I have to agree that this is the hardest nocturne, it toook me sooo long to get down when I first learned it about a year and a half ago. And even now I’m still working parts of it
@ hahaha I feel that. Def got a little sick of it for a bit but then I became so busy for so long that I just wasn’t practicing it much, then I liked it a lot again and could actually play it.
You’re incredible. I just recently discovered this nocturne and it’s full so many emotions, but there is something beautifully nihilistic about it. To me it’s almost like one is accepting their perpetual despair while still acknowledging the hypothetical reality of beauty, happiness, and contentment that will always be just out of reach and therefore creates frustration. Music really is a situational phenomenon. One day a piece could be null and the next day it speaks existential volumes.
Well said! I totally agree. I think this complex, conflicting twist between struggle and surrender reflects the reality of a life journey. When I picked up this piece, I was in a dark place. Every day playing it is like therapy for me. I went through my negative emotions again and again, and then it's gone.
@@pianorewind I too was in a dark and destitute mental place when I heard Chopin’s music for the first time and it articulated so many thoughts and feelings about things that words don’t even exist for yet. I am still in that place now, but this nocturne helps me find that there is beauty and truth in despair. You expressed it perfectly. It’s a dance between struggle and surrender, and one will never successfully usurp the other. They are in a continuous paradox and one cannot exist without the other.
this is one of the best videos that i have ever found about learning a new piece i will apply all of your strategies to my practice thank you so much! love from brazil
I liked the video before even watching because of that A++ description box. But seriously, great video and progress. Words cannot express how helpful those "sources" were for self taught players who can get a sense of techniques that need to be used, things that can't necessarily be shown simply from the sheet music. Once again, great video, I appreciate it!
Just started working on this nocturne today. I'll definitely be coming back to this video as I work through each section. Hopefully, I can get the whole piece down roughly in the same time frame as you did.
This is amazing. Terrific work. Patience to the max. The beautiful "tedium" of practice. This is what hard work looks like. Many thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you so much for your kind comments :) I'm a bit slacking lately on the practice as I'm stuck... What you said reminded me to get my head space together and get back on track to the routine. I guess the "inspiration" is mutual!
This is pretty much exactly what I’m going through right now! I’m almost done with learning to play the notes, only thing missing is fluency in the last 12 or so bars, but musically the doppio section is going to take forever to learn… I have an embarrassing recording on my channel where I just improvise the doppio instead of playing the notes because I couldn’t bring myself to stop at where I’ve learned hahah I share your passion for this piece, and your journey is really inspiring , great job!!!
I usually like Rubenstein's interpretations as much as the next guy but after listening to Ashkenazy's interpretation of this piece I cannot stand Rubenstein's. I don't think any interpretation of this piece comes close to Ashkenazy's, and I've listened to quite a few.
It's very satisfactory to see your improvements. Despite the very high difficulty level of this impressive nocturne you achieved a nice interpretation. Keep it up!! And congratulations for your passion! A very didactic video on how to approach difficult pieces.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I've been distracted lately (and thus no upload) and seeing your comments motivated me again! Thank YOU :)
Awesome! I'm practicing this piece and this helped me a lot since I watched this video, such an incredible piece i wonder why no many people know about it
Your will power is quite astonishing ; same with me as a youngster of 18 , when I started playing the piano. But I spent way too many hours with practicing difficult pieces , that were above my real abilities to actually perform them ( Chopin Etudes etc. ) . 2 years later I got 20 lessons for free from an old professional piano player , who could still play remarkably well . I learned a lot , playing the Mozart Sonatas in C major and in F major . But then he would tell me , those pieces being still too difficult for me - and he was totally right ( which I didn't want to accept for quite a while ) . I really wanted to study piano seriously , prepared a program all by myself and went to audition at the Munich Musikhochschule . I remember yet the Pathetic Sonata c - minor ( Beethoven ) , the Chopin Etude op.25 f - minor and Jardins sous la pluie ( Debussy ) . My choice for a " modern " piano piece was Maple Leaf Rag ( Scott Joplin )😊 Of course they refused me... Actually I wanted to learn to play the piano , when I heard first time - aged 12 - Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin , but we couldn't either afford a piano nor a teacher... Without a really good teacher it took me many years to become a piano player , earning my money on the stage ( in the meantime I studied Jazz Trumpet - I had played this instrument since my 9th year , even on stage with a youth orchestra ) . I played some bar piano to earn money , then theatrical music and everything I could get . That's the way I found out , how to " practice on stage " . But of course I had developed a lot of routine out of many different situations and challenges . My advice to my pupils and students : Play many pieces , which you could play in front of an audience after ONE day practice. After one year's work you will play at least dozens of pieces , that you can really play ! Maybe you have at this point some pieces in your program , which took you 2 or 3 days ( and of course you would try again to play a " 2 - weeker ", that's human ) . If you're experienced enough ( maybe after 5 years ) , you can try to play a piece , that takes you about 2 weeks to a month to play fluently ( maybe one mistake per half a minute , 80 - 90 % of the usual performing tempo ) . Then you will find out the rest yourself. But you shouldn't wait (now ) for too long to take at least one lesson per month . Good luck !
Thanks for sharing your story. It's really inspiring! I guess when you really love something, you can chase for a long time and never give up. Thanks for the daily dose of encouragement and positive energy!
I'm so happy that you got inspired. It's a beautiful piece, even after playing and listening to so many times. As it has all sorts of challenges so can be really fulfilling and rewarding. I hope you enjoy your practice!
Incredible video, thank you algorithm for sending it to me. I'm working through the thrird section currently, so I appreciate all of the resources to help me with me practice!
The most technically difficult aspect of this nocturne, for myself, is the left hand of the agitated return of the main melody. Those oscillating, wide intervals are murder.
Wow good job! Just one thing though, there are a lot of technical challenges in the flashy sections so it's easy to overlook the ones that are in sections that seem simple like the chorale (Section B). You have to coherently voice the melody in the top line, the top notes should sound more than the lower notes. You do this by shifting weight to the fifth finger. This is easier if you don't have to stretch your hand, but becomes difficult in passages like you play from 4:05 where you need to stretch your hand. Without training, the tendency is that your thumb ends up accenting the bottom line in the unbroken chords, and then in the broken chords you accidentally accent the upper notes. One exercise is to repeatedly play a C major chord with your right hand but shift the accent between the different notes in the chord, so that the loudest note you hear goes CEGECEGECEGEC...
Very well said! I just realised after read this. Thanks for spotting the problem and your suggestion. When I go back to this piece (which I think definitely will), I'll pay attention to this.
I absolutely adore this piece too, but have always found that last section just so hard to play, I often give up. Thank you for sharing your advice, I hope to come back to it one day.
Thanks for this video,, I am trying to master the C section but I only started playing in 2020 so it’s a struggle. Your video has really helped me especially with the polynomial section which I have yet to get close to. I am using the ghosting technique you have used and hope to get results that way. I love this section so don’t plan to give up on it but I have set myself a goal of getting it right (albeit slow) within 6 months. This video will really help. Thanks again.
Congratulations! I just started on this piece and this video makes it seem less daunting, thank you for explaining your process! I have short fingers too so i find this very useful :)
Chopin's pieces are not very friendly to people with small hands or short fingers :P I'm glad you find this video helpful. I started this piece without fully knowing how difficult it can be. I just kept telling myself: practice makes perfect...
Thank you for putting this together. I just did a read-thru of this piece and came searching for tips on section C. (I like the tips for A and B sections as well 😉). Videos like these are great for restarters (or 10x restarter like me - kids/work, right?) to coach us thru the tricky bits.
I love the piano too, especially after tuning :) if I have to pick one thing to complain about, it's quite loud so make sure you have a rug and furniture to absorb the sound.
Wow.I’m learning this now and it’s about 5 month amd I think I’m very similar to your stage… I think from now on is the exciting time. Real music making stage.. how are you going with this piece now? You should upload the more “matured”version. Thank you for the great video… I feel very connected…
Thanks for the great suggestion! TBH, after several months of practicing, I was a bit burnt out by this piece so I've not touched it for a while. I may get back to it when the fire comes back :)
I already finished this piece recently. I thought i reached my life goal and has a hard time to choose another piece that i liked as much as this one. Niw I am currently learning an Etude, op10 no6 i think.
Thanks a lot! I spent a lot of time to fix individual issues. The Doppio section is hard. My best advice is start slow. There will be a speed that you can handle without any mistakes. It's really about the muscle memory. Once your hands are used to the movement, you increase the speed a little bit and repeat the process. Your muscle memory needs a bit update to get used to the new speed. It can be tedious and not much fun, but worked for me.
I like using pedal in the octaves section. I know its not in the sheet music - but consider that pianos and accoustics are always different. You can repedal a lot but no pedal sounds odd to me
Point taken. My practice room/living room is all tiled no carpet or rug due to dogs so with the pedal, it will sound like a mess...also could be my pedalling technique isn't good enough to be subtle.
Im so dead I was supposed to play this piece as the one I had choosen for the entrance exam at my conservatory to finally begin studying music, focusing on what I love, and here I am, 9 days left until the competition and just arriving to the C part finding out how much works it needs, I don't even know if 10 hours a day can save me at this point and I doubt I can clear this until the exam even tho it may still be possible that I can present it being just good enough ... I already put big efforts into it and I really want to play it I don't really know if I should leave it here and just play a nocturne I know
I admire your determination, methodical approach and resourcefulness. However, I have some reservations and suggestions. Don’t try to mimic another pianist, because they are playing from their understanding and communicating their deepest feelings. Put the piece away for at least several months or so. When you return to it, you will have fresh ears and mind. Next, approach the “technique” from an expressive and musical-meaning foundation. The natural flow and unfolding of music will guide you. And then you can search your own soul for your own personal interpretation. When it belongs to you, it’s magic.
Thanks a lot for your advice John :) I know where you come from. I think I'm not that advanced than you thought. That's why I don't really have much idea how to express. Mostly, I'm trying to deliver how other pianists make me feel. I may not be able to do exactly how they did and I'll have to add something from me. I think I'll park some of the pieces like this one that I really like for a while and come back again when my techniques no longer hinder me and give it another go. I may be one step closer to where I want to it sounds like.
I actually found my teacher online. He's a concert pianist with a lot of good reviews. He made me focus a lot on the musicality. I guess if I'm not playing beautifully, I just play a bunch of notes, which is pointless.
I'm sure you've improved since this video but I'll leave you with this advice. When playing the octaves, try not to move your hands in and out of the keyboard too much. You want to minimize movement as much as possible. Playing thumb barely on black and then barely below black on white as you move chromatically.
This video is really well made. The only thing I didn't like was how you let go of the melody note in the broken chords B section so early, you didnt voice the whole 1/4th note. Other than that, really well done its sucha difficult piece that grows with you trhough years of practise
@@pianorewind i havent been playing that long, and this is the FIRST thing my teacher pointed out during lessons 😂. Is wierd how even though you hold the pedal, the sound fades faster if you let go of the key
Thanks for your kind words. Honestly, I think I can play ABRSM grade 8 without too much trouble. However, my sight reading is pretty bad. I think what I learnt from school and work taught me how to quickly identify and solve a problem, which helps a lot.
I don't know the nocturnes well enough to judge their relative difficulty, but I don't think this one is hard, as Chopin goes. Most of his big pieces are more challenging
Incredible. Can I ask. How many hours a day do you practice? And do you only practice one piece till perfection or many pieces at the same time? Thanks
I practiced on average 1h per day, sometimes less sometimes more. I got frustrated too :) For this piece, I only did one piece at the time. All my later pieces, I have multiple going at the same time at different difficulty levels as my sight reading is pretty bad... I think I can do one piece for so long is only because I love it so much and I want to do as best I can. Till the end, tbh I was a bit sick of it even though my teacher thought I could still improve. I tried the Ballard No.1 for 3 months did half of it but parked it as I lost the motivation. So I guess the motivation is the key.
@@pianorewind Thanks. On the issue of sight reading, can I ask.... Given that playing from memory is the goal (and always sounds better!), is it better to learn small bits (one or 2 bars max) to memory and move on to the next few bars? Or is better to sight read longer passages till it is memorised naturally? Thx
@@slyowusu99 IMO, sight reading is a different skill than memorisation. Sight reading is when someone reads and plays a new piece close to the expected speed. One can usually sight read less difficult pieces. For memorisation, I never push myself too hard on that so I let it come naturally. I think this way is better as you want to have a good understanding of how to phrase, dynamic changes, voicing, tempo changes etc. and reading the sheet carefully is essential to get you to think. Memorisation is like the last step. I hope this makes sense.
At 2:55 you play G - C with the left hand, but the score shows B natural - C. However, in the edition that I have, it's G instead of B natural. I suppose it's a mistake in the edition you show in the video.
@@monsieur171 i think its pretty Common, I once needed 10 months for Chopin Scherzo. In gerenal, you are never finished with a piece at all. You can always improve
Because of school I didn't have enough time to play as I wanted to. All day long it was not suitable for a school girl.....so I quit. All or nothing....😢
@@afrodite1832 It was similar to me and I also didn't like playing the piano back then. It was more my parents' expectation. So when the school work got worse, I was relieved as I stopped playing.
Please, please don't suggest that anyone puts a coin on their hand and tries to stop it from falling off! This leads to awful tension in the hand. Check out Cedarville Music's 10 things to never do when practising! (I think it's 10, but maybe more!)
I guess it depends on how to achieve the objective (coin not falling off). The intention of this practice is to minimise the up and down movement which probably doesn't increase the tension (at least to me). But, agree, minimising the tension should be high priority.
That only occurs if one makes the categorical mistake of believing the goal should be solely for the coin to fall off; one is to minimize tension while maintaining the coin’s stability; then to include full motion; there is no room for tension when practiced correctly, rather a reduction of final tension, granted by the increased dynamo in motion’s completeness.
You haven't been transposing it? Heed Art Tatum: ”Play the tune in every key, and it will come to you." Work on the ending first. How do you count? To the beat or from the beat? Counting “to the beat" (ta-ta-ta-3], ta-ta-ta-4], ta-ta-ta-1]) will help. Muscle memory is a terrible, unproductive process; transpostion works. Period. Simple. Helps with mobile do, functional harmony, memorization, learning speed, and the fact that music is an aural art. Cheers,
I personally haven't done any of that. I do partially agree that muscle memory isn't a super effective method as it's not reliable. However, regardless you like it or not, it will form through repeated practice. So probably better leverage it plus have another method as security. For counting, I don't intentionally count any more. I think classical music, just like poem, it's in some sort of standard form so not hard to follow. I occasionally use metronome to check my speed.
I think which one is the best etc. really down to personal taste. I pick the ones that move me. For professional pianists as concert artists, yes, mimicking isn't a good practice. However, for amateurs like me, I would be thrilled to play like some of the best. That's my goal :)
Gongratulation as a pianist I love to see other people progression and being so passionate about playing piano much love
Thank you so much for your encouragement. Now I'm a bit ashamed that sometimes I skipped practice :P Playing what I like does make me very happy.
I have to agree that this is the hardest nocturne, it toook me sooo long to get down when I first learned it about a year and a half ago. And even now I’m still working parts of it
Well done on your persistent! After 5 months non stop practicing it, I don't want to hear it again haha
@ hahaha I feel that. Def got a little sick of it for a bit but then I became so busy for so long that I just wasn’t practicing it much, then I liked it a lot again and could actually play it.
You’re incredible. I just recently discovered this nocturne and it’s full so many emotions, but there is something beautifully nihilistic about it. To me it’s almost like one is accepting their perpetual despair while still acknowledging the hypothetical reality of beauty, happiness, and contentment that will always be just out of reach and therefore creates frustration. Music really is a situational phenomenon. One day a piece could be null and the next day it speaks existential volumes.
There's a paradox!
Nilhistic, and Existential ar the same time!
Well said! I totally agree. I think this complex, conflicting twist between struggle and surrender reflects the reality of a life journey. When I picked up this piece, I was in a dark place. Every day playing it is like therapy for me. I went through my negative emotions again and again, and then it's gone.
@@pianorewind I too was in a dark and destitute mental place when I heard Chopin’s music for the first time and it articulated so many thoughts and feelings about things that words don’t even exist for yet. I am still in that place now, but this nocturne helps me find that there is beauty and truth in despair. You expressed it perfectly. It’s a dance between struggle and surrender, and one will never successfully usurp the other. They are in a continuous paradox and one cannot exist without the other.
I love how you describe this. It's how I've always felt about the piece.
this is one of the best videos that i have ever found about learning a new piece
i will apply all of your strategies to my practice
thank you so much!
love from brazil
I'm very glad that you like it and find it useful :)
I liked the video before even watching because of that A++ description box. But seriously, great video and progress. Words cannot express how helpful those "sources" were for self taught players who can get a sense of techniques that need to be used, things that can't necessarily be shown simply from the sheet music. Once again, great video, I appreciate it!
Thanks for your kind words! I hope you're having fun with your practice :)
Just started working on this nocturne today. I'll definitely be coming back to this video as I work through each section. Hopefully, I can get the whole piece down roughly in the same time frame as you did.
Let me know if you need anything :)
This is amazing. Terrific work. Patience to the max. The beautiful "tedium" of practice. This is what hard work looks like. Many thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you so much for your kind comments :) I'm a bit slacking lately on the practice as I'm stuck... What you said reminded me to get my head space together and get back on track to the routine. I guess the "inspiration" is mutual!
We are so lucky to see this vid on youtube ! Bravo!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words :) I'm grateful that you like it.
This is pretty much exactly what I’m going through right now! I’m almost done with learning to play the notes, only thing missing is fluency in the last 12 or so bars, but musically the doppio section is going to take forever to learn…
I have an embarrassing recording on my channel where I just improvise the doppio instead of playing the notes because I couldn’t bring myself to stop at where I’ve learned hahah
I share your passion for this piece, and your journey is really inspiring , great job!!!
Thank you so much and I'm so surprised after reading all the comments that so many people love this piece!
I would really recommend listening to Rubenstiens interpretation of this song! It is probably my favorite piano piece ever.
Rubinstein's definitely the best interpreation
I'll definitely look it up. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@pianorewind My favorites are Rubinstein's and Kassia's also
Entirely agree, I love it more than the flashier versions
I usually like Rubenstein's interpretations as much as the next guy but after listening to Ashkenazy's interpretation of this piece I cannot stand Rubenstein's.
I don't think any interpretation of this piece comes close to Ashkenazy's, and I've listened to quite a few.
It's very satisfactory to see your improvements. Despite the very high difficulty level of this impressive nocturne you achieved a nice interpretation. Keep it up!! And congratulations for your passion! A very didactic video on how to approach difficult pieces.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I've been distracted lately (and thus no upload) and seeing your comments motivated me again! Thank YOU :)
great video, i'm about tos tart learning this piece and your video is very realistic and gives me hope i can achieve something nice!!
I'm glad. I'm coming back to get motived myself too :)
Awesome! I'm practicing this piece and this helped me a lot since I watched this video, such an incredible piece i wonder why no many people know about it
Based on all the comments, I was actually surprised so many love and want to learn this piece :D
Your will power is quite astonishing ; same with me as a youngster of 18 , when I started playing the piano. But I spent way too many hours with practicing difficult pieces , that were above my real abilities to actually perform them ( Chopin Etudes etc. ) .
2 years later I got 20 lessons for free from an old professional piano player , who could still play remarkably well . I learned a lot , playing the Mozart Sonatas in C major and in F major . But then he would tell me , those pieces being still too difficult for me - and he was totally right ( which I didn't want to accept for quite a while ) .
I really wanted to study piano seriously , prepared a program all by myself and went to audition at the Munich Musikhochschule .
I remember yet the Pathetic Sonata c - minor ( Beethoven ) , the Chopin Etude op.25 f - minor and Jardins sous la pluie ( Debussy ) . My choice for a " modern " piano piece was Maple Leaf Rag ( Scott Joplin )😊
Of course they refused me...
Actually I wanted to learn to play the piano , when I heard first time - aged 12 - Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin , but we couldn't either afford a piano nor a teacher...
Without a really good teacher it took me many years to become a piano player , earning my money on the stage ( in the meantime I studied Jazz Trumpet - I had played this instrument since my 9th year , even on stage with a youth orchestra ) .
I played some bar piano to earn money , then theatrical music and everything I could get . That's the way I found out , how to
" practice on stage " . But of course I had developed a lot of routine out of many different situations and challenges .
My advice to my pupils and students : Play many pieces , which you could play in front of an audience after ONE day practice. After one year's work you will play at least dozens of pieces , that you can really play !
Maybe you have at this point some pieces in your program , which took you 2 or 3 days ( and of course you would try again to play a " 2 - weeker ", that's human ) .
If you're experienced enough ( maybe after 5 years ) , you can try to play a piece , that takes you about 2 weeks to a month to play fluently ( maybe one mistake per half a minute , 80 - 90 % of the usual performing tempo ) .
Then you will find out the rest yourself.
But you shouldn't wait (now ) for too long to take at least one lesson per month . Good luck !
Thanks for sharing your story. It's really inspiring! I guess when you really love something, you can chase for a long time and never give up. Thanks for the daily dose of encouragement and positive energy!
YUP, looks like i'm going to try and learn this one now. Thanks for the inspiration!
I'm so happy that you got inspired. It's a beautiful piece, even after playing and listening to so many times. As it has all sorts of challenges so can be really fulfilling and rewarding. I hope you enjoy your practice!
Incredible video, thank you algorithm for sending it to me. I'm working through the thrird section currently, so I appreciate all of the resources to help me with me practice!
Thanks for leaving the comment and let me know it's helpful. It makes me really happy :)
This deserves infinitely more likes
Thanks a lot!
2:55 should be Ti natural to do octave, it's a lovely interpretation.
Good call out! Thanks for that.
The most technically difficult aspect of this nocturne, for myself, is the left hand of the agitated return of the main melody. Those oscillating, wide intervals are murder.
To me is more at the section 3 right hand to have the right level of voicing, clarity, speed and accuracy ...
My best friend, Enjoyed watching this video my friend Really awesome views Thank you Stay connected
Thanks you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it :)
Bravo, love your playing. You have inspired me to play this piece. I have loved it for years.
It’s a hidden gem. I’m glad you find the video inspiring :)
Wow, My best friend, I liked the video very much, thanks you for sharing, stay safe, stay blessed
Thank you! You too!
Wow good job! Just one thing though, there are a lot of technical challenges in the flashy sections so it's easy to overlook the ones that are in sections that seem simple like the chorale (Section B). You have to coherently voice the melody in the top line, the top notes should sound more than the lower notes. You do this by shifting weight to the fifth finger. This is easier if you don't have to stretch your hand, but becomes difficult in passages like you play from 4:05 where you need to stretch your hand. Without training, the tendency is that your thumb ends up accenting the bottom line in the unbroken chords, and then in the broken chords you accidentally accent the upper notes. One exercise is to repeatedly play a C major chord with your right hand but shift the accent between the different notes in the chord, so that the loudest note you hear goes CEGECEGECEGEC...
Very well said! I just realised after read this. Thanks for spotting the problem and your suggestion. When I go back to this piece (which I think definitely will), I'll pay attention to this.
yeah, i like to think about my knuckles facing the side of the melody when working on this
this is super inspiring! I want to give this piece a go next year
Go for it!
So inspiring- part B is so difficult!
I do find the broken cords difficult at first. I think the key is the muscle memory :P get your hands used to those movement :)
I absolutely adore this piece too, but have always found that last section just so hard to play, I often give up. Thank you for sharing your advice, I hope to come back to it one day.
You're not alone! I think I'll come back to this one after my technique improves and give the 3rd section one more try.
The hardest one but also the most beautifull one. I've been struggling to learn the last part maybe this video will help me!
Glad it was helpful! Keep practicing :)
This is insanely good. Great video!
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you like it!
Thanks for this video,, I am trying to master the C section but I only started playing in 2020 so it’s a struggle. Your video has really helped me especially with the polynomial section which I have yet to get close to. I am using the ghosting technique you have used and hope to get results that way. I love this section so don’t plan to give up on it but I have set myself a goal of getting it right (albeit slow) within 6 months. This video will really help. Thanks again.
I hope you're getting close or reached your goal? I have a piece I practiced so long and eventually lost interest.... I hope you did better than me.
Congratulations! I just started on this piece and this video makes it seem less daunting, thank you for explaining your process! I have short fingers too so i find this very useful :)
Chopin's pieces are not very friendly to people with small hands or short fingers :P I'm glad you find this video helpful. I started this piece without fully knowing how difficult it can be. I just kept telling myself: practice makes perfect...
Thank you for putting this together. I just did a read-thru of this piece and came searching for tips on section C. (I like the tips for A and B sections as well 😉). Videos like these are great for restarters (or 10x restarter like me - kids/work, right?) to coach us thru the tricky bits.
I'm glad this video is helpful :) It makes me really happy!
Guau, I'm currently planning on buying the K500, sounds really good!
I love the piano too, especially after tuning :) if I have to pick one thing to complain about, it's quite loud so make sure you have a rug and furniture to absorb the sound.
Wow.I’m learning this now and it’s about 5 month amd I think I’m very similar to your stage… I think from now on is the exciting time. Real music making stage.. how are you going with this piece now? You should upload the more “matured”version. Thank you for the great video… I feel very connected…
Thanks for the great suggestion! TBH, after several months of practicing, I was a bit burnt out by this piece so I've not touched it for a while. I may get back to it when the fire comes back :)
ty mate
I'm happy to hear that :) It can be fulfilling and rewarding experience! You will enjoy it.
I already finished this piece recently. I thought i reached my life goal and has a hard time to choose another piece that i liked as much as this one. Niw I am currently learning an Etude, op10 no6 i think.
Congrats! I did the Etude Op 10 No 6 last year. It's short and relatively easier. It sounds very beautiful.
Love this piece. Nice playing! :)
Thank you so much! It definitely still has room to improve.
You did a very good job on this.
It’s much better than I can play it.
I can’t even touch the Doppio section.
Thumbs up from me!
Thanks a lot! I spent a lot of time to fix individual issues. The Doppio section is hard. My best advice is start slow. There will be a speed that you can handle without any mistakes. It's really about the muscle memory. Once your hands are used to the movement, you increase the speed a little bit and repeat the process. Your muscle memory needs a bit update to get used to the new speed. It can be tedious and not much fun, but worked for me.
wonderful playing!
I like using pedal in the octaves section. I know its not in the sheet music - but consider that pianos and accoustics are always different. You can repedal a lot but no pedal sounds odd to me
Point taken. My practice room/living room is all tiled no carpet or rug due to dogs so with the pedal, it will sound like a mess...also could be my pedalling technique isn't good enough to be subtle.
Im so dead I was supposed to play this piece as the one I had choosen for the entrance exam at my conservatory to finally begin studying music, focusing on what I love, and here I am, 9 days left until the competition and just arriving to the C part finding out how much works it needs, I don't even know if 10 hours a day can save me at this point and I doubt I can clear this until the exam even tho it may still be possible that I can present it being just good enough ... I already put big efforts into it and I really want to play it I don't really know if I should leave it here and just play a nocturne I know
If you tried your best, there won't be regret and what-if.
Thank you!
I tried very hard at this piece until I pooped in my pants during the first section. TH-cam probably blocked my gallant effort.
I think a lot of people find it hard too so we're all in the same boat!
I admire your determination, methodical approach and resourcefulness. However, I have some reservations and suggestions. Don’t try to mimic another pianist, because they are playing from their understanding and communicating their deepest feelings. Put the piece away for at least several months or so. When you return to it, you will have fresh ears and mind. Next, approach the “technique” from an expressive and musical-meaning foundation. The natural flow and unfolding of music will guide you. And then you can search your own soul for your own personal interpretation. When it belongs to you, it’s magic.
Thanks a lot for your advice John :) I know where you come from. I think I'm not that advanced than you thought. That's why I don't really have much idea how to express. Mostly, I'm trying to deliver how other pianists make me feel. I may not be able to do exactly how they did and I'll have to add something from me. I think I'll park some of the pieces like this one that I really like for a while and come back again when my techniques no longer hinder me and give it another go. I may be one step closer to where I want to it sounds like.
excellent Thx :) je devrais apprendre ce morceau ! :) @+
You won't regret it!
WOW!!
Impressive!
Thank you. Still have plenty room to improve.
I also guess the 4/3 polyrhythm was not really practised because it sounded off to me. But overall really well done!
Oh I actually practised that a lot. That bit is just really hard for me to have the clarity needed.
How did you find your teacher?
I like to work on a piece slowly too, but really practice fluency. I never feel rushed, it's such a joy!
I think playing piano is one thing you cannot rush... at least for ordinary people like me :)
I actually found my teacher online. He's a concert pianist with a lot of good reviews. He made me focus a lot on the musicality. I guess if I'm not playing beautifully, I just play a bunch of notes, which is pointless.
Good job! 👏 👏
Thanks a lot :)
@@pianorewind You are welcome, it has been a pleasure 😍🎶
I'm sure you've improved since this video but I'll leave you with this advice. When playing the octaves, try not to move your hands in and out of the keyboard too much. You want to minimize movement as much as possible. Playing thumb barely on black and then barely below black on white as you move chromatically.
Thanks for the advice :) I agree fully. That would make the arm more relaxed and better control the dynamic.
This video is really well made. The only thing I didn't like was how you let go of the melody note in the broken chords B section so early, you didnt voice the whole 1/4th note. Other than that, really well done its sucha difficult piece that grows with you trhough years of practise
Thanks for your advice :)
@@pianorewind i havent been playing that long, and this is the FIRST thing my teacher pointed out during lessons 😂. Is wierd how even though you hold the pedal, the sound fades faster if you let go of the key
Considering the standard ABRSM grading system, where would you place yourself when you started to learn this piece? I think you play it beautifully.
Thanks for your kind words. Honestly, I think I can play ABRSM grade 8 without too much trouble. However, my sight reading is pretty bad. I think what I learnt from school and work taught me how to quickly identify and solve a problem, which helps a lot.
I don't know the nocturnes well enough to judge their relative difficulty, but I don't think this one is hard, as Chopin goes. Most of his big pieces are more challenging
Incredible. Can I ask. How many hours a day do you practice? And do you only practice one piece till perfection or many pieces at the same time? Thanks
I practiced on average 1h per day, sometimes less sometimes more. I got frustrated too :) For this piece, I only did one piece at the time. All my later pieces, I have multiple going at the same time at different difficulty levels as my sight reading is pretty bad... I think I can do one piece for so long is only because I love it so much and I want to do as best I can. Till the end, tbh I was a bit sick of it even though my teacher thought I could still improve. I tried the Ballard No.1 for 3 months did half of it but parked it as I lost the motivation. So I guess the motivation is the key.
@@pianorewind Thanks. On the issue of sight reading, can I ask....
Given that playing from memory is the goal (and always sounds better!), is it better to learn small bits (one or 2 bars max) to memory and move on to the next few bars? Or is better to sight read longer passages till it is memorised naturally? Thx
@@slyowusu99 IMO, sight reading is a different skill than memorisation. Sight reading is when someone reads and plays a new piece close to the expected speed. One can usually sight read less difficult pieces. For memorisation, I never push myself too hard on that so I let it come naturally. I think this way is better as you want to have a good understanding of how to phrase, dynamic changes, voicing, tempo changes etc. and reading the sheet carefully is essential to get you to think. Memorisation is like the last step. I hope this makes sense.
@@pianorewind absolutely. Thanks
The pattern of the left hand in c section is similar to Schubert's Standchen/Serenade but it's fast 😮
This makes me curious. Do you know the exact name or No. of the Schubert piece you mentioned?
@@pianorewind it's a lieder, and it's D957
@@pianorewindbut they're not the same time signature.
At 2:55 you play G - C with the left hand, but the score shows B natural - C. However, in the edition that I have, it's G instead of B natural. I suppose it's a mistake in the edition you show in the video.
You're Sharp! Yes, I played the version I heard that I like while my urtext is slightly different.
What a nice job. You need to pedal the octaves here, BTW.
hmm, how can I keep the octaves part less resonated if I pedal?
Is it weird that it took me a week to learn it fully I haven’t reached a 4 year mark in m6 piano journey
I'd say congratulations! I hope you're satisfied with the end product :)
holy shit 5 months
I guess it's too long for you? :)
Definitely. If I can't learn a piece in 1 month with 30 mins daily spent on it I consider it out if my league and carry on with my life
@@monsieur171 i think its pretty Common, I once needed 10 months for Chopin Scherzo. In gerenal, you are never finished with a piece at all. You can always improve
I am also a restarter in playing piano.....after 30 years 🎉😂
At least this time, it's voluntary after careful consideration :)
Because of school I didn't have enough time to play as I wanted to. All day long it was not suitable for a school girl.....so I quit. All or nothing....😢
@@afrodite1832 It was similar to me and I also didn't like playing the piano back then. It was more my parents' expectation. So when the school work got worse, I was relieved as I stopped playing.
👍🏽☺️☺️
Please, please don't suggest that anyone puts a coin on their hand and tries to stop it from falling off! This leads to awful tension in the hand. Check out Cedarville Music's 10 things to never do when practising! (I think it's 10, but maybe more!)
I guess it depends on how to achieve the objective (coin not falling off). The intention of this practice is to minimise the up and down movement which probably doesn't increase the tension (at least to me). But, agree, minimising the tension should be high priority.
That only occurs if one makes the categorical mistake of believing the goal should be solely for the coin to fall off; one is to minimize tension while maintaining the coin’s stability; then to include full motion; there is no room for tension when practiced correctly, rather a reduction of final tension, granted by the increased dynamo in motion’s completeness.
No way this is the most difficult one.
care to hear your thoughts :)
So did you learn section C in just mone Month?
no. about 2 months
You haven't been transposing it? Heed Art Tatum: ”Play the tune in every key, and it will come to you." Work on the ending first. How do you count? To the beat or from the beat? Counting “to the beat" (ta-ta-ta-3], ta-ta-ta-4], ta-ta-ta-1]) will help. Muscle memory is a terrible, unproductive process; transpostion works. Period. Simple. Helps with mobile do, functional harmony, memorization, learning speed, and the fact that music is an aural art. Cheers,
This isnt jazz, its a completely diffrent approach
I personally haven't done any of that. I do partially agree that muscle memory isn't a super effective method as it's not reliable. However, regardless you like it or not, it will form through repeated practice. So probably better leverage it plus have another method as security. For counting, I don't intentionally count any more. I think classical music, just like poem, it's in some sort of standard form so not hard to follow. I occasionally use metronome to check my speed.
You're pretentious AND talking out of your ass! Congratulations, @yvesjeaurond4937!
@yvesjeaurond4937 You have zero idea what you're talking about, and it shows.
Mimicking another player??? That's not a good idea. Anyway Seong hasn't quite got the Chopin touch needed to play. Rubinstein yes
I think which one is the best etc. really down to personal taste. I pick the ones that move me. For professional pianists as concert artists, yes, mimicking isn't a good practice. However, for amateurs like me, I would be thrilled to play like some of the best. That's my goal :)