Practice Session #4 with Cori
Ravel's Jeux d'eau, Part One
I always wonder how other pianists’ practice sessions look. What do they focus on? How do they think about music, and how do they make interpretive choices? What do they find difficult, and how do they work to overcome challenges?
My monthly Practice Sessions give you a behind-the-scenes look at how I work through technical and interpretive challenges at home with my beloved Vogel piano. In each 10-15 minute clip, I present the challenge(s) I am faced with along with strategies that I use to overcome difficulties and progress to mastery.
In this practice session, you will see how I “zoom out” to get the big picture, “zoom in” to work on problem spots, and then “zoom out” again to make sure I can integrate my progress into the whole.
As I work through the first few pages of Jeux d’eau, I discuss:
How to read Ravel’s mind - what is he trying to communicate with the limited markings he gives us for articulation, dynamics, and tempo? What clues does he give us to guide our use of dynamics on the first page?
Adjusting touch to facilitate faster movement and change the character of the sound (playing at the top of the key rather than to the bottom of the key)
What determines how I use the pedal in a given section (half pedal, full pedal, flutter pedal)
Voicing left hand chords as they come down dynamically
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