Please could someone play for me.....

[bertie]

I am working on Brahms opus 118 no 3, Ballade. I'm a 'relative beginner' at it. There are many recordings available but I want a really slowed down version of the B section to listen to. It's the section in B major. Perhaps one of the skilled players reading this could put a short recording at a slowed down speed for me. I'm struggling, in particular, with the last 8 bars of that section.

Many thanks

Bertie

[lelle]

What are you struggling with in those bars, if you dont mind me asking?

[bertie]

Thanks for your prompt reply.
It's mainly the last 6 bars prior to the change back to G minor. Key signature + accidentals make me uncertain as to whether the sounds coming out are accurate. Two issues therefore. 1. Have I worked out the correct notes amongst the key signature and the accidentals? The recordings on online are too fast to be able to hear that in detail. 2. Bars 3 and 4 from the end of the section have a glissando-do I just glassando those two notes in each case?

This may appear basic but I'm choosing to do this without a teacher at this point because I enjoy it this way and like the challenges.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I had a similar problem with the first half of the section but think I've got to grips with that now.

If anyone could play it slowly for me it would assist greatly.

Thanks again,

Bertie

[lettersquash]

Hi Bertie, I just wondered how you got on with this since you didn't get the help you were asking for. I can't play it or I'd oblige. However, I thought a couple of things might be useful.

I'm not sure what your problem was with identifying the notes from the key signature plus any accidentals. There are pretty solid rules to apply, so it should just be a matter of taking care to apply them (unless you think there may be an error in the edition).

For slowing down recordings so you can catch details, I expect you've tried the speed control on YouTube etc., but if you're anything like me the distortion caused by this makes it harder to hear tones. What you can do, though, is use an audio app that doesn't just chop up the data, but properly resamples it. I think Audacity will do this. It takes some time to process a section, but then it sounds fine slowed down. It's a while since I did it, but I think I'm right in saying Audacity does it. I'm on my phone traveling just now or I'd check.

Of course, you might have this all sorted by now, but it's a technique that might help another time. It looks quite a challenge, that piece. Good luck.

[bertie]

Thanks for your interest lettersquash. I've 'sort of' sorted it now in that I decided to break it down bar by bar and check out the notes in the difficult sections one by one. It seems to have worked and I'm making progress. I'm really enjoying working towards the ARSM diploma now that I've partially retired. It's a massive challenge but I feel that I'm progressing adequately and most of all I'm love doing it. I didn't know of the software to which you refer but am going to look it up and download for future use. Once again, thank you for taking the time to reply with your helpful tips.