F. Burgmüller Op. 100, No. 2 "Arabesque" | 2 Tempi | Charles Szczepanek, pianist

[@classicsbycandace]

One of my favorite pieces to play as a warmup or just for fun-Thank you for sharing! ❤

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for listening and taking the time to comment!

[@bunnyhollowcrafts]

Yay, always excited for learnings from you. Revisited older Pianist Academy classes and had a ball yesterday!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Awesome!! I'd love to know which are your favorites!

[@bunnyhollowcrafts]

@@PianistAcademy1 I was revisiting the Christmas collection and working on two handed scales. I never finished that class. But I will!

[@TiagoPiano]

I need this one, Charles!! :D

[@PianistAcademy1]

Tiago! Great to see you back in the comments! Hope vacation finished up well!

[@brendamengeling4653]

I’m look forward to the master class! I can play this, but I learned it with minimal instruction, and I’m interested to learn if I managed the best’s way to play it.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, Brenda! The "preview" on YT of the full class will come out on Saturday morning but will only cover the application of the Hanon-Faber gestures to this piece... the full class covers a whole lot more!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

Nice! -- brings back memories of some way-earlier days :-)

[@PianistAcademy1]

How often do you teach this one? And... how late would you consider giving it to a student who has never played it? And... Would you ever revisit it with a student maybe 3 or 4 years after their first play of this?

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 this one is on my "seque" list to transition from triads and 5-finger positions. I start lessons on day 1 with playing root position triads in C -- broken and blocked, hands together; I use the same patterns to go to 1st inversion and 2nd inversion, and once those are beginning to take shape in the hands I move to cadences (I - IV - I - V - I) starting in root position, then 1st, then 2nd inversion. All in C.Then I take everything they've learned and have them start playing it all as we move to other keys -- G, F, D, etc., and introducing the minors with the raised 7 as the 3rd in the dominant (i - iv - i - V - i). I look for pieces like this which use those elements and technics (the two Bach minuets -- G and g min for example). So -- of course depending on the student (I typically prefer to start students around age 11 -- not much earlier unless there's a real interest and talent) -- this piece would probably not come into play until after around 4 - 6 months at the very earliest, typically more like around 6 - 10 months. This would be a "stretch" piece -- i.e. at the upper limit of their capabilities -- and I would be using it initially for coordination and accuracy more than for playing at a fast tempo. I'm not sure I would re-visit this after 3 - 4 years. I start focusing on velocity sometime in the second year (scales, arpeggios, and chord transitions), so might come back to this for that purpose sometime in the 2nd - 3rd year while it's still relatively fresh, but not much later -- there's so much else to work with. PS -- are you taking pictures of your piano's journey through the different stages? I (and perhaps others) might enjoy seeing a few pics of a completely-torn apart instrument coming back in stages to new life ...

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow great, thanks for sharing all this! I occasionally bringing out a Burgmuller with older and more advanced students if they are missing technique from previous teachers. The notes are quick to be learned and we can dive straight into in-depth study that I’d never do with a year 1 beginner. Yes I’m documenting the piano work with some photos and video! I’m debating if I’ll post it “vlog style” one at a time, or compile it all at the end into just one video. What do you think?

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow btw, I’m incredibly excited because the new shanks and flanges I’m putting in are WNG, carbon fiber, made by my friends over at Mason and Hamlin! Was on the phone with them yesterday about it!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 For sure Burgmullers are a good fit for that stage -- a good combo of technic and musicality that, as you said, can be easily learned, and then developed -- sort of a Hanon on steroids - ? Maybe go for a two-part vlog on your piano journey: part 1-- the beginning -- the good, the bad, and the ugly, and part 2 -- the rise of the phoenix ...? I'm always fascinated by the setting of the strike point, regulation, and voicing of the felts -- that would be a bit tedious but maybe you could take a few snippets -- the first raw sound, the mid-way sound, and the finished sound. I'm trying to think of what might be a good piece or two to illustrate the tonal finishing.

[@Mixey360]

Honestly, I think the slower tempo is the more difficult of the two from a technical viewpoint. Getting consistent and even attacks are more difficult at a slower pace; at least for me. If I blow through at a quicker pace, my fingers tend to go on auto-pilot. I need to be more deliberate and focused at a slower tempo.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I see where you're coming from with that, especially from the sense of feeling the groups of 5 as "one." But I'd still question if the execution of the 16ths at near 150bpm is flawless and "machine-like" (as one of my own professors used to talk about passages like this from many composers.) Most students don't develop technique capable of that sort of perfection at speed until they are well into level 10 or diploma repertoire. Hence why I'm a huge believer in these etudes still being valuable for students all the way up until Chopin Etudes are realistic ventures.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@mixey360 That, as I tell my students, is what as known as an "opportunity" :-) I'm fully aware of what you mean, having been there myself. However! That sent up all kinds of red flags for me (when I discovered it about myself) that there was a deficiency in there somewhere that needed to be addressed. I have a little saying I use for myself and my students: "If you can't do it, you can't do it -- fix it so you can." For me the challenge is to be able to play it at any tempo and dynamic and articualation I can think of -- which naturally leads to inventing all sorts of combinations to try -- rhythms, articulations, dynamics etc. At the end of it all, you'll be able to play it accurately and expressively -- artistically, with shades of nuance -- at any of a dozen or so metronome markings. Go forth -- and conquer! :-)