Posts Tagged ‘Claude Debussy’
My Performance: Clair De Lune, Claude Debussy
September 16th, 2009
Finally, after a whole bunch of attempts of screwing up huge, I managed to get a semi-decent performance on tape of myself playing Clair De Lune from Suit Bergamasque, by Claude Debussy.
Now, just to clear some things up here. I am NOT super talented. If I was, I would have been able to learn this piece within a week (or a couple of days), and would have been able to play it flawlessly, every time, with perfect flowing motion and rhythm. The flowing motion that I am doing right now bothers me a little. I want it PERFECT. I will have to slow this piece way, way, way down to practice the flowiness to get it just right. THEN I will sound like a real concert pianist (maybe).
Anyways, there are a few flubs in here (see if you can pick them out… no wait, don’t), but I’m pretty okay with it. If I ever do master the flowing speed, I may try re-taping this thing. I hope you enjoy my amazing transition effects and whatnot. (Ha ha.)
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
I dare you to tackle Clair De Lune. It’s a great challenge. It looks quite easy, but man, those hand-flowing motions and arpeggiated chords get me every time. And you REALLY have to develop your own sense of musicality for this piece. It sounds beautiful, but considering I’ve heard myself play it a million times now, I’m kind of sick of it for the time being. (That usually happens to me with any piece I need to practice over and over and over again.) I hope you do enjoy this performance, though, and I hope it sort of inspires you readers to keep playing the piano, no matter how hard or frustrating it may seem 
Posted in Famous Composers, My Performances | 
Tags: Clair De Lune, Claude Debussy, Performance, Suite Bergamasque | 
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My Favourite Classical Piano Pieces
August 15th, 2009
I’ve been practicing Clair De Lune all day today, and then I thought that I should write a few of my ultimate favourite classical pieces.
Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy. Of course. I’ve posted about this piece several times, mostly because it is my main project right now. I’m improving everyday and it feels great. This is, by far, one of the most beautiful piano pieces ever (in my opinion) and really enjoyable to play. I hope to have fully completed perfecting the piece within the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, op. 13—Sonata Pathétique (2nd Movement) by Ludwig Van Beethoven. This is the second (and most well-known) movements of three movements, which take about 19 minutes to play in total. The first movement is Grave (slowly with solemnity) and Allegro di molto e con brio (quickly, with much vigour). The third movement is Rondo: Allegro (quickly). The second movement, and my favourite, is Adagio cantabile (slowly, in a singing style). The second movements is the most recognizable, and I have about half or maybe even three quarters of the 2nd movement already.
Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin. Ahh, yes. This is not quite a classical piece, as it comes from the ragtime era and was composed by Scott Joplin, who is known as one of the great ragtime composers of all time. This is a grade 9 piano piece and I learned it a few years ago to play during my very last piano recital. I was in a rush, so I had to skip a section on the third page. I’ve tried several times to go back and practice it, but I’ve never kept up with practicing this section. Once I have this one section done, I’ll be done the entire piece.
Waltz in D Flat Major, opus 64, No. 1—Minute Waltz by Frederyc Chopin. This is a fun piece to play. It’s very upbeat and fast, and was given the tempo marking “Molto vivace”. I like this piece because it sounds great and it really challenges my ability to keep up with the tempo. Out of all these pieces, this one is probably the one that I have practiced the least.
Nocturne No. 20, Op. Posth. in C Sharp Minor by Frederyc Chopin. I haven’t touched this piece in quite a while. I believe I had mastered the first page or page and a half, but I haven’t tried playing it lately. The tempo is Lento con gran espressione and most of the left hand plays arpeggios throughout the piece before shifting into a dreamy pianissimo. The piece then returns to its original state and ends again in C sharp minor.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
What’s your favourite classical piece? Even if you prefer to learn or listen to more contemporary, popular, jazz, or new age piano compositions, I think it’s hard to completely ignore classical. Piano music has evolved thanks some of the greatest classical composers of all time, and without them, much would be lost. Take the time to listen to some classical piano, it’s very relaxing and I think you’ll really learn to appreciate the classical side of piano!
Posted in Classical Piano, Song Reviews |
Tags: Beethoven, Chopin, Clair De Lune, Classical Music, Classical Piano, Classical Piece, Claude Debussy, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Movement, Ragtime, Scott Joplin, Sonata, Waltz |
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Problem Areas In Piano Practice
August 7th, 2009
I’m no longer in cottage country, so now I can get back to posting on a daily basis. First of all, I realized after a couple days that I got some great compliments from some people on some of my posts. I couldn’t believe it, and I was instantly enlightened. I hope you keep reading along as I go, and maybe even pass on my blog to other piano players who may be interested.
Anyways, right now I am trying to maximize my practice time for one particular piece that I have written about already, that is, Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy. I can pretty much play then entire piece, but I have a long way to go for perfecting it. I thought I’d share the list of various musical aspects I need to improve on with this piece.
Timing, Rhythm, Smoothness. I’m pretty sure I’m either stopping short on some notes or even taking too long on some others. I will need to use my metronome to really find out where this is happening. It’s going to be long and tedious, but it needs to be done.
1. Holding Notes. My piano teacher used to make me practice until my fingers fell off because I wasn’t holding my notes long enough. I probably won’t be as nit-picky about it, but I definitely need to check this out a bit more.
2. Rests. This kind of goes hand in hand with holding notes. I better be sure I’m not holding notes where the rests fall. Again, my teacher used to make me practice over and over and over until I got this. This was an extremely important area for conservatory exams. Those adjudicators just KNOW if you are holding too long or too short.
3. Wrists and Fingering. The piece is all about the flowing of the fingers and wrist action, and some of the notes jump pretty far between piano keys, so I need to slow it down a bit and practice not only getting the right notes, but getting the right flowing motion as well.
4. Arpeggiated Chords. These chords on the second page in the fourth line are slightly difficult to execute with perfection. Either I play them too slow, too fast, or too much at the same time. This is another area where I need to work slower.
5. Thumbs. I think I am banging on some of the keys with my thumbs too hard. I can hear the louder notes coming through the piano when I do this. I need to work on softening up my thumb movements.
6. Key Signature Change. On the third page, the key signature changes from D flat major to E major. All of a sudden I go from working with five flats to four sharps. This part is tricky and I also have some weird fingering that I may need to look at.
7. Diminuendo. This means kind of a gradual slowing in pace as you progress through the bar. There is one on the fourth page at the end of the key signature change. I usually practice this part too fast.
8. Damper Pedal. Oh, the stupid damper pedal. Yes, I have the bad habit of using the pedal to take care of a lot of things, such as holding my notes. When I’m practicing this piece, I usually completely forget about how long I’m holding down the pedal and all the notes get mushed together. I need to work on lifting the pedal in the right places.
9. Dynamics, Crescendos, Decrescendos. Finally, the last thing I always work on is the dynamics. This piece is mostly played in pianissimo (meaning very soft) but there are a few crescendos and decrescendos I need to work on. For those of you unaware of the meanings, a crescendo means “gradually getting louder,” and decrescendo means “gradually getting softer.”
So, there are a lot of areas of this piece that I still need to work on. Like I said, perfection can be a killer, but without it, it probably won’t sound exactly the way it should sound.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Even though I picked out all these areas that I need to work on for this specific piece, virtually all piano pieces cannot go without these musical attributes. If you are practicing a piece, you can probably pinpoint a lot of these similar problem areas. Maybe yours doesn’t have any arpeggiated chords, but maybe it has some trills. Or maybe you find that your thumbs work fine, but your pinky fingers are weak. Whatever they are, it sometimes help to make a list just like I did, so that you are fully aware of what problem areas you need to work on. Don’t be afraid to recognize that you have problems to work on, as every pianist always will have problems. When learning piano, there is always, always, always room for improvement.
Posted in The Practice Routine |
Tags: Arpeggiated Chords, Chords, Clair De Lune, Claude Debussy, Crescendo, Damper Pedal, Decrescendo, Diminuendo, Dynamics, Fingering, Holding Notes, Key Signature, Key Signature Change, Notes, Rests, Rhythm, Smoothness, Thumbs, Timing, Wrists |
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