Chopin Prelude 16

[pencilart3]

Here are some things to keep in mind before you listen:

1) I have learned it thus far without the help of a teacher
2) This is a WORK IN PROGRESS!! I know I can play it ten thousand times better with some help, and it will get much better with time, but I want some feedback now so I don't form any bad habbits!
3) You are posting to a 15 y.o. so don't feel like you need to be polite or respectful. Throw some punches!
4) I recorded this after a long practice session and my hands were a little tired... as someone else said, "I have to blame SOMEthing"!!  
5) I really really really want some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback! From anybody, whether or not you've played this piece or know anything about it. You've taken the time to read all this, just click "reply" and post one thing you don't like about my playing. PLEASE!!! I need the help!

So, here it is. sigh...      

[themeandvariation]

This piece is fierce. thunderous..   you have done much good work with it already… I feel that the left hand can have more definition/articulation.. and be treated more of an equal partner as far as foreground is concerned.. With all the mov't in the rh…the left sometimes is neglected.. Also i would practice it slower and steadier.. 
Good work.

[chopinlover01]

Horrible. Start from scratch. You never should've touched a piano.


With that joke out of the way, here are some thoughts.
Definitely articulate the LH some more, make sure the balance is excellent.
You also horribly overpedaled IMO. Everything seems to blur and my only thoughts are "when does the pedal get lifted?" If you so choose, it's possible to play this entire piece without pedal, albeit the LH will sound a bit choppy.
I posted a thread about this once, and I think J_menz said something like "the pedal seems to be the hardest part- enough to keep the bass together but not anything more, else the RH gets blurred". He couldn't be more right IMO, as far as interpretation goes.

[ahinton]

Very slow practice with no right pedal to begin with. Plenty of practice left hand alone (its part is as at least as fraught with problems as is that of the right). Another thing that you could try (although it doesn't work for everyone) is practising both hands together up to tempo but ony two quarter notes' worth at a time, i.e. from the beginning of a bar up to and including the first note/s on beat 3 and from there to the first notes/ in the following bar - do a few of those and then try to join up the fragments into twos, then fours, &c.

It's a tough challenge to bring off as it should be played and not everyone will be able to master it, let alone Martha it!

Best,

Alistair

[roncesvalles]

Good job on getting the notes down.   Apologies in advance for my vague response, but the first thing I felt upon listening to this, was that I could hear the strain involved.   That is something that I think will resolve itself with repeated practice.   What I think you should really focus on is phrasing and dynamics.   There is hardly a measure without some change in dynamics, but on the recording I didn't really feel the ebb and flow of dynamics, the surging and lightening implied by Chopin's rather detailed indications.   To practice this, I would slow it down several ticks, make sure you can make it nuanced and organic sounding, and then gradually bring it back up with that sound in mind.   

This is a really difficult piece, and you've got the grunt work out of the way--the notes are under your fingers.   Now it's all about polishing it up, transforming the notes into something with depth and something that can touch, with your control of phrasing and dynamics.

[pencilart3]

Thanks everyone for the replies. That's very kind of you all.

@chopinlover I read that thread, and as I was playing it, in the middle of the recording, I was thinking, "I wonder if j menz will chew my ear off about my pedaling when I upload this". Haha, looks like you've given him a start! LOL By the way, I think evgeny kissin plays it with no pedal, or almost, I think it sounds maybe a bit dry? What do you think of his performance? I like sergio tiempo's best, I think.

@ahinton, that's very very clever. I had a masterclass with vadym kholodenko once, (he won van cliburn ) and I was playing ballade 3. When it got to the middle section with those quick runs, through his (rather horrid) english, he told me precisely what you said. Thanks for the reminder, I need to do that man!

@roncesvalles & theme thank you for the replies! I will slow it down and bring out left hand more, maybe I'll post another recording in a few weeks once I have that down.

Thanks everyone for the replies!! Now I have something specific to work on today... YES!!! You have all made my day!!  

[birba]

Really, that wasn't bad at all!  I think what you need is "slow motion" practise.  This is practising at a reduced speed with the PHRASING.  As it is, it has no direction.  No musical sense.  When you go up, crescendo, when you descend, diminuendo.  Go through with a pencil and mark this phrasing.  Then exaggerate the crescendos and diminuendos.  Really exaggerate.  No note is similar to the note that precedes it, if you get what I mean.  The way you play it now, all the notes are the same. It sounds like a machine gun at times!  Practise it this way for several days.  no more than quarter note=60.  Exaggerate the accents in the left hand as well.  then pick it up a notch.  Maybe 80.  And do this.  But really concentrate on the direction of the right hand.  Where is it going?  Where's the apex to the phrase?  You'll see that the notes will come by themselves if you just take your mind off the individual 16th notes and think in phrases.
Good going, though,

[pencilart3]

Thanks birba! That was a very helpful post, I'm definitely going to try that this afternoon!