parties - Brussels, Lisbon, Lucern, Milan, Malaga, St. Goar Themed recitals: Grieg and Great American Songbook
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I'll start this evening; a friend is coming for dinner, I'll ask her to arrive a bit earlier so I can play my recital pieces for her (little more than five minutes)!
Excellent!
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I feel elated. Today I practised 'properly', starting with 10 minutes of arpeggios that I need for pieces I'm working on, then focused sections of said pieces. 10 minutes of 'chord grips' for one song that I tend to fumble. 5 minutes of crazy hard left-hand double octave arpeggio for a previous recital piece. 10 minutes of practise on the hardest section of my Grieg piece. Finally, 35 minutes across two sessions on several parts of an Einaudi piece I started last week. It feels like I've accomplished so much in only a little over an hour!
Normally, I start with just playing a few older pieces before focussing on (sections of) one piece. It helps for warming up and keeping them in memory, but I don't always feel motivated to practise too much after it. Now I had time for technical work, and can still add half an hour of playing pieces if I want to.
David Lanz - Skyline Firedance Suite Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy 7 Main Theme
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Of course the huge crowd is sophisticated enough to stand on the open side of the piano for the best sound! The small crowd went to the other side to get into the picture. Hi the piano had an amplifier it could be heard everywhere, half a mile away. Today this guy moved to a more central location and even more people stopped by. You should have seen, people who walk down the street stop and gather around him and make pictures and videos. He was also on national tv today. Several tv stations came to make a story on him for the news. People who came did not want to leave, some even sat on the ground for hours listening to him. I've never seen this in my life before. People of all types were just drawn in to his music and it was magical. Davide Martello, look him up.
Last edited by Teodor; 06/05/13 04:04 AM.
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Whizbang - that's the spirit! Great encouragement and look, Torquenale took the challenge almost instantly! Woohoo! And my friend told me she wanted me to play for her but didn't dare to ask! My Scarlatti was not perfect, but a lot better than at the recital...
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Joined: Apr 2013
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Recital #2 in 5 days is done!! Playing from memory Saturday made playing from the music tonight a piece of cake! I was hardly nervous at all. And that's a first!!
1918 Mason & Hamlin BB 1906 Mason & Hamlin Es
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Torquenale and Dynambot - congratulations on 2 important successes!
18 ABF Recitals, Order of the Red Dot European Piano Parties - Brussels, Lisbon, Lucern, Milan, Malaga, St. Goar Themed recitals: Grieg and Great American Songbook
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Teodor...sounds like a great event with the outdoor venue and the crowds enjoying piano as if they'd never heard one before. There is so much tech music that the beauty of an acoustic must just blow them away. Congrats to Allard on a productive and satisfying practice/play session. Making those improvements just feels so good. Whizbang, great suggestion for Torquenale...I'm betting Torq that you'll do great dinner hour performance. That will for sure get you past your nerves. Our public speaking students have nerves about speeches but that goes away with encouragement and repeated performance (my hope is that piano is the same process). PW gives us encouragement and we just have to take advantage of performance opportunities...Casinitaly has noted some and Jotur has a variety she participates in...I know there are others as well. It doesn't have to be a stage. AND it doesn't have to be flawless on the notes. Now...if I can just do the same myself.
My achievement is recovering quickly from the dismal performance of technical skills on my exam and moving on to new music. Another Bach, more of the Mozart sonatina, and some David Nueve for fun. Summerkeys first of July.
[ . Wise as in learner Buff as in Colorado Buffalo
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Joined: Mar 2013
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Today, I finally finished learning all of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1. Down to the fine-tuning stage. I had a heck of a time, and it's supposedly his 7th most difficult out of the 32. I could only imagine what the Hammerklavier would be like.
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Theodor - congrats for your public performance experience. Not easy to do it spontaneously like that. You compose too, that's great.
WiseBuff - would love to hear everything about SummerKey. I'm so excited about it myself.
Dynamobt - congratulations on your successful performance at your recital. Thank you for sharing the happy news. Happiness is infectious.
Maestro57- Congratulation on your accomplishment. Completing any of Beethoven's s sonata is a daunting task. It is a beautiful sonata. Look forward to listening to a recording someday.
Not so much of achievement. I just have lots of stuff to do. Summer did not slow down things for me. My teacher recorded the piano 2 part of the sonata. I played with her yesterday and realized that I still have to up the speed for certain runs and keep the same "fast" tempo throughout the piece. I also have to brush up Bach prelude, Mendelssohn piece and Brahms (at least for the first two pages). I'm going to take them to SummerKey and may play them for our church. You all have a wonderful day.
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I don't really have the time or the energy to catch up with everyone else's achievements right now (sorry about that! I'll get to you all tomorrow!).
I do have something to share that I'm pretty excited about. I got 90 out of 100 on my piano exam today.
I think I could have done even better, if I'd gotten in a little more practice this past week. I got none as it is, which reminds me: I need to go confess my sins on MOYD.
I also think that the grade I got reflects the level of effort I put in throughout the year pretty well, but it doesn't really reflect the quality of my performance today. Based on that, I should have gotten at least 10% less. Probably 15% less. I had a false start on my Grieg piece. Started over completely after measure 4 or 5 (I forgot which). And then there were the dozens of little imperfections.
The Burgmüller went pretty well, but way too slow.
Regardless, I got 90 out of 100, and even though it may lean more heavily on what I've been doing throughout the year than what I did at this one point in time, I think that's something to be proud of.
Plodding through piano music at a frustratingly slow pace since 9/2012.
Standard disclaimer: I teach many things. Piano is not one of them.
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Congrats Saranoya. Please don't be so hard on yourself. You have worked hard and it paid off with a good grade as it should.
And congrats to Dynamobt on another successful recital. Doesn't it feel great to have that weight lifted?
I have really goofed off more than ever this week. Although I did get to the bench every day, it has mostly been scales, arps, and some trilling exercises. No lesson this week as my teacher is vacationing, so I've gone softly on starting the Scriabin. Want to make sure I get that 3 on 2 right from the start. The Canon is a really nice, interesting piece, so I am looking forward to it.
Liebestraum 3, Liszt Standchen-Schubert/Liszt arr Sonata Pathetique-Adagio LVB Estonia L190 #7284
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Maestro57 - What a great achievement. To play an entire Beethoven sonata is one of my dreams. How long have you been studying op.10-1? I just listened to the prestissimo Finale again....so beautiful...and sounds so difficult. You must have some real piano chops.
Liebestraum 3, Liszt Standchen-Schubert/Liszt arr Sonata Pathetique-Adagio LVB Estonia L190 #7284
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Regardless, I got 90 out of 100, and even though it may lean more heavily on what I've been doing throughout the year than what I did at this one point in time, I think that's something to be proud of. WOOT! WOOT! that's great Sara. You shouldn't judge yourself so harshly, be proud of this as it's quite the AOTW girl.
Ragdoll At first, she only flew when she thought no one was watching.
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