Chopin's Waltz in A Minor

[kind]

Honestly, I'm just looking for any criticisms. I have only taken piano for four weeks, but I am not new to music at all! I am a very serious contrabass player and classical singer, so feel free to nit-pick at my performance to the smallest point! I look forward to hearing your suggestions, and thank you

[goldentone]

After only four weeks of playing, I am very impressed.  For some criticism, you're a bit heavy-handed with the LH.  Your articulation and technical ability are evident.  Great job!

After four weeks with the piano, how much do you enjoy it?

[kind]

Thank you for your comments.

Heavy with the left hand... alright. How would I go about fixing something that feels "natural" like that, would I just practice slowly with a metronome focusing on the lightness of touch?

I enjoy it very much! I happened to stumble upon a fantastic teacher who graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, and he's brought my determination to musically mature even farther!

[iroveashe]

I wouldn't recommend a metronome at all, specially not for Chopin. In fact I wouldn't mind hearing a bit more rubato.

[kind]

I was actually referring to the easing up of my left hand, but thank you for the heads up on the rubato aspect! Very helpful!

[goldentone]

Well, I'm not saying your movement isn't natural, but you're just playing the accompaniment too loud.  It's a matter of control and time spent at the piano.  Technical work will speed it up.  

You are blessed to have found a good teacher.  I'm glad you enjoy the piano so much!  Beware--it may take over.

[kind]

Sounds good, thanks for the heads up.

Aahaha, beware? Maybe I'll just enjoy it!

[rachfan]

Hi kind,

Some further explanation:

In piano we speak of "balancing the hands", but that terminology can be a bit misleading to a new pianist, as it implies that the hands should be equally balanced in volume.  That, however, is not the case at all.  Melody always takes precedence over accompaniment, as goldentone mentioned above.  If both hands are equal in volume, then that means accompaniment will compete with melody rather than supporting it, which is not pianistic.  Always think of melody as foreground and accompaniment as background.  

The best way to balance the hands keeping the right hand (which more often than not carries the melody) dominant while keeping the accompaniment in the left hand subordinate is to think of dynamic levels.  Consider the dynamic range: fff, ff, f, mf down to mp, p, pp, and ppp.  Suppose that the dymanic indicated in the score is mp.  What you cannot do then is play both hands at mp, as the hands (and sound) will not be properly balanced.  So you'll instead want to play the melody hand at mp, but the accompaniment at only p.  How to do it: The tendency of most is to increase the melody hand to subdue the accompanying hand.  It doesn't work!  What happens next is that the softer hand rises to compete with the louder hand, which in turn causes the louder hand to become even louder such that the general dynamic escalates.  The best approach is counterintuitive, that is, the exact opposite approach.  Reduce the volume of the accompanying hand instead and keep it there, allowing the melody to naturally soar above it.  Where you're a musician, think of accompanying a singer.  Whenever you encounter a cantilena or bel canto line in playing the piano, think voice.  It means that the piano cannot drown out the singer.  The accompaniment needs to be more refined and subdued.  Through touch and articulation, you reduce the accompanying hand (more often than not the left) to tone it down to place it in the background.

Another suggestion: As you continue to play piano, use your ears to keenly monitor your pedaling. Right now you have too few pedal changes and you're getting considerable blurring that's disturbing the clarity of your playing.  It's a bit like run-on sentences now.  Use syncopated pedaling, that is, as you play a chord, catch it in the pedal a nanosecond after it sounds and before you release the hand from having depressed the chord, rather than pedaling chords simultaneously as you play them.  If the chords remain the same without causing dissonance, you can keep the damper pedal depressed.  But if there are changes in tonal center, or passage work with neighboring and passing tones, more pedal changes will be needed to keep the sound clean.  In some instances, no pedal at all is the best solution.  In the repertoire you're playing now, much of the pedaling will be indicated to guide you.  As you you advance, you'll find that composers indicate less about pedaling and sometimes make no indications.  So developing pedaling techniques consistent with performance practices in the styles of the musical periods will be very important.  For example, pedaling techniques for Debussy will not be transferable to Haydn.

Having mentioned those two things, I want to compliment you on your playing.  You mentioned the other instruments you play, and I believe that you show your musicianship in undertaking piano--even after this very brief amount of time.  For that reason, you're already showing some musicality at the piano. Stick with it!  Even though you're starting piano relatively late, my sense is that you have fine potential.

[kind]

Rachfan,

I greatly appreciate the massive input you gave me, and I will be sure to integrate it into my playing. Your explanations were crystal clear, and I do believe you will see an improvement in my next post!

Thanks for your time!

Erik

[rachfan]

Hi kind,

My pleasure.  I'm glad you found it helpful.

[go12_3]

This waltz is my favorite piece!   So I do know it very well.  You do well on the turns.  But the argeggios going up, needs to be more evened out, not jumpy.  Use, rubato more and lighten up with the LH .  Use more expression too, contrast with loud and soft as you go up and down.  Music is phrasing that you breathe in and out as you play a phrase.  It's hard to explain online here on what I mean.  I tell my students to not rush through a piece or a phrase.  It's like speaking.  Maybe that will give you an idea.  Think of the melody of this waltz and what it is telling you and then what you want to share with someone.  Make it romantic!  Put YOU and your heart INTO this piece, okay?  And continue to enjoy the music as you progress in your piano playing.   

best wishes,

go12_3

[communist]

You are not getting enough feeling of the waltz. It does not feel like you could imagine people dancing around a ball room *waltzes around to help you get the idea*. You played it to much like a nocturne. Not bad though.

[kind]

Thanks again for your input! I'll all that new advice into consideration, especially the bit about it not feeling like a waltz!

[highcrappile]

Really well done for that amount of piano playing. Rachfan is very helpful to all newbies it seems, he provided me with very sound advice too.

Where can I find this score? I have a "complete chopin waltzes" book and it's not in there =/

[go12_3]

Really well done for that amount of piano playing. Rachfan is very helpful to all newbies it seems, he provided me with very sound advice too.

Where can I find this score? I have a "complete chopin waltzes" book and it's not in there =/

It can be found in  Piano Literature Book 4---Late Intermediate, compiled by Faber & Faber
 Publisher:  The FJH Music Company.  Hope this will help!

[xiaomai]

perhaps to get more of a waltz feeling, on every 2nd beat of each bar try to lift the right pedal up at the same time the notes in the left hand go down to achieve a staccato effect in the left hand. this will help to get more of an effect of a waltz. (In all of chopin's Waltz' the music score indicates that the pedal should be kept down for the whole duration of the bar, however if the pedal is lifted up just ONLY at the moment the staccato is played and then put back down again, then this gives good effect for the feeling of a waltz). this is not easy to do properly though- and takes practice as it is a kind of advanced pedalling technique.

give it a try and you can tell the difference

this is great for only 4 weeks learning the piano. you must have practised quite a bit

https://www.youtube.com/user/mmpianist

[kind]

I will definitely give that a try, thanks! Yeah, I had wondered how to get it to feel like a waltz when the pedaling is entirely throughout the bar.