Tuesday-February 24, 2003

Haven't played much since last Friday. I'm onto the second half of the Rachmaninoff prelude. I've played it through a couple times already. I suppose the focus this week is to learn the last two pages. I've memorized two pages of the Mazeppa and am trying to memorize the third. It's coming along nicely. The Chopin "Butterfly" etude is about memorized. I'm still experimenting with different fingering for two particular chords I find troublesome. This piece is harder than it looks. To play it fast and play the chords cleanly without getting "stiff" in the arms and shoulders, I'm still working on that. I also played through the first etude, kinda moderato instead of the tempo indicated (allegro). The first etude is gonna be tough to memorize, since these big arpeggios are all very similar...should I what kind of chord is in each phrase? So that if there's say, 35 different chord-phrases in the piece, I can remember the order. How should I approach this piece? I can see why these are "etudes".

Thursday-February 20, 2003

I didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday, but played for two hours today. Both Rachmaninoff and Liszt pieces are progressing along better than I expected. The Liszt transcendental etude (Mazeppa)...I'm almost done learned three pages (I stopped where . Memorized first page and more than half of the second page. The third page is mostly a variation of the second. I could see the advantages of breaking up pieces into small sections and learning 'em that way. Once I know the pattern well, I could see similarities between other sections and learning those parts will be easier. I shoulda done that with the Fantasy in F minor. When at first you don't succeed...try again. The Rachmaninoff Prelude in Gsharp minor isn't that tough to learn. I've been playing the first two pages and sorta snuck a peek at the 3rd page and played most of that page today. It's a beautiful piece. You can definitely hear Scriabin's influence.

I'm polishing up Chopin's "butterfly" etude. I want to learn all 27 etudes. It's gonna take a mammoth load of will power (and time). I feel like if I can learn and memorize all 27 etudes...things will come easier to me. Plus, I want to test my limits. Although I feel that I can learn the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto with what I've got right now, my "pianism" isn't nearly at the point where I'd like it to be and once I get better at technique (which I'm sure chopin and liszt etudes wouldn't hurt here), it'll probably be easier to learn and the final product will be better. I know some etudes already, although it's been awhile since I last played 'em. I wonder if it's possible to learn all 27 etudes in a year. Two weeks on each etude? Is it possible (if I don't 8-10 hrs a week)? I wonder.

Monday-February 17, 2003

I've started learning Rachmaninoff Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32, no. 12. (first two pages), and Prelude in B-flat Major, Op. 23, No. 2. (first 2-3 pages). Moving on to second and third pages of Liszt's Transcendental Etude No. 4: Mazeppa. Chopin's Fantasy in F minor (hopefully, i'm more disciplined now), first three pages.

Wednesday-February 12, 2003

I made a practice recording of J. Brahms' Capriccio Op. 116, No. 3.

It's a decent recording; one that I'm satisfied with for now. I was lucky to get one that I'm comfortable with on my first try; it took no more than 5-10 minutes. The playing could've been better of course, but I figured making a better recording of the piece would not be a fair and accurate assessment of where I'm at with this particular piece right now; it'd be overkill right now. And the point of making practice recordings is to listen carefully and detect problem areas and remedy it. So I'll leave the recording as is and point out areas that could be improved upon.

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Notes on Brahms Capriccio No.3 , Op.116

The opening section could be a tad faster. I don't feel the tempo is what Brahms intended (Allegro passionato). A broken metronome is no excuse.

b6, the downward arpeggiac chords should be played louder and clearer. It is a difficult chord sequence (to be played fast) to play, perhaps change the fingering? In the recapitulation of this towards the second half of the piece, it's play rather well, so maybe you didn't "warm up" sufficiently at the start.


b9-12 should be played louder (forte) with the top notes accented (still legato though).

b26-8 needs more crescendo'ing (since b28-9) is the climax. You crescendo'd for the 3 preceding measures, what happened?

b31 the pedal should be lifted at the end of measure 30 and subsequently depressed again after A note is played by right hand. The way it's played right now, a very dissonant "blended" sound is produced. You want to avoid this.

b34-45. Make sure to accent the notes indicated. You do a good job of playing legato here, you need to bring some notes out and the way to do that is accenting them. Some left hand notes need to be played louder. Also, watch the pedaling here, as there is a lot of blending.

b46-70, you should practice this section more; sounds like you're not comfortable here; not fully memorized?

b46, you missed a note here.

b64, missed a note in a chord.

b66, missed or played some incorrect notes.

b78, pronounced wrong note

b79-82 is played rather well. Too bad you couldn't play this way to start the piece.

b83 hard to discern if the left hand arpeggios played all the correct notes. You may want to ease up on the pedal here, to make it sound more clear.

b94-9 you do a good job of working the dynamics in accordance to the shape of the melody. The "ben legato" is performed nicely here as well. However, the "molto cresc." is not discernible. This was the case in an earlier section (b26-8). This is significant since you should be working up to a climax.

b103 the bottom notes--the large broken chord--although it stretches 14-15 keys, it should still sound like it's being "held".

Tuesday-February 11, 2003

I met up with my 1st piano teacher (Ms. Hsu) on Saturday and I played for her a couple pieces for about 10-15 minutes. Although my playing didn't go without a hitch, it went pretty well. I just have to remind myself to practice breathing (sounds like a le mans class) techniques and not curve my fingers (instead, have 'em flatter on the keys) when I'm playing.

I finished a book The Pianist's Problems that I purchased in Atlanta. Lots of good advice on technique, how to practice, memorize, fingering, and playing by ear. I gotta remind myself that it's better to hesitate than to err. It's good to know that even Horowitz and Rubinstein, towards the end of their performing years, still got butterflies. I'm polishing up a couple of Chopin etudes and the Brahms Capriccio that I finished learning and memorizing. I'll prob make a couple recordings of those....and practiced the long (and very fast) "run" on the first page of the Mazeppa (3/4's of a page long). The fingering is tricky but it's progressing just fine. So i'm pleased.

Saturday-February 1, 2003

My dad's TA from college is staying at the house and I was asked to play something for him. For some reason, I didn't seem to mind. Normally, I would respectfully decline. Was it because I wanted to pay my respects or show my gratitude for him taking care of my dad while he was studying English and Business in college (TA'ing in Taiwan is different from that of the US? (TAing is a full-time job and you're basically like a counselor/mentor/big brother-sister to the students. It's usually a one-year deal, some opt to do it for two years, like my dad's TA dd). My friend, Ken, was also there...since we got dinner some hours earlier....well, I played for an hour or so, some pieces I've learned recently, like the Mendelssohn piece I learned on Tuesday, some Schubert, a series of Chopin waltzes, nocturnes, etudes, ballades, some Beethoven, Scriabin etudes, a Brahms intermezzo and the Cappricio I learned recently. I left out Liszt because I hadn't practiced those pieces in a while and surely would've have goofed. I felt surprisingly calm throughout (maybe b/c i didn't have reservations against playing this time? less self-conscious?); wasn't tense in the shoulders/wrists, my palms didn't get noticeably clammy. No real jitterbugs. I feel more comfortable playing in front of people now. Something I can build on (and reflect back on). I enjoyed the conversation I had with him afterwards. Nice guy.