Noct's Theme - Snapshot #1
SLIDES IN MONTHSSSSSSSS LATER WHOOPS
I've decided to revisit Noctis' theme!! Here's the first part; I redid some fingerings so it's not super smooth yet because my muscle memory is still learning, but the new fingerings are a lot more ergonomic which is great. The scale at 0:42 is one spot where I changed the fingering; here I changed the LH from 3 and 4 anchors to just starting on 5 which I'm not sure why I didn't do before lol.. of course the downside is that my 5 4 3 is much weaker than my RH 2 1 2 but it's definitely much easier already on the LH.
Most of the chords between 0:44 and 0:48 are not hit by fingers are instead I'm using the meat of my RH thumb LOL.. I simply cannot reach those chords with my fingers but I CAN strategically just. Place my entire hand on the black keys so............ lol.
From 0:53, the LH can become a little stretchy but there's really not much I can do about the first few arpeggios.. I'm doing my best to reduce stretching and just touch and go instead to minimize strain. But I was able to change the fingerings for the second half of the phrase to reduce uncomfortable crossing and instead keep the LH in a more neutral position!
The broken chord at 1:05- YES I need to move my RH that much lol, it looks really dramatic but I don't have enough control over that chord in a stationary position due to the stretch so swinging my hand helps to smooth out the roll. And then I changed the fingering for that C F Ab to start on 2 instead of 1 so I have enough time to prepare for that C minor chord which my RH is not comfortable with.. again....... that particular inversion(?) is tough on my RH so the new fingering allows me the time to position my hand which is important because of the dynamic!! To play softly I need to buy more time, even if it's just a fraction of a second.
The phrase at 1:23 is still really intact after all this time which was pleasantly surprising, though maybe I shouldn't be that surprised since I did spend a lot of time on it haha.
The last couple of phases are just muscle memory which IS BAD I KNOW, but I figured I might as well record them since 1) my muscles remembered the end of the phrase and 2) I can compare this version to the reworked version if I decide to make any changes. I think the LH can probably be improved quite a bit.. I'm walking my hand in and out of the keys a lot right now.
And that's it!! I did basically reach a polished point with this piece over a year ago now? So I've learned all the notes and it's a matter of reviewing the piece and then reworking it with the technique that I know now. I think the biggest changes will be fingerings and voicing (there's that one phrase with the RH having both triplets ongoing with the melody....... oh boy).
This piece feels "easy" now but I remember when I first started sightplaying it and seeing all the sharps and being intimidated lol.. and also the polyrhythm with triplets vs. eighth notes tripped me up at first. But I really like them now.
Hoping to keep at this piece and rework it slowly but surely. I'm a teensy bit concerned about the arpeggios later on since I'm always concerned about arpeggios but I think it'll be quite doable.