I performed these works on Thursday, December 16, 2010, at a program presented by the Hyechka Music Club and the Tulsa Historical Society:

Chopin - Ballade No. 3, Op. 47

Chopin - Polonaise Op. 53 in A-Flat ("Heroic")

permalink music

I performed my first solo piano recital program at the building of Grace Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday, August 27, 2010.

After just over a decade of private instruction (my first lessons were in June of 2000), it seemed appropriate to undertake an initial recital. Here are videos of the performances:

Chopin — Ballade in A-Flat Major, Op. 47

Chopin's Ballades are single-movement works for solo piano. The Ballade No. 3 is considered to be the most accessible of the ballades and features the brightest musical sonority, ending in a major key.

Chopin — Scherzo No. 3 in C# Minor, Op. 39

Chopin's Scherzos are self-contained works for solo piano. Unlike the scherzi of other composers (which generally feature a spirit of playfulness), Chopin's scherzi incorporate alternating intensity and lyricism for an interesting musical effect.

Mendelssohn — Variations Serieuses, Op. 54

The Serieuse Variations incorporate a theme and seventeen variations for a broad variety of musical material. Some of the variations incorporate adaptations of the melodic material, while others borrow primarily the harmonic structure of the theme. This dramatic work features moments of serenity.

Chopin — Four Etudes

The Etudes of Chopin are technical studies also intended for use as concert works.

Etude Op. 10, No. 1

This etude features arpeggiated figures in the right hand and octaves in the left hand.

Etude Op. 25, No. 6

This is a study in thirds, primarily addressing the right hand but also incorporating melodically interesting material in the left hand.

Etude Op. 25, No. 7

This etude is an elegy, the most lyrical of the etudes on the program, nicknamed the "Cello" etude.

Etude Op. 10, No. 12

This etude incorporates chords and melodic lines in the right hand, runs in both hands, and significant musical intensity. It is nicknamed the "Revolutionary" etude.

Chopin — Ballade in F Minor, Op. 52

Long and featuring a broad range of material, this work has a plenitude of notes.

Chopin — Polonaise in A Flat, Op. 53 "Heroic"

This nationalistic Polish work is one of Chopin's most popular compositions. One of its most prominent technical features is a section of continuous left hand octaves.

Special thanks are due to A. Magno of Haven Media Productions for the videography.

permalink learning music

I participated in a two-week violin technique workshop in Dallas, Texas, from May 24 to June 4, 2010. The opportunity to study with three primary teachers and to receive additional input from four secondary assistants (all of whom are advanced students) was beneficial. My schedule having been freed of most general responsibilities during that time, I was able to practice approximately 65 hours over the course of the event.

Time was spent working on fundamental techniques, though advanced material was also discussed. I had originally planned to bring some new music to the workshop, but it seemed advisable to spend the workshop working on further development of skills exploited by the 24th Paganini Caprice. Some progress was made, though further growth is still necessary.

One primary focus of my work was to develop greater consistency in the production of an optimal sound. Some moments of the performance demonstrated glimpses of potential. One benefit of the performance was a further demonstration that I need to perform more frequently, as nervousness tends to diminish the quality of my performances, regardless of circumstances.

Alternate positions of the violin, configurations of the chinrest and shoulder rest, and arrangements of the bow hand, were explored during the workshop. This video (recorded on June 3, 2010) is a representation of the fruit of the intensive program:

While much could be said on the need for improvement, this is a short list of current items for focused work:

• vibrato — wideness and freedom
• bow — maintenance of a somewhat flat shape from the elbow to the hand (i.e., avoiding a sharp arch in the wrist, or maintaining a generally higher elbow for greater support)
• bow — exploiting the weight of the arm and constantly releasing any pressure, so as to produce a large tone without artificially pressing or compressing sound
• left hand — throwing the hand for a better articulation of the fourth finger, particularly in passages involving stretches to the fourth finger
• projection of musical lines and the formation of definite musical concepts for communication

Any comments, particularly of the constructively critical variety, are greatly appreciated.

permalink learning music

Violin Technique

My recent performance of the 24th Paganini Caprice presents a useful baseline for measuring advancement. The necessity of growth is readily apparent from even a cursory analysis of the video, as issues of intonation and clarity abound. Nevertheless, there is a usefulness of sharing a rendition so fraught with flaws.

The technical challenges of the 24th Paganini Caprice are numerous, though they appear throughout the repertoire of the violin and must be mastered for any true command of the instrument. They include:

• hooked bowings
• clean breaks in sound
• evenness of sixteenth notes
• clarity in string crossings in passages of single notes
• clarity of grace notes
• evenness in up-bow staccato passages involving string crossings
• perfect placement of the various positions
• the placement of fingers in double-stop combinations
• the projection of a musical line
• slurred patterns of sixteenth notes alternating between two strings
• clarity of grace notes presented within larger groupings of sixteenth notes
• slurs involving adjacent notes on skipped strings
• stretching time in the midst of a figure involving string alternations
• perfect intonation for octaves
• the musical expression of a diminished third resolving to the fifth degree of the scale
• the projection of a musical line in a passage of octaves
• the use of the bow passages involving an extended usage of a single pair of strings
• a consistent and constant vibrato in a passage of octaves
• the resolution of an octave passage to the root of the scale
• a sudden shift from the first position to the seventh
• perfect evenness in chromaticism
• evenness in passages involving chromaticism combined with arpeggiation
• the emphasis of musical distinctness of adjacent measures containing slight differences
• the stretching of time for large leaps in melodic lines
• sudden jumps of from single notes in low positions to fingered octaves in high positions
• perfect intonation in landing on long double-stops immediately following rests
• maintenance of a musical line in scales of tenths
• perfect intonation of tenths
• perfect intonation of unisons
• optimal bow distribution for the endings of phrases in a musical manner
• maintenance of perfect rhythm in slurs from short notes to long notes held in syncopation
• sudden string skips
• maintenance of a musical line in extended passages on the G string
• perfect rhythm in passages requiring successive shifts on a single string
• playing two successive skips of two strings from one long slur to another
• perfect intonation for all chords
• communication of a musical and harmonic line in successive chords
• a strong distinction between major and minor triads
• perfect shifting from chords in the first position to chords in the fifth position
• perfect intonation for successive chords involving a single maintained middle note
• perfect intonation of triads involving an octave with another interval above the octave
• maintenance of sound integrity when going from a chord to a single note within a phrase
• perfect evenness in left-hand pizzicato
• left hand pizzicato involving broken triads
• optimal execution of left hand pizzicato involving successive placement of a single finger
• steadiness in scale passages implemented via left-hand pizzicato
• perfect intonation when landing directly in the ninth position
• perfect resonance of all notes matching pitches of open strings
• perfect intonation involving successive notes using the same finger in different positions
• perfect evenness in rolled chords (the two lower strings followed by the two upper strings)
• simultaneous dropping of the fingers for rolled chords
• perfect intonation of double-stopped perfect fifths not involving open strings
• maintenance of rhythmic integrity within changes of meter
• intonation of successive double-stops involving sixths succeeded by a fifth and followed by a sixth in higher position
• smooth transitions from chords to arpeggios
• perfect intonation of four-note diminished chords
• perfect shifting of the interval of a minor third for successive double-stops
• clear distinctions between dynamic levels
• absolute clarity of trills
• a general powerfully focused sound
• perfection of the use of sudden bursts of bow speed for sound production
• evenness in up-bow staccato passages involving a single string
• perfect intonation for shifting down by the interval of a tritone
• perfect intonation of all arpeggiated passages
• building of tension in successive arpeggios involving progressive expansion of tonal range
• powerful execution of unbroken chords
• general tone projection
• the assumption of a flair appropriate to the character of a particular work
• the development and judicious application of various types of vibrato

Production Possibility Curves

The concept of the production possibility curve is simple: a limited number of outputs can be made with a finite number of inputs, and allocation of resources to one output necessarily diminishes another output.

If software business and musical skill were formulated into a production possibility curve, my typical configuration would be something like this:

For the next couple of weeks, I plan to attend a violin technique workshop, so my schedule will be significantly shifted toward the production of units of musical skill, yielding a production possibility curve (hopefully) more like this:

permalink ideas learning music

I performed the 24th Paganini Caprice in a recital for the first time on 5/21/10.

I had the following preparation:

• began studying the piece exactly 6 weeks before the performance
• practiced a total of 33 times over the course of 30 days
• practiced a total of 46.5 hours

The performance was better than it deserved to be, but I expect to further develop and perform this work for a long time. This may have been my first performance of the piece, but I do not intend for it to be my last.

What do you think of it? Please share any constructive criticism you may have, for it is greatly appreciated! Growth comes through analysis and correction.

The YouTube clip (alas, the camera did not capture all of the audio and may have damaged the synchronization at points):

permalink learning music