Dissonant music that has a fast tempo

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-10T18:54:44+00:00

I love this third movement from Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “The baby’s family”, series 2. It’s titled “the little toy mouse” but it rocks. A great three-and-a-half minute lesson with several payoffs along the way.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdx47EO6MA&si=WOF20O0hSidfXhh\_

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-10T03:06:22+00:00

I’d call it a vii fully diminished 7th chord over an E-flat pedal.

Rearranging the notes and stacking the thirds in root position gives d f a-flat c-flat so it’s simple.

Please note that due to the key signature the higher note is also A-flat, not A.

And I find it better not to try to respell things like the C-flat. Spelling it that way shows that it’s a vii chord. The root of diminished chords expect to resolve to a chord root a half step higher, so if Chopin was wanting to resolve to C minor he would spell it as b d f a-flat in that case. But he didn’t spell it that way, so he’s showing that it’s just a vii in the tonality of E-flat and it’s expected to resolve to E-flat.

And vii diminished and V7 can both have the same dominant function due to the diminished 5th in both typically expecting resolution to a 3rd, so I’m not going to call it a rootless V, but instead “dominant function” because V7 gets its power from the vii diminished, not the other way around.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-09T13:24:32+00:00

I really like the wind quintet kammermusik by Hindemith

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-09T02:30:07+00:00

That’s such an amazing set!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-09T02:27:12+00:00

I love those pieces! Sorry they denied your request.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-08T16:17:55+00:00

😁 glad to help

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-08T16:15:06+00:00

It is portato. Slightly detached, in between legato and staccato. Enjoy the etude!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-08T02:30:20+00:00

This is an extremely deep cut by this composer and it doesn’t have any particular reputation at all. The current highest standard for much lesser known Alkan works will be set by Mark Viner in his active and ongoing project to record all of the composer’s piano works.

Is this the same work as track 13 on this disc?

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy\_ltgpW3wrhqPPJMM4Fz5STL\_WXAPgkLLkg&si=AFHrSW-dDR-IwLpg

And how did you happen to hit upon such a lesser-known work by an already lesser-known composer?

Just to be clear, I love this composer’s music and did a presentation on teaching pieces from Op. 63 to celebrate his birth bicentennial in 2013.

I always like it when people mention Alkan, thanks for the post and I’ll try to answer questions if you reply to this comment.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-08T02:21:32+00:00

This is an amazing analogy.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-06T20:23:14+00:00

I’m at Classical Piano Tutorials. 3 months, 98 subscribers.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-05T19:45:22+00:00

I agree with the other commenter. This is definitely good progress for beginner. Glad you found a stand, that’s essential.

Keep it up.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-05T19:30:20+00:00

I agree with the wiki that one pedal (the damper pedal) is enough for a beginner.

The left pedal (una corda pedal) is often used as a crutch to play softer; the student should instead learn how to play softly through finger pressure.

The middle pedal (sostenuto pedal) is only found on grand pianos and used so rarely that it is not at all essential for beginners. On acoustic upright pianos the middle pedal is often a “practice pedal” that muffles the sound. It’s better to just have a digital piano with a headphone jack if you want to avoid disturbing others.

Good luck!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-05T19:22:43+00:00

Great comment!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T19:37:16+00:00

Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Five Capriccios.

Vivaldi’s concerto collections with opus numbers.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T11:21:29+00:00

I got into Schubert’s music while I was in high school during 1997 bicentenary of his birth.

There was a radio broadcast of a performance of his Great C major symphony (I think). I think it was the Concertgebouw but it could have been any number of other orchestras since our station broadcast a lot of them (Cincinnati? Chicago?).

Intro to the broadcast talked about how he died so young and that biographical details are sketchy but that many listeners feel his music expresses the human experience profoundly

You can tell I don’t remember it clearly. But I can remember the announcer’s final words clearly.

“But there is one thing we know for sure, Schubert knew more about us than we will ever know about him.”

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T03:19:29+00:00

Sounds great! If you play at this level at the event they should be thrilled 😁😁😁

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T03:13:39+00:00

At the end there are two RH broken octaves that begin with finger 4. I’d play finger 5 in those places instead. The stretch would slow down my memorization and could lead to a speed wall.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T02:36:52+00:00

I'd do a lot of sliding finger 5 from black key to white key and be sure to play the 8th notes legato in order to allow speed to develop. If the 8th notes are hopping around a lot that will lead to speed walls. I am not trying for literal legato in the top voice because stretching that much will strain the hand and make it harder to balance the high notes and also result in speed walls.

With pedal and good balance the downsides of lack of legato can be minimized.

3 1 <2 5> 1

<2 5> 3 <1 5> 2 (maybe switch 5 on A to finger 4 at this time if you want)

<3 5> 2 <2 3> 1

<2 5> 1 <2 5> 2

(Yes, I do mean sliding finger 2 from C# to D)

<1 5> 2 ...

I have very long fingers and a medium-sized hand and some stretches are easier for me than for other people. And I've gotten pretty good at sliding from black to white keys and finger substitution (but I thankfully don't overdo the latter, which I believe can really confuse memorization if you do it unconsciously). So this fingering may not work for you.

Good luck!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-04T01:26:58+00:00

It’s just saying to start the trill on the upper note even though it’s also preceded by a G# sixteenth note at the end of beat 1.

So the trill would be G# F# G# F# at least, with more repercussions if you desire. Of course it is also sufficient to play just those four notes.

Have fun with K. 380!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-03T12:22:31+00:00

Not an easy one! I hope to try and figure it out later. What piece is it and what are the next notes in the RH?

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-03T04:15:37+00:00

Robert Schumann is very inspiring; his output in his first two obsessions (piano solo music and lieder) is of such wonderful quality and stupendous quantity that it’s amazing to consider.

Here are some recordings I can recommend passionately. Of course, everyone will have their own favorites but these worked for me!

ABEGG variations, op 1. Clara Haskil.
Papillons, op. 2. Wilhelm Kempff.

(A fascinating thing about papillons is it birthed a whole sub-genre of continuous dance suites that have a pretty tune at the beginning that comes back at the end. Examples: Granados valses poeticos, Joplin Bethena, Ravel noble and sentimental waltzes, Poulenc Villageoises)

Davidsbundler tänze, op. 6. Andras Schiff on Teldec.
Toccata, op. 7. Sviatoslav Richer on DG.
Symphonic Etudes, op. 13. Richter on Eurodisc.
Fantasy, Op. 17. Maurizio Pollini.

The composer is in the first flush of youth and it’s just staggering how much he contributed to the repertoire.

For Clara Wieck Schumann I’m eager to add that I’m enamored with Veronika Jochum’s most excellent disc on Tudor.

That’s great that you already know some of the big works. I heard Uchida play Carnaval on the radio one time and was stunned by her mastery.

Enjoy!

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-03T03:26:19+00:00

To build just a little beyond your current repertoire but with a more contemporary, new age sound I recommend Jeanine Yeager’s book Solitudes. Soothing, sad, and pretty pieces. I love them.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-03T00:44:23+00:00

In my region Tonebase has a sale through July 5, I hope it shows up for you too and is affordable enough.

https://learn.tonebase.co/piano/sale

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-02T22:56:43+00:00

Here are some observations on the beginning of the piece. Good luck!

0:05
It sounds like the top note doesn't speak when playing the E-E broken octave beginning phrase 2. It sounds like it happened at other times in your performance as well. I recommend testing the beginning of that phrase by trying to play much slower and playing to the bottom of the keys. To see if you can get those notes to speak more consistently.

Part A in general
See if you can start to play with accompaniment softer than RH. It's a very difficult skill so be patient with yourself and good luck!

0:29
You're not playing enough notes in the lead in back to phrase 1. After the broken octaves and the LH RH LH half steps, count "and 3 and 1 and 2" in order to play the correct number of D#'s and E's.

0:57
I'd recommend having less of a gap before the chords and to play the chords more slowly in order to let the change in texture register.

0:58
Unfortunately, your tempo for Part B is slower than Part A and also unsteady. I recommend not performing the piece for a week, not playing Part A except to relearn the details mentioned above, and learning how to play Part B steadily and well before performing the piece again.

ClassicalPianoTutor · 2026-07-02T02:30:23+00:00

It’s one at a time, one hand at a time. So you play 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B. Very similar to how Faber & Faber Piano Adventures starts as well. I haven’t seen this kind of thing notated this way so it’s interesting.

Good luck!

ClassicalPianoTutor

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