I did it! I performed Chopin's Butterfly Etude for my students, but I'm not going to post the recording. I had too many note mistakes in the middle section - where I lost focus. That aside several of my goals for this project were met.
1. I played the piece everyday for 10 minutes for a month (well really just 28 days, since the month I started the project was February)
2. I had a disciplined approach to learning the piece which I followed.
3. While performing the piece I did not rush, played musically and nailed the ending.
I really love this piece and will continue to work on it...I think for 10 minutes a day as part of my technical practice.
Showing posts with label Butterfly Etude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butterfly Etude. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Peformance Today
Today is the Day! I'm going to play Chopin's Butterfly Etude after practicing for 10 minutes a day for the past month. I must confess that over the last few days...I've played the work for more than 10 minutes....nerves...
(STAR Branch...Handmade by Bee)...Today I will be a Star!
Some thoughts regarding the last few weeks of practicing. I haven't written about my process so much because I've been PRACTICING!
1. I noticed again that sleep does help with learning. (See my post on October 10, 2007 on Tempo. I note the science behind learning in your sleep).) In the Butterfly Etude there is a passage where the left hand chords only changed a little and when pared with the right hand melodic line created a great deal of dissonance. This passage gave me a great deal of difficulty. I paused every time I made it to that phrase. Tamara Loring told me to physically feel the the chords and the dissonances. That helped, but didn't solve the problem. So one morning before I was completely awake and was lucid dreaming, I saw that the pattern of the white and black keys in the chords were mirror images of each other. I saw clearly in my mind the chords:
First chord:
(white, white, black)
Second chord
(black, white, black),
Third chord
(black, white, black) and the
Final chord in the series
(black, white, white)
At my practice that day I played that section with great ease. Problem solved!
2. Also, the maxim that several teachers have tired to teach me EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS THE SCORE (paraphrased, but I hope you get the meaning) is true. The same passage above had one more element that I needed to never miss it (at least in practice) and that was to observe the accent marks in the right hand...by emphasising the dissonance as Chopin indicates, the ear and hand agree and mistakes are not possible.
3. I did enjoy listening to so many interpretations of the work. I had lots of artistic material to draw my own conclusions. My version at this date is lyrical, not too fast, with an emphasis on the horizontal melody line and dynamics.
So now I must play.
(STAR Branch...Handmade by Bee)...Today I will be a Star!
Some thoughts regarding the last few weeks of practicing. I haven't written about my process so much because I've been PRACTICING!
1. I noticed again that sleep does help with learning. (See my post on October 10, 2007 on Tempo. I note the science behind learning in your sleep).) In the Butterfly Etude there is a passage where the left hand chords only changed a little and when pared with the right hand melodic line created a great deal of dissonance. This passage gave me a great deal of difficulty. I paused every time I made it to that phrase. Tamara Loring told me to physically feel the the chords and the dissonances. That helped, but didn't solve the problem. So one morning before I was completely awake and was lucid dreaming, I saw that the pattern of the white and black keys in the chords were mirror images of each other. I saw clearly in my mind the chords:
First chord:
(white, white, black)
Second chord
(black, white, black),
Third chord
(black, white, black) and the
Final chord in the series
(black, white, white)
At my practice that day I played that section with great ease. Problem solved!
2. Also, the maxim that several teachers have tired to teach me EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS THE SCORE (paraphrased, but I hope you get the meaning) is true. The same passage above had one more element that I needed to never miss it (at least in practice) and that was to observe the accent marks in the right hand...by emphasising the dissonance as Chopin indicates, the ear and hand agree and mistakes are not possible.
3. I did enjoy listening to so many interpretations of the work. I had lots of artistic material to draw my own conclusions. My version at this date is lyrical, not too fast, with an emphasis on the horizontal melody line and dynamics.
So now I must play.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Week's Progress
After one week of 10 minutes a day on the Chopin Etude (Opus 25, No. 9) I've
1. learned all of the notes,
2. can play the left hand at quarter note equals 90,
3. have memorized 12 bars of the music, and
4. can play hands together at half tempo / quarter note equals 55.
Areas of concern...
1. the middle section is not as good as the beginning and end sections,
2. I keep missing notes in the left hand at the end of the piece / I'm having trouble playing the 5ths and 6ths when my arm has to cross in front of my body and the octave jumps from "G Flat" to "D Flat" that descend at the end...I keep missing the notes (I want to put the third of the chord "B Flat" into the octave progression), and
3. I'm already in a panic about the tempo!
This week I plan to
1. start in the the middle of the work,
2. continue working on the left hand alone,
3. continue memorizing one measure at a time,
4. review, review, review what I've learned so far, and
5. only play at half tempo or slower, but move into position quickly
I'm going to also try some of the techniques I was exposed to at the Portland International Festival from my participation in the workshops lead by pianist Frederic Chiu . He suggests spending a great deal of time with the score and thinking about the piece away from the piano. I'm very interested in his program "Deeper Piano Studies" and I'd like to attend one of his workshops. I'm going to increase my study to 20 minutes this week (10 at the piano / 10 away from the piano) to see if that makes a difference. I'm also listening to as many performers of the piece as possible.
1. learned all of the notes,
2. can play the left hand at quarter note equals 90,
3. have memorized 12 bars of the music, and
4. can play hands together at half tempo / quarter note equals 55.
Areas of concern...
1. the middle section is not as good as the beginning and end sections,
2. I keep missing notes in the left hand at the end of the piece / I'm having trouble playing the 5ths and 6ths when my arm has to cross in front of my body and the octave jumps from "G Flat" to "D Flat" that descend at the end...I keep missing the notes (I want to put the third of the chord "B Flat" into the octave progression), and
3. I'm already in a panic about the tempo!
This week I plan to
1. start in the the middle of the work,
2. continue working on the left hand alone,
3. continue memorizing one measure at a time,
4. review, review, review what I've learned so far, and
5. only play at half tempo or slower, but move into position quickly
I'm going to also try some of the techniques I was exposed to at the Portland International Festival from my participation in the workshops lead by pianist Frederic Chiu . He suggests spending a great deal of time with the score and thinking about the piece away from the piano. I'm very interested in his program "Deeper Piano Studies" and I'd like to attend one of his workshops. I'm going to increase my study to 20 minutes this week (10 at the piano / 10 away from the piano) to see if that makes a difference. I'm also listening to as many performers of the piece as possible.
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