If you have not watched the video from yesterday's post you should do that now.
A couple things that Benjamin Zander, from the video, said got me thinking: one-buttock playing, and the idea of a whole piece being condensed down to only the beginning and resolution. I can honestly say that today, while I was practicing my pieces for my piano lesson, that I tried one-buttock playing. It was... interesting. I wouldn't say that I noticed an immediate change in my playing, rather, the act of sitting on one buttock (which is supposed to represent feeling, understanding, line, and putting emotion) was, in itself, a reminder of all of the things that playing the piano is supposed to be, other than playing notes. In other words, as long as I can associate emotion, technique, and line with sitting on one buttock then when I do remember to lean onto one of my cheeks then I will be reminded to think about more than the notes. It is an interesting concept that I will have to explore more deeply as I practice and get ready for my end of the year piano juries.
In music theory freshman year we learned to analyze chords. Sophomore year, we learned to analyze chords in relation to those around them to find the movement of a line. Junior year we learning to see the overall form of a piece as themes develop, modulate, transform and ultimately move a piece forward. Thus, as new concepts are gradually understood, we have learned to analyze music from the more specific to the more general. I think this is why I resonated so deeply with Zender's statement that in Chopin's Prelude the piece is just a lengthy process of moving from the note B to E. When understanding this, it's less important that you analyze every chord, every beat, every note, rather, you simply understand the melody presents itself as a roundabout way from going to B (the dominant) finally to E (the tonic).
Today I finally made it out of the etudes and into my first Valse. Valse is basically the French for Waltz.
Total time spent sight reading: 1 hour
Total time spent writing: 20 minutes
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