tonaltraveller

I had this problem when I started playing seriously again after 18 months of messing around. There are a few things that you can do, for example exercises that strenghten and flex the specific finger muscles you are using for that particular piece. Another thing you can do is to play the piece in a different manner that relaxes your wrist and hand, but without knowing what the piece is and what hand movements are required, I can't tell you any specifics like which exact exercies are best for your situation! Generally this problem is due to lack of strength in the specific fingers or required action, because your fingers and wrist/forearm tend to tense up to maintain position as you push through the piece.

yeah gardener thats a really good point - I'd forgotten that baroque music was written in the bare minimum for the performers to embellish and show themselves off. (although there is a camp of people who don't agree with that) Although I have to dispute your point that it gives you more freedom than other periods - what about romantic pieces, where you are invited by the vary nature of it's 'romanticism' to imbue them with your own emotions and improvise and enrich the pieces that you play in order to portray these feelings further?

When playing them, most interpretations are fairly fast for the prelude and slower with sharper articulation for the fugues, but then you have someone like Glenn Gould who playes the prelude slower and stacatto, and the fugue faster. Also, as there are no dynamics - should we apply our own to the preludes and fugues or should they just be at a uniform dynamic? And with regards to pedalling - of course Bach could never have written his pieces to include the pedal, but many people use them when playing his pieces. (especially pieces like the 1st prelude, WTC book 1). I personlly don't think the pedal sounds good with his preludes and sounds awful with the fugues, however many times some people have tried to convince me otherwise! I just wondered what people think is the authentic way to play them - but then again, with these types of pieces should we be concerned with authenticity? When we play romantic pieces nothing stops us from personal interpretations ... I am quite interested in what people have to say on this because for me, it's important for the audience to have a reaction to what you are playing, because when you perform in public it is for them and some of the time it is to present them with a different perspective and some of the time it is to entertain them. And I think discussions like this with different peoples' opinions can help shape our musicianship, which applies to both the way we approach performances and compositions. x

So I'm looking to apply to a conservatoire this year but, not being from Europe, I don't have any idea about the various reputations of the top Colleges. At the moment I'm thinking about Royal Academy of Music (although when I asked them for a prospectus they were really rude so that's kinda put me off, haha), Royal College of Music, Guildhall and the Conservatoire Nationale Superieure du Musique et Danse a Paris. Does anybody have any experience with these places? Or even know which have better or worse reputations? For example - when I first came to London I was thinking about going to Trinity, but then a couple of people have told me that the entrance level to get in is not as high and that it doesn't work to such a high standard as this others, which doesn't really appeal to me. Thanks for any help you can give me. x

Thank you so much - I now actually understand what the connection between all these things are! Before, the only music technology I had used was notation programs and although I had read the threads with people asking which software was best for various things, I couldn't work out how they interacted together. Thank you! x

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I've just bought the Yamaha P140 - I woud have preferred the CP33/300 but it was out of my price range unfortunately :( As I don't know anything about digital pianos - a lot of people keep talking about sounds, as nikolas said but I don't quite understand - are these coming out through your computer as you play with the piano connected to it, or are you loading them onto the actual keyboard? How do you do this?!sorry for the ignorance, but I have been playing acoustic instruments for so long! x

Just out of interest Nikolas - which digital piano is it that you have? and are you happy with it? x

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I have pretty much decided on a Yamaha, as it seems from my research that they have the best hammer action and piano sounds, along with the portablility. The only problem now is that I there are 3 models that are very similar and I can't choose between them as I'm having difficulty working out the differences! If anyone owns one of the following models or knows much about any of them, I would be very grateful for your feedback and opinions: Yamaha P70 Yamaha P140 Yamaha P85 x

Being accostomed to having a piano of my own that I can play whenever I so wish, it is a huge trial for me to be living in London where no flat that I can afford has the space for my piano. In addition to this, practice rooms in London charge extortionate rates and are always booked up. I have thus come to the decision that the solution is a digital piano on a stand, that can be placed on my desk, or just take up too much space and then be put away when I'm not playing. I guess this also means I won't have to keep finding a new piano whenever I move (which is frequently). Anyway - my question is this: which digital piano is best?! I am completely out of my element when it comes to electronic instruments! I have been told that Yamahas are the way to go, but I'm not sure which model produces the best sound quality/has the best key action (weighted of course) etc ..... ..... I hope someone can help because I'm going crazy not being able to play 24/7 like I used to! x

Thank you - I shamefully have never actually played a Ravel piece! and Barber is someone I never thought to expand in. thanks for your help

I went to a piano recital last night and heard GeNIA play, among other things, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Minor Op. 23 No. 7 - I couldn't stop smiling and wanted to laugh out loud because it just made me well up with happiness! Now I don't know whether that was because of GeNIA's inherently expressive playing but regardless, for a piece of music to have that effect on you ... how can it be called anything but joyful! x

Anders, if you are playing rage over a lost penny, have you heard evgeny kissin play it? I saw it on youtube the other day and it reminded me how evocative Beethoven's music is! At the moment I'm trying to improve my technical skills, so I'm concentrating on: Schumann - Carnaval Op. 9 Liszt - Zwei Konzertetuden Plus I'm working my way through Czerny - opus 299 as I have noticed my fingers becoming very complacent and lazy recently :O

I love Schoenberg's music and have been playing his 6 pieces for piano for a couple of years now ... I say that, but I have always had a problem with some of the pieces as it seemed that Arnold had such big hands and I cannot master the technique without breaking up the beautiful extended chords. With most romantic or baroque pieces where I have this issue - and I'm sure other people do too (especially with some Beethoven pieces) it is fairly simple to *improvise* slightly or interpret it in a professional manner, but I've found that quite a few serialist pieces don't allow for this. Does anyone have any ideas as to how interpret Schoenberg's pieces without ruining them?! x

I'm not sure if I should be ashamed of this or embrace embrace it in the essence of broad musical tastes ... but over the past year or so I have come to realize that I actually really like Britney Spears' music - it's so catchy and danceable (if that is a word?!) x

I've been playing piano since I was 4 and have been at concert pianist standard for a few years now, but over the last year I have let my playing slip because I lost faith in my ability. However, this year I have decided that I want to throw myself into life as a pianist with all my heart and so have applied to L'Ecole Normale de Musique a Paris. I have just realised now though that due to my *break* from piano, I am at a loss as to where to start with my playing, as all the music I have feels stagnated as I have been going over it for years (probably why I started to lose faith in the first place!). And I have another 6 months until I start studying under someone who can give me some direction! Basically what I am trying to get is feedback on around 5 -7 pieces that you guys think every good pianist should have at their fingertips. You know, the ones that we believe to be essential to our repertoire. Hopefully this will spark a discussion and be good for all of us to see where the gaps in our music base are. Thanks. x