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Joined: Apr 2021
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Working on the K 545 I've realized two glaring problems with my playing:

1. It's very hard for me to play fast, light and even and play piano. Speed and accuracy tends to come out forte, so this has been fun to work on.

2. My thumbs are extremely heavy. I don't know why I never realized before that when I crossover with my scales my thumbs are so insanely loud. So now I'm deliberately playing my thumbs softer and recalibrating, which is causing my timing/accuracy to falter. I'm hoping this is a temporary correction...

What about you guys?


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My biggest struggle is always playing quietly. There's a point at which you risk failing to make a sound at all, and I struggle to go near that threshold without crossing it. And it's even worse if it's a slow recitative passage, where a missing note makes the music stop making sense.

When I'm practicing at home, I have a bad habit of just keeping the soft pedal on all the time, which is really not a good idea, generally, even for an upright (where it doesn't change the timbre the way it does for a grand piano), and I'm in the process of trying to un-train myself on this.

My instinct for counterpoint is to emphasise it with volume, but that tends to create a bit of a pile-on where I'm having to rein in the overall volume.

It's an eternal struggle, though, and my teachers were always telling me to play more quietly. This is one (of many) reasons to familiarise yourself with a piano you're going to be performing on — knowing how quietly you can comfortably play is pretty critical, and it's somewhat piano-specific.

Last edited by Jun-Dai; 09/09/21 06:04 PM.
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I’m learning a number of pages with a complex configuration of fast, RH, 16th notes, some of which have to be brought out because the melody is hidden within them. Talk about the need for slow practice! (Rachmaninov 16/1). It’s fun but takes a lot of concentration.

Hint on quiet playing: think about depressing the key slowly and make sure your fingers are resting on the key surface before you descend.


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Originally Posted by CodySean
My thumbs are extremely heavy.
*hanon* (cough)
whome


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play K545 is easy but play well K545 is extremely challenging. For sure K545 is a better replacement for Hanon or Czerny.
Once you have fixed those problems, you will see other problems appearing for K545.


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Originally Posted by zonzi
play K545 is easy but play well K545 is extremely challenging. For sure K545 is a better replacement for Hanon or Czerny.
Once you have fixed those problems, you will see other problems appearing for K545.
What?! What problems could I possibly have for K545 after I fix the unevenness in my scales? It seems like the ultimate hurdle for me, besides the trills...And I feel I have a very good grasp of the dynamics and musicality.


My youtube channel where I discuss theory, performance, cover some tunes, etc.
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Revisiting Weber's Invitation to Dance and trying to memorize all the minor differences in the repeats (for its therapeutic effect :-).

Last edited by newport; 09/10/21 01:24 PM.
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rehearsing Schubert D.960, the triplets in the 3rd subject of the 1st movement are humiliating me.


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I've generally avoided virtuoso pieces, but for some reason Op. 10 No. 1 has always drawn me like a moth to a flame. I decided to give it a real swing this summer, but boy is it ego bruising. It takes a lot of discipline to crank up the tempo and aim for anything even remotely close to note perfect. And it turns out my "real swing" was little more than a light tap on the piñata, with no real chance of cracking it open.

It also takes more stick-tuitiveness than I have, and that's a nice humbling lesson. I do it for a few days, leave it, come back to it, etc., I think at my peak I could play it fairly well (not note-perfect) at 105, and terribly at 120, and at 130 it's just not sustainable for my forearms and my wrists start to get tense. And I've not had the discipline to do it consistently enough to ratchet it past that. I was pretty happy to even get it that far, given where I was when I started, and for the first few weeks I made considerable progress, but it was clear that I would need to invest a lot more attention to get much further.

I'll give it another swing, I'm sure. But not right now.

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Recovering from 3 fractures in my RH, I can barely reach an octave or hold any note with RH 5.
Hand therapy is scheduled.


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Ouch, malkin! Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.


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Originally Posted by currawong
Ouch, malkin! Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.
Yes, indeed. Heal fast.


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Originally Posted by malkin
Recovering from 3 fractures in my RH, I can barely reach an octave or hold any note with RH 5.
Hand therapy is scheduled.
3 fractures, what a horrible accident must have happened to you. Get well soon. My best wishes to you.

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Originally Posted by malkin
Recovering from 3 fractures in my RH, I can barely reach an octave or hold any note with RH 5.
Hand therapy is scheduled.

How bad and how sad!

Do you know about this book?: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/left-alone-right-on-sheet-music/4909484?ac=1&aff_id=401440


Playing the piano is learning to create, playfully and deeply seriously, our own music in the world.
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... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...
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You mean playing with left hand alone? I would do the opposite. Playing piano is a wonderful recovery instrument for hands, and for joints health it's important to begin exercising as soon as possible.


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