How to Play Chopin's Waltz in a minor B. 150 | Masterclass
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Chopin's Waltz in a minor, B. 150 might be one of his easiest waltzes and in fact one of his simplest pieces to play, but it doesn't lack beauty, or nuance, and needs incredible finesse to play well. This masterclass is about elevating your performance this piece to the next level. We cover fingering solutions, how to better practice left hand jumps, what sets Chopin's waltzes apart from others, advice on pedaling, and creating great melodic shapes and keeping this repetitive piece interesting and beautiful through analysis of form. And at the very end, we talk through Chopin's use of mordants versus appoggiaturas, take a quick look at his original manuscript, and question just why today's pianists play things a certain way! I hope the lesson significantly helps you as you learn to master this wonderful piece of music!
► All Charles' Masterclasses on Thinkific: pianist-academy.thinkific.com...
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► Visit Charles' Website: www.charlesszczepanek.com
Charles Szczepanek is an international prize-winning pianist, has collaborated with GRAMMY Award winners, and has taught music for over 20 years to everyone from his next-door neighbor to finalists on NBC's America's Got Talent. Through Pianist Academy, he now brings that wealth of knowledge to you: the beginner, the intermediate, the professional, or the fellow music teacher.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:33 - Initial Play Through
01:25 - Brief History
02:56 - Navigating LH Jumps
11:38 - Waltz History and Establishing a Good Chopin Waltz Figure
18:21 - Pedaling Advice
25:28 - How to Shape the Melody
40:08 - Specific Fingering Choices
48:15 - Using Form to Help Create Contrast
1:02:10 - Mordants vs Appoggiaturas
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#chopinpiano
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#charlesszczepanek
🆓 ➡ Want to learn how to accomplish more during your practice AND get some free sheet music?? ➡➡ bit.ly/FreePianistDownloads
Yes thank you !
❤
Growing up, I never had the opportunity to take any piano lessons. 17 years ago, already an adult and working full time, I started self-learning piano, before youtube n iPhones. I didn’t follow the steps of basic music theory, and jumped right into the hard stuff - Chopin. I spent every hour after work practicing. In 2 years, I memorized 4 pieces of nocturnes - Opus 9, #1, 2, Opus 72 #1, & C# minor. But then work got busy, I had a baby, so I stopped. Now I forgot most of them. I came to RUclips searching for this piece because I heard it at my 10 yo’s recital. (Needless to say, I signed my daughter up for piano lessons as soon as she was able to sit still 😂). Thanks to RUclips algorithm - your video popped up. I subscribed immediately! How I wish I could have had your master classes 20 years ago. I’m re-learning piano now, properly this time. Thank you SO much for taking the time sharing your wisdom and expertise. Can’t wait to master this one and many more pieces to come. 🙏
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your story! I hope to continue to see you in the comments and I hope you continue to enjoy your piano journey!
I very much have the same story with the piano as you, except for the baby, it was other things in life that got in between me and the piano before I restarted. But WOW, you managed to play Chopin op. 9 1+2 from zero skill? Amazing. I learned mov. 1 of the Moonlight sonata and Nocturne 20 (c# minor) all on my own without basic skills. But Chopins op. 9 I'm only learning now and Etude 10 3 which is rather challenging (after restart). You are obviously, both, very talented and determined.
The production quaility of your videos is insane and you're a great teacher. You deserve way more subscribers, thank you!
Thank you, Mateo! Thanks for watching this one and I hope to continue to see you around the channel!
More masterclass!! You are a hero
Thank you, Jade!!
Wow. I have watched a lot of tutorials on this piece, but this one is by far the best. It’s so in depth. Thank you! ❤
The only other thing I wish you had done is show us how to play the arpeggio quickly in bar 22.
Thanks, Hannah! As a quick supplement to this vid and to help answer your question about the arpeggio... 1) work on your RH E maj arpeggios for 3 octaves + and using a metronome to set bpm goals, ending with triplets at about Q = 190. Make a plan to increase speed incrementally to get there. Secondly, supplement that practice with applying this practice technique to the bar in question: ruclips.net/video/HML4XbfkvqA/видео.html
I hope those things help you!
Excellent, excellent masterclass. You brought out all the beauty and subtlety of this short, gorgeous waltz. Thank you!
Thanks so much!
17:29 HUGE eye opener, it sounds so uncannily similar to how I used to play it. Incredible tips!
I recall that the Chopin Waltzes were central to my practice for whatever reason. They are gems and impart a general knowledge of Chopin's harmonic sense and his melodic genius is unprecedented. Alexander Brailowsky was one of my early idols. My mother has a record subscription and we listened to many Lps back in those days. 🎉❤
Do you still gravitate towards Brailowsky for Chopin recordings? And who else do you enjoy listening to?
This is a really great tutorial, you are excellent at creating these, making them interesting and seemingly keeping yourself engaged when these must be fairly tedious to film!!
Thank you!!
Thank you for explaining that we shouldn’t be playing it Metronomic because I was doing exactly that. I even was using my metronome to be on waltz tempo ☺️. It sounds so much more romantic and melodic now. Thank you!
You're welcome, and thank you for watching!
Great class! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for your work ! Your channel is one of the best I've seen and I mean it !
Thanks for watching, Julien! I really appreciate hearing this from you!
OMG, I just start practicing this piece next week, I love this coincidence so much!
Anyway, thank you for your effort!
Perfect timing haha! I hope the tips are helpful for you!
I've been learning and playing this piece for a little while . I appreciate the musicality tips you give to it that I haven't considered, keep it up!
Thanks for watching, Tomislav! I'm glad you found bits of it helpful!
Loved this! Please please make more videos like this!
Definitely, Anthony! Thanks for watching and also the comment!
This is amazing, thank you SOO much for making this masterclass for free for us really thank you so much ❤️❤️
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
This is awesome, I've been working on the piece and the section on planning dynamics is extremely helpful! Hearing it with all the different sections really opened up the thought process and options.
So glad to hear that, Angela! Hope your practicing continues to go well!
Your class is fantastic. 1) The showing three views of hand, arm movement, and sheet is just brilliant. 2) The teaching and explanation techniques are rich in material , easy to follow, and very aspirational. People would pay for the class and we highly encourage you to create more material.
Thanks so much!
This really is an incredible tutorial.
Allows us to start asking these questions when playing other pieces.
Thank you, and thanks for watching! Absolutely... when the student begins to ask the right questions they begin to understand artistry.
Es bellísimo!!! Lo escucho cada día, me colma de Paz. Muchas gracias!🇦🇷
Hi again, George, I just watched your masterclass again as there is so much content I felt once wasn't enough - I love the way in which you interact with the piece as a living thing, with full regard for the composer's intentions while also fully aware of the endless creative possibilities in making it your own. Incredibly helpful and inspiring as I start to work on this piece. Thank you so much! (and greetings from Cambridge, UK)
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Wow, this was a very engaging, simple yet right-to-the-point and easy-listening and understanding video. nice job congratulations. I'm learning this piece atm. I'll definitely come back here to perfect my playing
Thanks for watching and I’m glad you found the video helpful!
Thank you very much for this! Many things I teach the same way and this gives me reassurance but I also got many new ideas especially about the musical expression. I also always wondered about the difference between the mordent and and the appoggiaturas. Your insights are really helpful for my own teaching!
I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks for watching, and I hope you'll continue to visit the channel!
Waouw i never saw a teacher like you ! You explain so well and with a lot of patience. Thank you for that ❤ i watch to your video in many parts. i try to reproduce your explanations on the piano. I immediately subscribe to your channel ! Hello from Brussels 🤗
Thank you, Nadia! I'm glad you found this video helpful and good to hear you took it in my parts. That's the best way :-). I hope to continue to see you around the channel!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve learnt a lot from this lesson. You are such a great teacher. It’s very easy to follow. Glad I’ve found your channel. 👍👍
Thanks so much, Tommy! I hope you’ll continue to check out the videos around the channel!
Brilliant tutorial, great level of detail, thanks!
Thanks for watching!
This is a fantastic video. I love how you went in depth on not only the way to think about shaping the piece, which can be applied to any work, but also trying to stay true by pulling up the actual piece to see how Chopin marked it up himself. I'm with you! Thanks so much for providing such quality content. I am subscribed!
Thanks, Stephen!
Excellent masterclass, thank you!!
Thanks, Nelba! I’m glad you found this video and that you enjoyed it!
This is really, really interesting. Thank you, learnt a lot from your explanation and exploration of Chopin!
You’re welcome!
Great video!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much for watching 🙂
Thank you so much for this details lesson - I have improved a lot more but still way way below your level ( of course ). I really appreciate your demo with the score on the split-screen method. It is so easy to understand. I hope you can share more of this kind of tutorial on other intermediate-level pieces by any composer - thank you again
Great lesson ! Thank you !
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
What a great help! Many thanks.
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
So glad to sychronystically find you.❤
Fab teacher. Expressive, très helpful!!! Thank you
Thanks so much for watching, Jennifer! I'm glad you found this helpful!
Thanks for the tips, some were really useful, especially the aiming part of the LH 😃!!
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
You are a brilliant piano teacher ❤❤ Thanks
Thanks, Kamran!
A great video. Truly appreciate your effort to make people like me to understand the proper way to play piano pieces. Greetings and love from Malaysia ❤
Thanks so much, I appreciate you taking the time to watch :-)
So happy I found you! Thank you for being so concise and patient. You play the piano wonderfully and your teaching is impeccable.
Thank you so much! I hope to continue to see you around the channel :-)
@PianistAcademy1 yes!
Great!!!
Very good lesson, subscribed.
Thanks for watching!
just wow, thanks 🙇
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
So helpful. I realise I’ve been playing this piece much too heavily and slowly! Thank you!
My pleasure! I'm glad you found this helpful!
same. been playing too slowly. thank you Charles. Much appreciated.
Thanks for sharing .
Thanks for watching!
YOU'RE A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy to have found your channel. kisses and hugs from argentina :):):):)
Thanks so much! Glad you found this vid helpful and hope to continue to see you around the channel!
Thank you so much! 😊
My pleasure, Judit! Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much. I loved your tutorial
Thank you for watching! I hope it was helpful for you!
@@PianistAcademy1 oh yes , it was really helpful. Thank you
TYYY ♡ As a self taught pianist this is a gold for me
My pleasure! I'm so glad you found this helpful!
Samee
Thank you so much! You play this piece beautifully. I'm still struggling with getting the arpeggio starting at measure 21 to sound pretty and smooth, but I'm sure one day I'll get there. Practice, practice, practice 😊
Yes, practice! But also slow and thoughtful practice. Liszt's famous saying is, "Make haste slowly" ... you'll get to the end result much more quickly if you take your time.
I have been playing this piece for a couple of months as well. While I can play this section I cannot play it as fast as I’d like. It may me take many more months to play it to my satisfaction. I guess I have the time...
Thx for the musical ideas and fingering. Applicable to any piece of music. 👍
Thanks, Jose! I appreciate the super! Do you have an opinion on the mordant vs appoggiatura topic I discuss at the end? I'm curious!
@@PianistAcademy1 i absolutely agree with you on differentiating between the mordents and dbl appoggiaturas. 😊
@@PianistAcademy1 i play the mordents in Chopin's first impromptu on the beats. (Still working on that LH! 😆)
@@jowr2000 Yay!
By the way... the idea that section A (yellow) until the green one is actually in C Major could be up to debate.
All in all I had a great time watching this wonderful class. Thanks much!
Thank you so much for your video. I am a retired but serious piano student
from Asia. I try to learn this piece by myself and your teaching video is so enlightening! I’ll follow your suggestions to practise and hopefully I can play this piece beautifully! Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for watching, Margaret! What other pieces are you working on or planning to work on? I’m always building a list of new material for these masterclass segments!
I am about to start Chopin Etude Opus. 10 no.3. Now researching videos to prepare. Is this on your list?
@@margaret206528 It wasn’t but I will add it! It’s probably a few months away from release, but that would give you time to learn the notes and get comfortable!
Exactly! Plus, I am a slow learner! 💪💪💪
Very beautiful, thank you for posting this. This piece appears to be Grade 5, from what I can tell online. It seems like the leap in difficulty between Grades 3 and 5 is enormous!
The grade levels are all over the place depending on the system you use. I believe that RCM has it listed as level 6 (out of 10, or 12 depending on how you look at the diploma levels) and Henle lists it as level 3 (out of 9 levels). On RUclips I’ve seen it called a “late beginner” piece and also a “Hard” piece depending on the channel… I think it’s safe to say it’s intermediate level 😂
Simply brilliant. Mahalo.
Thanks so much, I hope you found it helpful!
I’ve subscribed bc of how you taught this piece. I’m very excited to start this piece. Please do more!
@@RP-fn7fy When you're ready, you can take a look at all of my other courses. This is the only one of my "Masterclasses" that I've made fully available for free. The rest are all very affordable and over on my Thinkific page here: pianist-academy.thinkific.com/collections
They range from 1 hour long to 12-hours long! Each of the courses has a free preview you can find both here on the RUclips channel as well as on the course page itself. Thanks for subscribing, and please check out the ton of content that I have here on RUclips that's all free!
Very Nice! 4:32 is the good part
Thanks Maggie! You like the little bit of theory in that bit?
Gracias desde Valencia (España)
Thanks for watching, Fina!
The change in bar 7, left hand from chord G-B-G to G-D-F is needed in order not to duplicate the leading note B which is in the melody in the third beat.
The change appears reversed in bar 17... Chopin knew the rules of harmony.
Cool acoustics
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks so much, Kai! Glad you found this helpful!
Hi Charles. There are dozens of videos on RUclips about this pieces, yours is the best, others are not even close. I have been leaning this piece for 1 month, every time I came back to this video I learned something new. Your insight is incredible.
I hope you will make more master class videos like this, I would definitely pay for them.
@@kaicao2497 Thank you!! Hearing this means a lot :-). I definitely will make more videos like this! Do you have any repertoire requests? Next in my line-up I'm planning a masterclass on simply using the damper pedal well, then Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 No. 1, Debussy's Clair de Lune, Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in g minor... I'm happy to throw some other rep in the mix, just let me know what you are playing or maybe plan to work on soon!
thank you for one of the best instruction that I have ever seen, I have a question: for Mordent we have to play on beat, but I though for Appoggiatura we have to play on beat too but if we see acciaccatura we have to play before the beat. Is it right? or for third of them we have to play on beat?
That's a great question and one that doesn't have such a straightforward answer. First off, "acciaccatura" is usually presented with an oblique line through the "grace note" and sometimes is referred to as a "crushed note." The classical interpretation of this marking is to play the acciaccatura at the same time as the primary note. I can't think of an example off hand of a "double acciaccatura"... one might exist, but because these are supposed to be played at the same time as the primary note, any "double acciaccatura" will have both pitches written under a single stem and it would be executed the same way.
Where this gets confusing:
Many modern publishers and music engravers use the "acciaccatura" symbol for ALL "grace-note-like" figures. A small notehead without the slash through it is considered "incorrect notation" by many of them. So, in a lot of scores, we need to continually question how the grace notes are intended to be performed.
The "appoggiatura" are small note heads without a slash through the stem. They are usually accented somewhat, and they are usually played "in front of" the beat of the primary note. This piece shows a great examples of double appoggiaturas which, to be different from mordants, must be played before the beat.
We know that mordents in baroque and classical period rep are most definitely executed on the beat. It gets a little fuzzy after that... mordents are far less often used by later composers, yet sometimes in romantic era rep they do mean to be played before the beat. Chopin was intimately familiar with Bach and other baroque composers' music so, personally, I feel like he shows mordant when he intends an execution but shows double appoggiatura when he intends an execution . If not, there'd be no reason to use multiple symbols. Some editions are printed with double appoggiaturas throughout this piece, but Chopin's manuscript definitely shows both appoggiaturas and mordants as is shown here in this Henle Urtext.
Thanks for the great question!
Danke!
Thanks so much for the super, yaccob! I really appreciate it and hope you found this class helpful!
@@PianistAcademy1 Yes, I found it very helpful! There are some details I don't agree with, but this leads me into an even more interesting exploration of this beautiful composition!
A first class masterclass. Great video setup. We get to see fingering, pedaling, and the score details. Perfection.
Great points on appoggiatura and mordants. Subbed.
Thanks so much for watching and the sub! I hope you'll check out more the channel has to offer as well. I have a handful more masterclasses I'm hoping to film this Spring, so if that your thing, stay tuned for those! A few more Chopin pieces, Debussy's Clair de Lune, and plenty more. If you have a request, let me know. I can't promise to get to it super soon, but I do keep a list of what people would like to see!
At session B bass clef, what should be the best fingers to use?
I'd use 5 for all of the lowest notes, and then...
5 2 1 for E B D ... and ... 5 3 1 for E G# D
5 2 1 for E A C
I so agree with you about the mordents. It seems unquestionable to me that they should be played differently from the double grace notes.
Absolutely! It's interesting that many editions replaced the mordants with double appoggiaturas when the autograph is very explicit.
these tutorials are gold, thank you. One request 🙏, could you make a FULL video, like a 40-minute class, about the use of the SUSTAIN pedal?, what pedal to use in each piece, if it's a counter-beat pedal, syncopation, etc. thanks!
I have that topic on my **long** list of things to cover here. It's SO important!
@@PianistAcademy1 Thank you! I am always frustrated by the fact that I don't know how to pedal
@@jademiller482 much of it is more about training our ear than our foot, and then applying knowledge in the right contexts. Thanks for the comment and the request!!
Very helpful, thanks. Just saying, could you make a masterclass regardidng moonlight sonata?
I definitely will! Thanks!
Can you tell me what ipad w/ pen hardware that you are using and the software to edit a music score ?
Sure! Thanks for watching! It's an iPad Pro 11.9 inch from 2019. I use an Apple Pencil with it and the Forscore app for music and annotation.
Looks very interesting. Any recommendations on a good place to source the sheet music?
Thanks, Martin! You can easily find and download public domain publications of this and most other classical music on imslp.org. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy, I know Henle has a PDF urtext of this, which is what I’m using here. If you’d like extra historical notes in your edition, copies edited by either Jan Ekier or Paderewski are always the best for Chopin.
@@PianistAcademy1 wonderful - thank you for the guidance; much appreciated.
Brilliant! Just now seeing this video -- great as usual, BTW! -- and I feel like cracking open a dusty three ring binder which holds this piece from my earlier years. Your part about mordent vs appoggiatura was awesome. I never would've known there was a time period difference and my teacher back then had me play it in the "stealing time" manner Chopin was known for ... you know, grace note and not the older mordent definition. Love this and now I'm going to have sit down, play again, and feel the beat difference, however small. In my brain it makes perfect sense. Thanks for this historical lesson. Now I'm also curious if one could reverse the case and play Baroque mordents in appoggiatura style timing to create a different feel? Wanna make Scarlatti roll over in his grave? 😂
That's great, Shawn! I'm not sure I want to bring down the wrath of Bach and Scarlatti on myself, but perhaps someone someday will 😂
Thanks for this masterclass, I have a question, how can I know what pedal to use in a piece?
Marco, thanks for watching! Pedaling is such an intricate subject and it's a great question! The best answer depends on a lot of things: the period the piece was composed in, the composer themselves, and the style of composition. Many times, changing pedal when the harmony changes is the best place to start. But even as I point out in this video, there are times when that rule is broken. Through experiencing music on recordings, plus our own playing, we need to develop our ear enough that it can be sensitive to pedaling and begin to 'know' when we need to change and when we don't.
@@PianistAcademy1 thanks very much!!!!!!
Very helpful. Just a request from your one subscriber can you pl make such on Gillock's Valse in a form of a Etude?
Thank you for watching! I'm glad it was helpful for you. I will add the Gillock to my list most definitely and look forward to learning it to teach!
@@PianistAcademy1 love from india, it will be very helpful for us where we learn many things by exploring in yountube.
Traducir en Español. Gracias
Nicely detailed, thanks for this! I was wondering though why you pick the 1,4,3 fingering for the turns (e.g. at bar 5). My pianist/musicologist father in law says all these 'prall trills' are best played with 2,4,3. He says eventually this is best to achieve a certain speed. Do you agree with that or feel that 1,4,3 is just as good or better even? (When trying, it does feel easier to execute, I must admit.)
Hi Bart, thanks for watching! Fingering choices usually come down to 1 of 2 things: 1) is there a technique (as a student) that needs to be developed and thus we choose a certain fingering to aid with that... or 2) what choice feels best for your hand. Fingering is such a complex concept because every person has a unique body and hand. The overall structure is the same from person to person, yes, but how we learn to use that structure through other day-to-day activities is very individual.
I prefer the 1-4-3 choice because the motion from 1 to 4 helps to exaggerate the rotation in this turn. For me, it ends up feeling mostly like a little shake of the hand and turn executes itself. The 2-4-3 choice also utilizes rotation because of the finger gap, although not as much. Some might feel this is "easier" because it might feel awkward to bring 1 and 4 so close together if you're not used to it. It's a very solid choice. Personally, I'd still pick 1-4-3 for myself for the reason above, plus, when using 2-4-3, the 2 and 3 need to something like "trade places" on the same part of the key, which means needing to get 2 out of the way so 3 can play. In the 1-4-3 turn, 3 and 1 can both be ready to play and actually be resting on the key surface simultaneously, thumb toward the front edge of the key and 3 a bit further into the key. Because both fingers have room, I don't need to "lift away" or "remove" one of the them from the key to make room for another.
All that said, both choices are valid and healthy. You could even try out 1-2-1 as well. In the end, first, does 1-4-3 feel awkward and if so, should you spend time learning that feeling? Second, which finger pattern feels easiest? Third, as long as we stay away from using thumb on black keys during, most of the other fingering options will, in some way, be correct! The piece is your oyster! haha
@@PianistAcademy1 Hi Charles, thank you so much for your fast and extensive reply. I really appreciate it.
I completely understand your motivation. I did notice the ease of playing due to the rotation with 1,4,3. It happens quite naturally.
In any case, I actually started out using 2,3,2 (and then 1) but noticed I ended up somewhere later on with a different finger than shown in the (digital) sheet music (as part of the Piabook app). So, then I consulted my father in law and he said 2,4,2 is the preferred fingering in all these note progressions.
It felt somewhat awkward at first since I need to lift the third finger out of the way, but since my father in law said it eventually would help me when playing the piece in higher tempo, I tried it some more and it does feel more natural now.
Nevertheless, your 1,4,3 approach seems to work even better, so I think I'll stick with that after all. Anyway, a long story but I figured I'd tell you where I'm coming from. :)
So yeah, I'll experiment some more before settling with one or the other. Lovely little piece to perform, that's for sure. Have a good day.
@@bart_r6703 Thanks for giving a change in fingering a try! Best wishes for you, and I hope to continue to see you around the channel!
Can anyone say which app does he use to write marks on sheet music?
Hey Richard! I use ForScore for iPad. Great app!
Hi I was wondering what software are you using?
Hey there! Good to see you again! I’m using forScore on my iPad, Apple Pencil to annotate. The screen recording is simply through Control Center on iOS. Thanks for asking!
That's an excellent explanation of the waltz! But i have a cuestion: why, in general, music shape (crescendos and decrescendos, etc) is not written in the music sheet?
Thanks, and great question Leon! Composers will usually use markings like cresc and decresc (dim) when they'd like a bigger dynamic change than what would otherwise be considered "musical" or "normal." Phrases and lines should always have shape, and composers throughout time have considered this type of shape implied. Of course, it isn't, until you learn how tradition expects that implication to work. So the markings are reserved for bigger changes in feel. For example, a phrase that crescendos from mezzo piano to forte is going to also be expected to change in character as well. But phrase without a dynamic mark might ebb and flow, cresc and decresc, but it won't change character overall.
Thanks a lot, for your time and explanation! For begginers, like me, some kind of details are difficult to understand... I really appreciate your support!
ok i'm starting this piece now, let's see when will i be able to come back and say i can play it good enough
YES! Looking forward to it!
@@PianistAcademy1 i can safely say that the hardest part is decent enough, now i can focus on the third phrase and the coda, your tips on mordants vs appoggiaturas are spot on, very precious indeed
@@PianistAcademy1 here we go, the piece is memorized, now i need to make a decent recording, i hope i'll be able for the next live!
@@serwoolsley Yes! Looking forward to hearing you!
I loved it your detailed explanation. I am trying to learn the waltz. But I cannot understand the digitation in bars 17 to 24. Could you write the digitation, please?
Thanks for watching! Do you mean the fingering choices for those bars?
@@PianistAcademy1 Yes, exactly
@@claudiorojas7015 Here's a potential solution for the RH in those bars:
M 17-18: 1 2 3 1 3 4 | (34)3 2 1 4 3
M 19: (34)3 2 1 2 1
M 20: (34)3 2 1 2 1
M 21: 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4
M 22: (34)3 2 1 3 4
M 23: (34)3 2 1 5 5
M 24: 2
Here's a different solution if the double appoggiaturas are too difficult with 3 and 4:
M 17-18: 1 2 3 1 2 3 | (13)1 2 1 3 2
M 19: (13)1 2 1 2 1
M 20: (13)1 2 1 2 1
M 21: 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4
M 22: (13)1 2 1 3 2
M 23: (13)1 2 1 5 5
M 24: 2
Great! Thank you very much! I am going to try them.
Ohh very nice i actually wanted to play this for quite a while now but my teacher says it's too early, getting close to it though, i think i will attempt it soon, i will surely come back to this.
Even though it's a walse i don't like it when it's too dancy and on the faster tempo and even the classic chopins' pushing and pulling feeling, i don't like it so much applied to this piece, i like it being kinda sad mellow and contempletive, much slower, especially in the first phrase, i see you are saying that is not supposed to be played as a dance so that is nice but anyway your tempo is too fast in how i have this piece in mind, i hope i will be able to record it and send it for a live so that i can demonstrate what i'm saying.
Thanks as always!
I'd love to hear you play it! I regularly hear this one taken far too fast for the somber bits to have any meaning at all. Like I mention in the vid, the metronome marking that was likely in Chopin's mind for "Allegretto" is between 112 and 120. For my taste, 112 is still a tad too fast for the minor bits, but a tad too slow for the B and C sections. It's a fine balance. Too quick overall and the contemplative sound is lost, but too slow overall and we never hear the hope in those couple of phrases either. I'll be looking forward to hearing your choices!
@@PianistAcademy1 oh i never thought it in that way.. i guess changing tempo between phrases is a mistake then
@@serwoolsley I think there can definitely be some change! It just needs to be reasonable enough that it doesn’t sound like the piece changed to another.
What are your thoughts on playing bar 5 (EFED#E) with 23212 fingering?
Great video btw!
I'd use 13121 for that figure. It's possible to use the fingering you suggest, but it's not best practice to be using thumb on the black key when there are other options. Using 131 on the appoggiatura enables us to use more rotation to very easily play that figure quickly, and then 2 is set up perfectly to cross over for the D#.
There are plenty of times where we *have to* use thumb on a black key and in those case we need to work around how crowded we make the hand near the fall board and the leverage we lose playing that far into the keys. But when we are presented with other options, usually there are better choices! Until my own students are quite advanced, at least playing level 10 RCM material etc, I insist on other fingering choices that don't put thumb and the hand in that position. We also need to be aware of the muscle memory we are building into the hand with each fingering choice we make. The more we chose one type of fingering consistently, the more our hand will gravitate toward that in the future... but there will be a point where the passage will likely be too fast or complex to make good use of that fingering choice. If we build in "better" choices from the beginning, our hand will gravitate toward those instead!
"... in A minor, published posthumously, so it's referred to as B.150 ..."
Aren't there two posthumous Chopin waltzes in A minor?
Anyway, thanks loads for doing such a detailed look at this piece; it's very helpful.
PS. I learned this by ear from a recording, and my version is a little bit variant in spots, partly because of that, and partly because I like to play with Chopin's style, varying the music non-essentially, while attempting to stay true to Chopin's "spirit."
Fred
From what I can tell, there is only one a minor posthumous waltz by Chopin, among the 8 waltzes published posthumously. Funny enough, my hard copy edition of Chopin Waltzes only includes 2 of them... and doesn't even include this very famous one in a minor!
Thanks for watching this video, Fred!
@@PianistAcademy1 Well, I don't have access to my Chopin Waltz album right now, but I know there's at least one other A minor waltz, so it must not be posthumous.
BTW, my album doesn't have this one, either. And thanks for the reply.
Good video! I'd suggest playing this twice as slow. It makes it easier and it sounds good as it is in a mournful key anyway (except the middle section). I do it on my channel.
Thanks for watching and commenting! If we want to maintain the integrity of what Chopin put down on paper, then his marking of Allegretto means something very specific that we should keep in mind. As I mention in the vid, for romantic era composers, that means Q = between 112 and 120, give or take 1 or 2 bpm on either side. There are plenty of famous concert artists who take it faster, and there are plenty who take it slower... and no matter how famous they might be I'd still have to disagree (especially from a teaching perspective, but also from an artistic perspective) with their choices because 1) too fast, above 120 especially, doesn't allow for the somber mood, while 2) too slow, below 112, doesn't allow the middle section in major to be strikingly hopeful amid the surrounding sadness. Sure we can take rubato and make adjustments through each phrase, but they can't be so out of proportion or we end up taking on the role of composer and taking that away from Chopin. Ie, if he wanted a dramatic tempo change, he would've marked it himself as he did countless other times in other pieces.
FYI, I listened to your version on your channel! And generally speaking, you play it around 114bpm, which is right in the middle of what Chopin would've wanted!
@@PianistAcademy1 thank you for your interesting reply. Yes - I think what I meant is that if you play it at the speed I do then it no longer has much of a waltz feel at all. But - allegretto means slower than allegro, doesn't it - son as you so kindly suggest, maybe mine is OK!
Wonderful lesson. Very good piano instructor. Thank you and good luck
Thanks for watching, Chanh!
If you listen the youtube video "Chopin, Waltz in A minor, B 150, Op. Posth" from the channel "The Great Repertoire", can you tell wich way they are pedaling? to me it seems they pedal once per bar but i cannot really tell 100%, they might be doing the "once per beat" way, i really like that interpretation and i'd like to do it that way
Yes that version is one pedal per bar for the most part. I’d urge you to find a human playing it for interpretation! That vid is a computer playing a nice sample library… so it sounds ok, but it’s definitely a computer playback, not a real musician. Tiffany Poon’s version might be to your liking.
@@PianistAcademy1 is it really a computer? I could not tell at all
@@serwoolsley yeah. All of the chord voicing are identical and the timing, except where it’s programmed to speed or slow, is also identical. Even the “best” human players don’t play with that much perfection, nor would they choose to if they could. It’s perfection in that everything is exactly the same… but that’s not what makes music magical 😁
@@PianistAcademy1 yeah now i see it's kinda perfect, but i thought that since there were speed up part it would not be possibile for a computer to handle.. i guess not
Starts at 55:12 The chord in measure 35 and measure 38 is played incorrectly
How does a quick mis-read of that E7 voicing impact what I’m teaching in that segment, which is about character?
@@PianistAcademy1 No impact～You taught me well !!!
@@user-oi5op9kd4cthanks for watching! You have good ears to hear that interchange of the G# and B!
😍😍😍 🥰🥰🥰 😘😘😘
Chopin was a daily student of the keyboard music of J S Bach. He knew the effect of morden and appoggiatura. There is no need for third party explanations.
great video quality holy fuck man..bravo!
can you explain to me the Sharps?? / minor 2nds in the melody in A-? That's not diatonic so what is actually being played analyzed wise. the Eb/D#
The only thing I can think of is that those are 7/ blank. I guess eb , for E hamonic minor, and then the F# for G major? that would be a borrowerd 7/5? , 7/6 for the F#>?
Don't crucify me lol but I just started playing piano /music theory so I think I am about 10 months in. However, I understand a key change in a devlopment ... but this is the 3rd or 4th bar in the piece. So we are comptely out of it at this point. Very different.
It's also funny that this progression was so popular and hasn't left our ears even now XD 250+ years ago.
Thanks again for the video !
Thanks for watching! Theory and analysis are always an interesting topic. Part of the struggle is always knowing which tones are a part of the harmony and which don't provide any harmonic function at all. In that 4th bar you are talking about, the D# is only a neighbor tone to the E, so it doesn't impact what we call the harmony or the chord that exists around it. It's purely a C Maj with a lower neighbor tone in the melody.
This is similar to bars 1, 2, and 3 actually... although the melodic tones are still diatonic there. In bar 1, the B is a passing tone from A to C, so the harmony is purely a minor, not a minor add 9. In bar 2, the E is again a passing tone from D to F, so the harmony is just d minor, not d minor add 9. In bar 3, the C and A in the melody are first (C) a passing tone and then (A) an appoggiature, again modifiers to the melody, but notes that do not change the chord or the function, so the harmony remains G7, the secondary dominant to the C chord that follows in bar 4.
You can start to better differentiate the difference between notes that are just melody and notes that impact harmonic function by asking yourself if the note in question is a part of the texture, or is it only a part of the melody. If the tone happens in a chordal or arpeggiated area, *plus* the melody... then we can add the tone to the chord definition and get those upper extensions like 9, 11, 13, etc... OR make some kind of diminished or secondary chord. If it's only in the melody, it likely doesn't impact what we call the harmony. Hope that helps!
@@PianistAcademy1
@@Phaseish Thanks for the comment and also being a part of the live last week! Yes, like I mentioned there, I do offer one-on-one lessons via Zoom. I'd happily schedule something to just talk theory if you wanted to! I currently also have an advanced composition student who I work with online, so there's plenty we can accomplish! I don't see this Waltz by Chopin as anything close to chromatic haha. To me, this one is nearly as simple as your typical "4-chord" pop song... in this case it's mostly i, iv, V/III, III... then repeat. The B section being V, i, V, i, V, i etc. You might be interested in looking into Schenkerian analysis. It's something typically taught in Graduate level theory courses (after an intimate knowledge of harmony has been achieved), but the principles are invaluable... it tries to boil down theory into only the most important harmonic motions throughout a piece. In a large scale application of it, you'll see an entire Sonata movement (maybe 300+ measures) boiled down into one bar (or nearly one bar) of music that contains the bits that most move the piece forward.
I can't remember exactly what I say in this vid about cadences, but Perfect and Imperfect cadences are both "authentic" if they resolve V to I. We always abbreviate them as PAC (Perfect Authentic Cadence) and IAC (Imperfect Authentic Cadence).
I play guitar and bass as well, so I do know what you're talking about there ;-) haha.
And yes, I do plan to continue vids like this and release plenty of course-type content over the next few years. There's a ton to teach! I'm sorry you've been let down by the ones you've bought so far. That's definitely no fun! Visit my website and let me know if you want to plan a time for a Zoom call (www.charlesszczepanek.com). If it's a relatively short question, you can also ask it ahead of time before a Q&A session and I'll talk through it there!
Master class isnt even needed for this piece lol. Its useless to mention how you’re supposed to move your LH between chords because theres nothing more to it than just moving it lol. Super obvious for everyone. General rule when playing is that you dont make unnecessary movements or move more than you have to.
Most students in their undergrad don't understand how to move the body correctly to play the piano (I certainly didn't, even though I was playing Liszt Paganini Etudes and such)... and that even persists into the doctoral programs... so it's obviously not obvious for about 99.9% of people who play the piano at almost any level. Even child prodigies would have lessons on movement in a piece like this ;-)
That's a very foolish comment ................ Charles is 100% correct
absolutely not
too much bla bla