Chopin Nocturne Op.9 No.2

[davidcook1988]

Hello, fellow pianists

I would greatly appreciate it if you could check out my performance of Chopin's nocturne in E-flat major. I'm aware there are some mistakes but nonetheless, I would appreciate as much feedback as you are prepared to give!

Thanks in advance and I hope it isn't too unpleasant to your ears!!

[amytsuda]

I am not a piano teacher, so I am unqualified to give any feedback. Do you have a piano teacher? You should look for one. By the way, you are hitting a lot of wrong chords on the left hand.

My suggestion would be there are 1,000s of YouTube videos on this piece by tons of well-known pianists. Listen to them. Once you memorize it correctly, maybe even play together with them. Nowadays you can play it on YouTube on your mobile phone and you can play with them. I don't know if any piano teacher recommend such an approach, though.

[carl_h]

Hello David,

The left hand should be played softer and the 'faster' notes in the right hand are not very clear so I suggest a bit more hands seperate practice for both left and right hand.

In your video it said that you have been learning this for 3 weeks and you already did a good job in that short time. Keep working on it!

[davidcook1988]

carl_h - I hate to be a pain but could you possibly state where exactly the wrong chords are played? I was positive I was playing it right...despite the odd c**k up...

amytsude - Thanks for the pointers! I had a feeling that the left hand wasn't being played quiet enough, so thanks for confirming 

Does anyone else ever feel the pressure rise when turning on a recording device!? I can play so much better when I'm just playing for fun...it's the same when I play in front of my teacher, I just feel like it needs to be perfect and end up thinking too much and ultimately making a lot of mistakes! It is so annoying!!

[davidcook1988]

Sorry, got the names the wrong way.

[amytsuda]

Will try pointing them for you later after I finish my work....

[mjames]

Your touch/sounds worsens whenever you play ornaments and trills. Even on an electric, the pedal sounds pretty muddy/mushy in some areas. It looks like you're still not comfortable with the piece.

Try to play this piece on an actual piano sometime. I'm sure you want to do more with the piano than just this, so before you move on with your studies try spending more time on actual pianos. Believe me, there's a hugeeee difference. You may think you sound decent on an electrical, but when you play an actual one...YIKES! Acoustics are less forgiving lol  ...

Anyways, good job on it so far. It's a wonderful piece! Don't you go and ignore the other nocturnes now...

[amytsuda]

I am actually traveling and have no access to piano, but tried to pick the wrong left hand chords up. I may be wrong, because I can't check them on my piano, but I hope this gives enough pointers.....

2nd measure, last triplet, 2nd chord, it's F and C, but it sounds you are hitting F#.

3rd measure, 2nd triplet, 2nd chord, it's G and F, but maybe you are hitting A in stead of G? Can't tell exactly but doesn't sound right.

7th measure, 2nd triplet, 2nd chord, it's again G and F, but you are again hitting something else than G.

10th measure, 2nd triplet, last chord, it's Ab, Cb, and Eb, but you forgot flat on C which comes from the second chord.

11th measure, first triplet, last chord, it's Bb, Db and G, but you are hitting E instead of G.

11th measure, 2nd triplet, last chord, you are hitting E instead of G again.

Anyway, I will stop here, since I may not be 100% accurate.... again, I am not a pianist or piano teacher, so I probably shouldn't do this.... I am just an old amateur

[amytsuda]

Oh, I just listen to the next section, and notice some of the mistakes are fixed there, so it may be that you know the chords but not hitting them consistently every time.

Anyway, looking forward to the next upload!

[davidcook1988]

Amytsuda - Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to me. I spent a good length of time going through the left hand chords and it pains me to say that you were right! :-p
I'm not home at the moment but I was definitely playing a and f instead of g and f! I used to play it right as well.
I also found another couple of errors but hopefully they have now been fully resolved and I aim to upload a better version in the next week or so...

I just wish I didn't feel so under pressure whilst recording! I'm hoping if I do it enough it will become more natural for me!