K330 Mozart sonata 10 1st movement

[anfieldstuff]

Hey guys, I'm an aspiring pianist from india. I am 15 years old and would like to major in piano performance as part of dual degree program from a top music school in the U.S. such as Eastman, Peabody, NEC, Bienen or UMich..
I have an year and a half to prepare for my auditions and can practice up to 2 and a half hours a day due to academic constraints. I am also largely self taught nowadays, since I'm not able to find a teacher who can take me to the next level here.
I know there are a few mistakes, but could you please watch the video of my performance of Mozart's 10th sonata movement 1and give feedback, and also assess my chances at entering one of these schools? Thank you so much!

[faulty_damper]

Your technique kinda sucks.  It will limit playing more physically varied repertoire.

There's a significant lack of musical expression.  I.e. the various emotions of the movement are not reflected by the performance.  You rush through everything without bringing them out.  This is an inner hearing issue.  There are passages which express wonderment - do you hear them?  And joy - do you hear them?  Excitement - do you hear them?  Even if you don't hear them, you must express them.

[mjames]

Your technique kinda sucks.  It will limit playing more physically varied repertoire.

There's a significant lack of musical expression.  I.e. the various emotions of the movement are not reflected by the performance.  You rush through everything without bringing them out.  This is an inner hearing issue.  There are passages which express wonderment - do you hear them?  And joy - do you hear them?  Excitement - do you hear them?  Even if you don't hear them, you must express them.

Wow, ignore this post OP. it's your average "needs more emotion!!!!!!!!!" advice. Wait for an actual musician to show up. He's been a part of this forum for 10 years and he still hasn't given us a recording of his playing. So please don't take his "criticisms" to heart.

[j_menz]

There's a good foundation here, but you're rushing and it shows.

Practice playing it considerably more slowly, and much softer - weigh every note.

Also, practice playing it quite a bit faster so all the little technical glitches really show up - and iron them out.

Your tempo is a little unsteady, but I think that's a product of the rushing.

The LH is rather heavy in places - sometimes it's worth bringing out, but often it's just background harmony. Think about where is where and make the distinction in your playing.

Overall dynamics aren't bad, but the micro-dynamics within phrases needs work. Take each phrase apart and shape it.

Your touch defaults to a pretty standard detache. Feel free to vary it more. Some of the phrases can be more legato, and where it's more staccato you need to really bring that out more.

It's a pretty good effort, but you really need to give it that wow factor for an audition. It's got the basics, and you've got the time so that shouldn't be an issue.

At this point, it would also be useful to listen to a lot of performances of it by great pianists - search Youtube. Don't aim to copy any of them, but look for ideas you find interesting and steal them - keeping in mind the whole needs to remain coherent.

[anfieldstuff]

Thanks all for constructive criticism and advice.. I'll surely work on these things, is this recording alright for an audition for a summer camp?
Also, do you think with an effort for two hours and a half a day, I can make it into one of those schools I mentioned?

[amytsuda]

I have no knowledge of music school application process, and I am just an old amateur - - three times of your age. But since I never had a chance to study with a real teacher when I was a kid, and I know how disadvantaged not to have a good teacher, I just couldn't help to jump in to help a talented kid like you.

I don't think anyone on this forum can be a prophet to tell if you have a chance or not. I learned that piece when I was 12 and 30 some years later, I still can't play it well. Everyone has a different learning curve and speed. Maybe, you will improve so fast in the next one year. Some kids start and in 1-2 years, they already go to competitions. Some are forever beginners like me, even after learning 7 Mozart sonatas and many many other pieces.

But probably you need a teacher. Since you can't find one there, you may actually look for a teacher who can teach you by skype, or using video. I saw some ads like that on this forum. For example, I think there's something wrong with your trills (which note to start, which note goes with left note, up note, leaning note, etc), but it's really difficult to figure that out on your own. Phrasing and shaping of Mozart is hard, having a teacher showing how to use weight, wrist, relaxation of fingers to create effective shape is always helpful. Every composer, there's so much your teacher can help. As someone wrote, you got the foundation, so with a teacher helping you on all the details, you can probably become really good.

Oh, lastly, your Bach sounds good. I am not a Bach expert, but as far as I know, yes, you do detach the notes. Having said that, you may want to practice each voice separately so that you know exactly what each voice is singing. Sometimes they get meshed up and become some sorts of chords accompaniment, but with Bach, you actually have to make sure each voice is singing. Well, don't listen to me, I am really not educated! But my point is, do find a teacher, if you have to by online, better than none for you to get to the next level.

[anfieldstuff]

Thank you for the nice words, amytsuda.. I will definitely work more on my pieces.. I'm applying to a summer piano intensive program at the University of New York and hoping I get through, for a brilliant opportunity for some lessons
Also planning some classes in London with distinguished pedagogues like Peter Feuchtwanger.

[anfieldstuff]

Your technique kinda sucks.  It will limit playing more physically varied repertoire.

There's a significant lack of musical expression.  I.e. the various emotions of the movement are not reflected by the performance.  You rush through everything without bringing them out.  This is an inner hearing issue.  There are passages which express wonderment - do you hear them?  And joy - do you hear them?  Excitement - do you hear them?  Even if you don't hear them, you must express them.

I'm pretty sure I have a good inner hearing. But I will work on the rest.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Hi, it's not bad but could definitely be improved. The most obvious thing is to clearly delineate the dialogue between phrases. Often they are arranged in pairs, question and answer, or statement and answer. By bringing this out, you will communicate the internal superstructure of the music (I'm talking not about beats here, but typically about two and four bar units) more effectively to the listener, and it will sound far more coherent. As it stands, it's rather a case one thing repeatedly juxtaposed onto its neighbours to make a larger, not very comprehensible unit. You can do this by a two part process, firstly shaping phrases so that the music rises and falls within them, secondly it is acceptable to allow an almost imperceptible (so that it is not disruptive to the rhythm) breath at the end of a phrase. Think of it like speech, if someone was to talk absolutely continuously and not punctuate it with a pause for breath, it would become a garbled, boring, semi-incomprehensibility after a while.

Also, in music like this it is important to bring out contrasts of dynamics between p and f, and contrasts of touch between staccato and legato. This will make it more interesting to the listener, though I accept and suspect that your recording equipment isn't great and is minimising any contrast you may have already tried to apply. Go to YouTube and find great performers' recordings - you will likely find they are doing the things I have suggested.

You are off to a good start with what you have already done.

[cbreemer]

My impression is that you do have a good foundation here but are merely going through the notes.
By all means ignore the remark about technique (that post kinda sucks   ). Mozart is hardly ever about technique, and I think you have enough of it at this moment. But you are just going through the notes as yet. Before even considering an audition you really need to think about phrasing, articulation, dynamic variation, elegance, and that kind of thing. Listen to what great classical pianists do with Mozart, and take your clues from that (but don't just imitate...).

Mozart is difficult music to start with, even when it is technically easy. You are very exposed and have no excuses for anything to be less than perfect. Play it only when you really love and feel the music, and try to transmit that to the listener. I hope this helps some !

[anfieldstuff]

It does help definitely.. Will continue to work on this.
Thanks all!
How would you assess my chances at one of those schools though?

[faulty_damper]

I'm pretty sure I have a good inner hearing. But I will work on the rest.

If you do, it doesn't show.  Inner hearing is not about hearing the notes in your mind - it's about hearing the music in your mind.  Music has inherent meaning but the way you performed it does not express it.

[perfect_playing]

Thanks all for constructive criticism and advice.. I'll surely work on these things, is this recording alright for an audition for a summer camp?
Also, do you think with an effort for two hours and a half a day, I can make it into one of those schools I mentioned?

I don't know how hard it is to get into those schools, so I can't comment.

I will, however, say that the amount of time you spend practising is not at all proportional to how much you improve as a pianist. You can spend 2.5 hours a day practising and not progress at all, or even get worse, if you don't practise correctly. However, you can practise only 1-1.5 hours a day and make lots of progress with lots of different pieces if you do it the right way.