Mendelssohn Songs Without Words Op. 85, No 1

[bateria]

[pianowolfi]

I think that you have a lot of musical potential! Your recording touches me, though it seems to be played on a very unsuitable not touch-sensitive instrument. I like your rhythmical strictness, it gives a bit of a different interpretation of this piece than we are used to but it is very interesting! It almost seems to me like you're playing it with a sort of pop-feeling. I think that you might very well be on the way to develop your own style of playing. But on the other hand there are certainly some things that would be better to sort out and practice together with a very experienced and very sensitive teacher, who can see and feel your potential and respect you as the musician that you are, but guide you at enlarging your possibilities and skills!

[rachfan]

Hi bateria,

I believe that pianowolfi gives excellent advice.  I listened to your playing and also believe that you have much potential.  You have all the notes and phrasing in place for this piece.  I would like to mention a couple of points:  

First, in this piece, sometimes titled "Reverie" or "Dreaming", the right hand carries the melody, while the left hand plays a florid accompaniment and attends to harmonies.  What you need to achieve is a better balancing of the hands.  That means to allow the melody to sing and to always be in the foreground, as it is more important of the two parts.  The melody must dominate and soar above the accompaniment. Thus, the supporting accompaniment must be played more softly and with less emphasis in the left hand. The way to get there is not to make the right hand louder, but instead to make the left hand quieter.  

The other point I want to make has to do with ergonomics and piano playing.  Ergonomics aims at efficiency, comfort and safety.  I notice that your keyboard slopes or slants significantly upward.  As a result, I see that your hands are often flexed upward from the wrists.  It is best if the keyboard is completely horizontal and parallel with the floor.  That way the hands extend neutrally and naturally (and most comfortably) from the the forearms and wrists.  Think of a straight and level forearm, wrist and hand as if you could lay a ruler down that length of the arm and hand.  Over time an up-flex such as you are displaying now, (or a steep down-flex too), could lead to a serious injury such as carpel tunnel syndrome.  Can you possibly level the keyboard, or is it fixed in place and cannot be adjusted?  If adjustable, please do yourself a favor and level it to avoid a future painful injury.

Again, I enjoyed listening to you play.

I hope this is helpful.

David

[saul_dzorelashvili]

Your playing lacks lyricism, and the left hand is like a robot. I think you have to play it on a regular piano or a good Yamaha piano-like digital piano. The way you're playing now is you're giving the harmony central stage while the main part of this work, the melody is completely marginal. You have to switch the order and bring out the melody...

Here is what I'm talking about...

[bateria]

Thanks very much for all your feedback. I deleted the video because it was really clumsy playing.
I decided to follow advise given here and kept on practicing and this is the best I could play it now. A little bit more fluent, I think. Still I find it difficult to play soft on this keyboard. To me , being able to play all the notes from beginning to end was a miracle!!!!
Decided to send the video to all family and friends to enjoy (they know I am not a pianist) so it has a greeting message in it.

[49410enrique]

your playing is lovely here and your hard work shows, it is more than 'coming together' and I heard some nice phrasing and liked how loose you are in your lh to produce an even accompanyment to your melody.  kudos to you for memorizing it as well!

i think you should keep with it even if you start some new music, continue to explore places you want to make more of an emotional impact with greater dynamic contrasts, etc (which you mentioned has been a challenge for you).

 

[bateria]

Thank you for your words of encouragement!!