Just a piano student uploading videos to YouTube :)

[silentmhp]

Hello everyone, I'm new to these forums so please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post. 

I enjoy learning new music to upload to my YouTube channel, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my playing and I am up for any critiquing that you may have!

Here is the link to my channel:

Also, here is my cover of Prelude in C minor op. 28 no. 20:   

VVmiw

And my cover of Sonatina Op. 36, No. 4, mvt. 1: 

VVmiw

I again apologize if this is the wrong place to post - thank you!

[awesom_o]

Well played, Master Potter.
 
However, there were some small things which crossed my mind as I listened which I think you should be aware of.

In the Chopin, your rhythm struck me as being a little bit 'impatient'. Each time you play a chord, you seem desperate to get to the next one! As a result, the rhythm was a little imprecise.

It would be better if your desperation were channeled into 'hanging on to' the chords for their full length, in order to really show the tragic character implied by the harmony. And don't shortchange us with the rhythm! Subdivide every beat into smaller beats so it really sounds precise.

The Clementi contained many good things. Overall, however, it lacked the communicative quality which I thought you achieved quite well in the Chopin. Your interpretation was quite well-behaved as student performances go, albeit not flawless. Watch for certain small stylistic details that are really quite important: at 7 seconds in, your RH plays the F+ resolution very loudly, instead of "leaning" on the G# that came before it. We want to hear emphasis that lovely dissonance, smoothly resolving to F+. (More on the G#, less the A right after)


Overall good, spirited playing! Thank you for posting. I would love to hear the Clementi again once you have developed slightly greater comfort with the passagework!

Welcome to the forum.

[m1469]

Hi, Silent,

I've only just listened to the Chopin Prelude in c minor.  One of the tricky aspects of this prelude is that it is very easy to think only vertically, and while that is important in terms of voicing the chords, it is equally important to think and listen horizontally, as well, in order for the music to actually breathe and have phrasing.  

Since the chords generally appear stacked, it is very easy for the percussive nature of the piano and a matching technique to take over, and to then become disconnected with where a chord is actually going once it's sounded.  One good way to stay connected to each chord and to build horizontal phrasing is to literally listen to/"hang your ear" on each chord for the entire length it is sounding -even after you've struck it- in real time.  Mentally you can have a map of what comes next, but in real time listen as you go and you can hear how the chords actually fit together and build their own phrases.

Voicing within each chord is actually important in terms of horizontal phrasing, as well, because each voice has somewhere it "needs" to go horizontally, too.  Particularly, the balance between the top and the bottom are a bit disconnected from each other in your playing.  A good way to establish this musical balance is to play only the bottom and top of each chord for an entire phrase-length, listening for the balance between them, and for where they each move horizontally.

Happy playing!

[silentmhp]

Well played, Master Potter.
 
However, there were some small things which crossed my mind as I listened which I think you should be aware of.

In the Chopin, your rhythm struck me as being a little bit 'impatient'. Each time you play a chord, you seem desperate to get to the next one! As a result, the rhythm was a little imprecise.

It would be better if your desperation were channeled into 'hanging on to' the chords for their full length, in order to really show the tragic character implied by the harmony. And don't shortchange us with the rhythm! Subdivide every beat into smaller beats so it really sounds precise.

The Clementi contained many good things. Overall, however, it lacked the communicative quality which I thought you achieved quite well in the Chopin. Your interpretation was quite well-behaved as student performances go, albeit not flawless. Watch for certain small stylistic details that are really quite important: at 7 seconds in, your RH plays the F+ resolution very loudly, instead of "leaning" on the G# that came before it. We want to hear emphasis that lovely dissonance, smoothly resolving to F+. (More on the G#, less the A right after)


Overall good, spirited playing! Thank you for posting. I would love to hear the Clementi again once you have developed slightly greater comfort with the passagework!

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you, I appreciate your advice and I'll definitely use this when practicing   I did think that I played the Chopin too quickly!

[silentmhp]

Hi, Silent,

I've only just listened to the Chopin Prelude in c minor.  One of the tricky aspects of this prelude is that it is very easy to think only vertically, and while that is important in terms of voicing the chords, it is equally important to think and listen horizontally, as well, in order for the music to actually breathe and have phrasing.  

Since the chords generally appear stacked, it is very easy for the percussive nature of the piano and a matching technique to take over, and to then become disconnected with where a chord is actually going once it's sounded.  One good way to stay connected to each chord and to build horizontal phrasing is to literally listen to/"hang your ear" on each chord for the entire length it is sounding -even after you've struck it- in real time.  Mentally you can have a map of what comes next, but in real time listen as you go and you can hear how the chords actually fit together and build their own phrases.

Voicing within each chord is actually important in terms of horizontal phrasing, as well, because each voice has somewhere it "needs" to go horizontally, too.  Particularly, the balance between the top and the bottom are a bit disconnected from each other in your playing.  A good way to establish this musical balance is to play only the bottom and top of each chord for an entire phrase-length, listening for the balance between them, and for where they each move horizontally.

Happy playing!

Thank you so much for your well thought-out post!  It means a lot to me!