[VIDEO] BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel: Solfeggieto

[claudioportella]

Hi, this is my first topic here. 
I'm open to all comments and advices. 

[dogperson]

Great dynamics and phrasing — but alas, you are doing what most of us also do: play this piece faster than you can have all notes heard with the same  clarity

I would recommend going back to slow practicing—- never getting faster than you can retain the clarity. Critically listen— even taping yourself and  playing it back.

[claudioportella]

Thanks, dogperson. I'll try to work on that.

[j_tour]

Well, you've got the notes down, and you put a good bit of expression to it.

I think you're better than me at evening out each phrase when shared between the hands.

Although, I'd be a bad person if I didn't invite you to listen to what is, for me and probably a lot of people, namely, Bud Powell's tune "Bud on Bach."  That's the only reason I learned the tune, and even if the jazz part after the exposition doesn't strike you as interesting, he does a nice perfunctory play-through of the piece at the beginning.

[claudioportella]

I didn't know this piece. Very interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

[j_tour]

I didn't know this piece. Very interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

Well, sure.  By any regular standards, Bud's is not a very good performance as a piece, the CPE Bach part, but I think it's worth looking at the context of the piece.

The one thing I learned from Bud's performance, including his parts within his composition, is he really thinks in terms of one breath:  different from horn or reed players who have to take a breath every now and again. 

Also, naturally, the modulation is not something for Bud to get hung up about: just running the circle or the cycle is a walk in the park.

You might think about making a little improvisational or compositional exercise on the basis of CPE Bach's piece.  You know, idiomatic to the era.  Probably would be fun.

[quantum]

Hi, and welcome to Pianostreet!

You've got the notes and the tempo.  Now you've got to slow down as mentioned above, and work on getting phrases out of this piece. 

I would recommend working on making your wrists and palm of the hand more flexible.  There is no need for excess curl of the fingers in order to get into position.  Let the keys guide your fingers into position, then lift and drop fingers to play.  These are general pointers, however, it is much easier to show and demonstrate in person so is best if a teacher guide you through playing position.

There is a lot of great resources on these forums, so do stick around.