Saturday-April 26, 2003

Liszt Sonata in B minor (Published source: Edition of Breitkopf & Hartel)

The Allegro energico section is very 'racy' and tests the strength of your fourth finger (esp left hand's). Reminds me of Schumann's Kreisleriana no. 1. On my Yamaha Grand, this is very challenging to play (if you can play a piece on my yamaha grand, you can play it on ANY piano), since I swear the keys are a little wider than what's standard and it's difficult to press (resistance) down. To make matters worse, the surface of the keys are a tad glossy/slippery, which makes it hard to grip the keys. I suppose this will help the developing pianst develop a "clawing" + "kneading dough/massage (don't u love these metaphors?)" finger action. I went to a piano student's house (Allisyn) this afternoon and I played a little bit of the opening phrases of this section and it was surprisingly easy to play on their spindle piano. Most of the markings I've made in the score so far are related to clarity of sounds (usually the fourth finger). Making sure I don't "blur the fingers 3-4-5 (fingers) in the fast arpeggios.

Terms to look up:

MARCATO: Characterized by the stopping of the stick near the head before lifting for the next stroke. It is important to remember that this does not assume that added tension is required. One is simply not allowing the stick to rebound; therefore, one can play with more power at lower heights. This stroke is necessary, especially at 3" and 6" ( three inches and six inches) in order to project a strong quality of sound from the line. ACCENT-TAP PATTERNS, RIM-SHOTS, and ROLL CHECK PATTERNS are the most common uses for MARCATO strokes.

rinforzando = reinforced accent.

b. 51-4 on page 4 needs to be memorized. Just takes more practice and remember to piu agitato e crescendo here. I've been playing it at the same tempo (still learning and memorizing notes). So far, I've been paying close attention to details (notes, dynamics, changes in tempi, adding "depth"). I've learned the first 4.5 pages. And memorized the first three and a half pages so far. There are 36 pages in all.

Goal for next week: Learn pages 5-7.

Wednesday-April 16, 2003

I need to do a better job of sticking to my practice schedule. Since I've started work, i've been playing on average of 1-2 hour(s) a week. Pathetic. I've been listening a lot of music though...and I think writing down goals will help me reach 'em. So here is my goal for the rest of 2003: Learn Liszt's Sonata in B minor. I want to focus more on solo works instead of concertos for now. (i'm still debating whether I should learn Chopin's in E minor (halfway done with first movement so far) or do Rachmaninoff's second)....well, that's for 2004. The sonata looks/sounds challenging and it's long (35 minutes or so). It'll test my stamina and dexterity.

I'm also going to try to learn as many Chopin etudes op. 10 (12 pieces in all). There. Now go do it.