I like this piece a lot, but trying to video-record it sure drove me crazy. There are a couple little 'fluffs' but this is the best of about 50 takes and my wrist began to hurt badly.
Comments welcomed!


video:

mp3 (same as in video):
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new links: video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH5RP_A4 ... ideo_title

mp3:Gershwin - Preludes No. 1 "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso"

Monica,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you have two different tempi in that piece. After the introduction, you start at a rather leisurely pace, then the moment you hit the 32nd note figure (I don't have the score in front of me to give measures) you took off like a bat out of hell. I almost got whiplash from the g-forces involved.

There were good points too, but I have to go to bed 'cause I have church in the AM. I'll type some more mañana.

Scott

Hi Monica,
that´s musically a nice version, but I have to agree to what Scott wrote, you begin in a quite slow tempo and become more and more faster up to the end of page 1, from there on you stay in a certain tempo. I understand, that you want to bring out the signals at the beginning in a clear and decisive way and they can be played "con lizenzia", but after the opening bars the tempo should be constant, so I also would recommend to think over the tempo-question in that piece again.

Apart from that that´s played very nicely and I like, that you play it by heart, it´s really musically played with a good flow and rhythmical feeling.

Thank you Scott and Andreas. I didn't realize I was taking the first page slower than the rest. I've moved my video into "private only" for the time being and will try recording the whole thing again in a few days. Thank you again!

can someone come to my home and shoot me? Third Saturday in a row that I'm trying to video-record this piece and it's not going well yet again! It's only a one minute long piece!!! There must be something wrong with me, maybe I need a doctor. Will delete this post soon....perhaps letting out some of all my this pent up negative energy will help.
ok, back to the piano for round ten-gazillion...

Pianolady wrote:


Take it easy, Monica, probably a break of a week or more will help. I often have made the experience, that a piece, which I couldn´t get to a satisfiing level at the moment, became very good after a certain break. Just a personal tip from my minor side.

Yeah, don't try to fight it, just leave it alone for a while, until it thinks it's off the hook.
Then sneak up on it from behind, and.... BINGO

Oh you guys....really, I don't know what's going on here. I have waited a week - two in fact! This is my third attempt at recording. I've been at it since 11:00 this morning and have made 15 videos. But none of them are acceptable! So I have three more hours to go before I have to quit playing. If I still have not gotten a decent take by 5:30, then I dunnno...I'll probably give up. My playing is not getting better; if anything it's getting worse. Not sure what the point of me doing all this is anymore....Should have stuck to the ukulele! Argh!!!

Okay, back to the grind stone. If you don't hear from me for awhile, it's because I'm down at the local tavern drowning my sorrows....

Are you still at the tavern?... Weekend Movie List: Titanic, United 93, Atonement, Gettysburg...
Seriously!... Avoid grindstones! Don't obsess over it! Go out with fun friends. Talk about something different. Have a couple of drinks. Laugh like crazy. Dance it off. Don't dwell on it when you come home either. Don't even mention Gershwin this week. You'll make your truce with the camera in less than a month.

The difficult part about this Prelude is not the technique, but the rhythm. Harder to read than what most people think.
Syncopations, delayed entrances can play havoc. Know the music by memory.
Draw lines on the music if you must.
Check fingering! Change it if necessary
Play measures 20, 29, and 61 as chord clusters when practicing.
Isolate problematic measures and practice single measure at a time. Especially on the last page with the octaves and rolled chords.

Well, I was going to watch your first version and see if I could find some helpful suggestions, but the video disappeared before I got to it. If you're willing to post a not-quite-ready version (maybe after a suitable break), we can have a little group masterclass here and figure out what to do. It might not be as bad as you think.

Hi Monica,

I want to share something here, and hope it is worthy for you to ponder:

There is a ratio between practicing a piece and performing it, and it varies by the pianist and the particular composition at hand. For example, for a certain piece, after it's fully learned, the ratio might be no more than six performances following one spotless play-through in practicing mode. For that same piece and a different pianist, it might be no more than four performances after doing it in practice mode. Or 12 performances, or whatever. Like you, my ratio is pretty high, that is I can do perhaps 15 performances following practice mode.

But here is something I've noticed as a pattern during an especially long (and grueling) recording session: The first several recordings might be accurate, but there seems to be nothing really special about them. They sound, well, too mundane. During the next several attempts thereafter, I find that I'm playing with more confidence and artistry, and that the "takes" seem more up to my own standards and expectations.

As I continue on in the session, a new phenomenon eventually creeps into it. I find that in several sequential recordings that some errors have occurred, some for the very first time. Instead of continuing, I stop the recording each time and delete it. (That's a cue that gets my attention.) The explanation is easy to figure out--I more than exceeded my own practice/performance ratio. My experience with the phenomenon is that from then on, the session will inevitably only go downhill with increasing attendant frustration. Persistence and more time spent will then be futile. This is because the errors, much like spurious thoughts, interrupt concentration and increase tension which countervails relaxed playing. I've determined that once this erratic playing has occurred on four or five attempted "takes", the session cannot be productive, so I stop there and turn off the equipment and quit for the day.

What I do then is to get my headset and audition all complete takes that I captured during the session. Through elimination I find and keep the best recording, but eliminate all the others. That one I retained becomes the benchmark to be bettered in the next session.

At the next opportunity I first revert to practice mode to recover and refresh my capabilities in playing the music. Once I'm satisfied, then I can move on to recording mode which is then usually successful.

I believe, Monica, that in this instance you probably went too far for too long (that is to say, 50 takes), so the desired result eluded you. And where your wrist was aching, it could have even been dangerous! Bottom line: You likely stretched your practice/performance ratio way past its outermost limit.

I realize and respect that your work method might be quite different from mine, but I hope this might somehow still be helpful.

David

Surely playing has ceased to be a pleasure and recording no longer an extention of that pleasure, but has instead become the sole aim.

I was going to delete my previous post, but you all have such interesting and entertaining bits of information regarding video-recording, that I left everything up.

@George - I wasn't drinking earlier, but I am now. Must be why I can't figure out the connection between those movies. I've seen Titantic and Atonement. Is it because they are long movies?
Regarding obsessing over Gershwin - yes, I surely have been doing that. Three whole Saturdays I've been trying to video-record this piece. Why? I don't know. I get an idea and just have to go through with it, I guess.

@Alexander - I took my first video off right away when I learned that my tempo was goofy. I have now diligently practiced this piece for the past two weeks with the metronome so I really, really hope it's okay now....

@David - I understand completely what you're talking about. There were some days when weird mistakes popped up and I couldn't figure out why. Then the next day, they would be gone, but different mistakes popped up. It totally baffled me because this prelude is only 4 pages long. I've played and video-recorded pieces much longer than that and didn't have as many problems as I had with this one. I do know one thing for sure....I am not going to video-record anything again for a long time!!!!

So....well.... here, again, is my best effort after a thousand attempts: Cheers!


video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH5RP_A4 ... ideo_title

mp3: Gershwin - Preludes No. 1 "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso"

Monica,
I like it very much! And your smile at the end lit my face up . My first teacher would have given you hell for playing in those high heels, but more power to you if you can! I think you've done a great job of working hard and have a great result to show for it.

Regards,
Eddy

And this sounds entirely respectable. Well done!

I had a student play this piece a couple of years ago. She was terrified of those triplets. You play them so neatly, and don't look at all worried.

One suggestion, and a practical, not a musical, one. It's hard to tell from the camera angle, but it looks as though you're sitting quite low at the piano. Considering the amount of jumping around in the second half of this piece, you might find it more comfortable if you wind your seat up just a little bit higher. You may want to think about the idea of sitting differently depending on the repertoire; I certainly tend to sit about an inch higher when I'm playing Liszt than for Bach.