Chopin Impromptu in Ab Major, Op. 29

[gvans]

Day two of recording! Any comments appreciated.
Glenn

Addendum: Here's another take from some days later. Better in some ways, perhaps. One can always find different things to like and abhor in various attempts at pianist perfection...Check out Jeremy Denk's recent article in The New Yorker (Flight of the Concord: The Perils of Recording). Took him hundreds of takes, plus a sound engineer, plus a pro studio, to get a finished product of Charles Ive's Concord Sonata.

https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/02/06/120206fa_fact_denk

[liszt85]

This is one of my most favorite impromptus by any composer. How long have you been playing for? May I offer some advice? You certainly are very musical. However, the playing is very uneven, with uneven note values. The key is to practice extremely SLOW until you get those note values precisely right. There is an argument to be made here to practice with the metronome at a very slow tempo. Once you get those right (it doesn't take very long, trust me.. you might think it will take ages but it doesn't. SLOW practice actually speeds up your learning, as counter-intuitive as that may sound!), you will be well on your way to playing this piece well as I am able to figure out from the recording (in spite of the sloppy playing) that you are highly musical. Just some honest advice. Good luck!

[starstruck5]

I agree that you have great musical instincts - you have the right intentions, but at the moment the technical precision to carry it off isn't there - yep SLOW pactice is prescribed!

[gvans]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have posted it, too many takes and my fingers and brain wore out. This was the only take where I got through the middle section intact (for some reason memorizing it seems hard). The opening, in retrospect, is especially shoddy. Live and learn.

I've been more concerned with the mechanics of working the recording device, formatting, uploading, etc. Now that I've got that down: time to practice and pull those solo pieces to the high standards of pianostreet.

I spend most of my time on chamber music, and treat solo piano time as a luxury. Ironically, I practice slowly, with the metronome, all the time--but usually just with the chamber stuff we perform.

Thanks again. When I get time I'll put up a better version.