J.S. Bach - Invention no 13

[truecam]

I previously uploaded a recording of me playing this, and have been working on it a lot recently.

I have taken the advice that people gave me in the previous post and I think I fixed a fair bit of the issues, but I am unsure about parts, especially tempo. I think there are problems when it gets into the faster areas it tends to speed up, from what I hear listening back.

I tried to bring out the lines I thought were important and to be consistent with articulation. Mostly I just played staccato on the longer notes, but I changed this up a little to bring out parts I thought were important. The biggest question mark I have is at the end with the articulation on the left hand. Maybe a bit much.

I have been listening to a lot of different people play this piece and I think there are a few interesting ideas I have in my interpretation, so hopefully you will enjoy my playing/ hear something new.

If you have any criticisms or advice I would appreciate it, I like this piece quite a bit and want to keep improving on it. Thank you!

[lelle]

Just got to listening to this. I think this is a massive improvement over the previous version, which I listened to and commented on previously. I listened back again just now to compare.Keep it up and keep working on it like you have, or go and explore more music, grow your skills and then come back to this again. If you want something to focus on improving, your tempo is slightly unsteady at times. I think you can be proud of what you have accomplished here, and there is no need to keep working on this for now unless you'd really enjoy to!

[45310]

Very nice performance overall.
The THEME of this famous invention has 8 notes finishing on C. That C note - would sound nicer if would be resolved Plus should be clearly understood as the last note of the Theme -throughout the piece in both voices.
LH quarter note - slightly emphasized!
Tied notes - given a bit of attention

[xdanielyj]

I think it's a great performance!

I liked your articulation on the longer notes. I found that the super short staccatos some other people do on this piece can be a bit boring, so your longer non-legato touch was nice. Especially towards the end, I thought the long staccato to short staccato was a nice detail. If I had to critique, I think the articulation can sound a bit forced or hard. Perhaps consider using more wrist to try to round out the sound?

Otherwise, I think it may be wise for you to consider moving on to other music and come back to this one in the future as lelle mentioned.

[russell765]

First of all and most importantly, I'm not a pro so take what I say with a grain of salt. Moving on, I agree with what lelle/reply #1 said about leaving this piece behind and playing other pieces, because there's only so much you can improve from studying one piece at one time. I thought your performance was acceptable/tolerable. You articulated the notes mostly, and kept steady in your performance mostly. Here are my thoughts:

1. Mechanical errors. For example: slight falter during the measure 13 E minor arpeggio as you switch your left hand position. Another example: the last sixteenth note of measure 15 where you linger on D for a little too long. This is just because of your technique and skill, and this comes with time as you study more and more challenging pieces. I wouldn't worry about this too much, because it's the sort of thing that has diminishing returns. In my opinion, you're better off just having fun instead of over practicing something. Although, I don't know how much and how effectively you practice. It could be the case that you are underpracticing 😂

2. Measure 9, second eighth note of beat 4 D7 arpeggio, I think you played D instead of C in your right hamd

3. I thought your performance was heavy handed. Almost like a clumsy, thumping, metronome. Except, every other note is quieter. In my opinion, there is a strong and unnecessary impulse on every beat (eighth, quarter, etc). The sound of each note should be more even. To fix this, you might want to practice arpeggios or scales. But to be honest, you can also benefit from just practicing and refining pieces.

4. I thought your performance was very metronomic and soulless at times (although you do want to be on tempo, that's good). In my opinion, this is due to a lacking interpretation. But tbh, musicianship just comes with time. You might benefit from listening to professional piano players' recordings, but at this level maybe not. I know I didn't have the passion to listen to recordings to study how they are better than mine when I was first learning this piece like 10 years ago.

5. I think your performance sounds like you are concentrating hard to play it. I think this piece sounds better with an almost effortless, lithe, nimble, elegant quality. This is just technique, and at your level I think it just comes with time and learning more pieces (or learning pieces for specific techniques). I never used Haydn exercises, but they might help you.

I hope that was helpful and not arrogant. I wasn't trying to roast you, these are my opinions. Honestly though, just have fun playing. Your performance is probably good for where you are in your "piano journey".

[russell765]

I forgot to mention: I thought the rubato/slowing down at the end was not very musical. Maybe it sounds good to you, or to others, but it did not sound good to me. I would have preferred if started you slowing down a little later than you did. You started slowing down around the 4th beat of measure 24. I think it would have been better to start slowing down around the second beat of measure 25. I think this because at the point you started slowing down, the music is not yet dying. I think it still has things to say and tell us at that point. I think this because we see in measure 24, the harmony and musical content is still growing/changing. Meanwhile, in measure 25, we see G# B, C A E A, B A, B G#, A E C E A (fermata). We see that the melody is gradually approaching A minor. G# B provides a sort of diminished quality, like many other areas in the piece. Then C A E A an A minor arpeggio in second inversion, almost teasing us of the ending (A minor). Next we see B G# again, before resolving to an A minor arpeggio in the first inversion. Based on the harmony we might conclude that the piece starts dying around the second B G# diminished quality area, and might start rubato there. You might make this sing by emphasizing the G# diminished quality (G# is also the leading tone into A btw 😂), and resolving at the final A minor arpeggio, like a deep breath of tranquility, before finally  resting at the last A note.

Also, I read what you wrote about the staccato. It's good that you are learning articulation, and it is good to articulate. But I do think you overdo it at times, like a stumbling bumbling caveman. I dont think every single note every single time needs to be brutally smashed with a hammer. A little more modest, or a little more varied, maybe. Try finding a pro player's recording of this piece that you like. Intensely and surgically focused, listen to it maybe like once or twice a day. Try to understand their interpretation, and why they made those choices. Judge what parts of their interpretation you like, and dont like. I would recommend listening to the piece millions of times, if you have the patience. That way, the piece is stuck in your ear, and your brain can subconsciously cook an interpretation while you sleep, or are just living everyday life. You gotta "be the marble" (spongebob reference 😂). Anyways, good luck playing piano. I hope you see my response cause if not, half of the reason I did this is gone.

[truecam]

I appreciate all the replies and things to work on. Sorry I am late to replying, I have been busy with other stuff 

I appreciate your reply lelle and your reply on my previous post. Your advice definitely helped and I am glad that my playing on this piece has improved so much. I have been working on other pieces, but might revisit this piece since I got some great advice from you and others that gave me some things to think about. Thank you!!!

I appreciate the advice russell765, I have this post bookmarked and will definitely re-read your reply as I continue working on this piece and others. I didn't find your reply harsh at all, just honest, and there is still a lot of stuff I have to work on. I will probably come back to this piece soon and work on it again since I enjoy this piece a bunch and your reply gave me a lot to think about. Listening to more interpretations is a must, albeit somewhat boring  😄😄, and tempo has always been a problem but there are a lot more finer details you hit on as well. Thank you!

> "Your performance is probably good for where you are in your "piano journey"."

Haha I wish, I have been playing for 8+ years, just not with the level of concentration or consistency I should have.  😄😄

I appreciate your reply xdanielyj. You are right about the articulation stuff.  I forget about using wrist when I play, need to think about that more while playing or just practice until it becomes 2nd nature 😄. Thank you!

I appreciate your reply 45310, note emphasis is something I need to work on as well. I tend to under emphasize my left hand I have noticed, and I do the same for tied notes, you are definitely right! Thank you!