What do you guys think about this performance?

It's me playing rondo from Beethoven's pathetique sonata.

YouTube - Beethoven Pathetique Sonata - 2007 Competition Awards - PJ

Take note: Focus on the music not on how cool you can look while playing.

what the *** are you talking about.

i didnt listen to the whole thing, because i have overheard so many interpretations. you certainly play it faster than some recordings ive heard. but i guess it is a rondo, and last movement..so why not ay haha.

you certainly play it faster than some recordings ive heard. but i guess it is a rondo, and last movement..so why not ay haha.

Just because it is a rondo doesn't mean that it has to be played fast.

In this case it is allegro, but that has nothing to do with it being a rondo. A rondo is just a form, like sonata form.

Although I do agree with it being finale sort of ending movement, so that way it could be fast, but I stress again that the piece's speed has nothing to do with it being a rondo.

YouTube - Beethoven Pathetique Sonata - 2007 Competition Awards - PJ

Take note: Focus on the music not on how cool you can look while playing.

Maybe this a perfect radio performance, but I think it helps both performer and spectator to see emotion carried into other aspects of the music with this sort of piece. It's inhuman not to move slightly with the music, and recordings, paintings and treatises suggest that it's been common practice to do so for several hundred years.

Maybe this a perfect radio performance, but I think it helps both performer and spectator to see emotion carried into other aspects of the music with this sort of piece. It's inhuman not to move slightly with the music, and recordings, paintings and treatises suggest that it's been common practice to do so for several hundred years.

I agree, but there is a difference between moving with the music and moving for show. It is rather apparent he was moving mostly for show. Never ever seen a pianist move so widely for such a piece unless they wanted a dramatic image to go with their playing

I agree, but there is a difference between moving with the music and moving for show. It is rather apparent he was moving mostly for show. Never ever seen a pianist move so widely for such a piece unless they wanted a dramatic image to go with their playing

Anyone remember this thread?

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/convulsing-while-playing-isnt-expression-7590.html

I see nothing wrong with the movement of the performer in the video. Some of it is, granted, maybe a tiny bit "large" and could in the end be more detrimental to a good performance than anything else. Some of the rocking back and forth movement may lead to some insecure weight control on the keyboard.

I see nothing wrong with the tempo. Not too fast for my taste.

One thing I WOULD worry about, however, is those raised shoulders. THAT will be detrimental to good technique. The pianist needs someone poking a finger hard on each side of the neck to help lower the tension and lower the shoulders.

I have the same problem, tension in the shoulders :(. Practicing playing relaxed should help....it's what I do (though not enough :P).

hey guys how about hearing how it sounds insted of focusing on my movements?

Just because it is a rondo doesn't mean that it has to be played fast.

In this case it is allegro, but that has nothing to do with it being a rondo. A rondo is just a form, like sonata form.

Although I do agree with it being finale sort of ending movement, so that way it could be fast, but I stress again that the piece's speed has nothing to do with it being a rondo.

Oopss..i never knew that.

I'm just played this on a recital I had. Yay me! On to you.

You played it so fast! I don't know, it's up to you, but I don't think it was meant to be played that fast. It makes some parts sound pretty awkward.

It was good. I don't wanna make you feel bad like everyone else. You're very talented.

But since you posted a video, you leave yourself open to criticism on your technique - and it looks to me like your shoulder tension could be having a really adverse affect on your playing. Seems to me it takes twice as much work to play like that. My best pianist friend has exactly the same problem - you need to find a teacher at some point that will work on that. Or try yourself just to stop every like 12 measures and completely relax, and continue. Then when you find yourself not tense after each 12 measures, just stop after 24 measures. Then 48. I'm not a piano teacher, but I think that works - it worked for my friend.

But yah, you are a very exact player. I couldn't get through it with as few mistakes as you, and you play it much faster. You did slow down quite a bit though by the end.

This post sounds kind of negative, but I don't mean it to sound that way. It's just easier to say things that you notice that are wrong than to try to figure out how to describe what about it is good. It is good.

I would suggest more swelling in the part that starts with the half note counterpoint. (I'm sure you know which part I'm talking about.)

I thought your performance was quite nice. Dan is right though - if you post a video then expect comments on more than just the audio. If all you want us to talk about is the sound, then don't post a video :P Pretty simple. Also, I'm going to hope that you're not another one of those people who just come around looking for compliments on their work: you'll find yourself in tough company for that kind of constantly-optimistic feedback around here.

Having said that, I think your technique is a bit tense, as was previously mentioned, but you seem to "get" the piece and your movements are emotionally relevant if not specifically necessary. The piece was performed nicely enough, and I certainly enjoyed listening to you, but I can't say that I was particularly moved by your performance. Your tempo was not particularly problematic for me, even though I personally prefer the piece slightly slower - I think it has stronger effect that way.

For reference, I'll link you to a performance that I think is quite nice in that it is clear, expressive (without being excessive) and professional-sounding. At a tempo closer to yours, I thought Gould's interpretation was particularly sharp. Anyways, enjoy it and see if you can learn anything from it, along with the others we've linked you to. :)

[youtube=SjrMiJN8oRw]Beethoven - Path

I saw that video before. And it's indeed petty clear on transitting his idea of the piece. But I like my idea of the song better (sorry, I can't help it). I think I gotta work on that: being clear, cause I just heard my playing again and it's pretty messy. I might upload a new version later. That shoulders thing, they told me that before, it's something I do by instinct when starting a soft part. And yes, I should probably work on fixing it.

Oopss..i never knew that.

That's cool, I didn't really know it either til I was studying some rondo's at uni, and noticed that some were slow...so I went to my teacher and she told me that little piece of information.

btw, sorry if my statements came across a little harsh, I didn't mean them to be...I just re-read it before and thought that I was a little rude, so this is sort of an apology

Lex

Speaking of convulsing whilst playing. . . . This made me laugh the first time I saw it, until I worked out that he probably needed to do that in order to conduct the rest of the ensemble!

YouTube - Vivaldi Recorder Concerto RV 443,?Giovanni Antonini

Considering that final movement is marked "allegro", I think the Gould recording is MUCH too slow. Had it been an inner movement of the sonata, or marked "allegro non troppo" or "andantino", I might have agreed with the tempo.

Remember that this is Beethoven, not Mozart.

You seem to have a tendency, in many situations, to leave the keys very quickly, as if burnt. Even when you have no intention of staccato, you play something as if it were, and use the pedal. Striking the keys quickly, pulling them up and away, and then sitting back to listen to your big chord is visually impressive, but in the long run is a rather bad habit if you want to develop any sort of control over your timbre. Don't be afraid to let your hands stay where they are once you've played that big fermata chord--completely relaxed. It might sound obvious, but it's very much worth keeping in mind that once the hammer has struck, any tension you might have in your hand, any extra pushing down of the keys, or heightening of the wrist (something I see quite a bit), has no effect whatsoever. So with good technique any part of your hand should be completely relaxed the moment it has done what it was supposed to do.

What I was hinting at earlier, with playing stuff as if it were staccato, is very important. It's very tempting to rely on the pedal's ability to turn a short note into a long one, or a non legato phrase into a legato one, but try to acquire the habit of always playing legato when you want to play legato, and hold notes that you want to hold, even if you have the pedal there to help you. Of course, that's not always possible: a legato line consisting of octaves or chords often can't be played perfectly legato without the pedal... but that's no excuse to play it staccato. Hold those octaves for as long as you can before you have to move to the next note, find a fingering that allows you to connect the most important lines of the chord progression. Or, more applicable here perhaps, if you want a chord to be held, hold it for as long as you can with your fingers. In very many cases here, you leave it way earlier than there is any need for it, so this is just a habit to get rid of. Practice without the pedal. You could argue that once you use the pedal there's no audible difference between a note "played" short and one played long. And technically of course there isn't. But there's a big psychological difference, and that difference can be transfered into your actual touch. Trust me, it makes a difference.

From another perspective, that habit of using the pedal as an aid (for lengthening notes or playing legato) also tends to result in a kind of "automatic" pedal usage, where you apply the pedal to all sorts of situations where it may or may not be necessary, without really thinking about it. More than a "lengthening device", the pedal is really a timbre-changing device. There's a big tonal difference between a chord with pedal and a chord without pedal. Avoiding the "automatic" pedaling, and constantly making your own choices about whether you want this tone or that one, means you get one more tool in your timbral expression toolbox, and that's awesome.

And, uh... that's what I mostly thought about, even though watching a video and posting on a forum definitely isn't my preferred way of doing this.

Marvelous! Would that I ever could give this piece such a reading. I thought the tempo was fine...let's not forget that Beethoven liked his tempi pretty quick, as evidenced by his own metronome markings on some of his later stuff.

But then there's this old controversy about how to read Beethoven's metronome markings in the first place. ;) I have heard convincing arguments by both sides of this.

Wow!! Really cool. It's marvelous.......... Thanks for sharing this information. It is good. I completely agree with you. I think your performance is one of the best performance. Good Luck............:(