Normally when you get a nosebleed the initial instinct is to
find a few tissues, pinch your nose, and wait it out. However, you know
you're a music major when you wad a tissue into a ball, stick it up your nose,
and continue to practice. This was my predicament ten minutes before my
piano lesson. I was determined to get my full ten minutes of practice.
I started off today with prelude number 6 in the key of b
minor. Looking over the piece before hand I noticed that it is to be played
assai lento (slower than lento), the una corda (soft pedal) is used until tre
corde (without soft pedal), and the right hand is to be played sotto voce or
softly "under the breath" (Merriam-Webster). The melody in the
piece is found in the left hand with the right hand playing chord progressions
similar to the fourth prelude in that it progresses chromatically primarily one
voice at a time. It was a fairly simple sightread and a very beautiful
piece. Preludes 4 and 6 are my favorites so far.
7 was also an easy read in the key of A major. The piece is only 15 measures long and primarily stays in A major except for a brief modulation in measure 11 and 12. The piece is to be played slightly faster than andante (andantino) and dolce e semplice (sweetly and simply).
At three and a half pages long the 8th prelude frightened me a bit. I decided to save my right hand a bit and skip over the grace notes, deciding instead to play only the melody which is found in the alto voice and is comprised entirely of dotted eight note - sixteenth note groupings. The first page went well at the extremely slow tempo I took it, but after that the piece turned completely enharmonic, basically rendering the key signature obsolete. It was a miracle I didn't get frustrated and quit half way through.
The 9th prelude was a good place to call it a day. It is simple, fairly conventional, melodically interesting, and has, what I consider, a fun bass line. The piece is slightly reminiscent of the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata with the melody in the upper voice and a tripletted 4/4 feel. The piece begins modulating around measure 6 until the main theme is realized again in measure 9. The piece then briefly modulates again, but Chopin brings it to a resounding E major at the end.
Total time spent sight reading: 30 minutes
Total time spent writing: 1 hour
7 was also an easy read in the key of A major. The piece is only 15 measures long and primarily stays in A major except for a brief modulation in measure 11 and 12. The piece is to be played slightly faster than andante (andantino) and dolce e semplice (sweetly and simply).
At three and a half pages long the 8th prelude frightened me a bit. I decided to save my right hand a bit and skip over the grace notes, deciding instead to play only the melody which is found in the alto voice and is comprised entirely of dotted eight note - sixteenth note groupings. The first page went well at the extremely slow tempo I took it, but after that the piece turned completely enharmonic, basically rendering the key signature obsolete. It was a miracle I didn't get frustrated and quit half way through.
The 9th prelude was a good place to call it a day. It is simple, fairly conventional, melodically interesting, and has, what I consider, a fun bass line. The piece is slightly reminiscent of the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata with the melody in the upper voice and a tripletted 4/4 feel. The piece begins modulating around measure 6 until the main theme is realized again in measure 9. The piece then briefly modulates again, but Chopin brings it to a resounding E major at the end.
Total time spent sight reading: 30 minutes
Total time spent writing: 1 hour
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