DAILY UPDATES (Click Me!) Main Thread - Where the magic happens!
Welcome, one and all, to the Main Thread for this challenge!
This is where the magic happens - the thread where we'll all be posting our daily updates.
Make sure you've read the rules before replying (<- click)
Every day between December 6th and 19th, we are hoping to read your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!):
- Landslag you worked on:
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
Sample daily update:
- Landslag you worked on: Landslag no. 1: dark sand dunes with some moss
- One thing you found easy: The first bar was the hardest one for me to learn, although it looked easy enough on my first try.
- One thing you found difficult: I liked that it was a single line; it allowed me to focus on every note and it was much easier to read than most pieces I play.
Feel free to make these updates as short or long as you wish!
Download the full score (click ↓):
Gulli's Lessons for each individual Landslag:
- Landslag no. 1, Landslag no. 2, Landslag no. 3, Landslag no. 4, Landslag no. 5, Landslag no. 6, Landslag no. 7, Landslag no. 8, Landslag no. 9, Landslag no. 10, Landslag no. 11.
Dedicated discussion threads for each Landslag:
- Landslag 1: dark sand dunes with some moss (<- click)
(More dedicated threads will be created as we progress throughout the challenge)
↓ Let's do this! Post your daily updates below ↓
-
Landslag you worked on: Landslag no. 4
One thing you found easy: As in previous pieces, I immediately connected with the mood of the piece.
One thing you found difficult: Definitely starting to get harder now! I found balancing the voices more difficult and keeping the changes between chords clean.
-
Jaime Very well played, good
-
Giuseppe Gasparini thank you!
-
Jaime wonderful job, Jaime! I found you did a masterful job at separating those voices! Especially in the first section of the piece, which is the hardest part (and the place where it matters most.) Well done! Very happy to see you keeping up with this
Looking forward to hear more of your videos, and if you need to, don't be afraid to send in multiple versions of the same movement, too! Congratulations! -
Mircea thanks Mircea! Really enjoying watching your performances, although I’m purposely trying not to watch any videos of the ones I haven’t played yet!
-
-
- Landslag you worked on: Landslag no. 7
- One thing you found easy: The left-hand changes were very straightforward and idiomatic, it was quite easy to sight read the whole movement. (Then again, I do pride myself as being a rather good sight reader and sight arranger
martin can attest, haha) - One thing you found difficult: Having enough attention left over for the constant shifting between tasto and ponticello was difficult to achieve right away. I only had about 15 minutes to practice before I had to record, unfortunately. This is the sort of piece that would benefit greatly from being played from memory, rather than with the music. I also don't personally tend to do much tasto-to-ponticello shifting within individual phrases - I prefer to change the tone by changing the angle of attack and by making other subtle adjustments. But once again, I decided to challenge myself to do it as closely to the indicated version as possible. Due to that however, I did have to change some RH fingerings: the constant shifting demanded a guiding finger ("ghost finger"), a role which in this situation usually suited the a finger best.
PS: Busy day today, with Rene Izquierdo's workshop! I will reply to everyone's comments tomorrow.
-
Mircea this is very difficult, very good
-
Mircea Roooodbwoy! Only 15 minutes he says... dagnammit, look at us battling through it night and day... I wouldn’t expect anything less of you though
. Well blooming done! I think that’s the speed I would play it at, if, like, I could record it in 15... I think the “not too fast” indication probably means slower, but I also get the feeling the composer didn’t want it to be too difficult for us, which is nice.
About your tasto/pont. point, as a composer, I would find your subtle changes acceptable if they produce the sound asked for, bearing in mind that these are standard indications and there aren’t really any others the properly describe what you mean, and he’d have to invent them. That said, I think the visual effect of your hand moving up and down works well.
-
Mircea Wow, that was great Mircea! Very effective use of dynamics too. (And btw, while I can agree that the l.h. changes are idiomatic, I'm not so sure they are all 'straightforward' - not for me, at least!) I'm impressed (though not surprised) that you managed this after only 15 minutes of practice. I think this highlights one of the big differences between high-level players like yourself and the rest of us: the capacity to learn new material quickly. To a certain extent, this is, as you say, a matter of superior sight-reading skill. But I think that's only part of it. It must also have something to do with a capacity to absorb and internalize a lot of new information, quickly. (As it happens, I'm a fairly good sight-reader myself - but that's where my skill seems to end: I'm still a lousy player!)
P.S. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the set!
-
David I've been speculating similar things too. I read reasonably well, I think, obviously not nearly as well as Mircea, but that can't be the only reason, as you say, so I'd like to know how I can develop that capacity. Perhaps brain surgery?
-
Mircea I’m floored man! Just beautiful interpretation
-
Roni Glaser Thank you so much, Roni and everyone else!!!
so happy to hear you liked it! (I have to admit, I didn't have much more than 15 minutes to practice any one of the other ones before trying to record, haha
I did end up doing a couple of takes of some of them though, especially the really quiet ones where I was getting string noises and shifting squeaks at the very beginning. Looking ahead, it seems like 10 and 11 might require a little longer, but we'll see!) David thank you so much! I think a lot of it is actually just experience... I've just learned so much music over the years that I can quite easily "categorize" things by filing them into "boxes" of other things I've already seen. If you give me something in totally new contemporary notation and making extensive use of extended techniques, I might still learn it faster than the average player, because I do learn fast, but 90% of my speed advantage is gone, haha
glad you liked it though! David Chidsey wow, so glad to hear!!! That makes me really happy,
-
Mircea , it makes this all the more a good challenge - us mere mortals could sight read them, but the little extra push as far as "learning" them and spending a bit more time with them is concerned should have these long term benefits.
-
Mircea Hey Mircea, I've been thinking lots about what you said about this:
"I prefer to change the tone by changing the angle of attack and by making other subtle adjustments"
Do you have any opinions about what kind indication would be best for a composer to put if they want a tasto/pont. flavoured tone, either with tasto/pont. or changing the angle of attack, or any other way of producing a similar sound?
One possibility would be to indicate "dark/light", but then you'd have to include an explanatory note. Do you know/like any alternatives?
-
Oh wow, my "community champion" tag looks very smart.
-
Landslag I worked on: 7 (and 1,2,3 & 5)
Thing I found easy: most of it was easy to sight read to get an idea of the piece
Thing I found hard : right hand at bar 53, counting the number of repeats AND shifting right hand between tasto, natural and pontichello!
-
Derek great to hear, Derek! That's funny, I almost got stuck at bar 53 when I recorded my version, too!
mostly because I messed up the page turn, but also because of the things you mention. Well done on getting through everything! 
-
-
I worked on Landslag 8 today. No recording of this one yet
easy: not much. Maybe the leafy hand fingerings and sight reading
hard: syncopation of the rhythm between voices
-
David Chidsey good job, David! Yes, this one is quite a bit challenging than the others in rhythmical complexity. I suggest practicing it slowly, and initially even without the left hand. Once you got the pattern internalized, it actually becomes very easy and fun! It just takes a while for your brain to get used to that relentless 2 against 3.
-
-
- Landslag you worked on: Landslag no. 8
- One thing you found easy: The rhythm and the constant flow were pretty easy to get into! Also the fact that it wasn't so quiet in so many places meant I had a much easier time not obsessing over tiny details that would have consumed me in previous movements, haha
- One thing you found difficult: Not much - I had to remember some fingerings that made it easier to do the switches, but once I had that down, it was pretty much good to go! I had a lot of fun with this one.
-
Mircea Hi, very nice to listen to, I haven't tried it but it seems difficult
-
Landslag you worked on: 1 to 5
One thing you found easy: I like the repetitive minimalist nature of the pieces and the chord progressions.
One thing you found difficult: they do get progressively more difficult but very well composed so a joy to play.
-
Vilio Celli that's great to hear, Vilio!
very happy to see you on here! I thought exactly the same thing about every one these short gems of pieces - such a joy to play!! Glad to hear you've been enjoying them too.
-
-
Landslag I worked on: 7
Good Fun - would be a longer term project to become fluent at tempo for a performance piece but I think it would be one I might like to incorporate into my repertoire at some point as would be a great Right Hand warm-up.development as well.
Regards Dennis
-
Dennis Greensmith that's great to hear! Congratulations on getting to no. 7, and I'm so glad you've been enjoying this one so much! I also think I might keep some of these in my repertoire. They are just such beautiful, atmospheric and effective pieces!
-
-
Landslag I worked on: 8
Good fun and nice to work on this technique over the whole song as it helps to firmly put it into the memory. I think I've seen quite a bit of discussion about this song earlier (to many comments to read them all) but perhaps Gulli could have simply explained the counting it would have helped some people.
Kind Regards,
Dennis
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
