Instrument players - come and chat!

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

I thought we could have a thread to chat about playing! I play the piano (not as badly as I fear but not as well as I hope) and have recently tried my hand at chamber music. Would love to hear what other people are doing.

CoteDAzur Here's a picture of the instruments they used in Rameau's Dardanus.

I just go to pieces. I had to be plied with tea and biscuits to stop me fleeing from my G8!

Somehow, I passed. Phew.

I remember one of the pieces I played. And I remember the examiner's comments on it. >

Hi all, I'm a G8 classical guitar player thinking of doing a teaching diploma in September. Botox, perhaps we could compare notes some time? I've been looking for a teacher to help me through it but all the ones I know have either done the performance diploma route or have a music degree and so aren't familiar with the syllabus.

I struggled to find support to do the Diploma, even though there are more options for piano. I eventually settled on the Rockschool one - an option for you perhaps?

Thanks Cote, I only booked a few lessons for the exam, definitely won't be going back. Never good idea to exaggerate it, thanks. Loose yes think it was a kick up the behind tbh, wasn't needed as I'm working hard. I think she meant erratic not completely lacking, and yes you said it, I was hesitating to make sure I hit the right notes. Which is silly as I know them and have for weeks. For context we did a mock exam so I think it was nerves. And thanks, that helps to know, yes plenty of time.
I've been practicing with a metronome, slower and exaggerating, getting there.

Hello and welcome bugger miss and Doreen

Oh and thinking about it, Ninette's Musette is supposed to be played rubato! None of the performances on YouTube have a steady pulse!

Ah but Broken, pianists are notoriously cavalier with tempo ...

At my grand old age I'm beginning to think that for rubato, less is more!

I'm always a bit confused about rubato etiquette....someone told me me once that on no account must you rubato-ise Für Elise, for example, or anything "classical".

I'll stick rubato in anywhere, partly because I think it adds interest, and partly because it makes a piece less relentless to play.

What's the consensus?

Never knew this thread was here! I'm a self taught flutist! I just don't get any where near enough time to practice these days x

Personally I would do very very little rubato for Fur Elise. (Can't do umlauts.)

In all the pieces I do these days I try as much as I can to stick to the pulses, and any rubato is done subconsciously, I think, as the music demands. Where certain notes demand to have more space. (Sorry, that sounds a bit silly. I'll try to think up more concrete examples when I wake up ...)

Hello sillyquestion! What are you playing these days?

Not silly at all, never. I get what you mean!

Welcome, silly question

Of course we use rubato! The beginning of Für Elise, for example, is asking for it imho.

Especially in Baroque music, notes are meant to be played NOT as they are written (I know... I struggled with it a lot in the beginning!) but unequally, slowing down as and when needed. It is why we listen to people playing music and not machines

Thanks cote. I didn't know that about Baroque, though.....

I'm more into jazz myself-anyone else?

I like most categories of music but jazz is something that I haven't quite got my head round (yet).

I think most people are not robots and don't keep perfect time, and if you have enough experience of playing you would adjust timing as appropriate to the music. I find that the thing is to understand why you would deviate from the pulse.

Personally I find Fur Elise a rather difficult piece to play - to achieve the lightness of touch and to sound fresh is not an easy thing for this piece. I like what someone once said of it (I think it might be Alice Sara Ott) - it has to sound like a gift that appears out of nowhere and disappears into nothing. Not an easy thing to achieve. Let's find a few examples of fur elise and compare them! (After work though... )

I'm a jazz moron Try as I might, it makes absolutely no sense to me - instruments going off in different tangents, different rhythms, seemingly with no relation to each other.

Then again, I'm heavily into the mathematical precision and counterpoint of Baroque music & don't even enjoy most other classical music.

I'm not a fan of jazz. Give me baroque or classical, some romantic/ modern any day.
I played Fur Elise as a teen, don't remember finding it difficult but think it is to play really well.
I know what you mean about some notes needing more space Never. Exactly Cote, who would want to play like or listen to a robot.

bugger - I hope you don't write us off as ignoramuses (ignorami?)

I am convinced that people have different sort of brains that suit different kinds of music. Until I discovered Bach, I would have said that I don't like classical music. I then realized that it's not just Bach but Baroque music that I like - Handel, Rameau, etc. It makes perfect sense to me and I feel that all the notes are exactly where they must be.

Is there a similar order in Jazz that my Baroque brain doesn't follow? I would be be very interested to learn of it.

I think there are many people who don't "get" jazz, cote. I don't like all jazz, mind you. fact, I think jazz as a genre is difficult to describe, let alone explain!

Maybe there IS something in the brain. For me, I think it's about dissonance. Not extreme dissonance like some of the "modern" composers, but a kind of dissonance t hats pleasant on my ears, especially in harmony. It's not just in "jazz" music either; some disco has it, funk has it and composers like Debussy. In fact, the development of jazz owes a lot to Debussy et al. I think it's a combination of the tum-te-tum of swing and the use of complex harmonies that does it for me (although not all jazz is swung).

I've never been a fan of Baroque but that's probably because I've not really listened much! I think I know what you mean by the mathematical element of it though.

I think a common misconception about jazz is that it's "all over the place". It really isn't; it's a very disciplined, thoughtful musical genre that is often challenging to play. Some people think jazz is easy because you can play what you like.

Sorry that's very long and pretentious-sounding. .

Not at all! Please go on

It might be an appreciation for dissonance (which I don't have) that allows people to love jazz. Dissonance really disturbs me and makes me want to leave the room. As I said before, we are all curiously different!

Re complex harmonies - I love those, especially in counterpoint. Bach is the absolute king of such music, imho. You can listen to each instrument separately in a concert and see that they all have their own, unique, and complete melodies running like an undercurrent through the piece. It is mind blowing

I just don't see the harmony in jazz, though. Having said that, the word "jazz" is used to describe anything between New Orleans soul/blues to Al Jarreau's stuff. What I don't get is the Al Jarreau side of the spectrum.

Just catching up! Terrible lapse in practice as well. Too much going on.
Re jazz, I grew up with it as mum was passionate jazz fan. I blame this for my classical playing shortcomings! However she also enjoyed Bach and Mahler and, you're quite right, Debussy.
Jazz can be incredibly precise but you also have to really know your scales.
I like the joke in Beiderbeck Connection (Alan Plater):
'I know 3 types of jazz: hot jazz, cool jazz and What time does the tune start?'

Who do you all most admire as an instrumentalist?

As I'm a jazz fan I'm going to go for Bill Evans (pianist) but I also love a bit of Beethoven played by Barenboim (autocorrect kept changing that to "bare bum"....).

Maybe Keith Jarrett if we're talking jazz piano, but I'd agree with Bill Evans as a great choice.
Would have to go away and ponder classical.