Instrument Players - Come and chat (Part II)

[CoteDAzur]

Previous thread is here.

We filled one thread, so here’s another

Cote I know what you mean about not wanting to irritate the neighbours! I reckon between 9am and 9pm is fair game.

Fugues make my head hurt so I try and avoid them. I quite like the Bach preludes - it feels like there is a system to them and if you follow the system you’ll get there.

Mistigri the Schubert is surprisingly approachable. A few techniques take you a long way.

I've got a practice pedal on my piano, so I can get on with my scales when insomnia strikes 😊

My piano has a silencer pedal, too, but I get frustrated with it and just hit the keys harder when sound doesn't come out properly because I'm stupid so end is with hands & armshurting even more than usual

Meanwhile, I'm expecting delivery of my new Fischer sheet music today! I ordered it from Amazon.co.uk because it came to a total of 15 Euros including shipping, whereas Amazon.fr was peddling the same book for 85 Euros

Waiting for delivery has been a bitch, though.

I'm telling myself I shouldn't call the post office to ask if they have it and when it will be delivered.

Errrr... I didn't make those links to Amazon. Is that part of MN's initiative to get revenues from commercial websites?

Yep, pretty sure it’s a MN thing. There was a big hoo haa about it a while back, and it disappeared for a bit.

I’ve taken to buying a lot of music second hand off Abe books or places like that - you can pick up stuff for buttons.

My Fischer book arrived but is unreadable! WTF is this madness? It looks like the whole thing has been copied on a 1960s photocopier. Notes blur into each other and lines are practically erased on many pages

the Schubert is surprisingly approachable. A few techniques take you a long way

The one that DD did (no 4 I think) sounds impressive but is obviously not too hard as she did it in her second year of piano. I will have more difficulty getting it up to speed than a teenager, but then I practice a lot more than a teenager (or at least than DD) .

We raised the piano stool at my last lesson and it has made a surprising difference. My wrist and hand position has definitely improved. My teacher is very keen on the biomechanics side of piano playing and is always looking for small positional changes that will make things easier.

Thanks Cote, I'm definitely getting less nervous performing. Quaint...? Admittedly my recording technique is using my tablet on my music stand, and hoping for the best.
Agree mummybo8 the key to sightreading is practice. Mine is definitely improving just through playing more pieces.
Aw I wish my mum had kept my certificates and marksheets!

Mistigri - I'd love to hear more about that "biomechanics side of piano playing".

Any tips of playing ornaments (trills etc) on the piano?

"Any tips of playing ornaments (trills etc) on the piano?"

Avoid.

Trills: My teacher says practise slow and count them. Use wrist movements to help mark time. I say just go for it. And that is why she's the teacher and I'm not.

The shorter ones: think a sudden burst of energy, but be careful where you want the stress to be ...

Hi - I've been lurking for a while but can finally join you properly. I've had my lovely new piano delivered (went for a Clavinova in the end), and am having so much fun with it! It has a bluetooth headphone jobby so I can play to my heart's content in the evening without fear of waking up the DCs or neighbours.

I'm super rusty after so long of course, but I've realised that my sight reading is still pretty decent - either that or muscle memory from pieces I might have tinkered with before, but don't really remember. And I've messed around with some jazz / blues improvisation as well. It's so nice to be able to play for pleasure - I had a horrible teacher at school who ruined the piano for me for many years.

Wow mummybo8 I've just seen that you're having lessons via Skype - how is that working out?!

Welcome Namedy

Never - "Avoid"

I can't! All my sheet music is Urtext (original versions), with all the ornaments that the composers could cram into the music that was initially composed for the harpsichord where keys are lighter and so ornaments are easier to play.

"Trills: My teacher says practise slow and count them. Use wrist movements to help mark time. I say just go for it."

I don't know what "wrist movements" mean in this context but your teacher is correct for the rest of it On the harpsichord you just move your fingers for the trills. I guess that's the kind of mechanical advice I need for the piano, because doing trills and other ornaments just by the force of my fingers gets quite painful after a while, all the way up to my elbow at times.

Can you try to explain those "wrist movements" to me?

"The shorter ones: think a sudden burst of energy, but be careful where you want the stress to be"

Oh they have to be a lot more precise than that to please my harpsichord teacher All those different ornaments mean different notes played in a certain sequence.

I know how to play them each, but I think I need some pointers for the "biomechanics" of playing them on the piano because the harpsichord way is going to give me tendonitis soon.

I specifically chose pieces to work on ornaments, have overcome my fear more or less. Agree with working them out - I love when pieces have them written out - and practicing slowly. Good advice about using the wrist, I probably do them too much using the fingers as well.

fundamentals-of-piano-practice.readthedocs.io/en/latest/chapter1/ch1_topics/III.3.html

Apparently it's the forearm, not the wrist. Same thing.

Interesting. Thanks, Never

Of course the trill isn't just 323232323232 at constant speed like that page seems to say. It's more like 3..2..3..2..3.2.3232323232 (starting slow, then accelerating).

Côte - re biomechanics - very focussed on position and movement: hand, shoulders etc. Looking at weaknesses and the physiological reasons behind them, then looks at solutions to help e.g. exercises (for finger and hand strength and independence) and position changes.

I hate ornaments. Current Scarlatti piece is stuffed with long trills and I am struggling. Teacher recommends starting by just practising the end of the trill (ie where it falls vs left hand notes) and the transition into the next bar. Then work backwards. Obv start slow and then speed up too.

Misti That's how DS's violin teacher teaches the trill too.

Biomechanics - certainly I've found that some things play themselves if you just have your wrist/arm/shoulder in the right place at the right time!

I'm reading the advice on ornaments with great interest - I find them difficult with my chubby fingers!
Last lesson was very focused on details with a lot of wrist down comments! Usually I have to be reminded to sit up straight as well - unfortunately it does make a difference.

cote One might write constant speed but one doesn't always play constant speed. ;)

I really love this thread! Well, my grade 3 exam is in a few weeks, but I couldn't resist taking a peek at the grade 4 pieces... Purely as a sight reading exercise 😊 Can someone tell me what 3-5 means in the picture attached? Use finger 3 then slide onto 5? That would make sense, but I didn't think that was very good technique?

"Can someone tell me what 3-5 means in the picture attached? Use finger 3 then slide onto 5?"

Yes, that's exactly what it means. You arrive with 3rd finger and quickly substitute the 5th finger in its place, which you then hold down while you play the following notes.

Re trills & other ornaments - Before starting to play the harpsichord, I remember thinking they were totally unnecessary and resenting having to learn them. Then I realised that all that music I love is actually written for the harpsichord, which is a plucked-string instrument like the guitar or mandolin and those trills etc make much more sense than on the piano. And where they are also far easier to play!

Hi Fluke, yes that's right, so you can then reach the lower notes. I played Ninette's Musette for my grade 4, lovely piece.

Thanks Cote and Broken, and well identified Broken 😊 It really is a lovely piece, I can't quite believe I'm actually playing stuff like that. I'm enjoying the piano so much, boring the pants off DH with my musical enthusiasm!