Reverie of Debussy

[faa2010]

Hi,

I am practicing the Reverie of Debussy. I know it is not perfect, so I would like some feedback in order to improve.

Eg, have the same timing of the beginning and the piu mosso part once I return to those times. Remark the melody. Use the right colors.

Note: I already memorized the piece a while ago, so I am playing it without reading a music sheet nor by sightreading.

[dogperson]

- think about the balance Between the two hands:  the hand with the melody needs to sing above the other.  You might try singing it to yourself and listen to the dynamics and phrasing  as a singer  would sing it
-think  of the left hand accompaniment as an undulating wave with the peak st the top, and receding
- pull out the score and look at the dynamics: they are from pp to ff and I am not hearing that
- measure 5: the timing is off. Practice slowly

I would recommend practicing with the score

[tinyhands]

I agree with dogperson, you need to phrase the melody more, their advice is true you should sing the melody and notice how a singer would shape it, when to breathe etc. Also take out the pedal out completely just now and go back to practicing with the score, slowly. At the moment you are not doing yourself any favours by using incorrect pedal work.  All it is doing is masking uneven playing. You I’ll see improvements if you break it down and really know how to shape each hand individually. At the moment it just sounds like a melody and accompaniment rather than an impressionistic piece which should move and swell like a wave. Good luck .

[tinyhands]

I really like these visual representations ( see link attached) you can find them on you tube.  I can’t see a Reverie one but here is Arabesque. I think it’s a really good way to see how the music is shaped. Hope the link works. There are a few on you tube, I think they are very helpful.

[tinyhands]

One more piece of advice I would give is try to imagine a narrative or story to go along with your playing, especially for impressionistic music, you need to be telling a story or painting a picture with your colours. For me, Reverie always reminds me of an old man at the end of his life and a young boy, On a cold Wintery day and the old man is telling the young boy about his life, it’s quite sad but heartwarming and there is hope for the knowledge he will pass down to the young boy. I love impressionist music for this reason, I often feel it’s like when you look at a painting in a gallery and you can lose yourself in it.

[dogperson]

Forgot to provide this link: https://djupdal.org/karstein/debussy/method/m04.shtml
which is insights from Debussy regarding playing his music. Topics are on the right hand side

https://djupdal.org/karstein/debussy/method/m04.shtml

[faa2010]

Hi, I have an update, I hope I have improved even a little.

[dogperson]

 think about taping yourself and listening in a critical way.

[tinyhands]

It’s getting better, you are bringing the melody out which is good but still need much more work on your dynamics.Again I agree with dogperson, if you record yourself you will hear yourself much more objectively and you will notice you can have so much more room for the variation in pp to ff. Also listening back with your eyes closed to really hear the music.  I still feel it is a little laboured and plodding along rather than flowing naturally, it feels a little straight rather than a piece that should be ‘breathing’ but it’s getting there, well done. 

[tinyhands]

I like this version...listen to 0.27 for example , the LH swelling like a wave.. try to hear parts like that throughout...

[lostinidlewonder]

Debussy's music shouldn't sound like a metronome can play alolng with it, it needs to bend and twist with the tempo something that your recordings are totally lacking. It is not about hitting the notes at exactly the right time as it is written on the page, you need to listen to more Debussy and get the feel for his musical language.

[faa2010]

I had a recital on Thursday where I played it. Unfortunately I couldn't record it at that moment. However, I record it a few hours later, with less mistakes.

I wanted to send the video, but it is too big and I don't want to use Youtube because I want to keep in secret my identity, so I converted the video to a mp3 file.

In the recital I made some mistakes, because it came a moment where my mind flew somewhere else, but just for some seconds, then I could continue. Also I did some false notes. In this recording I did less mistakes.

[tinyhands]

Much better than your first posting, you could still work on it flowing more and really bringing out the dynamics, but well done! good to hear improvements in your playing. I think the recording skipped in the middle or was it my computer maybe.