Rachmaninoff Prelude in G-Minor Op 23 #5 CheapCheapCheap.Com

[zs1230]

i suggest listen to how others play it: valentina lisitsa, gilels, richter, and nikolai lugansky. they have slightly different interpretations but i believe if you pick up all their individual strong points its gonna turn out great.

[HPIracing111]

beginning was a little too fast and the second page a little to slow compared to the first and then the 3rd and 4th page way too fast and some wrong chords and such

[Chrisjuchniewicz]

i forgot to add in my last comment,

you should not rush through alot of it

because i noticed that is when you mess up

thanks for letting me give you positive criticism!

[Chrisjuchniewicz]

a few missed chords

but overall is an A+

you are so talented you should have ever quit

its great that your building your interest back up

[TAYC34]

More protein and steroids! ha ha. I have to play this on June 7th. Are you still learning it? Work on the notes that are staccato (no pedal). Peace dude. How is your business coming along?

[trustful88]

I am much stronger now (physically) from the gym. Unfortunately it weighs down on your ability to jump chords!

[ejmoye]

I played this at my schools showcase.

[PutaCaliente]

i am amazed. after reading your movie info, i thought you would butcher the piece. with all the other factors written in there (small room, poor recording quality, etc) i thought it would be atrocious. you have FAR surpassed the level i would have EVER expected you to play at. i just began learning the piece a week ago and truly appreciate what sound youve been able to come up with in such short notice after being out of practice for so long. amazing. work a little more and you'll have it down!

[trustful88]

Thanks buddy. I wish I had more time to practice :) Appreciate the good words - keep it up!

[teresahan1991]

all you need is some pratice... YOu have the talent.

[trustful88]

Thanks! Once I have more time, I will practice and get my latest version up :)

[LuisANGEL00012]

creo que deberias trabajar en el uso correcto del pedal, y tocar con todo el cuerpo se escucha deficiente el sonido

[kissesunited7]

it's pretty good considering the fact that you stopped for so long. hmm. ok these are my opinions. i think you should relax your wrists abit more maybe that will help ease the lethargy. the first section can have less pedal for a more staccato tone. you can also vary your dynamics abit more. for the middle section maybe you can try to phrase the voices on the right hand. hope this helps. :D good luck.

[rladmscjf8439]

You say you studyed it alone, and in less than a month,

You really have a good talent.

Beautiful!!

[pianochick1]

My friend, you did an exceptionally well job!Eventually you may want to look into working with a good teacher. I also stopped playing piano for almost 10 years which has been my biggest regret. At that time I was playing Chopin nocturnes & waltzes. It's been a year since I started playing again & I've had a rough time coming back & I found that a teacher was the only way to do it. I still struggle but I play much better now. This will be the next piece I learn. Good luck!

[gazb2]

Really good !!!

[JRedHawk2011]

Overall, for just jumping back into the game, I commend you greatly. Piano playing is something that one should never give up on as it is a gift to be cherished throughout one's lifetime. I have full faith that you will be able to make this piece sound truly great with a little more work.

Regards,

RedHawk

[trustful88]

Thanks RedHawk. I improved since then... well it's been a while. Just no piano near me as I travel :) I'll get a video up one day.

[exactlythat]

holy crap u talk a lot hehe

[JRedHawk2011]

Everyone hates note banging, it's the most tedious process of learning any piece, but it appears that you have surpassed that obstacle for the most part. Now go back and play the piece this time using every musical bone in your body to bring the piece to its full glory. Remember to start slow and very gradually speed up. Use recordings like Gilels as a role model for how the piece should ultimately sound.

[JRedHawk2011]

No matter how boring it seems, do not rush yourself in learning it or else you will never do this piece the justice it fully deserves.

My last piece of advice runs off from the previous part. Once you technically perfect the piece or a portion of it , go back and play it at the same speed, this time making it musical. You will find that it makes practicing much less boring once you incorporate emotion and feeling into your work; Rachmaninoff would demand nothing less when playing his works.

[JRedHawk2011]

My recommendation to you is to start at quarter note = 50 bpm or subdivide if it's easier (it was for me) and make the eighth note = 100 bpm. I always start at that tempo, play the segment in question three times consecutively without fault and then move the eighth note up by 5 bpm (105, etc). It is KEY that you play it technically perfect before you speed the tempo up or else you will permanently integrate unwanted mistakes into your playing that will be extremely hard to fix later on.

[JRedHawk2011]

It is also always to your advantage to always play softer than normal when you rehearse this piece so you can more-easily hear what is going on as you play the piece. Even though this piece sounds best in its thunderous glory, you must save that for your actual performance. Even now that I can play the piece proficiently at concert tempo, I always slow it way down to fix technical errors that still exist.

[JRedHawk2011]

This piece carries with it an immense amount of Rachmaninoff's trademark musicality: the power of the march and the heart-wrenching melodies of the middle theme. As tedious as this sounds (believe me it is, I forced myself to do it but it is worth it) you can work on tempo, mistakes, and loudness all at once. You do, however, have to slow everything waaaaay down.

[JRedHawk2011]

Secondly the entire piece was inundated by pedal. I, again fought this problem greatly as I subconciously overused the pedal to cover for the mistakes I made in some of the more technically challenging areas. Gradually, this problem too should go away as you are able to listen more for the melody line and phrasing of the piece. Remember the main theme of the piece is a march, so imagine an army marching off to battle and how precise and crisp their movements must be.

[JRedHawk2011]

When I first started learning this prelude I, much like you, exhausted my arm strength in a matter of half an hour. The secret to this piece is that one can not possibly play it well in a performance if they have any arm tension. I could see that your forearms were strained throughout much of the piece so as you continue to progress, you'll need to gradually convert from muscle tension to shear arm weight or else those sixteenth note runs will never come through cleanly.

[JRedHawk2011]

First of all, allow me to congratulate you on memorizing a very difficult piece of literature. I will post my feed back in bits and pieces as comments are not to be more than 500 characters. I must say that I can identify all-too-well with how hard Op. 23 No. 5 is to play musically well as I have been preparing it for some time to play in my senior recital. This prelude has served me in a multitude of ways, primarily as a great breakthrough in my playing technique.

[LazyEve]

hey. without warming up...not bad. i never do warming up and i often have problems with my forehands after playing rachmaninov (prelude cis minor)or something like that. well it looked like your hands and your wrists were very strained.you have to concentrate on that. when you change that it will be easyier to play fast and you can play longer. im from germany, so mistakes may be included ;)

[jamesjack88]

This work is protected by copyrights. There is no "free version" anywhere in the world. Do not ask for the sheet music for it.

[Etude]

Mhm. First published in 1901, this piece is over 100 years old and automatically released into public domain in the US. Do your research before replying so scathingly.

[pianolover786]

wow!! this piece is wonderful! can i please hav the sheet music? i couldnt find it anywhere.

[karlitofingers]

No the printers have to stock up on ink before printing any Rachmaninoff!!

[Yaniss]

hey! congrats!! did you say you learnt this alone? and in just a month?? woww, guy, you´re crazy

love this!!

keep on working!!

saludos desde Argentina!!

[andrewchin11]

upload the new version! it's been so long and u mastered da piece!

[trustful88]

too lazy. having a full time job + piano + travelling does not work :(

at least now i can afford a new piano! :) i'll have to get on it

[Uhrkraft2]

The middle voices in the B section are very important, but they are a pain in the ass...

[paminaase]

I need the sheet music also !

[muziqueonmymind]

wow you have muschles and thats your song now your dynamics

[MJGriftz]

I know how you feel. I never practiced when I was younger. Now that I'm playing again, I regret all that time I could've spent.

[D31D]

brilliant. Nice and sharp and I think it would sound better with a better recorder and piano. Good work bro!!

[floppaboppa]

By the way: Good job, man! I'm really glad to hear that you picked up again after such a long time!

[floppaboppa]

A question: Is there anyone who might have sheet music to this piece that I could take part of? Contact me; my email is florre87@hotmail.com. I have msn as well, in case someone wants to share, I'm in the same situation as you, I've quit my lessons to go to school and need some support from somewhere.

I'd love to have the sheet music for a couple of R's pieces, especially this one. If you can provide me with it, e-mail me or add me on msn!

[halilthe42ndturk]

i have all of the sheet music to rach's peices if u want some i can e - mail them to u, reply to this with all of the ones u want.

regards

[1randomperson]

dont press the pedal too much.

[bewareofthecow]

i think his pedal work is good... sometimes when we have a hard with the notes the pedal gets held for longer than it should... soon as he gets comfortable with all the notes it'll fall into place

[trustful88]

Thanks Chocotiger.

The tempo sounds really off with the video compression lag... It's not as bad in real life. In addition, I almost fell off the chair when I did the big finale after the scale jumps.

I'll work on getting all the notes correct first.

Regards

[chocotiger]

GOOD JOB. This is a really hard piece with mad ass jumps and chords. For your next video try putting the cam above the keys tho, so ppl can see your fingers.