I physically shook when he tapped the piano and said "Very well thats enough, coda please". Talk about jury recital ptsd man. So much preparation and studying only to be told "k thanks coda now pls". UUGGHHH
Something similar happened to me in playing Beethoven 110. After a minute or so they said okay let’s jump to the fugue now….Probably one of the most difficult fugues to memorise too.
It is so...What he says is true. You practice the whole Bach Solo Sonate, which is some 25 mins of Music, start playing the Grave, they listen a few tonrs of it, and interrupt you to jump the the 2nd page of the Fuga!! From the 25 min you practiced, they listen maybe...3 mins..😊
Why do they that? I don't think that's a good thing to do, I could be wrong, but I don't see the point in doing that. If that's what they want, they could inform the performer beforehand to play up to, say, bar 40, and then jump to the coda. Why interrupt the performer midway and throw off their focus? You can achieve the same result by informing them what to play beforehand.
@@thegreenpianist7683They can tell what your strengths and weaknesses are in the first few bars or a page of a piece, so they just skip right to the outer extent of what you can do after that. The purpose of jury recitals is not to practice only as much as you think they'll ask you to play. The jury is there to check that you're progressing as a pianist semester-to-semester. But you won't be any sort of pianist if you only know the first few bars and then the coda of a bunch of pieces. Music school, unlike STEM school, is not solely about credentialing. The jurors can tell if you've thought deeply about a piece and have an interesting (or at least arguable) artistic take on it basically immediately. But you wouldn't have been able to form that take without understanding (and having thoroughly learned) the entire piece. Also, juries can sometimes just be assholes.
Yeah not really a culture known for encouraging humility and open-mindedness. Unless it’s blindly worshipping classical figures with an open mind. There’s plenty of that
I guess it depends on the culture you practice. People like Beethoven were not down to earth, and while no one today can compare themselves to that level of musical mastery, maybe music history and musicology studies are what sometimes drive big performers into arrogance. Nonetheless, many great performers are actually so unbelievably humble, with the arrogance increasing as the level of music decreases.
I can’t believe this! Two days ago my professor was talking about my coda not being wild enough and today I got to see this video from one of the greatest American pianist. Such a fortune! Thank you tonebase you made my day
You have Chopin already in Mozart's 27th piano concerto. (As Poulenc in his 17th and Brahms in the 23, and Beethoven else where), so the greatest is Mozart. What is romantic music, it's made with sorrow, half to Chopin's pieces are sad... While Beethoven is classic, so he's worse, for example his first sonata is made from a them from Mozart, but emphased to the end.. well, maybe one could play all that music less romantic and more joyful; my sorrow feelings are gone. I cannot activate inside myself, any romantic mode anymore... and shed tears, Also Nietzsche is sharing my thoughts.. : The "good old" days are gone. In Mozart they sang themselves out. (Nietzsche) One should be suspicious with romantic music... I agree with that.
I don’t know about any other professional pianists here, but I for one was darned relieved (and shocked) to hear him so humbly confess that He thinks these codas are difficult. When he said, “this is the worst for me” - it just made chuckle so much! This is Garrick Ohlssohn!
I could not play this passage well until I could play it relaxed. I could not play it relaxed until I knew the notes very well. It took a lot of practice to get beyond that paradox, but it was worth it. I could then land every note with complete control, highlight any line at any speed, and play it over and over without ever getting tired. It was a profound joy and sits as one of my most satisfying personal achievements.
Just curious if this applies to other difficult passages you've played as well? One of my biggest struggles at the piano is my hands getting tired. I feel like I got to the point where I knew Hungarian Rhapsody #2 or La Campanella fairly well, but my hands would always get tired halfway through the piece (or sooner, depending on the speed and volume of the passage) and I physically can't continue without just trainwrecking.
@@vladimirhorowitz Absolutely, it applies. You're definitely maintaining tension when it's not needed or you wouldn't be tiring (i.e. after you've already played a note/chord or too far ahead of it). Go back over your pieces with slow practice and identify those places that cause any apprehension. You might be surprised at how many there are. (One clue is that you're stretching to reach a note. Better to already have your whole arm in position when you need the finger so you don't have to stretch at all.) Then practice them until you can practically flop onto the notes without any risk of hitting the wrong ones. It takes a lot of practice, but little by little you make your way through the pile and each success rewards you with what seems like a bit more stamina. It's not actual stamina, just success. Abby Whiteside's book on how to play Chopin can be a help.
@@manyirons Thanks! I will check that out. I know I'm clearly doing something very wrong because I'm a fairly muscular guy but I watch these girls half my size play the complete Chopin etudes at competitions without a problem. I get a lot of wrist and elbow pain too. I want to get a teacher again to help with posture and technique, they're just really expensive.
As someone who has performed this piece in concert, I can attest to its profound difficulty. I could never do it proper justice, no...I had to take this coda slower than it was intended and it probably lost some its luster in doing so. But what a reward this piece is to complete end to end. It's emotionally exhausting in a wonderful way.
this comment captured my thoughts perfectly, it was an incredible piece to learn and very rewarding even though it was so difficult and i definitely did not play the coda as well as i wished i could.
It’s also so risky live. I can almost always nail the coda in practice, but the moment I have to play it live it falls apart. No other piece I play is like this lol
So excited to have this pop up! I’m learning this without a teacher so this is incredibly valuable to me….also it helps to hear him talk about how hard it is….so I feel like maybe I’m doing ok with it, esp. at age 66 and newly returned to the piano since I stopped taking lessons at age 16. I will def. watch the 80 minute class. I’m giving myself a full year to learn it. It’s just a personal goal, because I love the piece. I doubt I’ll ever get it good enuf to play it for anyone, except my dog, but that’s ok.
I commend your persistence and willingness to do what it takes to learn a piece just for the joy of playing! I have eleven years on you, and I may not be "going strong", but I'm still "going"! -- -- P.S. My bet is that you also compose.
Have you read Alan Rusbridger's 'Play It Again'? All about his project of learning the G minor Ballade as a serious, but definitely amateur, adult player. It's very good. Your story is not unlike mine: I resumed serious practicing in early 2020 at age 63, having given up lessons at age 17 and not playing at all for 40+ years. After two years of work I think I'm back to where I was then, and hope to progress further. It's been by far the best thing I've done for myself in recent years. Best wishes to you for a joyful and rewarding experience with the Ballade, and with your re-discovery of piano generally!
Do not doubt. Your story resonates - similar age, but an even larger gap, not playing. To get to Mr. Ohlsson's level, a person needs 10,000 hours of practice and research indicates - in absence of handicaps - that the only thing a human needs is persistence. Not getting frustrated by mistakes. Becoming predictably good starts above 9,950 and the road to perfection is littered with mistakes. To learn just this piece, no doubt, needs a lot less hours. But still, persistence. There's a German very advanced piano student's YT channel "Heart of the keys" and in her videos she has discussed "fingering". Often printed in sheet music, indicating which finger should play which note, she has a natural logic that frequently comes to different fingering - making pianistic life easier. As you love this piece, let's go back to its "ballade" title that sends mixed messages. The word, in its base meaning, references "dance", but then it also became to mean "epic poem" and as good poems have meter and rhyme, they can easily be set to music, so a ballad may also be a song. As to Chopin's #1, some people say it musically tells Mickiewicz's epic story of Konrad (or Conrad) Wallenrod in which a 14th century hero rebels against an occupation force - clearly as a metaphor for the Polish fate, being occupied alternating by Prussians/Germans and Russians and each time torn apart in different pieces. I guess the challenge in playing this piece is to (a) make it sing, (b) keep it "dance-able" and (c) tell the epic story - and this is more about your imagination than about deep music theory. If you have 12 months for this piece, I'd say you need an adult version of the Suzuki method, create your own that is, that only uses this piece. Extremely serious discussions of that method generally leave the pivotal concept of the method out: to have fun with it. Maybe you can ask an advanced piano student to extract a simplified version of the piece that leaves embellishments out, but retains melody and rhythm, only using notes (in proper sequence) that are in the original piece. Then rehearse this for, say, 6 months, then for months 7~9 add complexity, repeat. In the end it boils down to "just effing doin' it" - watching YT videos only takes time away from that.
@@jpdj2715 You are so kind to leave me such a detailed and encouraging response! Thank you! Agreed….it’s mileage with the piece (or any piece) that will do it. I’ve been working on it since November and I have it pretty clean till p. 10. I have a good ear, and repeatedly listening to the piece has helped me tremendously. (Wish I had the benefit of RUclips and streaming 50 yrs ago….would have made a huge difference in my progress!). Actually the only thing I’m really worried about is the speedy parts….not sure at my age that the speed and agility required for the agitato and con fuocco sections is within reach, but that’s ok. I am familiar with Heart of the Keys, thank you, will see if she has anything on this ballade. Thanks again for your reply to my comment! Wish me luck!
@@kathleena4038 - I sincerely wish you luck. My point with Heart of the Keys was not the ballade necessarily, but rather her approach to fingering that might make it easier especially in the fast parts. About the fast parts, practice the fast (in your perception) parts first and adapt you speed for the rest to what you are capable of in the fast parts. Chopin made a big point of a steady meter/rhythm in the left hand and felt the right hand could use the left hand part to more freely play on, so in that sense consistency is more important than speed. And then you get to bar 208 Presto con Fuoco ("Fast with Fire") - chips, there goes the neighborhood ;)
Good advice. One thing that is crucial to playing 216-230 successfully that he doesn't mention is the fact that the technical accuracy of the right hand is made MUCH more secure by retaining the shape of the octave in the hand even (and especially) during the shifts. One of the reasons why this is so difficult is because the natural response of your hand will be to close its shape inward when shifting. You will only have to reshape the octave once you get to your destination, which takes time, takes mental energy, and causes possible tension due to the movement. Keep the octave shape in the hand and flick the lower arm/wrist to the new position and you'll be more accurate. Notice how he does this intuitively, but is perhaps not aware he does such so naturally. Don't hold any of the notes when doing this...there isn't time. (In other words, everything should be 30-40% staccato) Once your accuracy improves you can then start to reconnect some of the notes without any real danger of ruining your accuracy. On slow practice: The tendency during slow practice is to practice the required technique much differently than that which you will need when you play the passage faster. You will get stuck in the keys, your hand will move differently since it is "easier" to some degree, and you'll essentially be wasting your time. To have successful "slow" practice, you absolutely MUST replicate what it will feel like at the faster tempo when playing. Students are often baffled at the lack of success during fast passages after having practiced slowly. My response is often, "because you didn't practice the fast-tempo technical requirements at that slower tempo." Too often do the hands become lazy because the speed is not an issue. The attack and physical response to movement must be replicated as accurately as possible at the slower tempo so it is familiar when the faster tempo is approached. Hope this helps... (Disclaimer: I just performed all 4 Ballades in November with pleasing success)
This is the most important in your advice: To have successful "slow" practice, you absolutely MUST replicate what it will feel like at the faster tempo when playing. Students are often baffled at the lack of success during fast passages after having practiced slowly. My response is often, "because you didn't practice the fast-tempo technical requirements at that slower tempo." To keep the "octave span" may be a bad idea if you mean keeping a tension, that is what Garrick tries to explain is wearing out your fingers (or should I say "movable parts").
@@dibaldgyfm9933 For some, tension might be an issue at first, but to play Chopin "correctly" (if that even exists) is to keep everything in the arm mechanism quiet down to the big knuckles where the palm meets the fingers. From there, everything flutters to the fingertip to avoid any excess motion. Students are most likely told that they have to rotate and twist and turn and all kinds of other unnecessary (and debilitating) gestures to make things work, and it is frustrating. As I progressed onwards with piano playing, I realized that one should not watch the fingers of someone playing, but their palm mechanism at the big knuckles. If it is motionless or near motionless, they are doing things correctly. Just watch any Argerich video, especially from her youth (I recommend the Scherzo No. 3 from the Chopin competition) and you'll see exactly what I mean. Keeping the octave span is not a bad idea if the player remains conscious of the shape of that interval and uses the finger as opposed to the forcing of things to occur through the wrist and forearm. An exercise given to me by Evelyn Brancart at IU when I was learning the Op. 10 set for recital helped understand this feeling. She had us rest our hands on a pivot (such as a highlighter or a dry-erase pen) by placing it directly in the center of the palm and allowing the hand/arm to be as supple as possible while resting upon it a desk or hard surface at the sort of angle that would be similar to the position at the piano. We would then activate the fingers by wiggling them at the big knuckle as if playing a faster passage. The feeling of separation between the activity of the finger and the rest of the arm upwards to the elbow is what you are looking for with regards to accuracy and consistency when actually playing. Once this feeling becomes natural and somewhat subconscious, the technique is certainly on the right pathway. Passages like the one mentioned in the video suddenly become quite manageable.
@@AlexAlcyone Thank you! It was demanding but good practice techniques and specific goal setting for each practice session were very helpful. I connected quite quickly with the 4th one. That was a definite dream piece even though I do this every day for my career. Took about a month or so to learn...not sure why it was so quick. Honestly, it was the 2nd that gave me the most trouble. There is just so much that can go wrong in those "Fuoco" passages and it took actually longer to get those down than the coda of the 4th. I played the 2nd way back in undergrad school, and quite frankly I shouldn't have been given that piece. In some ways it is more treacherous than the 4th. If a student were to ask if they could learn the 2nd Ballade I would deny that request. It's just too difficult until you've got your technical skill developed enough to handle the chaos.
I will practice a difficult passage slowly only a few times to understand the music and the challenges. Then I break it into very short segments and practice each at or near tempo for exactly the reasons you cite. The technique at tempo simply isn't the same .
@@RaineStudio Yes. Note grouping (whether they are beam groups or position groups) are a terrific way to train the brain and body to accept the technical requirements of moving about. I tell my students that the transitions between positions on the keyboard is almost always the reason for errors in performance, which is why it is crucial to understand the mechanics of each gesture. I love group practicing at tempo as well.
Being a Chopin lover but not a pianist, I can hear the tension and anxiety in the music. Listening to Mr Olsen tell you how that’s achieved is enlightening and so interesting. Thanks for this video.
I’ve only been playing 3 years starting at 67. I’m many years away from attempting this level of play, but I learned so much about technique from watching this excellent masterclass.
disagree. this american presents like some sort of shabby truck driver, unshaven, unprofessional, like he just came from some kind of yeehaw bbq. plays like it too
This is the first time I watch this. This man shows you what a true musician is. He gave HIS LIFE for music. It's simply impressive. He doesn't sweat at all. He understands everything and how intense this is. This is why WE should value our musicians.
Yes, yes, and YES. Everything you’ve pointed out is what my Russian teacher showed me and what I discovered learning this piece. How to approach it. Break it down into manageable pieces. Rebound, group, shifts, etc. conserve your hands/energy. She maybe used slightly different words ( on Russian of course) but the message was the same. Great stuff!
A proper teaching video. So many top level teachers just stick to the interpretation aspects but this deals with the technical aspects as well. Very helpful.
This is because they have of their students is that the technical aspects do not need addressing with the student. Therefore, they can focus on the music without the technique getting in the way.
Anyone who loves Chopin learns to love Garrick Ohlson. What a delight to come upon this masterclass for the magnificent Ballade. I found it as I looked yet again for a performance by Mr. Ohlsson of my favourite Chopin, and my favourite master of Chopin’s music. Bravo!
I love these videos. I cant even play this ballade, since I'm far away from that level still, but it's so exciting listening to this maestro talking about this masterpiece! Great video!
Literally learning this piece now , been on grade 7 abrsm for years , can play a few etudes by Chopin but this is by far the hardest piece I’ve ever tried to learn, even including la pathetique by Beethoven. It’s so refreshing to hear a professional pianist say how hard this piece really is but everything in me is determined to learn it.. it’s the pinnacle of emotion by Chopin in my opinion. I will not stop until I learn this coda!!! Good luck to everyone else who is in the same situation as me, it will be worth it I’m sure of it 😊
For context, this piece is LRSM level. I'm currently preparing for my LLCM exam and I avoided this piece like an oncoming train lol. All of Chopin's Ballades are technically not so bad (except for the coda of the 4th), yet they're so musically difficult yet so famous that giving a unique interpretation is very tricky since practically everyone knows this piece. And it takes great maturity to be able to bring out the best of these pieces.
Good God. His playing just kind of casually, rather off-the-cuff, is still superb. It's stunning what these highly honed and majorly gifted musicians can do with their instruments even in an informal setting. His fingers are wickedly precise. Thanks so much for these videos.
I started university in 1977 and stayed in the student residence that was beside the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. I obtained season tickets for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The first performance I attended was Misha Dichter playing the Brahm's second piano concerto. It was quite memorable. Another very memorable concert had Garrick Ohlsson playing the Prokofiev second piano concerto. He is a very tall man and was quite a bit slimmer at the time. I am so glad he is still around.
Thank you! With the 'jumping' passage of the fore arm, it is also good to imagine as if your wrist is being pulled 'upwards' with a invisible string .... my teacher always practised this with a string around my wrist, to get the feeling of the motion. Same motion happens on a trampoline, when your body hits the bodem. It always helped me to imagine something. Thanks for the great explanation🙌🏾
It’s fascinating and fantastic how well this works for me as a non-player! I’m understanding the music better by having him explain how to play than I would from listening to him explain the music.
Now it makes sense! It took me months to finally get Ravel’s Ondine. Years to get the first ballade. Then I went back to Ondine and finally “got” it after some years. So much of this comes down to human biomechanics and how the hand behaves at speed. His analysis makes it so much clearer.🎉❤
Excellent teaching! I played the Op. 23 for my graduate recital (41 years ago!) and am now revisitng the piece. The coda did wear me out! Thank you for the suggestions!
Im not a pianist. But i still love watching these kind of tutorials on my favourite pieces. It just raises the level of appreciation i have for these aliens the next time i listen to some Chopin.
recently I started to play ballade no.1 Now!! I'm on the part before going to coda of ballade no1. ive never seen lesson like this on RUclips! about ballade no1. Its such a legend lesson especially for me! Thank you!!
Just started learning the ballade (my favorite piano piece) starting with the coda. Playing this has been a dream for so long, but I felt I wasn't ready for it. Now, I realized that I will never be good enough, so why not just start it as a long term project? Whish me luck.
Whenever i play Chopin, there is always a nice smell of perfume hanging in the air, like it is sort of magic ✨️. This piece also has lots of magic inside, extremely intense and emotional, heavy piece to play and to listen.
As you reach the deepest relaxation the energy begins to grow in tune with the rhythmic pulse. There is no other way to achieve clarity, speed and expression. When I listen to you, I see that you understand this.
This is the first time I have ever heard anyone else say that and its the part I least appreciate! When some pianists perform this, the beauty can morph into a sickly comic funhouse feeling in those measures in my opinion. Like Scott Joplin with tempo doubled or something.
This is so wonderful! I am laughing profusely through this lesson because it makes so much sense !!!! So happy I got to watch this video. Thank you maestro Ohlsson! :)
This piece is what you need to show when people ask why do you study so much, and I don't mean this because of how difficult it is, but because of the music story it tells so perfectly well.
Thank you for posting this! I wish we had this kind of online content 20-25 years ago.....well, better late than never. Will check out the 80 minute version tomorrow :)
Well said! This is so crucial to master this piece. You need to get into the mind of Chopin. This is a glimpse into his world. Good forearm strength is vital...stay hydrated. Muscle fatigue must be avoided. Great lesson, sir!
Fabulous! I’m working on this and I’ve gotten to the beginning of the coda. I sprained my hands working on the coda a while ago but they’re healed now. I think I was over practicing plus making some of the mistakes mentioned. This is inspiration to move forward again.
Very good and useful lesson how to play the coda of the first balade! I studied the first balade a long time ago without a teacher, but always got stuck at the Coda. Thanks very much for this lesson!
Wonderful stuff Garrick. That was always my crash and burn spot. I'll practice it that way so I can finally play the whole piece. Thank You! Best Regards.
4:09 "with all these wiggles" Yes, perfect description. I am trying to train myself to fully sight-read the entire coda, I can manage it a little better looking at that keyboard, of course. But those leaps in the right hand are not natural to me [yet]. It's weird, some mornings I sit and play it, and *click*, my aim is pretty accurate; other mornings it's like trying to find where I parked the car last night ... it's so weird. Great video.
Thank You. I have learned to a play a piece well one must know it personally. They must make the music their own through their own interpretations, that is based upon their inherent emotions of their Character. When I played the Third Movement of the Moonlight Sonata I found I was able to take the music to a greater level once I had the entire piece memorized, and known by heart. So I was able to add, and subtract changes as needed.
It's dazzling to hear him casually jump from an excellent point - that really I ought to stop to digest - to another marvelous one and then come back down to the mundane and concrete before doing it again.
SO WONDERFUL, MAESTRO!!!!! Thank you for your great very helpful lesson, because this Coda from my favourite Chopin's Ballade it's beyond my abilities, too difficult, my best regards from Poland to America, have a happy week. Joanna
I play this everyday before I got to sleep just to relax the hands after a long day.
2 года назад+2
How great this is! I just barely have dared to read through this piece, and will probably never be able to play it, but to hear these things make me appreciate the piece even more, not to mention how much more I appreciate all you great pianists that actually can play it!
Nice analysis of the wrist movement, especially in the coda melody from A flat to G and F sharp and back to G with kind of echoing sound of the chord played with the right hand in the upper octave with a third note played by the first finger simultaneously as playing the melody note two octaves up with the fifth finger and going down again before the thumb gives the next note of the melody and the echoing passage is repeated. This is as I understand the only passage in the whole wonderful ballade that recites the very first chord of the intro with the Neapolitan cord a flat major. This is one of the most thrilling passages of all piano music.
I do not play the piano or know much about musical theory, but I felt reassured and more confident than ever that I could play this piece. Which is nonsense of course, but it does say something about the teaching style.
This appeared at the perfect time, since my senior recital jury is in a month and I have been on + off struggling to figure out the coda for months now... I've improved a lot but I still need help.
Thanks Mr Ohlsson, very cool. I will surely come back to this video in a few years when I'm playing the Chopin Ballades, most likely I'll have touched a piano by then :)
Speed comes not from moving individual fingers faster, but from smaller, more compact movements, and from translating movements from small muscles into larger ones.
Depende en que estilo de composición , x ejemplo en el barroco cada nota cada dedo se levanta de la tecla y luego se toca la otra pero casi sin la se note la kiero decir que las notas no se ligan por que simula en teoría al clavichembalo que no es un martillo la le pega a una cuerda es una uñeta .por ende imposible ligar nota
En el barroco como Bach diría yo le es muy complicado x la no armonía es contrapunto y a veces tienes que tocar hasta 5 líneas melódicas haciendo malabares con los dedos
Con Chopin al contrario pero es un trabajo corporal no solo los dedos. Tienes que relajar desde la espalda los hombros los brazos y las manos bue no en realidad en general.y increíblemente nace otro timbre de esa nota trabajando todo tu cuerpo.y Chopin si hay la ligar mucho hasta levantar cuando termina el arco.en resumen uuuuuuf
All a matter of the instrument!!! I stopped my career as pianist out of rage for not being able to play it fast enough (as base for the affect). Years after I heard it exactly as I wanted it, on a Chopin-Pleyel. And that was half tempo from mine!
"Tap, tap, tap - Coda please" Yes, in US music conservatiores Not in Europe, Russian and Asian music colleges. We don't disrespect the pieces nor the pianists like that.
Amazing he can still play. I know he doesn't concertize; assumed he was injured. While this is way beyond me his showing how not to hang on to things is good for so much. Learning this made some Schumann and Brahms possible for me.
I physically shook when he tapped the piano and said "Very well thats enough, coda please". Talk about jury recital ptsd man. So much preparation and studying only to be told "k thanks coda now pls". UUGGHHH
I’d swear
Something similar happened to me in playing Beethoven 110. After a minute or so they said okay let’s jump to the fugue now….Probably one of the most difficult fugues to memorise too.
It is so...What he says is true. You practice the whole Bach Solo Sonate, which is some 25 mins of Music, start playing the Grave, they listen a few tonrs of it, and interrupt you to jump the the 2nd page of the Fuga!! From the 25 min you practiced, they listen maybe...3 mins..😊
Why do they that? I don't think that's a good thing to do, I could be wrong, but I don't see the point in doing that.
If that's what they want, they could inform the performer beforehand to play up to, say, bar 40, and then jump to the coda. Why interrupt the performer midway and throw off their focus? You can achieve the same result by informing them what to play beforehand.
@@thegreenpianist7683They can tell what your strengths and weaknesses are in the first few bars or a page of a piece, so they just skip right to the outer extent of what you can do after that.
The purpose of jury recitals is not to practice only as much as you think they'll ask you to play. The jury is there to check that you're progressing as a pianist semester-to-semester.
But you won't be any sort of pianist if you only know the first few bars and then the coda of a bunch of pieces.
Music school, unlike STEM school, is not solely about credentialing. The jurors can tell if you've thought deeply about a piece and have an interesting (or at least arguable) artistic take on it basically immediately. But you wouldn't have been able to form that take without understanding (and having thoroughly learned) the entire piece.
Also, juries can sometimes just be assholes.
Love this guy's tone & attitude. Classical music is in _desperate_ need of this level of down-to-earth.
Technically romantic music, not classical, but classical, yes, to the lay person.
@@Great_PatBingsoo very down-to-earth comment 🥱😬
Yeah not really a culture known for encouraging humility and open-mindedness. Unless it’s blindly worshipping classical figures with an open mind. There’s plenty of that
@@Great_PatBingsoo🤓
I guess it depends on the culture you practice. People like Beethoven were not down to earth, and while no one today can compare themselves to that level of musical mastery, maybe music history and musicology studies are what sometimes drive big performers into arrogance. Nonetheless, many great performers are actually so unbelievably humble, with the arrogance increasing as the level of music decreases.
I can’t believe this! Two days ago my professor was talking about my coda not being wild enough and today I got to see this video from one of the greatest American pianist. Such a fortune! Thank you tonebase you made my day
@esp ele prove what ?
Ay same here
@esp ele ???
@esp ele why'd u say prove it bro he made very reasonable claims lol
@esp ele what is there to be proved when nothing needs proof here . . .
"Chopin is the greatest of them all, for with the piano alone he discovered everything."
- Claude Debussy
Debussy studied piano with a professor who had been a student of Chopin.
You have Chopin already in Mozart's 27th piano concerto. (As Poulenc in his 17th and Brahms in the 23, and Beethoven else where), so the greatest is Mozart. What is romantic music, it's made with sorrow, half to Chopin's pieces are sad... While Beethoven is classic, so he's worse, for example his first sonata is made from a them from Mozart, but emphased to the end.. well, maybe one could play all that music less romantic and more joyful; my sorrow feelings are gone. I cannot activate inside myself, any romantic mode anymore... and shed tears, Also Nietzsche is sharing my thoughts.. : The "good old" days are gone. In Mozart they sang themselves out. (Nietzsche)
One should be suspicious with romantic music... I agree with that.
ruclips.net/user/shortscTCTo5qNx38?feature=share
If your audience becomes weary... Grab them by Debussy.
Thank you for this quote. It underlines the privilege i experience, every time i listen to F. Chopin.
I don’t know about any other professional pianists here, but I for one was darned relieved (and shocked) to hear him so humbly confess that He thinks these codas are difficult. When he said, “this is the worst for me” - it just made chuckle so much! This is Garrick Ohlssohn!
I could not play this passage well until I could play it relaxed. I could not play it relaxed until I knew the notes very well. It took a lot of practice to get beyond that paradox, but it was worth it. I could then land every note with complete control, highlight any line at any speed, and play it over and over without ever getting tired. It was a profound joy and sits as one of my most satisfying personal achievements.
Doesn't seem like a paradox, but breaking down technique and fundamentals.
Just curious if this applies to other difficult passages you've played as well? One of my biggest struggles at the piano is my hands getting tired. I feel like I got to the point where I knew Hungarian Rhapsody #2 or La Campanella fairly well, but my hands would always get tired halfway through the piece (or sooner, depending on the speed and volume of the passage) and I physically can't continue without just trainwrecking.
@@vladimirhorowitz Absolutely, it applies. You're definitely maintaining tension when it's not needed or you wouldn't be tiring (i.e. after you've already played a note/chord or too far ahead of it). Go back over your pieces with slow practice and identify those places that cause any apprehension. You might be surprised at how many there are. (One clue is that you're stretching to reach a note. Better to already have your whole arm in position when you need the finger so you don't have to stretch at all.) Then practice them until you can practically flop onto the notes without any risk of hitting the wrong ones. It takes a lot of practice, but little by little you make your way through the pile and each success rewards you with what seems like a bit more stamina. It's not actual stamina, just success.
Abby Whiteside's book on how to play Chopin can be a help.
@@manyirons Thanks! I will check that out. I know I'm clearly doing something very wrong because I'm a fairly muscular guy but I watch these girls half my size play the complete Chopin etudes at competitions without a problem. I get a lot of wrist and elbow pain too. I want to get a teacher again to help with posture and technique, they're just really expensive.
ha! the lesson we pianists all have to learn. Usually the hard way haha. Congratulations.
Such a master. I could spend my life becoming 10% of the pianist Mr. Ohlsson is, and it would not be a wasted life.
ruclips.net/user/shortscTCTo5qNx38?feature=share
Limiting beliefs
I will spend my life becoming the best farter in history
You may already be closer to that 10 percent than you think.
Absolutely tremendously edited video with solid instruction from the master
Wow its musical basics
I have never heard you play the Ballade or am I wrong
nvm
Yoo
Bro fell off hard
As someone who has performed this piece in concert, I can attest to its profound difficulty. I could never do it proper justice, no...I had to take this coda slower than it was intended and it probably lost some its luster in doing so. But what a reward this piece is to complete end to end. It's emotionally exhausting in a wonderful way.
this comment captured my thoughts perfectly, it was an incredible piece to learn and very rewarding even though it was so difficult and i definitely did not play the coda as well as i wished i could.
It’s also so risky live. I can almost always nail the coda in practice, but the moment I have to play it live it falls apart. No other piece I play is like this lol
, I know the feeling.
So excited to have this pop up! I’m learning this without a teacher so this is incredibly valuable to me….also it helps to hear him talk about how hard it is….so I feel like maybe I’m doing ok with it, esp. at age 66 and newly returned to the piano since I stopped taking lessons at age 16. I will def. watch the 80 minute class. I’m giving myself a full year to learn it. It’s just a personal goal, because I love the piece. I doubt I’ll ever get it good enuf to play it for anyone, except my dog, but that’s ok.
I commend your persistence and willingness to do what it takes to learn a piece just for the joy of playing! I have eleven years on you, and I may not be "going strong", but I'm still "going"! -- -- P.S. My bet is that you also compose.
Have you read Alan Rusbridger's 'Play It Again'? All about his project of learning the G minor Ballade as a serious, but definitely amateur, adult player. It's very good. Your story is not unlike mine: I resumed serious practicing in early 2020 at age 63, having given up lessons at age 17 and not playing at all for 40+ years. After two years of work I think I'm back to where I was then, and hope to progress further. It's been by far the best thing I've done for myself in recent years. Best wishes to you for a joyful and rewarding experience with the Ballade, and with your re-discovery of piano generally!
Do not doubt. Your story resonates - similar age, but an even larger gap, not playing. To get to Mr. Ohlsson's level, a person needs 10,000 hours of practice and research indicates - in absence of handicaps - that the only thing a human needs is persistence. Not getting frustrated by mistakes. Becoming predictably good starts above 9,950 and the road to perfection is littered with mistakes. To learn just this piece, no doubt, needs a lot less hours. But still, persistence.
There's a German very advanced piano student's YT channel "Heart of the keys" and in her videos she has discussed "fingering". Often printed in sheet music, indicating which finger should play which note, she has a natural logic that frequently comes to different fingering - making pianistic life easier.
As you love this piece, let's go back to its "ballade" title that sends mixed messages. The word, in its base meaning, references "dance", but then it also became to mean "epic poem" and as good poems have meter and rhyme, they can easily be set to music, so a ballad may also be a song. As to Chopin's #1, some people say it musically tells Mickiewicz's epic story of Konrad (or Conrad) Wallenrod in which a 14th century hero rebels against an occupation force - clearly as a metaphor for the Polish fate, being occupied alternating by Prussians/Germans and Russians and each time torn apart in different pieces.
I guess the challenge in playing this piece is to (a) make it sing, (b) keep it "dance-able" and (c) tell the epic story - and this is more about your imagination than about deep music theory.
If you have 12 months for this piece, I'd say you need an adult version of the Suzuki method, create your own that is, that only uses this piece. Extremely serious discussions of that method generally leave the pivotal concept of the method out: to have fun with it.
Maybe you can ask an advanced piano student to extract a simplified version of the piece that leaves embellishments out, but retains melody and rhythm, only using notes (in proper sequence) that are in the original piece. Then rehearse this for, say, 6 months, then for months 7~9 add complexity, repeat. In the end it boils down to "just effing doin' it" - watching YT videos only takes time away from that.
@@jpdj2715 You are so kind to leave me such a detailed and encouraging response! Thank you! Agreed….it’s mileage with the piece (or any piece) that will do it. I’ve been working on it since November and I have it pretty clean till p. 10. I have a good ear, and repeatedly listening to the piece has helped me tremendously. (Wish I had the benefit of RUclips and streaming 50 yrs ago….would have made a huge difference in my progress!). Actually the only thing I’m really worried about is the speedy parts….not sure at my age that the speed and agility required for the agitato and con fuocco sections is within reach, but that’s ok.
I am familiar with Heart of the Keys, thank you, will see if she has anything on this ballade.
Thanks again for your reply to my comment! Wish me luck!
@@kathleena4038 - I sincerely wish you luck. My point with Heart of the Keys was not the ballade necessarily, but rather her approach to fingering that might make it easier especially in the fast parts. About the fast parts, practice the fast (in your perception) parts first and adapt you speed for the rest to what you are capable of in the fast parts. Chopin made a big point of a steady meter/rhythm in the left hand and felt the right hand could use the left hand part to more freely play on, so in that sense consistency is more important than speed.
And then you get to bar 208 Presto con Fuoco ("Fast with Fire") - chips, there goes the neighborhood ;)
Good advice. One thing that is crucial to playing 216-230 successfully that he doesn't mention is the fact that the technical accuracy of the right hand is made MUCH more secure by retaining the shape of the octave in the hand even (and especially) during the shifts. One of the reasons why this is so difficult is because the natural response of your hand will be to close its shape inward when shifting. You will only have to reshape the octave once you get to your destination, which takes time, takes mental energy, and causes possible tension due to the movement. Keep the octave shape in the hand and flick the lower arm/wrist to the new position and you'll be more accurate. Notice how he does this intuitively, but is perhaps not aware he does such so naturally. Don't hold any of the notes when doing this...there isn't time. (In other words, everything should be 30-40% staccato) Once your accuracy improves you can then start to reconnect some of the notes without any real danger of ruining your accuracy.
On slow practice: The tendency during slow practice is to practice the required technique much differently than that which you will need when you play the passage faster. You will get stuck in the keys, your hand will move differently since it is "easier" to some degree, and you'll essentially be wasting your time. To have successful "slow" practice, you absolutely MUST replicate what it will feel like at the faster tempo when playing. Students are often baffled at the lack of success during fast passages after having practiced slowly. My response is often, "because you didn't practice the fast-tempo technical requirements at that slower tempo." Too often do the hands become lazy because the speed is not an issue. The attack and physical response to movement must be replicated as accurately as possible at the slower tempo so it is familiar when the faster tempo is approached.
Hope this helps...
(Disclaimer: I just performed all 4 Ballades in November with pleasing success)
This is the most important in your advice:
To have successful "slow" practice, you absolutely MUST replicate what it will feel like at the faster tempo when playing. Students are often baffled at the lack of success during fast passages after having practiced slowly. My response is often, "because you didn't practice the fast-tempo technical requirements at that slower tempo."
To keep the "octave span" may be a bad idea if you mean keeping a tension, that is what Garrick tries to explain is wearing out your fingers (or should I say "movable parts").
@@dibaldgyfm9933 For some, tension might be an issue at first, but to play Chopin "correctly" (if that even exists) is to keep everything in the arm mechanism quiet down to the big knuckles where the palm meets the fingers. From there, everything flutters to the fingertip to avoid any excess motion. Students are most likely told that they have to rotate and twist and turn and all kinds of other unnecessary (and debilitating) gestures to make things work, and it is frustrating. As I progressed onwards with piano playing, I realized that one should not watch the fingers of someone playing, but their palm mechanism at the big knuckles. If it is motionless or near motionless, they are doing things correctly. Just watch any Argerich video, especially from her youth (I recommend the Scherzo No. 3 from the Chopin competition) and you'll see exactly what I mean. Keeping the octave span is not a bad idea if the player remains conscious of the shape of that interval and uses the finger as opposed to the forcing of things to occur through the wrist and forearm.
An exercise given to me by Evelyn Brancart at IU when I was learning the Op. 10 set for recital helped understand this feeling. She had us rest our hands on a pivot (such as a highlighter or a dry-erase pen) by placing it directly in the center of the palm and allowing the hand/arm to be as supple as possible while resting upon it a desk or hard surface at the sort of angle that would be similar to the position at the piano. We would then activate the fingers by wiggling them at the big knuckle as if playing a faster passage. The feeling of separation between the activity of the finger and the rest of the arm upwards to the elbow is what you are looking for with regards to accuracy and consistency when actually playing. Once this feeling becomes natural and somewhat subconscious, the technique is certainly on the right pathway. Passages like the one mentioned in the video suddenly become quite manageable.
@@AlexAlcyone Thank you! It was demanding but good practice techniques and specific goal setting for each practice session were very helpful. I connected quite quickly with the 4th one. That was a definite dream piece even though I do this every day for my career. Took about a month or so to learn...not sure why it was so quick. Honestly, it was the 2nd that gave me the most trouble. There is just so much that can go wrong in those "Fuoco" passages and it took actually longer to get those down than the coda of the 4th. I played the 2nd way back in undergrad school, and quite frankly I shouldn't have been given that piece. In some ways it is more treacherous than the 4th. If a student were to ask if they could learn the 2nd Ballade I would deny that request. It's just too difficult until you've got your technical skill developed enough to handle the chaos.
I will practice a difficult passage slowly only a few times to understand the music and the challenges. Then I break it into very short segments and practice each at or near tempo for exactly the reasons you cite. The technique at tempo simply isn't the same .
@@RaineStudio Yes. Note grouping (whether they are beam groups or position groups) are a terrific way to train the brain and body to accept the technical requirements of moving about. I tell my students that the transitions between positions on the keyboard is almost always the reason for errors in performance, which is why it is crucial to understand the mechanics of each gesture. I love group practicing at tempo as well.
Being a Chopin lover but not a pianist, I can hear the tension and anxiety in the music. Listening to Mr Olsen tell you how that’s achieved is enlightening and so interesting. Thanks for this video.
I’ve only been playing 3 years starting at 67. I’m many years away from attempting this level of play, but I learned so much about technique from watching this excellent masterclass.
That's brilliant! I hope you're still going. This would be your 5th year?
Still playing, my technique has improved massively.
@@John-boy you should post something😮 if that’s to fearful can i ask what are your favourite pieces?
@@fishkisser66 favourite to play or favourite to listen to? I love all genres of music. Too hard to choose. Rachmaninov 3 or Zappa Peaches in regalia?
People might not appreciate this level of Masterclass: it’s a huge deal and this guy is an amazing teacher. Parts broken down to helpful pieces.
disagree. this american presents like some sort of shabby truck driver, unshaven, unprofessional, like he just came from some kind of yeehaw bbq. plays like it too
@@0047-r5dyou attack him on his body because you have no idea about how to play what he is teaching.
@@0047-r5d "This American" is a champion in International Chopin Competition, Busconi Italy Piano Competition, Avery Fisher Prize, etc.
@@0047-r5d "This American" is Garrick Ohlsson. Instead of posting ignorant comments, why don't you go and look him up?
Wow. This is the first time I have seen a master go into such technical detail. And with humble honesty. Wonderful.
This ballade is my absolute favourite piece of Chopin, no matter how often I hear it I always find something new in it, great video.
This is the first time I watch this. This man shows you what a true musician is. He gave HIS LIFE for music. It's simply impressive. He doesn't sweat at all. He understands everything and how intense this is.
This is why WE should value our musicians.
Yes, yes, and YES. Everything you’ve pointed out is what my Russian teacher showed me and what I discovered learning this piece. How to approach it. Break it down into manageable pieces. Rebound, group, shifts, etc. conserve your hands/energy. She maybe used slightly different words ( on Russian of course) but the message was the same.
Great stuff!
A proper teaching video. So many top level teachers just stick to the interpretation aspects but this deals with the technical aspects as well. Very helpful.
This is because they have of their students is that the technical aspects do not need addressing with the student. Therefore, they can focus on the music without the technique getting in the way.
Hello, sir! Glad to see your face again after all these years. I had occasion to tune for you once in the 1980's. You are legendary and wonderful.
Anyone who loves Chopin learns to love Garrick Ohlson. What a delight to come upon this masterclass for the magnificent Ballade. I found it as I looked yet again for a performance by Mr. Ohlsson of my favourite Chopin, and my favourite master of Chopin’s music. Bravo!
I love these videos. I cant even play this ballade, since I'm far away from that level still, but it's so exciting listening to this maestro talking about this masterpiece! Great video!
I can play up until 2:12😅
@@benpietrzykowski9216 I’m
@@SuperGustavo65 what Gustavo?
same here
Garrick Ohlsson interpretation of Chopin Prelude No.13 is one of the best.
Literally learning this piece now , been on grade 7 abrsm for years , can play a few etudes by Chopin but this is by far the hardest piece I’ve ever tried to learn, even including la pathetique by Beethoven. It’s so refreshing to hear a professional pianist say how hard this piece really is but everything in me is determined to learn it.. it’s the pinnacle of emotion by Chopin in my opinion. I will not stop until I learn this coda!!! Good luck to everyone else who is in the same situation as me, it will be worth it I’m sure of it 😊
Wow that's a huge jump in difficulty. Good luck and take it at a healthy pace. It's hard both technically and musically
@@Talent2find98 thank you :) I’m taking it day by day with slow progress but it’ll be done lol
For context, this piece is LRSM level. I'm currently preparing for my LLCM exam and I avoided this piece like an oncoming train lol. All of Chopin's Ballades are technically not so bad (except for the coda of the 4th), yet they're so musically difficult yet so famous that giving a unique interpretation is very tricky since practically everyone knows this piece. And it takes great maturity to be able to bring out the best of these pieces.
@@brent3522 You think the coda of the fourth ballade is more technically difficult than that of the first or second?
@@KingstonCzajkowskiYes, by a large margin as well. The 4th ballade coda is one of the most difficult things he wrote
Good God. His playing just kind of casually, rather off-the-cuff, is still superb. It's stunning what these highly honed and majorly gifted musicians can do with their instruments even in an informal setting. His fingers are wickedly precise. Thanks so much for these videos.
This man is truly amazing! His playing, and his explanation must be very helpful to advanced piano students.
I know, but did you see the thumbnail?
I started university in 1977 and stayed in the student residence that was beside the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. I obtained season tickets for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The first performance I attended was Misha Dichter playing the Brahm's second piano concerto. It was quite memorable. Another very memorable concert had Garrick Ohlsson playing the Prokofiev second piano concerto. He is a very tall man and was quite a bit slimmer at the time. I am so glad he is still around.
I love listening to Garrick Ohlsson talk about Chopin.
As a guitarist, this is tremendously helpful as this piano master talks about physical challenges and how to deal with them.
This guy is fantastic. So down to earth and unpretentious, besides being a great pianist and no bs teacher.
Finally a pianist talking about his body. Amazing how those pianists play. ❤️
Thank you! With the 'jumping' passage of the fore arm, it is also good to imagine as if your wrist is being pulled 'upwards' with a invisible string .... my teacher always practised this with a string around my wrist, to get the feeling of the motion. Same motion happens on a trampoline, when your body hits the bodem. It always helped me to imagine something. Thanks for the great explanation🙌🏾
It’s fascinating and fantastic how well this works for me as a non-player! I’m understanding the music better by having him explain how to play than I would from listening to him explain the music.
So wonderfully spoken. I played this, in public. I also met the pianist, after his concert. Mighty fellow. Bravo and thanks
Fabulous lesson from a Maestro. These advice can be applied to the entire repertoire !
I don’t even play any instrument but could listen to this guy for hours. He loves what he does the best. Thank you sir
Now it makes sense! It took me months to finally get Ravel’s Ondine. Years to get the first ballade. Then I went back to Ondine and finally “got” it after some years. So much of this comes down to human biomechanics and how the hand behaves at speed. His analysis makes it so much clearer.🎉❤
Excellent teaching! I played the Op. 23 for my graduate recital (41 years ago!) and am now revisitng the piece. The coda did wear me out! Thank you for the suggestions!
Im not a pianist. But i still love watching these kind of tutorials on my favourite pieces.
It just raises the level of appreciation i have for these aliens the next time i listen to some Chopin.
recently I started to play ballade no.1
Now!! I'm on the part before going to coda of ballade no1.
ive never seen lesson like this on RUclips!
about ballade no1.
Its such a legend lesson especially for me!
Thank you!!
Just started learning the ballade (my favorite piano piece) starting with the coda. Playing this has been a dream for so long, but I felt I wasn't ready for it. Now, I realized that I will never be good enough, so why not just start it as a long term project? Whish me luck.
Congrats
I struggle with all of Chopin, but love him dearly. This may help when I finally get back to my piano after this long trip. Thx.
Whenever i play Chopin, there is always a nice smell of perfume hanging in the air, like it is sort of magic ✨️. This piece also has lots of magic inside, extremely intense and emotional, heavy piece to play and to listen.
As you reach the deepest relaxation the energy begins to grow in tune with the rhythmic pulse. There is no other way to achieve clarity, speed and expression. When I listen to you, I see that you understand this.
Such an impressive teaching lesson. I wish I'd had the privilege of such tuition 60 years ago!!
An incredible, rarity in today's world. One of the most incredible piano teachers today.
I think he was trying to write something Liszt couldn't sight read.
What an incredible teacher he’s so easy to understand I love watching him and hearing him!
I got to see Garrick perform a couple months ago in Connecticut. It was phenomenal
It always amazed me how this part is practically ragtime almost 100 yrs before ragtime ❤
This is the first time I have ever heard anyone else say that and its the part I least appreciate! When some pianists perform this, the beauty can morph into a sickly comic funhouse feeling in those measures in my opinion. Like Scott Joplin with tempo doubled or something.
I started learning this three weeks ago and am no longer taking lessons- this video came out at the perfect time! 😄
This is so wonderful! I am laughing profusely through this lesson because it makes so much sense !!!! So happy I got to watch this video. Thank you maestro Ohlsson! :)
Best piano lesson I've seen in my life. Unbelievable!
You’re spot on regarding your recommendations about holding back the crescendo until the coda intro!!!
I´m so happy to have found this video, it´s a great source for old pianists like me who have moved onto other stuff but still play for fun.
It's amazing and wonderful that you can listen to a wise and outstanding pianist on YT.
Garrick, chapeau bass!
This piece is what you need to show when people ask why do you study so much, and I don't mean this because of how difficult it is, but because of the music story it tells so perfectly well.
Thank you for posting this! I wish we had this kind of online content 20-25 years ago.....well, better late than never. Will check out the 80 minute version tomorrow :)
Well said! This is so crucial to master this piece. You need to get into the mind of Chopin. This is a glimpse into his world. Good forearm strength is vital...stay hydrated. Muscle fatigue must be avoided. Great lesson, sir!
I can’t explain how much I appreciate this video!
Fabulous! I’m working on this and I’ve gotten to the beginning of the coda. I sprained my hands working on the coda a while ago but they’re healed now. I think I was over practicing plus making some of the mistakes mentioned. This is inspiration to move forward again.
not related to the ballade, but Ohlsson's recording of the Polonaise-Fantasie is admirable. His expressiveness, especially at the coda, is legendary.
Very good and useful lesson how to play the coda of the first balade! I studied the first balade a long time ago without a teacher, but always got stuck at the Coda. Thanks very much for this lesson!
Mr. Ohlsson is an actual rock star. Awesome.
Who is this genius? Love his teachings!!!
Taking a shot every time he says coda
Wonderful stuff Garrick. That was always my crash and burn spot. I'll practice it that way so I can finally play the whole piece. Thank You! Best Regards.
4:09 "with all these wiggles" Yes, perfect description.
I am trying to train myself to fully sight-read the entire coda, I can manage it a little better looking at that keyboard, of course. But those leaps in the right hand are not natural to me [yet]. It's weird, some mornings I sit and play it, and *click*, my aim is pretty accurate; other mornings it's like trying to find where I parked the car last night ... it's so weird. Great video.
Thank You. I have learned to a play a piece well one must know it personally. They must make the music their own through their own interpretations, that is based upon their inherent emotions of their Character. When I played the Third Movement of the Moonlight Sonata I found I was able to take the music to a greater level once I had the entire piece memorized, and known by heart. So I was able to add, and subtract changes as needed.
It's dazzling to hear him casually jump from an excellent point - that really I ought to stop to digest - to another marvelous one and then come back down to the mundane and concrete before doing it again.
I enjoyed your lesson, Sir! Practice can be fun if you have the right teacher!
Watched this man play Rach 3 at Indianapolis with the ISO. ‘‘Twas something else…
Thanks for your mastering and high simplicity !
SO WONDERFUL, MAESTRO!!!!! Thank you for your great very helpful lesson, because this Coda from my favourite Chopin's Ballade it's beyond my abilities, too difficult, my best regards from Poland to America, have a happy week. Joanna
I play this everyday before I got to sleep just to relax the hands after a long day.
How great this is! I just barely have dared to read through this piece, and will probably never be able to play it, but to hear these things make me appreciate the piece even more, not to mention how much more I appreciate all you great pianists that actually can play it!
So many wonderful lessons in this even though I cannot play the piece. The importance of relaxation and slow practice is not always emphasized.
This is such perfect timing, i've got 2 concert within maybe a month of each other pretty soon, where I will be playing this piece.
Best of luck! O7
Playing all the notes right ia great, but its about the music. We wont always play the right notes but for Gods sake keep playing the music! ✌
@@GimbalLocksOnly Definitely a good thing to keep in mind, thank you!
Nice analysis of the wrist movement, especially in the coda melody from A flat to G and F sharp and back to G with kind of echoing sound of the chord played with the right hand in the upper octave with a third note played by the first finger simultaneously as playing the melody note two octaves up with the fifth finger and going down again before the thumb gives the next note of the melody and the echoing passage is repeated.
This is as I understand the only passage in the whole wonderful ballade that recites the very first chord of the intro with the Neapolitan cord a flat major.
This is one of the most thrilling passages of all piano music.
I do not play the piano or know much about musical theory, but I felt reassured and more confident than ever that I could play this piece.
Which is nonsense of course, but it does say something about the teaching style.
Always it's the leaps that trip you up! He didn't say it but slow with fast leaps is a good way to practice as well.
I am deeply impressed, thank you very much. The advice has helped me a lot.
I love this video! I wish all pianist teachers would watch this cuz I don't mind learning piano this way!
Finally a teacher, who also can play the Instrument.
He is such an amazing teacher!!!!!!
When he said “coda please” that brought me back to all my school auditions
This man is such a treasure.
This coda. It haunts me. Excellent video!
This appeared at the perfect time, since my senior recital jury is in a month and I have been on + off struggling to figure out the coda for months now... I've improved a lot but I still need help.
Chopin will tear your heart to pieces then gently place the pieces back together.
A really fantastic video on the coda of this marvellous piece. Thank you!
Thanks Mr Ohlsson, very cool. I will surely come back to this video in a few years when I'm playing the Chopin Ballades, most likely I'll have touched a piano by then :)
Speed comes not from moving individual fingers faster, but from smaller, more compact movements, and from translating movements from small muscles into larger ones.
Depende en que estilo de composición , x ejemplo en el barroco cada nota cada dedo se levanta de la tecla y luego se toca la otra pero casi sin la se note la kiero decir que las notas no se ligan por que simula en teoría al clavichembalo que no es un martillo la le pega a una cuerda es una uñeta .por ende imposible ligar nota
En el barroco como Bach diría yo le es muy complicado x la no armonía es contrapunto y a veces tienes que tocar hasta 5 líneas melódicas haciendo malabares con los dedos
Con Chopin al contrario pero es un trabajo corporal no solo los dedos. Tienes que relajar desde la espalda los hombros los brazos y las manos bue no en realidad en general.y increíblemente nace otro timbre de esa nota trabajando todo tu cuerpo.y Chopin si hay la ligar mucho hasta levantar cuando termina el arco.en resumen uuuuuuf
this was so cool how he broke down the song. i wish there were more videos like this
Thank you so much for this video. Now I want to work again on this piece!!
What a teacher! Stunning!!
I should start playing this again. Forgot i was in love with it.
All a matter of the instrument!!! I stopped my career as pianist out of rage for not being able to play it fast enough (as base for the affect). Years after I heard it exactly as I wanted it, on a Chopin-Pleyel. And that was half tempo from mine!
"Tap, tap, tap - Coda please"
Yes, in US music conservatiores
Not in Europe, Russian and Asian music colleges. We don't disrespect the pieces nor the pianists like that.
Amazing he can still play. I know he doesn't concertize; assumed he was injured. While this is way beyond me his showing how not to hang on to things is good for so much. Learning this made some Schumann and Brahms possible for me.