My Grade 4 Exam Practise Recital

Hi, My teacher organized this informal recital to give me the oppurtunity to practise live performance for my grade 4 RCM exam next week. Recording quality is not the best but I hope its good enough to get some feedback. My pieces are: Burgmüller: The Wagtail opus 100 no 11 Christopoer Norton: Blues no. 1 Bach (A.M. notebook BWV Anh. 132 ) Minuet in D minor Tchaikovsky: the doll's funeral (Op. 39 no. 8 ) Clemeti : Sonatina in G Major 3rd movement (Op 36. no.2) I have been studying piano a year and half now (purchased the craft of piano DVD a year ago). I am going to have my first exam next week, I hope I don't get too nervoud and mess it up. I would appreciate any constructive criticism. Zack

Hello Zack, Very impressive for one year of study, my hat's off to you! As for constructive criticism, the main thing is rhythmic stability. Especially in the first piece, you have to feel much more that you are generating a dependable pulse. One way to do that without getting overly mechanical about it is putting the metronone on but slowly, under tempo, and pretending that YOU are making the metronome click by playing the beat note. I write about it in The Craft of Piano Playing... Good luck! AFF

As for constructive criticism, the main thing is rhythmic stability. Especially in the first piece, you have to feel much more that you are generating a dependable pulse. I agree that first piece is where I have the weakest sense of pulse (and I also tend to lose it as I tense and get excited when performing in front of people). One way to do that without getting overly mechanical about it is putting the metronone on but slowly, under tempo, and pretending that YOU are making the metronome click by playing the beat note. I write about it in The Craft of Piano Playing... AFF A very intersting technique. I hope the 2nd edition comes out soon. BTW, do you think "honing" is appropriate for my level or is considered more advanced than the "craft"? Thanks for the compliments!

I just received a message from an adult amateur at a beginning level, who finds the material of of technique you have, not how 'advanced' it is... All the best, AFF

Thanks Alan, What you say makes a lot of sense because your approach really forces everyone to go back and feel like a beginner again. With the material in the DVD, I don't feel like there is any particular order in which I need to practise the excercises - usually when I recognize a problem in my playing I try to find a solution from one of the DVD chapters. I have recently gone back to chapter 1 and was amazed to see how re-revieing the basics can help. Anyway, time to order the book

Sometimes in a lesson I worry and even feel apologetic about going back to the nuts & bolts in such detail. I wish there was a way of doing this stuff without having to feel so much like a beginner again, but I think it's the nature of the beast... In any case, reviewing the basics is always useful... Glad to see you are using the DVD intelligently and not dogmatically... AFF