Performance of Chopin Prelude No.7 in A Major

[ericapiano]

Hello,

This is my second upload to my youtube channel, I decided to play a very short but beautiful prelude by Chopin, this is the Prelude No.7 in A Major Op. 28 No.7. Here is a link to the recording on youtube.

I would greatly appreciate any comments on how I can improve my performance, thank you.

-Erica

[thalbergmad]

It's mostly there, but a trifle over pedalled.

Good effort.

[ericapiano]

It's mostly there, but a trifle over pedalled.

Good effort.

Thank you, I agree once I listened to the recording it is a little over pedalled. I think I should up the temp a bit too.

[debussychopin]

I would suggest minimizing the rubato especially in this piece as this inherently has a sappy quality to it (as a lot of chopin does) the rubato just makes it a bit more unbearable to hear like as if played at a senior home with a lot of elders dozing off in their wheelchairs and such while the nurse plays this on the old piano. If that is what you are going for , then it is fine.
However for a performance in class or recital I would suggest more a straightforward play of this tune and with less pedaling (use pedal to enhance connection chords in legato, more of a function, not as an overlay of molasses to cover up the piece) and let the piece, by itself, express itself.

Also, the term Andante means  having the piece played out in the tempo of sort of like walking or taking a stroll.
Andantino will be slightly quicker and more livelier than that.

So this piece should be quickened up a bit, not too fast, but not sluggish.

3/4 time in chopin usually means a waltz or a waltz like composition, so as you know, the dance has a walking tempo style to it ,is not a fast dance nor a sluggish dance. Look up some waltzes to see their tempos to get a general feel for them. and then add the dots together w the andantino.

[quantum]

I think the next thing is to work out the direction of the music.  Decide which points in the phrase are the most important, and move towards them.  Also watch out when you have jumps or stretches for your hands, that the melody does not have any undesired accentuation.  Aim for a smooth line. 

3/4 time in chopin usually means a waltz or a waltz like composition, so as you know, the dance has a walking tempo style to it ,is not a fast dance nor a sluggish dance. Look up some waltzes to see their tempos to get a general feel for them. and then add the dots together w the andantino.

A bit of an over generalization IMO.  Chopin wrote music for a number of dance forms in triple meter.  There are instances where he would change the modelled dance form within the same piece, sometimes within a phrase, without any indication towards change of meter.  Triple meter does not by default equate to the waltz, the beat emphasis and rhythmic cells suggest dace form.