Chopin Etude opus 10 #4

[pianistimo]

this is my best shot at 12:41 pm

[jakev2.0]

aside from some choppy rhythm, other annoyances are the occasional stutters/restarts. The arpeggio at the end and the coda can be better (the part that preceded the coda far exceeded my expectations btw!).

Overall, much much better than your earlier recording.

Congrats on the improvement!  Knew you could do it, P.

[pianistimo]

thanks.  i'm slightly tired now at 2:26 am.

[counterpoint]

hoppin Chopin 

But wow, I never thought, you could play it that fast 

Now I want to hear some other guy of the forum playing this etude!

[quantum]

You really did take this chopet and hopit.    

I can feel that you have a sense of the overall structure of the piece, and how you want to lead your phrasing. 

It is quite a respectable speed, but now I think you need to control your fast finger impulses and make connections between sections.   I find in such fast pieces with lots of activity, it is useful to have landmark notes where one can think of phrases starting and stopping.  It helps give the fast notes a destination to move to and also serves as a guide to where one may wish to take a breather without giving the flow of the music jitters. 

[pianistimo]

thanks counterpoint and quantum.  yes.  starting and 'stopping' notes are a good idea.  i've slightly revised some fingering to keep the 'flow' but it hasn't set yet in a couple of spots.  and the ending - well, this recording was terrible.  i can play the ending much better.  i had been practicing this - but got sidetracked with other things - and then came back to it.  i'll probably practice some more and just play the last page because i hate it when i can't play the end right.  hearing all the notes is very important to me.

[shingo]

Richter springs to mind.

[pianistimo]

are you kidding.  i'd love to have met him.  i think he was true to the music so much of the time.  unfortunately, taking chopin literally - makes it like a doctor's office visit - but  - i think of this etude as more technical than anything.

i think of romantic pieces as slow, for some reason.  you know, like mac dowell's 'to a wild rose' or brahms opus 118 #2. 

[rachfan]

Hi pianistimo,

I always knew that if you put your mind and determination to it, you could bring true shape, form and style to your playing.  Obviously you invested your time wisely in practicing this etude--and it shows!!  Nice work.  If you invest another 5%, I think you iron out the final wrinkles.  Nice work!

David

[pianistimo]

dear rachfan,

thank you for the kind words!  encouragement always helps.  even if i play 'trombone.'  it's just that i really do think someday it will all come together.  not sure exactly when.  taking piano lessons helped get a jump start.  now i have to put in consistent practice. susan

[rachfan]

Yes, piano lessons are all to the good for all of us.  I spent 10 years with my first teacher and 7 with the second--and they were both outstanding, and I gained countless valuable insights from both.  But the wise teacher has only one principal agenda, and that is to teach the student how to teach himself or herself.  I sense that's where you are now.  Yes, once in a while I think I'd enjoy playing for an artist to hear feedback.  If I were to do that occasionally, it would not be with a piano teacher giving me lessons per se, but someone who would serve more as a piano coach.  Yet simply recording oneself can provide an unvarnished critique as well, particularly if you can listen to yourself objectively.  So in the meantime I continue to work under my own supervision, as do you.  Today, for example, I was working on Bortkiewicz's Interlude "Eros".  In "the good old days" I could be somewhat lazy, and wait for a teacher to suggest a fingering for a difficult bit of passagework, or to give analytical pointers in the score, or to bring out certain voicing, etc.  Now I do all of that and more by myself--and I actually find that I learn more by discovering and implementing solutions on my own rather than having them handed to me the easy way.  So there's a huge value in improving artistry by working alone.  So keep at it!  The wide breadth of your repertoire never fails to amaze me.

[pianistimo]

you are most encouraging.  i will do exactly as you suggest and not keep thinking that i must take more piano lessons to get anywheres.  it's internal motivation, as you say.

[rimv2]

First ah was like "OMFG pianistimo will you marry me...."

then ah was like " ah want to sue you for that ending."

[pianistimo]

thanks for being brutally honest.  to tell you the truth, i didn't like it either. but, it was either post something or nothing.  i'll post a better ending just for you. 

today i was at the chiropractors two times with my middle daughter.  she woke up this morning only being able to look right and not left.  slept on her neck wrong.  between musicals (at both middle and elementary school - which i've been helping with) - i haven't touched the piano seriously for a few days.  excepting, of course, the pop music they insist on having for interludes between acts.

[zheer]

this is my best shot at 12:41 pm

  Very good , i shall try to make some helpful comments.

  1- I cant help but emagin the fast runs in the RH and LH hand being played by string insruments, so basically violin ,viola and chello.

  2' So unlike some of his other etudes, where the individual notes are of little importance on their own, with this etude the independance of a single note ( semi quaver) and its relation to the next note is very important to creat the electric effect.

  3- The staccato quavers are staccato for a very good reason, that reason is to keep the music on edge ,to make it sound live. So emagin  the string section in a orchestra playing this,not plucked but the dramatic orchestral effect.

 4- Looking throgh the score we can see that their is no real melody, i would bring out the semi quaver more.

  5- Bar 4 ,the octave semi  quavers, i feel to avoid making the sound like octave chords, you could bring out the top notes more, so less force with you thumb, and more with the littel finger(5).

   6- The climax for me is on the last page, the music starts on ( p ) then reaches FFF, this section i feel should generaly sound more in your face . I feel the Coda no longer demand Note clarity , you can use a lot of pedal here, because we are looking for the overall effect.

   You obviously can play this very demanding etude, i hope some of those points i made make sense.Ciao.

[pianistimo]

thanks so much, zheer.  i will notate your comments into my music.  agreed on most everything.

[imbetter]

at first i was like "wow is this really pianistimo:", then wen you got to the coda I was like "yes..."

That was really good. The coda can use some work. The overal tempo can definatly be sped up and I'd like if your tempo wasnt all over the place.

[gorbee natcase]

Just shows you hard work pays off    (less time on the forum and more time doing stuff like that  well done loved it

[pianistimo]

thanks gorbee.  i will work on the last page for you, too!

[phil39]

very good effort, it's a pig.. iv'e tried it! ok it collapsed in the coda, until then it came across as fluid dynamic performance with blips and a few note omissions. the problem is getting flesh and blood to obey your musical impulses isn't it? easier said than done. well, i always say anybody who can play one of the fast chopin etudes fully securely has made concert pianist level, so good luck, keep at it

[pianistimo]

dear phil39,

just got my acoustic piano tuned.  it would sound clearer - i hope- than the digital.  but, the digital has been easier to record from into the computer.  thanks for the encouragement to just keep on going towards that concert pianist gig someday.  until then, i will just practice and enjoy playing for my own purposes.  i really did (do) want to be a concert pianist someday.  the thing is - everytime i start to practice in my own home - everyone asks if i can stop because they need more quiet to do homework.  the digital - i can put on the headphones and practice away and noone is bothered.