Youtube Playlist
Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxU_OGndc5q_NnlfSi2b116h6IWCgLXge
Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DEs-xfhen7Zxe5h72DZ6ARXk8tm3ADx5?usp=sharing
Goal for this week
- scales in general
- pieces in general
Long term goal
- Grade 7 achievements
Waltz
- espressivo in 92, a form of subversion
- slow practice, good for many things
22 Feb
observatory
- repeated A soft. RH legato with fingers, crescendo is small
- mimic articulation of LH here bar 11
- waltz needs to breathe, don’t cut at the end
- leggiero – light, don’t phrase too much
- dolce – sweet – melody is phrased but not pass point of aggression
- this part should represent the emptiness of space
- in loud sections, it should be the melody and the first bass note priority
Nuvole
- this piece should be an excercise in freedom of interpretation
15 Feb
Observatory
- for difficult sections, may be more helpful to go hands together slowly
- phrases, taper off phrases carefully. think about whether something needs to be phrased
- leggiero means light. Less LH, RH sparkles
- p dolce light, don’t rush
Nuvole
- lighter
- freedom on time
- ‘technical rubato’ helps with difficult sections
8 Feb
Rosalina
- legato first line, LH soft. LH gradually grows
- taper off at the end of phrases, take a break. most important element of phrasing.
- if doing staccato, don’t jump aggressively
- LH chords must be light for a waltz
- p dolce, RH slightly louder LH very soft, delicate
- increase in volume evenly between hands here bar 53
Nuvole
- start slower
- beware of soft pedal overuse
- can I hear melodic material, adjust overall texture
1 Feb
SCales
- 4th finger rule, 4th finger only hapens once per octave
- keep going with general practice
Comptine
- Technical challenges, practice slow
- increases awareness
- increases accuracy
- lighter texture
- add rubato at the start of bars
27 Jan
Continue similar motions
Comptine
- LH lighter to create texture
- RH more for singing, phrase. think of peak in RH
Never Coming Back
- experiment with rubato
Notes 20 Dec
Scales
- all similar motions (first page)
Comptine
- once technical is done, just expression via phrasing and rubato
Never Coming Back
- more phrasing of left hand shapes (inverse phrasing works well)
- phrasing needs to be very carefully formed
- legato fingering in bar 24
- accent first beat of bar. octaves in 26 not too loud
Nuvole
- think of lighter textures
Notes 14 Dec
Never Coming Back
- for finer control, don’t bounce here
- first line make sure you are counting
- in general, play around with
- chords in this section, play around with thick textures
- slow down and get softer here
Nuvole
- just watch out for extra LH notes
- we will talk more about specifics next time
Notes 7 Dec
Notes to check
Rhythms to check
- bar 29 RH
- bar 43, pedal fully down watch LH texture
- bar 35, everything soft except the accent. hold top note with the full bar pedal
- bar 21, more phrasing. equal parts getting louder nad softer. Hands must be independent
Never Coming Back
Notes 30 Nov
Scale: Eb major
Nuvole
- Opening is not pp, but mp. Can have full chord interaction.
- Tendency to slow down bar 25
- bar 30 LH Eb
- pause and riten, exaggerated ‘pit stop’ bar 34
- texture in final section, not too thick. less left hand
- increasing pendulum motion is fine tuned. listen very carefully. we are not dealing with ‘quantified’
Violet Evergarden thing
- balance RH melody, then phrase if possible
Notes 23 Nov
Nuvole
- bar 3-4, pause, maybe rit? voice top
- bar 21, don’t slow down
- bar 30 Eb LH
Notes 16 Nov
Scale: B major
Nuvole
- texture is critical and around the idea of what poco cresc and accel mean
- LH can stay soft for nearly the entire piece.
- bar 21, remember 12/8, divide into 4 lots of 3
Notes 9 Nov
Nuvole Bianche
- broadly, just present as much as you can. Quality is not yet a big factor here.
Notes Nov 3
Kitten
- This piece is all about comedic expression. Generally exaggerated dynamics and really accurate articulation.
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