Instrument Players - Come and chat (Part III)

[CoteDAzur]

We continue our musical journey on the 3rd thread for amateur adult instrument players

Here is our 1st thread and
here's the 2nd one.

Do you feel like you get anything out of them yourself Cote, or do you see it just as part of the deal of being a student there?

I more like the idea of playing in front of other people just generally, and I think this would be good for me as I just don't do that at the moment. I may be getting my first 'gig' soon actually - if you can call it that since it wouldn't be paid. It would be playing for elderly people with dementia, accompanying singing. I feel I'm ready to do it now as I can play lots of traditional songs and hymns, but it still seems a bit nerve-wracking somehow!

Does anyone else do regular concerts or gigs? (Well I guess Vio does!)

I did exams when I was younger, I quite liked them as they gave me a bit of paper to prove I could play! baseswaytoomuchselfworthonthis

I've signed myself up for my first solo performance in ages in a few weeks and I'm terrified. Well it's not solo, my friend is accompanying me, but still

I don't think I get much out of doing exams. My teacher says that I have progressed very quickly over the last couple of years but that is because I have been practicing between 1-2 hours every day, and not because I prepare for exams. I see it as the price I have to pay for being a Conservatoire student.

Bakedpotatoandgin thank you so much for the tips! I find i am constantly shouting at myself about left hand position!

Courderoy - you're welcome! I still shout at myself about left hand position....

What exams are you doing Cote? If nothing else, I find them rather motivating - not for the pieces, which I practise obsessively anyway, but for the more technical stuff that I should be doing anyway...

Fluke - The system here in France is such that I have to take yearly intra-cycle exams to show that I am progressing as I should. The next one is in May and I will apparently be playing a Bach piece. I will have 5 weeks to practice it.

Cote if you don't mind me asking, how would you would articulate the LH here? It's bars 13 and 14 of the Handel gigue?

Fluke - Here is how I would articulate bar 13: Slur the first 2 notes in a group of 3, and staccato on the 3rd (see picture). Then jump (to disconnect) between A & higher C and continue this pattern in later bars. Slur descending notes two by two, which gives Baroque its unequal/swinging rhythm.

Sorry if that's not comprehensible. I don't really know the English terminology because my lessons are in French

And here is bar 14: Again, disconnect the first note from the later ones, which are to be played two-by-two. I hope that helps.

Thanks Cote, I like that 😊

Fluke - How is the Handel piece going?

Meanwhile, I finished Handel's Suite #3 in Dm (HWV 428) which was only 16 pages long and started Bach's Fugue in Gm (BWV 1000) which is only 10 pages long! To be fair, half of each page is taken up by Lute notation, because this is one of Bach's lute/lute-harpsichord pieces. It's beautiful and haunting!

Hello! This is a really inspiring thread! I've just bought a piano after 20 + years without regular playing and very excited to get back into it.
Was wondering if anyone on here had tried group lessons? I've found a grade 6 level group where you take it in turns to perform and thought it would be a good way to ease back into playing

Hi Hilda. It's a great journey! Group lessons are interesting at masterclass level but I can't imagine then being effective when you need more 1-1 attention to restart your piano practice. That's just my amateur's 2 Euro centimes

Hi Cote, thanks! You are probably right, but I thought it might be worth having 2 hours (including theory) once a week with the group class rather than an hourly 1: 1 once a month which is all I can really afford...Does any one have any recommendations for good intermediate (around grade 6) piano resources on technique / general musicianship eg books, websites, youtube channels...?

I think that sounds exciting and you should give it a go! You can always change later if it doesn't work.

Welcome Hilda. A group lesson to start with might be a good way to meet others and explore what the possibilities are and what you want to get out of it. And the playing in front of each other sounds good. You can always change things later as the obsession takes its hold...

What style do you play / want to continue with? I have lots of non-classical resource suggestions that have helped me as I rediscovered piano but I'll leave the classical to others!

Cote - so I just googled a lute-harpsichord to find yet another instrument I hadn't heard of! At first I thought it would be a duet of harpsichord and lute, but am I right in thinking is this a solo piece for a single instrument (lute-harpsichord)? Have you ever played one??

It is a single instrument called Lute-harpsichord or Lautenwerk. Bach had two and apparently loved playing them. The main difference is that its strings are not metal but gut, which makes the lovely soft sound.

Unfortunately, I've never seen one yet but would love to have a Laurenwerk one day. However, I do have "lute stops" on all the harpsichords I play - a switch you throw which makes the harpsichord sound similar to a Lautenwerk. However, that is achieved by plucking the strings closer to the end, so the sound dies very quickly, which is not great for Fugues, where contrapuntal music is played by holding down certain keys and making their sound persist.

Ah thanks - that's interesting. Now I've been reading about gut strings...catgut is not from cats!

Hi everyone. How are you doing? I'm stuck at home, thanks to the country-wide COVID-19 lockdown, playing hour after hour on the piano. This may be the only house in the country where the mum is driving the kids insane

I FaceTimed my teacher yesterday and showed her my progress. We did a quick virtual lesson that way, but it was naturally not as great as a lesson in person. Still, it helped.

I was thinking about starting a new corona virus piece...

Mixed - my new electric kawai piano arrived today but my music centre is closed! Lots of opportunity to practise, though!

Never - What kind of coronavirus piece are you thinking of starting?