Rachel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QtGOWemQhY

25 May

Chopin

18 May

Chopin

  • feel four beats in a bar instead of just one note at a time. a bit quicker, not too loud
  • don’t add extra polyrhythms in

11 May

Chopin Nocturne

  • ‘offset’ rubato for emphasis
  • phrase based on height
  • keep LH soft
  • mordent, principle upper principle note

21 Oct

14 Oct

Meditation

  • LH most important

19 Aug

Ashitaka

  • section C, large phrasing RH, keep LH a layer lower

5 Aug

Ashitaka and San

  • keep LH soft
  • build up drama

15 Jul

Experience

10 Jun

Fix You

  • see notes from last week, slow practice on quavers

Nocturne

  • fInd loud bits to go louder
  • inner RH softer

Goodbye for now

  • Just focus on phrasing

3 Jun

Fix You

  • ultra soft LH
  • polyrhythm at bar 8
  • avoid playing difficult sections too loud
  • 23, wait on crotchety. keep a light sound here
  • 31 intentional inverse phrasing

Goodbye

  • metronome at 120, rhythm is sometimes off

homework: one recording

27 May

Seasons

  • mostly needs to be faster
  • balance and phrasing

Nocturne

  • watch tempo

20 May

Seasons of Love

  • all about rhythm, line by line, constantly reference recording

6 May

Seasons of Love

  • please listen to recording for specific rhythm
  • do phrasing everywhere

Fix You

  • count carefully at 5
  • 6 onwards generally too loud

29 Apr

Seasons of Love

  • listen to recording for specific rhythms
  • bring out melodies
  • count semibreves at the start
  • 29 onwards phrasing

Nocturne

  • 37-40, rubato to emphasise sfz

1 Apr

Fix You

  • rhythm at the start
  • super soft on pp
  • super soft LH throughout
  • phrasing careful, soft edges
  • watch rhythm, wait on full crotchet in 23

Nocturne

  • phrase and treat melodies independently

25 Mar

Seasons of Love

  • some inaccuracies at LH
  • listen to recording for rhythm
  • good voicing of main line

Goodbye for Now

  • sometimes louder bits are faster
  • keep a constant 3 beat feel
  • slow down towards the end
  • start each phrase soft

Nocturne

18 Mar

Fix You

  • watch polyrhythm at 8
  • match speed at 22
  • try inverse phrasing 31
  • more intense at 39
  • 45, watch for mf here, more space to dim if this is louder

New piece: Seasons of Love

11 Mar

Nocturne

  • efficient practice
    • sectional
    • have a look at what is wrong
    • get consistent at a medium speed
    • expressive considerations

Goodbye for now

  • melody can be brought out more
  • tie bar 20
  • bar 17 soft and heavenly

4 Mar

Fix You

  • bar 1-2, use soft pedal, LH very soft
  • bar 5 counting
  • polyrhythm bar 8
  • bar 9 don’t freak out on scale
  • softer on dip bar 14
  • watch pedalling, rhythm and balance bar 22

Comptine

  • watch tempo into bar 17
  • bar 17, softer RH
  • LH tends to increase volume across piece
  • can take more ‘time’
  • 2nd part should be softer and more delicate

25 Feb

Nocturne

  • phrase top right hand bar 5 onwards
  • phrase bar 14 top left hand
  • bar 41 check rhythm
  • morendo: to die away
  • top left hand bar 1 a lot softer
  • always keep inner RH chord soft

Goodbye for now

  • can be a bit quicker, forward momentum

19 Feb

Fix You

  • non essential notes play softer
  • check rhythm bar 23

Comptine

  • much softer LH, clear RH
  • edges of each phrase very soft
  • bar 17, RH accompaniment except accented notes

11 Feb

Nocturne

  • main challenge is middle line, difference between melody and chords
  • pedal every bar
  • when getting louder, main increase is carried by inner melody line

Goodbye for Now But Not Forever

4 Feb

Fix You

  • keep LH soft all the time
  • melancholic dynamic, what should you do
  • bar 22, bring out main melody making everything much soft

Scales

  • Eb grand scale

Comptine

  • LH much softer, RH needs to come out clearly

13 Dec

Scales

  • do some i guess

Fix you

  • first line make sure you count
  • phrasing balance main considerations
  • bar 22 get quicker

Comptine

  • LH much softer
  • phrasing much more, focus on starting softer

6 Dec

Fix You

  • LH still unstable from bar 6-13. phrase here, LH soft
  • bar 1-2, very soft and crystalline. top not slightly voiced. not too los
  • bar 5, wait two beats
  • bar 14, phrase according to contour
  • bar 22 onwards watch accuracy

Comptine

  • LH softer overall
  • thinking about narrative, how does the second half differ?

29 Nov

Fix You

  • LH beat, try to keep stable where possible
  • not too important right now, but have some thought about how to keep the same tempo. 4 beats in a bar

Comptine

  • LH accomp soft, cloud
  • phrasing key expressive feature
  • can eventually try rubato (flexibility in time)

22 Nov

Fix You

  • watch LH fingering in 22. make sure that similar fingerings are copied over at 39 as well
    • be careful of notes in general as well
    • think about whether you want to write repeated fingerings
  • check LH rhythms, is it ti-ti ta?
  • triplet, slot LH left hand note in

15 Nov

  • new piece: Fix You

1 Nov

Rainbow Connection

  • drive forward with tempo, don’t start slow
  • check LH rhythm in bar 29, 31, last quaver needs to be quick
  • bar 32 MUCH LOUDER
  • swing quaver bar 40 RH
  • bar 47 can be louder, smooth dynamic transition
  • hold last note longer

Legend of Tanis

  • generally first page accents can be greater, louder chords
  • bar 18 RH has errors
  • ending needs to be much quicker
  • contrastingly, middle section
    • super soft
    • lots of phrasing
    • should be film like
    • check LH bar 30
  • check rhythm bar 31-34
  • make the mf in bar 50 softer
  • bar 64
    • molto rall, slow down, go a lot slower, then pause
    • piu mosso, more movement

Spinliedchen

  • 27 softer RH
  • slow practice might help uneven semiquavers
  • slow practice helps the mental memory

29 Oct

Queen Alice

  • bar 49, falling asleep, get softer and slower. can use soft left pedal
  • RH voicing and phrasing, LH very soft and supporting role
  • bar 17 soft, 21 mf difference
  • bar 25 phrasing, focus on softs.
  • ‘fluffy’ RH
  • watch out for pedalling consistency in general

Rainbow Connection

  • intensity can be represented in RH without overpowering overall texture bar 48
  • greater RH intensity 32, 42 get even softer
  • bigger rall in 45, spread out LH crotchets
  • all about getting intensity in RH

Spinliedchen

17 Oct

Rainbow

  • phrasing intentionally
    • focus on soft low notes
  • increase speed to help to flow
  • watch rhythm bar 27-35, keep quavers ‘attached’. use bar 25
  • rall – slow down in 45
    • each consequent beat gets slower, more gap
  • 48, focus on phrasing upwards
  • 64 super soft
  • 79 get softer after main peak
  • main focus on should getting effective phrasing and dynamics. notes are already well known

Spinliedchen

  • 27
    • RH much softer
    • lift up at the end of LH slur. doesn’t have to ‘nice slur’ ending
    • bar 40 watch Bb in RH
    • 43 LH don’t hold note, keep soft and non-legato
    • poco rit slowing down a bit

Legend of Tanis

  • check RH 18, 21 RH
  • pay attention to rall and riten in the first page, all means slowing down.
  • molto espessivo more phrasing