advice about some pieces I'm learning :)

[littletune]

Well I just thought I would ask... because I can't ask my teacher because I don't have piano lessons till September  And I'm learning a lot of pieces now... and I've already learned more than my teacher told me I should learn during the summer holidays... but I'm worried what if I'm learning something wrong because I can't ask anyone  so I thought I would post three of the pieces I'm learning now, just in case someone maybe sometimes feels like listening to some baby piano pieces  and if not I'll just have to wait till September  
Well the first one is Etude by  J.B. Duvernoy, I don't know if I'm playing too loud with my left hand  but I just can't play more quietly (at least not if I have to move my fingers so fast  ) and I think I start playing a little faster in the middle  and I'm not sure how fast I should play it. It says Moderato.
The second is one funny piece : Koračnica (which means a Marching song or piece or tune ) (by Igor Dekleva) and I really try playing louder with the right hand, first I was always playing a lot too loud with the left hand but I think maybe now I got just a little better and I'm not always completely sure about the rhythm.
And the third one is one more Etude by H.Berens (op.70) and I've been practicing this one the least. I still have to look at the sheet music and I think I should probably play it a lot faster?  cause it says Allegro.
Well that's all    I'm annoying  I know   

[go12_3]

I enjoy listening to the pieces you're learning, Littletune   
The first piece, an Etude, the left hand can be played softer so that the melody of the right hand can be heard better.   
The second piece, the Marching song, the rhythm is just fine.  I find it an interesting piece   
The third piece, an Etude, can be played faster.  I do like the melodic right hand so you might want to bring that out some more and be sure to feel the music, listen to how the passages go with the dynamics....loud to soft and soft to loud, to make the piece have more color. 
 Overall,  I think you play quite well, Littletune, and I can tell you do practice and enjoy
playing the piano.  Keep up the good work!   

[birba]

You really are a very musical girl.  The phrasing in the right hand of the first piece was perfect.  You rounded off the phrases very well.  It's just that the left hand was so loud you could hardly hear it.  I remember when I was about 7 years old and I had been taking lessons from that ugly witch (r.i.p) I decided I wanted to learn how to play the right hand loud and the left hand soft.  It wasn't easy and didn't come naturally.  I took one note with the right hand and one note with the left.  Then I would like press hard with the right and barely touch the key with the left.  It took a while but I soon got the knack of it.  Then I turned it around and played the left hand loud and the right hand soft.  But only with one note.  It was a wierd feeling, I remember.
That second piece was fun!  The middle part sounded like the hee-haw of a donkey!
The last piece is like the first.  The left hand is a little too loud for the right.  But don't worry, it will come with time.  It's like the vibrato of a violin.  When you start out learning it, you can't do a vibrato.  Then after a while, you try to do it, but it's really hard.  Then, with time, it comes naturally.

[littletune]

Thank you very VERY much Go and Birba!!!   
Yes it's really not easy not to play to loud with the left hand, specially if you have to move your fingers so fast    But I will practice so long that I get it!  
Oh yes that middle part of the second piece is funny 
Thank you very much for the advice and for listening and for nice comments!!!   

[rmbarbosa]

Littletune, you have a nice tone| Congratulations. I think you can play left hand with your fingers a little more flat than right hand fingers. Try it. With flat fingers, you`ll feel the keys better. I know that for a lot of teachers flat finger technic is a no-no, but you may try, ok?
The best to you
Rui.

[littletune]

Littletune, you have a nice tone| Congratulations. I think you can play left hand with your fingers a little more flat than right hand fingers. Try it. With flat fingers, you`ll feel the keys better. I know that for a lot of teachers flat finger technic is a no-no, but you may try, ok?
The best to you
Rui.

Thank you VERY much! I will try that, thanks I will practice really a lot until I figure out how to play more quietly with my left hand   

[littletune]

Well I will post three more pieces I'm learning now  (cause otherwise these three would be sad if I only posted the first three ones  ) 
And if someone would maybe have some comments or advise that would be really cool too    because I just learned them by myself without my teacher telling me if it's ok or not, so I'm not sure if I learned everything ok.   
The first one is : Na drsalkah, which means: on the ice skates  (by Igor Dekleva)
the second one is: Lettische Polka (by Arvids Zilinskis) and it says it's all just mf and f , but I kinda played it just a little quieter the second time in some places where it should be f,  cause I just felt like it  And my teacher said I don't have to learn this one with both hands together but just with each hand seperately but I learned it with both hands too (hope it's ok!) 
And the third one is: Aleš se igra and it's about a kid who's playing (by Igor Dekleva)
  

[go12_3]

littletune,   
You keep a very good tempo in these 3 pieces and for learning on your own, you are doing a great job of it!  Just make sure that your fingers go lightly on these pieces.  Strike the keys with a lighter touch, I mean,    so that the sound will be not as heavy.  You play each note with a firm touch and that's a good thing to do.  I have enjoyed listening to your progress!   
On the second piece, it's okay to play soft where it's forte, that is what music is about, to play what you feel from inside, as long as your teacher approves(I'm sure she will!)   
Happy practicing!   

[littletune]

Thank you very very much Go for listening and commenting!    Yes I know I'm sometimes playing too heavy, there's sooo many things to think about  i hope I'll get better at that Now I'm also practicing those two Etudes a lot (the ones I have posted in the beginning of this thread). I'm trying to play quieter and softer with the left hand and at first I thought I would never learn to play like I should, but now just two days ago (i think exactly on my birthday ) I think I got it or my fingers got it  I was really happy!  So I hope I'll get even better now!   

[birba]

that third piece was neat!  Also the second.  But the first was ugly!    You played it alright but I thought the music was dumb.  You have a good control of tone and color already.  I was wondering:  haven't you begun the anna magdalena book, yet?  Or some kulak  sonatinas.  I bet you could do it.  You sound ready for it.  what does your teacher say?

[go12_3]

Thank you very very much Go for listening and commenting!    Yes I know I'm sometimes playing too heavy, there's sooo many things to think about  i hope I'll get better at that Now I'm also practicing those two Etudes a lot (the ones I have posted in the beginning of this thread). I'm trying to play quieter and softer with the left hand and at first I thought I would never learn to play like I should, but now just two days ago (i think exactly on my birthday ) I think I got it or my fingers got it  I was really happy!  So I hope I'll get even better now!   

You're most welcome!     I am sure you will get better because you practice and that is the key thing to play well on your pieces, littletune   

[littletune]

  thank you too Birba for listening well I kinda like the first piece anyway I think it's really funny  because it's about ice skating and you can hear how someone is ice skating  and then in the middle they fall  and then they get up again and continue ice skating first slowly and carefully again and then after awhile faster and not so carefully  anymore so that's why I think it's really funny  , but I probably don't play it so very well yet that you could hear all that   
No I haven't begun any of those yet... well I don't have lessons now... my teacher just gave me these pieces to practice during the summer holidays... I will start piano lessons in September again. And then I'll see what my teacher will say  but I did even more than she said I should do during the summer so I guess she will have to give me some new pieces soon   
Thanks 

[pianowolfi]

It's really fun to listen to your playing and to hear how much you have progressed! I think I actually can't add anything substantial to the comments above, they are very good and all the commentators are very good listeners in my book
well, perhaps one thing: I like Na drsalkah, but it could be much more fun if played with a lighter touch, along the lines go12_3 suggested.

[littletune]

Thank you too Wolfi!!    Yes I guess I have a problem with that lighter touch    I really hope I will get better at that !!  But I'm really really happy you think I have progressed!      Thank you all!     

[littletune]

Hmm well... I know I'm stupid,    but I'm REALLY excited about learning my first Sonatina  And I have just learned to play 1st movement with both hands together this week, so I thought I would post that    And I haven't played it for my teacher with both hands together yet so I know I must be doing a LOT of things wrong... but I'll just post it anyway if anyone wants to know which Sonatina I'm learning (or if someone wants to tell me if I have learned something very wrong). And if not that's ok too  I just wanted to post it.  It's Sonatina in F major by J.B. Vanhal. 

[Bob]

You might want a little more length on the staccato notes, if they're staccato.  They sound a little choppy now.  If they're quarters and staccato or you just want them more detached, play them like and 8th note/8th rest. 

[littletune]

Thank you very much Bob for commenting!  Yes that's true, I played some notes so that it's kinda hard to tell if they're supposed to be staccato or not... I will try to do that better  Thanks 

[littletune]

I decided to post the 1st movement of the second Sonatina I'm learning (I will be playing this one for my exam in June).
I thought it was kinda cool to hear how I played my first sonatina when I just started learning it cause it was so different and awkward compared to the way I played it later
And of course if anyone would have any suggestions that would be great too! But I guess now at the beginning it's kinda difficult to suggest things  . I just have to keep practicing

And I will also post Bourree by L. Mozart. My teacher first thought I would play this one for my exam too but now she said I would probably play Mozart's peice that he composed when he was 6
And I guess it's better that way cause I have problems with trills in this Bourree  Do other people have problems with trills too? Or is it just me?  and it's really stupid cause sometimes I play them kinda ok already (like in this recording  ) but then other times I just can't!  It's really annoying! And then even if I do play the trills kinda ok I usually get so excited about playing them right that I make a mistake after that  or I start playing too fast or something! How do you even practice trills? I mean I feel like I can't really learn them... it feels like it's just luck if I get them right or not  so if anyone has any advice about that...  should I play slower so I would get the trills right? Oh well 

[go12_3]

Littletune,
I think your playing sounds great!  I love sonatinas which is a great way to learn
good steady rhythm and clarity of sound.  You have a nice touch, I can tell...it's not
heavy and loud.  Keep on practicing and continue to listen to what sounds best.
Keep up the good work!   

[ongaku_oniko]

  I remember when I was about 7 years old and I had been taking lessons from that ugly witch (r.i.p)

My first reaction: Lady_Pianist

:S

[littletune]

Littletune,
I think your playing sounds great!  I love sonatinas which is a great way to learn
good steady rhythm and clarity of sound.  You have a nice touch, I can tell...it's not
heavy and loud.  Keep on practicing and continue to listen to what sounds best.
Keep up the good work!   

Hi Go!  Thank you very much for your comment!  I'm really glad you think my playing sounds nice!! And I really love Sonatinas too (although this is only my second one) and I love practicing too so I hope it will sound even better after a while! Thanks! 

[go12_3]

Hi Go!  Thank you very much for your comment!  I'm really glad you think my playing sounds nice!! And I really love Sonatinas too (although this is only my second one) and I love practicing too so I hope it will sound even better after a while! Thanks! 

You're most welcome, Littletune!   

[jollisg]

I may repeat something that the others said, I hope it's OK

In the first one you really play the right hand well! The phrases were really good, I didn't expect that. The others have already told you to try to quiet down the left hand. Be careful so you don't get any tense in your wrist. I don't know how unstrained your wrists are, but try this;
Take a note with one hand. Then feel on your wrist (with your other hand or with the playing hand, I would suggest you to feel with the non-plaing hand at first). You should be able to move it easily while playing the note.
If you get tired while playing, you may have a tense in the wrist.

The second piece was really interesting. I've not heard it before actually, so I can't tell you how you should phrase it or like that. I'm sure you do it well, at least I think it sounds geat!
I don't know how good your piano and the recorder equipment are, but when you are going to play something louder or when you accent. Try to "grab" the note (I don't know how to express that on english actually, here in Sweden we say "gripa tag"), so you won't beat/hit it (it would be easier to show it). As I've said, I don't know how you're doing...

The feedback on the third piece is kind of like the same as on the first. I hope I don't say anything wrong that doesn't fit the music, but I would like an "accent" or some weight to the first note in the bar, and the others smoother.

When I heard the 4th piece I thought you were playing wrong at first, I kind of flinched
As on all the other pieces, I have not heard it before. I think it's staccatos? If it is, make sure to not push the key when you make the staccato.

I really enjoyed the 5th How long have you been playing? I hope you haven't said it before, 'cause in that case, I've missed it...

In the 6th piece your left hand magically became quieter I think the "soft, smooth and quieter left hand" and "soft but more intense right hand" is in you. At least I hear it in the 6th piece!

I really enjoyed listening to you, and I hope I didn't cram you. I just want you to be you best, because I hear you're good

[jollisg]

I know it's not a good impression to excuse myself, but it I express badly so you don't understand, ask me. English isn't my first language

[littletune]

Hi Jollisg! Thank you very much for your nice and helpful comment! And for all the advice! Well when I posted the first 6 pieces (the ones you probably listened to) I was learning piano for a little less than a year... Now I have been learning for about a year and a half, if you want you can also listen to the newest two pieces I posted (in the reply number 17)
Thank you again for listening and for the nice comments and for all the advice! I will need a lot of advice now because I am learning the pieces that I will be playing for my exam in June.

[jollisg]

Oh, I didn't see they were posted so long ago
I think your left hand have become quieter now, and your trills are good You make progress, that's really nice to hear
Those pieces reminds me of myself, when I had been learning for about a year and a half (but I didn't play those pieces, but anyway! ).

When you learn something, upload it It's interesting to hear you make progress

[littletune]

Oh, I didn't see they were posted so long ago
I think your left hand have become quieter now, and your trills are good You make progress, that's really nice to hear
Those pieces reminds me of myself, when I had been learning for about a year and a half (but I didn't play those pieces, but anyway! ).

When you learn something, upload it It's interesting to hear you make progress

Thanks!  Yes I will upload more pieces for sure! I will start posting my exam pieces really soon (probably in the audition room).