Video link

[outin]

Time to come out of the closet, I guess. Today I recorded myself practicing the K208 sonata and figured I might as well put it out there. I used my canon ixus pocket camera, so the video or sound quality is what it is. This is only the first page since I messed up the second. This tends to happen when the camera is on, I just cannot ignore it.

I am not happy about what I hear, so many issues still, but I hope posting this will be the first step in getting rid of some of my anxiety and perfectionism about my playing. After all, it cannot get much worse, only better  

So here's the link:
https://vimeo.com/46926330
password is: sk208p1

EDIT: See below for an update

You're welcome to comment  

[hfmadopter]

Time to come out of the closet, I guess. Today I recorded myself practicing the K208 sonata and figured I might as well put it out there. I used my canon ixus pocket camera, so the video or sound quality is what it is. This is only the first page since I messed up the second. This tends to happen when the camera is on, I just cannot ignore it.

I am not happy about what I hear, so many issues still, but I hope posting this will be the first step in getting rid of some of my anxiety and perfectionism about my playing. After all, it cannot get much worse, only better 

So here's the link:
https://vimeo.com/46926330
password is: sk208p1

You're welcome to comment 

Ya know this isn't as bad as you think it is. I visualize it being played without the anxiety which I'm sure the absense of that brings in a bit more smoothness. Chopiness will subside when you are really really sure of the notes and where they lead to and getting your hands "into" the music. I know many will not advocate pedal with Bach but I tend to use a touch , a hint if you will as an aid to tie things together. Never a long sustained pedal as Chopin might lead one to do for instance.

I'll leave official finger movement and hand arch and placement to others who know better than I do about fixing such things ( we have professional teachers in the forum , maybe they will speak up). But I have to say you have a decent start even if my own observation is your hands are pianoistic but I don't care for a reversed arch where the palm drops below the curve of the fingers. I do believe you will need to pay some attention to that as you move forward. Part of a fluid flow of notes is  getting the hands into a relaxed stance. Unprofessional observation on my part though.

But Bravo, you have the notes going on in there and your little pocket camera didn't do badly at all recording this incidentally !

[outin]

Thanks! I realize it is way too fast and uneven in tempo, but having the camera on always makes me nervous. I think I should let this piece rest a bit, it's now almost like a technical workout, I am getting a little bored with it...

My piano is quite stiff and I just cannot play with it in a more relaxed way yet. I also struggle with balance because the bass is so loud. But I have noticed that my hands tend to look even more tense than they actually are, because they are so bony

I think this piece could use some pedal, but the pedal in my piano is stiff so I don't like to use it when practicing if not necessary.

[outin]

Well, I have been working on the piece a bit more today. I noticed I was sitting a bit too high, I have this habit of raising my bench every now and then when my back starts to hurt and at some point I realize it's too high. I don't like the bench at all, I never seem to be able to really sit comfortably.

I will be happy to start lessons again. I worry that I may have developed some bad habits during the summer while working without my teacher

Anyway, I tried the camera again and tried to relax a bit more. Which caused some mistakes and sloppiness, but anyway, here's the first page again:
https://vimeo.com/46936239

And here's the second page, messed up the trills but not too many mistakes:
https://vimeo.com/46936240

The password is again the same: sk208p1

Thanks for anyone who bothers to watch!

[hfmadopter]

Thanks! I realize it is way too fast and uneven in tempo, but having the camera on always makes me nervous. I think I should let this piece rest a bit, it's now almost like a technical workout, I am getting a little bored with it...

My piano is quite stiff and I just cannot play with it in a more relaxed way yet. I also struggle with balance because the bass is so loud. But I have noticed that my hands tend to look even more tense than they actually are, because they are so bony

I think this piece could use some pedal, but the pedal in my piano is stiff so I don't like to use it when practicing if not necessary.

OK you will be back with your teacher soon and you are happy about that, this is good.

Heavy keys you have to build your hands into, then it's also a good thing because it will afford you better control in the long run. I wouldn't expect 3 4 and 5th digit trills to be strong yet if your keys are stiff as you say.

The pedal, you might try wearing shoes, big difference from bare feet, a whole different feel. I often tend to practice in socks, rather silly at age 62 but that's what I do and I think if I ever perform any of this for people I'll have shoes on then so might get up and go put some shoes on !

I think the first page went better the second time around personally. The second page ? That's not ready for prime time, nerves or not it needs more work and the trills I feel need for you to build those muscles in order to control them. That only can come with practice and time.

You may be bored with the piece but you haven't finished it yet ! I'd add some other work in personally to relieve the bordom and keep picking away at this one. At least certainly come back to it  if you put it aside for a bit.
David

[outin]

The pedal, you might try wearing shoes, big difference from bare feet, a whole different feel. I often tend to practice in socks, rather silly at age 62 but that's what I do and I think if I ever perform any of this for people I'll have shoes on then so might get up and go put some shoes on !

...
You may be bored with the piece but you haven't finished it yet ! I'd add some other work in personally to relieve the bordom and keep picking away at this one. At least certainly come back to it  if you put it aside for a bit.

It is not customary to wear shoes inside where I live and I find it rather inconvenient, especially in the summer. I do have "pedal shoes" beside my piano and use them when needed, but I still get cramps in my legs after a long session. I feel an upright piano is not very good for me, the pedals on a the grands I have played on were much easier to use. I have quite a few issues with this piano, so I have decided to sell it. The keys are not that heavy after it was adjusted in May, but the dampers are really stiff, especially now that it's hot and humid. So I feel I need to use a lot of energy to just keep the keys down, especially when there are big chords. But at least I do not get hand pains anymore, as I did for the whole last year. I was able to try out a new Estonia grand in May and it felt completely different, all the tension was gone, it almost played itself

It seems posting this gave a me some new insight on the piece and I have done more work today. I noticed some inefficient fingerings on the 2nd page and changing those helped a bit on the trills. I don't think I can ever get them to sound good on my own piano, I can do much better on my teacher's grand where I can relax my fingers and still get a proper sound.

This piece is kind of my side work, I have many others that I work on, much easier, but it took quite a lot of work just to learn the fingerings and notes on this one, so I don't want to completely drop it. Maybe one day I have the skills to actually make it sound the way I would want to.

[outin]

I figured I would be less anxious if I just made an audio recording. So one more try. Got a bit lost on one bar but I feel the touch was a little improved. Still too fast though. It seems that every time  I play slowly and concentrate on the musical aspects and phrasing it actually sounds so much better that I get confused and forget what I am doing

I will need to work more on the 2nd part, I'm still a it unsure of the notes.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to discuss this, I haven't had any feedback since May and I am a bit worried about going to the lesson...

[hfmadopter]

It is not customary to wear shoes inside where I live and I find it rather inconvenient, especially in the summer. I do have "pedal shoes" beside my piano and use them when needed, but I still get cramps in my legs after a long session. I feel an upright piano is not very good for me, the pedals on a the grands I have played on were much easier to use. I have quite a few issues with this piano, so I have decided to sell it. The keys are not that heavy after it was adjusted in May, but the dampers are really stiff, especially now that it's hot and humid. So I feel I need to use a lot of energy to just keep the keys down, especially when there are big chords. But at least I do not get hand pains anymore, as I did for the whole last year. I was able to try out a new Estonia grand in May and it felt completely different, all the tension was gone, it almost played itself

Humidity raises heck with pianos doesn't it  !? I know I now have an A sharp that is not letting off properly and my house has ac going right now. In fact later this morning I'm pulling the action out and readjusting the let off to that key ( I do much of my own adjusting and tuning, after 30 years of this stuff I feel I am capable of quite a bit of this if not quite professional grade).

The Estonias are getting a fair bit of good reviews FWIW. My grand is very old but the action is accurate if a bit rattley and needs a tweek now and then. But yes this grand of mine is quite different from playing other pianos, the action and pedal is fairly light.  Still, don't mistake that for all grands though. If you like that Estonia so be it, but all grands are not light actioned. They can be heavy to light but because of the mechanical attitude in a grands action it is more accurate than an upright, generally.

I'd probably go bare foot in the house in the summer too except I don't like slivers in my feet, thus the socks. My daughter now in her 40s though, walks into my house and off go the shoes, so I guess she would fit in in your area ! Well anyway, that was just a thought regarding your pedal situation, not an attack on your life style..

The trills are better in your recording !
David

[outin]

I'd probably go bare foot in the house in the summer too except I don't like slivers in my feet, thus the socks. My daughter now in her 40s though, walks into my house and off go the shoes, so I guess she would fit in in your area ! Well anyway, that was just a thought regarding your pedal situation, not an attack on your life style..

My floors are plastic, so no worry there. And the house and the floors are pretty warm in the winter too, as is customary here. When I was in US people would have thought me really odd (not that they would be wrong) if I had taken my shoes off when visiting someone, but here many people feel it is unpolite not to. So a big cultural difference here

I would like to make the piece sound good enough without the pedal before adding it. I find the learning experince more important at this point than the actual results.

[hfmadopter]

My floors are plastic, so no worry there. And the house and the floors are pretty warm in the winter too, as is customary here. When I was in US people would have thought me really odd (not that they would be wrong) if I had taken my shoes off when visiting someone, but here many people feel it is unpolite not to. So a big cultural difference here

I would like to make the piece sound good enough without the pedal before adding it. I find the learning experince more important at this point than the actual results.

You're going to do fine with your music, soon you will be back with your teacher as well.

My  piano key is now letting off fine, had the fall board out earlier today and adjusted two let offs actually.. Touched up a couple of notes and voiced a few hard hammers by picking them. Hey, I said it's an old piano !

Warm floors in the winter would be nice, my downstairs floors are quite chilly, upstairs fine.
David

[outin]

My  piano key is now letting off fine, had the fall board out earlier today and adjusted two let offs actually.. Touched up a couple of notes and voiced a few hard hammers by picking them. Hey, I said it's an old piano !

It's good to be able to do your own maintenance! Mine is so new that I don't dare to touch anything inside. But one day I would really like to learn more about the mechanics of the piano.

[outin]

I think I have had a revelation! It is very liberating to make a fool out of yourself in public

I have always thought that I cannot play in front of other people until I can play well enough to please myself. Which is probably never because I would be happy only when my playing sounds like something I hear on records...

Instead of learning to play perfectly I need to learn to tolerate my imperfection and  that other people will hear that too. I sometimes see people who can post things in Youtube even when they have no idea what they are doing and that actually makes me envy them. I don't think I could go quite that far, since I'd feel sorry about the listeners.

I think this is one of the reasons why it's easier to learn as a child. As adults we are not used to fail in public, so learning to do that is difficult. Then again if one is not very talented, failure is expected, no matter how much you practice.

[ajspiano]

I think I have had a revelation!
Instead of learning to play perfectly I need to learn to tolerate my imperfection and  that other people will hear that too.

Not only because absolute perfection is a semi-futile pursuit, but also because public performance and feedback from others is part of the road toward a worthy performance of every piece ever studied at piano.

[hfmadopter]

It's good to be able to do your own maintenance! Mine is so new that I don't dare to touch anything inside. But one day I would really like to learn more about the mechanics of the piano.

I can own an old piano and keep it in shape, yes, but don't think I don't dream of new Steinways and Boesendorfers or Kawais like everyone else on the board ! Being your own technician sometimes can take away from your musical experience. On the other hand when something goes nutty on the piano I don't have to sit and wait days or pay a technician to come and work on it. I learned what I know about pianos by helping a professional technician  and doing touch up tunings as follow up. I also have a guide book I use quite a bit. It was natural to tear into my own piano then. Being a mechanic by trade also helps.

And yes to your other posting, playing for public sheds new light on your work. We used to do wed night monthly work shops and I played two recitals years ago. Now I play for my rather large family when I need to get a piece of music off my chest !