Fur Elise - love this piece

[ranniks]

I don't play it well, but I love the piece either way.

[awesom_o]

Bravo!

Would you like to play it a bit better?

[theholygideons]

I can tell it's bad, because you already have superfluous notes in the first measure.  

[ranniks]

Bravo!

Would you like to play it a bit better?

Thank you sir.

Well....Yes and no. Yes because I love the piece, no because I'm trying to finetune the bach prelude 2 (some advice me to just give this piece up because some things just won't get better if you aren't at a certain level) and learn the grieg op 12 no 2 (this is a very enjoyable piece, Richter's version is particularly nice.). Maybe it will get too much.

If you have advice though, I would much appreciate it. But if you could keep in mind that I'm a 12-13 month beginner, that would be welcome. Some technical terms are still a mystery to me.

[hfmadopter]

Fur Elise to me is one of those pieces you can keep for a lifetime if you want to. Perhaps put it on the back burner for a while though. You do get through it now. You need practice in pieces that will help evenness and rhythm and gain technique in finger control. Don't consider Fur Elise  done yet but it could be that you have gotten from it what you are going to get from it, considering your level of experience ( PS does rate it as a level 5 piece FWIW). Put it away perhaps, and bring it out now and then to keep your hand in it, since you love it. Maybe work it up again in a year or so and see how you have gained in technique in that time. Don't think or feel that you are abandoning it but just that you need that time you would be spending on it to gain some more technique to return and do it better.

Just a thought.

[awesom_o]

If you have advice though, I would much appreciate it.

Take a good look at the score. It sounds to me a bit like you've been practicing it by ear too much. There is a time signature in this piece, and you've made quite a serious rhythmic error at the very beginning.

I want you to figure out what it is!

[ranniks]

Fur Elise to me is one of those pieces you can keep for a lifetime if you want to. Perhaps put it on the back burner for a while though. You do get through it now. You need practice in pieces that will help evenness and rhythm and gain technique in finger control. Don't consider Fur Elise  done yet but it could be that you have gotten from it what you are going to get from it, considering your level of experience ( PS does rate it as a level 5 piece FWIW). Put it away perhaps, and bring it out now and then to keep your hand in it, since you love it. Maybe work it up again in a year or so and see how you have gained in technique in that time. Don't think or feel that you are abandoning it but just that you need that time you would be spending on it to gain some more technique to return and do it better.

Just a thought.

That sounds like a great plan David.

Take a good look at the score. It sounds to me a bit like you've been practicing it by ear too much. There is a time signature in this piece, and you've made quite a serious rhythmic error at the very beginning.

I want you to figure out what it is!

The only thing I notice right now is that each note in the first and second meassure (the first meassure only counts 2 notes in my sheet while being in 3/8 time) are 16ths, thus you can play them evenly.

I would count and play like this:

First meassure: one two
Second meassure: one two three four five six
Third meassure (this one has one 8th and three 16ths): one two (this counts for the 8th) 3 (this counts for the pause) four five six (this counts for the three 16ths).

Counting like that works easier for me since I lose grip when counting "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" (not always).

I believe that if I practise and count in that manner, that the piece, rhytmetically, would come out much better. Trouble would arise at the second theme of the piece though.

When I first 'conquered' the second theme, I couldn't get the very beginning of it to sound like some youtube videos, today however, it does sound more like them. Small victory.

Today I was at an elderly home and I played Fur Elise and a Schumann piece. After Fur Elise one of the elderly yelled "now play Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto". Haha:p. Yeah, no thanks. Give me 5-10 years and just maybe.....

[awesom_o]

I also think it would be very useful for you to practice this piece without touching the pedal.

It will help you to better understand the problems you are having with the piece.

[outin]

The only thing I notice right now is that each note in the first and second meassure (the first meassure only counts 2 notes in my sheet while being in 3/8 time) are 16ths, thus you can play them evenly.

I would count and play like this:

First meassure: one two

You should not count one two on the first measure. Did your teacher not tell you how count incomplete measures? To find the correct pulse you should start counting with 3 (assuming you count one-two-three on every measure) or count 1-2 first but only start playing on 3.

I believe that if I practise and count in that manner, that the piece, rhytmetically, would come out much better. Trouble would arise at the second theme of the piece though.

You are trying to play much faster than you can, you must slow down until you know what you are doing  

[ranniks]

I also think it would be very useful for you to practice this piece without touching the pedal.

It will help you to better understand the problems you are having with the piece.

Well, I did a session without pedals today and afterwards with pedal. Included the recording with pedal. Do you see any improvement?

You should not count one two on the first measure. Did your teacher not tell you how count incomplete measures? To find the correct pulse you should start counting with 3 (assuming you count one-two-three on every measure) or count 1-2 first but only start playing on 3.
You are trying to play much faster than you can, you must slow down until you know what you are doing  

He may have once, but I can't remember. Maybe he didn't at all.

It's true what you say about playing too fast than I can. Just today I was practising the grieg piece and when I slowed down it became less sloppy. But I'm an energetic person/sometimes ADHD, so hopefully I'll get the speed up in par with the technique.

Edit:

To clarify: I'm not 'working' on this piece right now. Just playing it because it....Well....Sounds good.

[awesom_o]

You still played some extra notes at the very beginning.