For me the hardest things about this piece are: 1. The pedal muddying up the clarity of the notes 2. The difficulty of the fingering in the parts with grace notes in the first part as you mentioned 3. Playing the scales QUIETLY while going fast
I agree that pedalling in this piece is challenging. As so many fragments are repeated, I noticed that the great pianists change their pedalling approach constantly - sometimes playing almost staccato with little or no pedal and other times much more legato. However, (and this is very clear in Rubinstein), they also cleverly use the pedal to trap and thereby emphasise different notes - especially in the 8th note sections. I found to get better dynamic control at speed, the '4/4 Waltz' technique I mentioned in the video worked quite well for me.
My solution to the eighth note runs was slow...slow practice paying very close attention to the position of my 4th and 5th fingers being gentle and firm without the rest of my hand lifting too high up from the keyboard. I gradually build up speed but always go back to super ( almost deadly slow) when i warm up or the speed gets out of control) yuga wangs performance is my inspiration. Variety of speed and touch and accelerando are key to not only making this section interesting but gaining absolute security in playing. Its such a thrill to gain mastery over this waltz.
I agree, Yuja Wang plays this exquisitely. I’d love to get a really close view of her hands whilst she plays it. There are places where it is hard to see how she retains such elegance and control - although of course this is probably a ‘sight reading level’ piece for her now. I also need to actively practice it to keep it in my fingers. My favourite way being the 4/4 waltz approach
Great lesson. It's great to hear where the host has struggled in practicing and how he overcame it. I have the same struggles and will try the practice techniques out. Thanks again.
@@TommysPianoCorner Hi Tommy, I think my section B is getting better. Do you have any tricks you used for section C? I find it actually the hardest to learn all those left hand cords where I have to hold down a note, switch fingering so I can continue to hold that note down and play a new cord. Thanks.
@@cathylu5709 my suggestion would be to not hold the tied quarter notes (crotchets) as these are easy to catch in the pedal and anyway need to be cleared before the following notes. Simply focus on holding the dotted half notes (dotted minims) as you need to keep these sustained through a pedal change. That should make things more manageable. What do you think?
The best tip I can give you is to find some other pieces of music with grace notes in them. What I have found is that if I spend say 10 minutes each day working on a variety of different pieces with a similar technical problem, it makes it much easier than just keep trying to practice it in the one piece. So, when I wanted to improve the mordants in my Chopin Nocturne, I practiced the mordent sections of the Waltz in A Minor, a section of a piece by Royer with lots of mordants in it too as well as the sections of the Nocturne itself with the mordants. It made a massive difference. You can just browse through whatever music you have to hand to find suitable things (I have subscribed to Pianist Magazine for some years so just use their back issues when looking for suitable music). You might find this video helpful : ruclips.net/video/yafGCN4o9HA/видео.html
This video deserves more views.
Thanks - that's very kind. My channel is still very young s hopefully people will start to discover it over time.
@@TommysPianoCorner I will share the video on reddit and hopefully will get more views.
That's amazing - thanks. It got more views overnight than it has had all week. Thanks for sharing it.
No it does not
I love the glass of wine in the piano , sure is a good one to enjoy with this beautiful piece ❤️
Nothing like a nice glass of red as a reward for practicing :-)
For me the hardest things about this piece are:
1. The pedal muddying up the clarity of the notes
2. The difficulty of the fingering in the parts with grace notes in the first part as you mentioned
3. Playing the scales QUIETLY while going fast
I agree that pedalling in this piece is challenging. As so many fragments are repeated, I noticed that the great pianists change their pedalling approach constantly - sometimes playing almost staccato with little or no pedal and other times much more legato. However, (and this is very clear in Rubinstein), they also cleverly use the pedal to trap and thereby emphasise different notes - especially in the 8th note sections.
I found to get better dynamic control at speed, the '4/4 Waltz' technique I mentioned in the video worked quite well for me.
I love the focus you take in the structure of the waltz, thank you for the lesson!
I'm pleased you found it helpful
Thank you very much! I’ve been struggling a lot with the speed of the arpeggios
Very pleased you found it helpful :-)
This so helpful! I’m trying to learn this piece now.
Thanks for letting me know. It is a fantastic piece to learn.
Thank You! I was struggling on these parts and you helped me very much.
That’s great to hear. What else are you learning?
Your playing is beautiful and crisp!
Thanks very much. I’m still trying to improve so appreciate your encouragement !!
My solution to the eighth note runs was slow...slow practice paying very close attention to the position of my 4th and 5th fingers being gentle and firm without the rest of my hand lifting too high up from the keyboard. I gradually build up speed but always go back to super ( almost deadly slow) when i warm up or the speed gets out of control) yuga wangs performance is my inspiration. Variety of speed and touch and accelerando are key to not only making this section interesting but gaining absolute security in playing. Its such a thrill to gain mastery over this waltz.
I agree, Yuja Wang plays this exquisitely. I’d love to get a really close view of her hands whilst she plays it. There are places where it is hard to see how she retains such elegance and control - although of course this is probably a ‘sight reading level’ piece for her now. I also need to actively practice it to keep it in my fingers. My favourite way being the 4/4 waltz approach
Never forget: the glass of wine 🤣 looooool I LOVe it !
It's nice to have a little reward after practising :-)
Great lesson. It's great to hear where the host has struggled in practicing and how he overcame it. I have the same struggles and will try the practice techniques out. Thanks again.
Hope the techniques help you. Would be delighted to hear how you get on :-)
@@TommysPianoCorner Hi Tommy, I think my section B is getting better. Do you have any tricks you used for section C? I find it actually the hardest to learn all those left hand cords where I have to hold down a note, switch fingering so I can continue to hold that note down and play a new cord. Thanks.
When you say section C do you mean the part in D Flat Major ?
@@TommysPianoCorner yes.
@@cathylu5709 my suggestion would be to not hold the tied quarter notes (crotchets) as these are easy to catch in the pedal and anyway need to be cleared before the following notes. Simply focus on holding the dotted half notes (dotted minims) as you need to keep these sustained through a pedal change. That should make things more manageable. What do you think?
Pretty good Tommy
I’m gonna give it a go ❤
Great to hear. It’s a real beauty :-)
Thank you 😊 it has been very helpful
I hope the ideas help you practice this fantastic piece of music effectively. Good luck!
Thank you!
I’m pleased you found it helpful
If I may make a suggestion, it might be good to pedal more during the 3rd and 4th measure motif
Thanks for the tip. I’ll definitely try this out. I always worry that it might get a little muddy sounding so perhaps I’m over compensating.
The segment that I struggle the most is those grace notes. Do you have more tips regarding to those issues? I really need help.
Thank you!❤️
The best tip I can give you is to find some other pieces of music with grace notes in them. What I have found is that if I spend say 10 minutes each day working on a variety of different pieces with a similar technical problem, it makes it much easier than just keep trying to practice it in the one piece. So, when I wanted to improve the mordants in my Chopin Nocturne, I practiced the mordent sections of the Waltz in A Minor, a section of a piece by Royer with lots of mordants in it too as well as the sections of the Nocturne itself with the mordants. It made a massive difference. You can just browse through whatever music you have to hand to find suitable things (I have subscribed to Pianist Magazine for some years so just use their back issues when looking for suitable music). You might find this video helpful : ruclips.net/video/yafGCN4o9HA/видео.html
@@TommysPianoCorner Thank you for the reply!