Me, practicing (17-23 april)

[ahmedito]

Hi, haven't posted in a long time.

I play March 27 so I started taking my laptop to the piano to record myself (with a terrible microfone I use for chatting with my family on Skype and MSN. Anyways, I ended up playing for friends on my MSN friends list. Playing for other people always helps, even if its on the internet with a low quality mike. Feel free to look up my e-mail on my profile and send me a message on MSN messenger, Ill just hook up the voice chat and you can be part of the audience (listening to me practice live), terribly by the way. Tips, constructive criticism and comments are always appreciated.

__________
EDIT: Ill just post what Ill be practicing each week here.

[jamie_liszt]

what email ? where ? theres no msn and your email is hidden.. take it off hidden

[ahmedito]

its in my profile, not under my name. Youve got to go to "view profile".

[jamie_liszt]

I got it, I wasn't logged in before.

[ahmedito]

Ive been surprised by the number of people who have stopped by to listen. I just want to let you know that I have my speaker turned off while I practice, just the mike is on, so you can hear me. (That way I can practice with no interruptions). Id appreciate it if you posted your comments or criticism here, or e-mailed me with it instead.

Thanks.

[ahmedito]

One more thing, this isnt proffesional recording equipment nor a good piano. So the sound is harsh and everything comes out sounding more or less the same volume (its a tiny mike of the cheapest and lowest quality and MSN or Skype).

[ahmedito]

Thanks again. Now practicing the Schumman pieces and the Brahms Walzes. I can only have one person at a time listening, if anyone knows how to have more than 1, let me know.

[tds]

hey ahmedito,

am giving a concert on this date also. whats your program? how is it coming along?

[ahmedito]

Pastorale Sonata, Schumman Waldscenen and Brahms op. 39 Walzes are the full program. On the 27th is only a class concert, so Ill be playing Waldscenen and a few Walzes there.

I thought it was ok, but my teacher keeps finding things terribly wrong with it and telling me how much I suck.

[henrah]

I thought it was ok, but my teacher keeps finding things terribly wrong with it and telling me how much I suck.

Then your teacher is a bad teacher, and you should find a new one. Good
teachers shouldn't tell students they suck, they should tell them how to not suck.
Henrah

[tds]

Pastorale Sonata, Schumman Waldscenen and Brahms op. 39 Walzes are the full program. On the 27th is only a class concert, so Ill be playing Waldscenen and a few Walzes there.

I thought it was ok, but my teacher keeps finding things terribly wrong with it and telling me how much I suck.

hey, thats a cool program! who is your teacher, btw? s/he being a bit rough sounding. no? all the very best for the class concert. tds

[ahmedito]

My teacher is excellent, and among her students are Radu Lupu and Arcadi Volodos. But she is VERY demanding and absolutely a proffesional level teacher; nothing less. Im not up to her standards yet. She teaches me how to improve, but along the way I continually discover how truly and inmensly wide the gap between the great pianists and myself is.

[henrah]

VOloDOs!?!?

[ahmedito]

Yes , she taught him since he was 16 years old until he launched his profesional career. If you've got the "Live in Carnegie Hall" CD, you can see her in the pictures from the booklet, on her feet, first row, cheering for him.

She doesn't tell me I suck... (maybe that I have no soul, or no technique.... oh well), but the things she demands from her students are way beyond my level; I do my best.

[henrah]

How much does she charge?

[tds]

My teacher is excellent, and among her students are Radu Lupu and Arcadi Volodos. But she is VERY demanding and absolutely a proffesional level teacher; nothing less. Im not up to her standards yet. She teaches me how to improve, but along the way I continually discover how truly and inmensly wide the gap between the great pianists and myself is.

yeah, thats how you'll get really good. i'd say, just hang in there n keep working really hard. this type of teacher is generally more interested in seeing how u play in ten years time. my own experience on workin with excellent pianists/teachers had been similar to yours, as i often felt inedaquate and got depressed. but its a necessary process ( can be painful, too, not so surprisingly ), that brings you closer to your carreer. now i constantly uses all the 'tools' i gained from my former teachers, and they have been central to my musical life. and every time i remember this, i am thankful. tds

[ahmedito]

... I study with her at the school and I have a full scholarship. I think she charges something like 300 euros per class to her private students.


Tds. You're right, but the process is quite painful because its a constant fight with yourself and with who you are. Most classes arent about "move your fingers this way", but about change the way you feel, and this kind of emotional work is the hardest of all.

[musicsdarkangel]

... I study with her at the school and I have a full scholarship. I think she charges something like 300 euros per class to her private students.


Tds. You're right, but the process is quite painful because its a constant fight with yourself and with who you are. Most classes arent about "move your fingers this way", but about change the way you feel, and this kind of emotional work is the hardest of all.

what kind of technical excersizes or scales/arps does she make you practice?

Also, what kind of practice techniques?  Just curious.  I want Volodos's tech haha (not that this is possible)

[ce nedra]

You study with Galina Egiazarova?? Thats madness.... I mean... thats amazing...!...wow...

Anyway, good luck with your concert today, when is the full concert?

[ahmedito]

Yep, I study with Galina... it's my second year with her. Work with her is.... best word I can use to describe it is intense. And she has a short temper and is very very passionate about what she does, so there's a lot of yelling and loud singing andstrong emotions in every class... its not for the faint-hearted.

As for technical excercises, arps and scales.... I don't know how to answer that one. You don't work that kind of stuff with her, but she really expects you to form your own excercises out of the problem areas in pieces. Technique is in your head, thats why volodos is so great, because he is an incredibely fast, adaptive and responsive thinker, not because he has some kind of wierd muscles in his hands the rest of us don't. As far as technique goes, what I've learned from Galina is that its much easier to work with the fingers than with your soul and with your head, so most people tend to be a bit lazy with those, even if they can spend 10 hours a day in front of the piano playin Hanon.

The class concert was ok, she was happy, but I made a really bad mess out of one the Brahms walzer (although it was a difficult one.... at least it went alright on the repetition ). Even so, the first time you play pieces in public its hard to be comfortable, Im sure next time I play it it will be better. I had a rehearsal with Galina in the hall this morning and the notes were there, but my mind wasnt. I went to the practice room, but found I wasnt really doing anything after 10 minutes, so I went to some singing master-classes being held at the school and stayed there for 5 hours just listening to the singers. I think that helped more.

In any case, now I will take the mike with me to the practice room more often, because I like the experience of having people listen to you practice live. It makes you practice better and not dwadle so much. I've got MSN on when I practice, so just send a message and Ill add you to my friends list. Now I have plans to work on Prokovief's third sonata and first concerto; a Haydn sonata; 2 Debussy etudes and maybe Beethoven's sonata op.54 Im still in the "reading and memorizing" stages and playing slow and with hands separate, really trying to find what the music is about and get my ideas straight, so it wont be the same. With the Schumman and Brahms and Beethoven Pastorale it was more like mini-concerts with some stops to work on problem areas.

[ahmedito]

Ok. This week, Ill take the mike with me at 16:00 pm - 19:00 pm Madrid time.

I will be practicing Schubert's 6 musical moments and Debussy's Arppegio etude.

[alhimia]

I am a private student of Galina Eguiazarova and she charges €150 for one class (for anyone who is interested). You have to imagine that she is very intense (like Ahmedito said) and so there are classes of AT LEAST 3 hours!

I remember one class working on a first page of a movement of a Beethoven sonata for more than 3 hours...

[ce nedra]

Good lord. No wonder she produces results.... I wouldnt mind getting a master class or 2 from her...

[ahmedito]

I think I went a bit overboard with what she charges per class

In any case, it's kind of hard to become a student of hers, private or in the school. I think she will give an occasional class, but its very difficult to become her regular student. She does some masterclasses each year, but the one she does absolutely every year are masterclasses in Oviedo in Spain, during the last summer months.

[ahmedito]

This week I will be taking the microphone from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm Madrid time.

I will be practicing Schubert's 6 musical moments and Beethovens Sonata op. 54 in f major. If I have time or I get bored of this, I might practice a couple of Debussy etudes (octaves and arpeggios) and Rachmaninov etude op. 33 in Eb minor.

[ahmedito]

This week Im dropping the sonata for a while. I'll be starting out (reading and fingering) Beethoven's andante in F major (originally it was going to be the slow movement for the Waldstein sonata). I'll let the Rachmaninov etude rest and continue work on the Schubert and Debussy etudes. If I have time, I'll probably be remembering the Schnitke piano trio.

Drop by and tell me what you think. Its great having people listening to me practice, it helps me goof off less.

[instromp]

From what i've been reading,it seems you have to live in Europe somewhere to get the best piano lessons . This sucks for me since i live in the U.S.

[jlh]

From what i've been reading,it seems you have to live in Europe somewhere to get the best piano lessons . This sucks for me since i live in the U.S.

There are good teachers in the US as well.  "the grass is always greener..."

[ahmedito]

Hell, Curtis is one of the best, if not the best music schools in the world. And the list of amazing pianists who teach in the United States could go on and on.

[instromp]

Hell, Curtis is one of the best, if not the best music schools in the world. And the list of amazing pianists who teach in the United States could go on and on.

If that is true, i cant find any that live in my area.Unless i am not looking hard enuff.

[ahmedito]

Yesterday I played the Debussy etudes for my teacher. She then made me play them at extremely slow tempos.... what did we discover? that in the rush to learn all the notes, I wasn't listening to a damn thing. So this week you get to listen to me practice the same program but VERY VERY VERY slow... each freaking chord and octave microscopicaly balanced and every single intonation in every voice carefuly realized. In any case, have fun listening, I know I won't have a lot of fun practicing it. Microscopic classes, those are the worst; where your teacher takes everything you play and puts it under a magnifiying glass; I rarely pass that test. At least she says there is hope... because I look very enthusiastic, even if I'm not playing it at a profesional level :/