The timing of this video is perfect! I recently finished my MM in piano performance, and now I am trying to play my "dream pieces" that I didn't get to work on during my undergraduate and graduate studies. These videos provide a great overview and very helpful foresight on how to approach the pieces. Many thanks!

So important valuable information and you explained so well. I tryied it has already worked thank you very much!!🙏💕🌺🌺🌺

It’s Wonderful of you to do this with clarity, you are great! 🎉

As per the George Kovechesky book, you have to move the material from your conscious or active thinking neural system into your subconscious neural system. For example you don't need to think about breathing. It's subconscious. Slow practice forms stronger connections between your cerebral neurons because there is more time for the connections to grow. The goal is to make your playing a natural part of your own subconscious self. Therefore, I try to maintain the lyrical melodic flow of the music even at a slow tempo. Also as you point out maintaining relaxation is critical. I'm hearing quite a bit of power in your fingers. I think the idea of lifting your hand at the end of the phrase is actually preparatory for the next phrase. Continuing downward is wasted motion. Again I would stress even at a very slow pace to make the phrasing and connection between notes as musical as possible through relaxation, not tension. More recently after hearing a solo performance by the wonderful stride pianist, Judy Carmichael, I try to keep the practice as rhythmically precises as possible without destroying the lyricism. My general feeling is that speed develops over time. It's not something that is accomplished in a short period of time. Plus you have to play within your own capabilities or it will become very sloppy. Not everyone is a György Cziffra kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qbx_lqleq-CWpI0.html This is probably poor practice technique, but the guy is great.

‘Unlocking speed’ makes me thinks of ‘unlocking words’ in me as a non-native speaker. The art of music and the linguistics, they both are trying to achieve a level of fluidity, I believe. Both requires the unlimited patience and practice, one for a musical fluency, the other for an oral fluency. This video teaches a lot to me, a non-musician. Thanks Jeewon!

great videos, thanks!

can you pls Create a video on how to become good at reading music, focusing on the skills and techniques necessary for understanding musical notation, rather than sight-reading?!

I really like your teaching style. Thank you.

Amazing

Jeewon, here's a question I have for you:: How do you deal with mental fatigue? It's pretty easy tp over practice. At a certain point after a certain period of practice your mind breaks down and you begin to grind in mistakes, or at least shoddy playing. My only solution is to move to something different. A different piece or a different passage to give the mind rest from the constant repetition of the same passage. Changing the subject, I believe the most important aspect in this lesson is what you pointed out at the outset. What yor are working on in this specific practice session are three distinct musical phrases which form a larger sentence. There is another KZfaq piano professor whose students have presented pieces during lives streams which he then critics and offers suggestions for improvement. I remember one student who played a piece and played all the notes pretty much in time, but not the music. All the notes were there but there was no sense of musical expression Musical expression is what I try to achieve in my practice even at a very slow tempo. I'm always asking myself and experiment with how to make any particular passage or phrase that I'm working on actually musical and compelling? Honestly I don't worry much about speed. I figure that it eventually comes on it's own if everything else is in place from a musical prospective.

This series got me to take this song back out and really clean up what I was blurring through before… I’d also like to know if you’re accepting marriage proposals.

Amazing quality teaching, thank you! Very specific and detailed points. Intense.

Anche questo video lo trovo molto molto interessante grande pianista e livelli altissimi dei consigli che condivide TOP

Really good advice, Especially the short long notes or long short, This helps alot in Bachs Toccata 914! Cheers!

Thank you so much for this explanation Jeewon. I will work on it as you explained. I love your image of feeling a sandbag in each finger pad and I will work with this image very slowly also with two taps of the left hand for each single melody note and with zero tension in the whole arm including the forearm. I really appreciate your detailed explanation and I look forward to your next video. All the best, Brian

Thank you for this "series" on Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. I've enjoyed all of your videos, but especially this more in-depth look at one piece. Question: How do you balance the slow-tempo practice (and the dotted-rhythm practice) with practice at more challenging tempos? In other words, at what point is it appropriate to move on from "painfully slow" practice to increased speed. And, would you recommend continuing with the slow practices even as you're able to play the piece at an intermediate tempo? Hope that makes sense. Again, sincere thanks for your thoughtful instruction (and lovely playing!).

Great. Thanks!

This video just popped up o KZfaq after your video. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rdWAapSHnLqxeps.html She's demonstrating the Kovechesky approach in my opinion. She's creating her own exercises to master the passage. Essentially Kovechesky points out that exercise books which allegedly develop finger strength are in large part a complete waste of time. You have to practice actual music.and develop your own exercises specific to difficult or troublesome passages.