rant thread

[chopin2015]

Here! Because I like to rant, please feel free to express your frustration(appropriately) regarding any music, composer, performance or whatever.

Mine is chopin op 25 no 11 etude. What the heck?! Why so cruel? I can sight read through etudes(ok, atleast one...lol). But this one...how can one not make a mistake? I rarely hear a performance of this without a mistake. I didnt practice it for 2 days and today i swear i tore something trying to play it and my left ear popped.  It takes soooo long. Ugh i just cant stop practicing it though because i put so much time and effort into it! Grrrr.
Then, my cat bit my face when I tried to cuddle.

What has my life become?


 
Your turn

[chopin2015]

Also, I bought a scriabin complete sonata book.....WHYYYYY??!!?...who actually plays those things? Lol. Meh maybe after I do some Ravel with success. So in year 387654 on Mars.

 

[outin]

Next time but back to show you're the boss...that works every time  

My rant?

Bach  
Bach  
Bach  
Bach

Yesterday I refingered a piece for the 3rd time...Incompatible hands  

[chopin2015]

Hey! Atleast your cat didnt bite your face...as if i wasnt already being completely avoided by all male existence. Lmao

Sorry to hear about the bach but...my face hurts. Lol

In all seriousness...have u tried another invention? Maybe a short prelude and fugue. Im in love with the 5th one from book 1.

[ajspiano]

Dog bit me last night, I'm sporting 4 or 5 punctures on my left 3rd finger.

So why did it bite me? Its afraid of feet and I walked passed it. Bloody nutter. Not that we didn't know it had a problem, thats the only reason its at my house. Still, pissed I actually got bitten.

Its been a while. Thought I was on a roll.

[outin]

Hey! Atleast your cat didnt bite your face...as if i wasnt already being completely avoided by all male existence. Lmao

Sorry to hear about the bach but...my face hurts. Lol

Serious advice: Get it properly desinfected. If it's a puncture type wound and the area gets badly swollen and this goes on more that a day or so get antibiotics asap. Cat bites are the worst, you might end up with all kinds of nasty things...Trust me I know, I have been bitten by cats so many times.

My own wouldn't dare (except accidently)...That's the number one rule in my house and they know it...

In all seriousness...have u tried another invention? Maybe a short prelude and fugue. Im in love with the 5th one from book 1.

This will be my side profect for some time...I am not dropping it after so much work on it already (you know what I am talking about, right?)...I don't aim for Gould's speed which is insane, but something like Schiff's. But first I need to get those damn fingerings into my head 

[outin]

Dog bit me last night, I'm sporting 4 or 5 punctures on my left 3rd finger.

Oh dear, this is even worse than the face...you need all your fingers for that Rach...hope it heals soon

[ajspiano]

Oh dear, this is even worse than the face...you need all your fingers for that Rach...hope it heals soon

It will be fine.. He's only a little fellow. Finger is still fully operational.. And he hopefully at least partially learnt not to try it again after the less than impressed an unafraid response he got from me. Its precisely why he's here. He's a dog that's without a home... And cant be rehomed because of aggression when people walk through doors..

[outin]

It will be fine.. He's only a little fellow.

Good, but remember that size has nothing to do with it...

[teran]

I think everyone chooses to ask me questions and disturb me as much as possible as soon as I start practising.

When I'm not at the piano nobody really bothers me, but as soon as I'm in the zone, "oh hey can you do something for me quickly?"

-__-

Life isn't cruel because of its overt challenges, life is cruel because of its consistent minor annoyances. Like seriously annoying. >:/

[chopin2015]

Oh dear, this is even worse than the face...you need all your fingers for that Rach...hope it heals soon

Heeey....i need my face for winter wind! Lol

Sorry to hear about your hand, aj. I hope its not punctured too much. You really should tattoo some eyes and bunny ears on your feet and that could solve your problem.

[Bob]

Technical walls.

Not being able to predict when things will improve or exactly what makes them improve.

[ajspiano]

@teran

My fiance it guilty of this. Its like as soon as you sit down people start making a deliberate effort to plan your day for you.. And non-pianists flat out do not understand that you need time to get into the zone, but a split second interruption and you've totally lost it.

@outin
Those things attack in packs and are slippery as hell (hard to grab a hold of). Not at unreasonable point though, perhaps ill check the size of kips teeth when i get home later today.

[Derek]

@teran

My fiance it guilty of this. Its like as soon as you sit down people start making a deliberate effort to plan your day for you.. And non-pianists flat out do not understand that you need time to get into the zone, but a split second interruption and you've totally lost it.

This used to bother me greatly when I was first dating my now wife, Laurie. I suppose there was a time when I thought I'd be doing music professionally, but as loving my wife is a much higher priority for me, I sort of allowed this new dynamic in my life to help shape me, along with various role models in my life I finally converged on a lifestyle which admits musicianship with 0% bristling at interruptions, and 0% bothering those that I love. Yes, it involves the clavichord...haha. A quiet, intimate instrument INTENDED for quiet, private music making in the home. Several of my clavichord recordings actually include interruptions by my wife, and I have come to find this "spontaneous" audio collage a charming part of what I create. Sometimes I think that I am a human chameleon, adaptable in an infinity of ways to whatever circumstances confront me. I'm rather grateful I did not cling too much to the "everyone must tip toe around me because I'm a MUSICIAN" ethos that seems to prevail. The fascinating and somewhat startling end-result of all this is that even musically I feel more fulfilled. All of this was very easy for me to do perhaps because I lack all ambition that involves the external world...no idea why. 100% internally motivated, I suppose. I can see why for most individuals, any ambition involving the external world may put a variety of requirements on others' in one's life which may be challenging to resolve.

[j_menz]

My fiance it guilty of this. Its like as soon as you sit down people start making a deliberate effort to plan your day for you.. And non-pianists flat out do not understand that you need time to get into the zone, but a split second interruption and you've totally lost it.

Learn from the dog. No-one interrupts me without body armour. 

[ajspiano]

Learn from the dog. No-one interrupts me without body armour. 

Are you married? if so, does this apply to your wife?

[chopin2015]

All you married/engaged musicians....you break my heart.
Lol


All the good ones be taken or dead.  

[ajspiano]

All the good ones be taken or dead.  

I'm not a good one...   I just managed to convince someone otherwise.

[chopin2015]

Awe, shucks. Lol

[ajspiano]

I am a decent person actually, plus I only got bitten on the hand - so my face is still pretty.

Realistically though, while I think serious classical pianists are pretty attractive, I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with one...  that's a sure way to feel like you're less important to the person you love than a big hunk of wood and metal...

[chopin2015]

Heeey! Lol i still look...ok you got me. Haha

And I see your point. I couldnt be with another pianist either because....when would we practice? Would we have 2 pianos and separate rooms? A house and a barn and take turns on who's turn to go to the barn?   Lol sadly, i dont have anything to talk about besides music and alternatively, cant even usually talk about science either so im going to be single for a long time, seeing that i cant marry beethoven or chopin. So Thank god for my hunk of wood and metal and ivory. Dont you forget the ivory. Hahahah

But who am i kidding. I think it would be fun to date a pianist and hopefully some day, I will have the pleasure of doing so.
 

[ajspiano]

But who am i kidding. I think it would be fun to date a pianist and hopefully some day, I will have the pleasure of doing so.
 

If we're making a list or traits/qualities, I think it would be infinitely better to be with a competent singer or string player. That way you have a mountain of repertoire for the both of you to play together and getting lost in music is a joint thing.

My fiance is a fairly 'talented' singer, at least so far as contemporary music. It would be better if she had some proper training and could sight sing, but its not so bad her learning things by ear. She'd also be better at jazz with some training but she gradually picks things up.. she can sing jazz, but its not improvised, it has to be set.. and she doesn't cope so well if I do something unexpected

[chopin2015]

I see. Yeh i was in love with a guitarist once, but couldnt provide to his physical desires. I. A sick, sick girl. Lol. And i really want to live with a violinist. Not like a love relationship, i dont have such needs, sadly. But it would be cool to collab and work with one for a long period of my life.

[j_menz]

Are you married?

Nope. Though I don't see that that would make a difference.


** wonders to what extent sentence 2 explains sentence 1.

[ajspiano]

** wonders to what extent sentence 2 explains sentence 1.

When I was in highschool one of my friendlier, and perhaps wiser teachers told me that I'd one day have to choose between music and a woman.

... apparently as he had done with a car collection at one point. He didnt provided details but I already knew that he used to be married.

[chopin2015]

Yo how do i get winter wind to not hurt me? 5 more years? X(

[ajspiano]

Yo how do i get winter wind to not hurt me? 5 more years? X(

At the risk of inducing more ranting..

You play it with a better technique. 

edit:
it sure as hell wouldn't want to take 5 years to learn an etude.. god knows how long I'd be stuck with rachmaninoff if that was the case.

[ajspiano]

seriously though chopin, what do you feel when you play it, musically? where is the pulse? ..and which part of it is the problem? or is just the whole thing?

[chopin2015]

The problem is that it still makes me sore. Im going to continue playing it slow until i am able to play comfortably there, and then try next tempo. Its just the process that is unnerving. I dont want to think...heeere we go. I had 1 good performance and felt lots of musical moments that were surprising, like bass notes as fast aa trills were really empowering, and the middle pretty section was mysterious. Thats what i felt from the good performance. Otherwise, i just stress about the technique and accents, and its a slippery slope, ready to fall apart any minute. Have u seen this etude? Its 8 pages long sir. Ill take as long as i have to because its gonna be a hell of a etude to hear me play, some day. But id like to wine about it any chance i get.  i work on alot of things though, and know a couple etudes by memory.

[ajspiano]

The problem is that it still makes me sore. Im going to continue playing it slow until i am able to play comfortably there, and then try next tempo. Its just the process that is unnerving. I dont want to think...heeere we go. I had 1 good performance and felt lots of musical moments that were surprising, like bass notes as fast aa trills were really empowering, and the middle pretty section was mysterious. Thats what i felt from the good performance. Otherwise, i just stress about the technique and accents, and its a slippery slope, ready to fall apart any minute. Have u seen this etude? Its 8 pages long sir. Ill take as long as i have to because its gonna be a hell of a etude to hear me play, some day. But id like to wine about it any chance i get.  i work on alot of things though, and know a couple etudes by memory.

I've played through it entirely quite a few times, and can play the main bad-ass theme like pollini..   ofcourse I understand that playing the whole thing properly is an entirely different deal to just a few bars.

Aurally I know it extremely well and its on my to do list as far as playing the rest of it properly.

[chopin2015]

God those accents make me hot....literally. it can only be done best ata faster tempo.  You should def learn the whole. Its really fun. Especially to complain about. And i could give u fingerings! Lol ive studied this one at a university in russia with a guy that knew neuhaus.

[ajspiano]

God those accents make me hot....literally. it can only be done best ata faster tempo.

LOL.  yeh I'm probably partial to a Russian accent too.

Fingerings hey? didnt like chopins? Maybe I'll trade you for some rach.

[chopin2015]

Hahahaha
I meant the chromatic accents and the rest of them lol. But cool! Lol
I like chopins! But i tried so many fingerings....i know where each one goes and how far itll get you. Its like a labyrinth! Yeah. Lets trade! 

[j_menz]

Hahahaha
I meant the chromatic accents and the rest of them lol. But cool! Lol
I like chopins! But i tried so many fingerings....i know where each one goes and how far itll get you. Its like a labyrinth! Yeah. Lets trade! 

No offence, but why would anyone want a fingering that hurts?

Oh, and to answer your signature, all my magnets run by clockwork.

[ajspiano]

Hahahaha
I meant the chromatic accents and the rest of them lol.

Yeh I know - note that if you take every third one on the beat moving down you get a diminished arp? F, D, B, Ab, F etc.

Feel the pulse stronger on those ones, and feel like your floating over the others...  and see if that makes it easier to rip through, effortless.

[ajspiano]

No offence, but why would anyone want a fingering that hurts?

So do you think chopin's hurts or my rach one hurts?

EDIT:
oh wait.. I see now :/    .. I doubt its the fingering that's the problem though.

[j_menz]

So do you think chopin's hurts or my rach one hurts?

Your Rach may hurt your pride, your social life and your sanity; I doubt it will hurt your hands.

EDIT:
oh wait.. I see now :/    .. I doubt its the fingering thats the problem here.

Probably not, but were you to deviate from Freddie's own, I doubt anyone who should be playing this couldn't come up with their own.

[ajspiano]

Your Rach may hurt your pride, your social life and your sanity; I doubt it will hurt your hands.

You know mov 2 is only 215 bars...  I started preliminary reading and serious listening today. It may actually not drive me crazy like the other 2 will.

Probably not, but were you to deviate from Freddie's own, I doubt anyone who should be playing this couldn't come up with their own.

Indeed, - while I'm interested in seeing other peoples, at this stage its extremely unlikely that I'd deviate from my any of my own partially practiced fingerings in winter-wind, which are mostly inline with fred's anyway..  funnily enough he tends to know whats up.

[chopin2015]

No offence, but why would anyone want a fingering that hurts?

Oh, and to answer your signature, all my magnets run by clockwork.

I wonder what you mean. It only hurts for a little bit.

@aj

I know all that, but the part right before the left hand kicks in with the diminished /min 3rds, the accents in all those parts get difficult. Not like the 3rd section before the 2nd descend main theme variation, this 3rd section 2nd theme is more difficult!  I just cant get it all the time! Then the 3rds in left hand, then the pretty middle section,  which is not difficult. The only other part thats crazy is when the left hand accends in dim 5ths? And the right descends in its own patterns at the same time. So fun to play when youre ready for it, otherwise terrifying. Then after lthe only pauses in the whole piece, main theme from beginning, same ascend, then descends again the same way except last bar or so before ascending again differently, and the end is the most stretchy, in my opinion. Which must have been hilareous to chopin, when he wrote it. Then after 1 more little left hand scale, the polyrhythm part of 3 over 2, not too hard. The presto scale at the end, sweet if you have a breath left in you. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes just now...lol i skipped talking about the 2nd descend/ ascend and the part after it before the 3rd descend. But over all....thanks alot, chopin. I enjoy trying and trying to master it, again and again. And so does my piano. Haha

[j_menz]

You know mov 2 is only 215 bars...  I started preliminary reading and serious listening today. It may actually not drive me crazy like the other 2 will.

And you get that nice little rest at the start. The luxury!

[chopin2015]

And told you so about the second mov. I learnt whole second movement of my concerto first hand and felt relief. But, its only 8 pages. So i learnt the orchestra reduction, like you said....lol.
Then bought the tracks for play along. 1st mvm is driving me nuts. I can hardly get this one part in tempo. Its like a turn but in thirds....lol. so im trying to make sound right instead of sloppy joe. Its gonna take some hours   but as they say in texas, git et dunn.

[ajspiano]

I wonder what you mean. It only hurts for a little bit.

well, any pain suggests that there is something wrong.

In regard to the rest.. generally chopin is pushing similar points throughout the etudes, just developing them..   I mean to suggest that you should go over these difficult sections, and make sure that you are using these basic concepts, feeling the pulse and such..  analyse why a particular section is difficult, do some more HS if its a technical thing.. figure out why.. if you feel like you are not progressing then you are missing something.. it should never feel like its that far off if you are really ready for it.

Its easy to get caught up in your desire to play it full pace and just run through with all that passion not actually delving into the real issues, especially when your so close to getting it.

And you get that nice little rest at the start. The luxury!

I know, Bonus!  

[chopin2015]

well, any pain suggests that there is something wrong.

In regard to the rest.. generally chopin is pushing similar points throughout the etudes, just developing them..   I mean to suggest that you should go over these difficult sections, and make sure that you are using these basic concepts, feeling the pulse and such..  analyse why a particular section is difficult, do some more HS if its a technical thing.. figure out why.. if you feel like you are not progressing then you are missing something.. it should never feel like its that far off if you are really ready for it.

Its easy to get caught up in your desire to play it full pace and just run through with all that passion not actually delving into the real issues, especially when your so close to getting it.
I know, Bonus!  

I had soreness just from practicing slowly sometimes! If it hurts or i feel tension-I stop. Thats generally the rule. I have learnt how to relax no matter where i am in the piece. The section im still messing up often, i didnt practice it with a metronome for a while and couldnt feel the pulse of the rhytm, before the melodic pulse. I have a recording up right now on utube, but have not shared it because its for my own educational purposes. I am working on many pieces right now, but i feel it helps with my stretch span and flexibility.  but boy that concerto ate up alot of time and energy today.

[ajspiano]

And told you so about the second mov. I learnt whole second movement of my concerto first hand and felt relief. But, its only 8 pages.

I'm actually kind of joking..   lisitsas recording it comes in at 10:26, not far behind the 3rd mov at 13:31...   and its basically unfinished, as it runs directly into the 3rd mov without stopping..   and if you take a look at the score it has just as much balls as the others..  less bars maybe, but i mean, it has a chord (rolled obviously) that spans 2 octaves and a 6th.. A.K.A. a 22nd. Come on man.

[chopin2015]

Ok....

[j_menz]

it has a chord (rolled obviously) that spans 2 octaves and a 6th.. A.K.A. a 22nd. Come on man.

Oh come on, it's only 5 notes. 

You need to play more Bach transcriptions - you wouldn't have even blinked at it.

[ajspiano]

Oh come on, it's only 5 notes. 

You need to play more Bach transcriptions - you wouldn't have even blinked at it.

Perhaps having played a single bach transcription may help?

You know I wasn't seriously suggesting that made the movement impossibly hard anyway..  it can be split into to hand positions that are only an octave in width..

[perprocrastinate]

..but i mean, it has a chord (rolled obviously) that spans 2 octaves and a 6th.. A.K.A. a 22nd. Come on man.

And now for my annoying pedantic action of the day!

Two octaves and a sixth is a 21st, not a 22nd. (EDIT: Actually, it depends on how you look at it. Eh, whatever.)

And I leave, having contributed little to nothing to the conversation. Thank you folks, I'll be here all week (or forever)..

[chopin2015]

And now for my annoying pedantic action of the day!

Two octaves and a sixth is a 21st, not a 22nd. (EDIT: Actually, it depends on how you look at it. Eh, whatever.)

And I leave, having contributed little to nothing to the conversation. Thank you folks, I'll be here all week (or forever)..

Love you.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Having sooooo much music, but soooooo little time...