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This is a work in progress. Life is strange, since I over the last year have doubted if I even can play the piano. Looking at me playing the first ballade seems surreal and after I learnt the piece a year ago I sort of experienced a mental breakdown. I looked at my hands, sat down at the piano and just... Couldn't play anything. I STARTED with the simplest beginner pieces thinking "I need to start all over". I has been a difficult year and I have almost not practiced anything at all. I am largely self taught which you might hear. This has been a reason for my doubts of course, along with the fact that I lived with the illusion that once you turn 20, you cannot learn anything new(I am now 20 and started playing at 15)... Sort of a neurotic illusion I guess, since I have realized now it is not true(which I have been given man examples of). Anyway, the last few months I have finally gotten weekly lessons with an excellent teacher, who has helped me getting my confidence up. I have now realized that my thoughts and wishes has to truly originate from myself, that we are all unique and that embracing our own and everybody elses uniqueness, without ever comparing with others, is where we can find each other and bring peace and joy to life. Anyway... Now to the ballade... I know it is not perfect, but still, I think it is not all that bad. You have to consider that I have only been playing the piano for 4-5 years with a long break in there, and that I am largely self taught. Now, this teacher I have has helped me enormously though. Another 5 years with her would be great!!!
Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGvc8IRr8hk

I would be really glad if you could give me some constructive criticism on what you think needs to be improved and so on... Thank you all in advance!

Hi, Jorleyy! Well, I enjoyed your performance quite a lot; I thought it was an amateur effort, in the best sense of that term -- i.e, I don't mean it as a left-handed compliment. I could tell that throughout that you had clear ideas about how you wanted to present this music, and for the most part I agreed with the musical line, dynamic ranges, and the emotional arc of this very passionate piece. I particularly liked the honesty with which you approached the technical demands -- it wasn't of course at a concert tempo, but somehow I found a slower speed very satisfying and compelling, because you're making a sincere effort to grapple with every difficulty while maintaining a musical argument, so to speak. Thanks for sharing this!

This is extremely good with many moments showing much musicality, especially considering you've only played for 5 years and are largely self taught. I'm very glad that you like your current teacher and feel she is helping you.

When I played this for my teacher almost five decades ago, he stopped after the intro and said "Boy was that boring!". (He was right)

Thank you for these nice coments!

Hi Jorleyy,

Your playing of this piece really inspires me and it was actually a very enjoyable listen. What I really liked was how you kept a very strong pulse throughout the piece and this really gave your performance a feeling of polish and held my interest. I actually think Tim's comments are very close to how I feel about your playing here. Nice job. I'm glad you found a teacher that is working out for you. Hopefully at some point I can play Chopin like this. I find it really hard to make something of his music.

thank you for your kind words pathbreaker. I am sure you will be able to play Chopin as well as you wish to play his music if you put the effort in!

Hey Jorleyy, very impressive you are working through this piece already. Please keep in mind though, I have a particular way I interpret the piece, so think about these suggestions with a grain of salt.

I have two main suggestions:

1) Shape your phrasing more. There are a lot of repeated patterns and notes in this piece. Repetition can be boring but not when there's shape and differences from one chunk to the next. Subtle differences within a certain phrase makes the story more interesting.

2) I found the piece in general somewhat on the heavy side. This is especially true for some of the cadenzas, which I prefer a light, satiny touch. The Waltz section should also sound lighter and and more flighty.

Here are my notes while listening through your recording: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8uuv2a2mdjbwgdd/Chopin%20Ballade%20No%201%20notes%20for%20Jorleyy.pdf?dl=0

Have fun!