Chopin - Ballade in G Minor No.1

[invictious]

I am starting to learn this piece and I got the first 2 pages almost almost nailed, now i am working on the 3rd page.

Nny advice or tips for me when learning this beautiful piece>

[rapmasterb]

when you are working on all the fast sections play them without pedal and really, really slowly. I mean say the middle section with the quaver movement in the right hand: take that so slowly that each quaver lasts a second and pretend its a nocturne or something. Dont know why but it works so well and you get reaqlly confident with it. Your evenness and clarity just become natural.

[psaiko]

I am starting to learn this piece and I got the first 2 pages almost almost nailed, now i am working on the 3rd page.

Nny advice or tips for me when learning this beautiful piece>

Hi

I am learning this now as well (started two weeks ago). I started with two of the difficult sections, the agitato and the animato, since these will need most practise. Occasionally I go through some of the slow sections as well.

I will soon start on the coda. I guess it will take some time to slay that beast.

I dont think it is clever to only concentrate on a small section (for instance the beginning), and perfectly mastering this before you move on to the next. Learn as much of the piece as possible from beginning (especially difficult sections) and start perfecting things afterwards.

[quantum]

Learn the difficult sections first, as they will take more time to be comfortable with performance.  If you haven't already, learn the Coda, then maby the scherzando. 

[invictious]

Damn the 3rd page is sure difficult

What else besides practicing slowly.

I am actually that exactly that prepared for the Ballade.

[psaiko]

*** the 3rd page is sure difficult

What else besides practicing slowly.

I am actually that exactly that prepared for the Ballade.

Did you read my post? The RH arperggios on the third page are difficult if you are not used that technique. Play them as fast as you can while still playing evenly until you get to the right speed. It may take a lot of repititions. It found it a lot more difficult to go down than up for some reason.

And could you rewrite that last sentence please
 

[gonzalo]

Here are some tips by Bernhard:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,2255.msg19129.html

Best wishes,

Gonzalo

[practicingnow]

Good fingerings are absolutely crucial, and not so easy to discover. 
Take your time, learn each difficult passage using several fingerings, in addition to the one(s) in the book.  This may take a period of weeks, so be patient.  In the end choose the one that not only allows you enough speed, but that allows you to make the most musical sense out of the line.  Don't be in a rush to memorize the first fingering that pops into your head.

Also, don't compare yourself to recordings until you have physically mastered the entire work!  Trying to emulate recordings before you can play the piece will hinder your learning, and you will never get that time back.  In the bginning, play to your own sensibility, not Horowitz's, or Perahia's, or Rubinstein's, etc.  Imitating is always a disaster.  Later you can "steal" some ideas here and there...

Practice very slowly, with no pedal, and with dynamics.

Think about details before you start trying to achieve the overall sweep of the piece.  That will come naturally later, don't worry.

Good luck.

[brewtality]

If you can read french, I suggest using the Cortot edition. Even if you can't, you can still follow his exercises.

As far as recordings are concerned, the real issue is to listen widely. There is alot to be gained from listening to the great masters, but you can't just defer to their interp, you have to understand what they were trying to achieve, and if that fits with what YOU want to do with a piece then it is alright to 'steal' some details (I hope this makes sense). I think that interpretation can be worked at mentally even if we don't have the physical ability to put it in to practice.

[opuswriter]

I think that interpretation can be worked at mentally even if we don't have the physical ability to put it in to practice.

So true.

// Jason