Gods Bound by Rules #1

Okay, first post on the new site, with the shiny new domain!! Still working on fixing up the older posts that were transferred over from the other platform, but wanted to update today with a recording.

Started a new piece from Nier called “Gods Bound by Rules”- I initially wrote it off as one of those pieces that I wouldn’t be able to play due to my hand size, but after several months, I came back to this for fun and decided to try my hand(s) at it (pun intended). Today’s post is more of an overall analysis; subsequent posts will be back to smaller chunks.

Detailed Breakdown

I started a couple sections in; the parts before this aren’t that exciting or technically difficult so I don’t think there’s much point in running a progress check on them. From the beginning of the video is the reason that I first shied away- the LH involves a lot of horizontal motion and will eventually be pretty fast at performance tempo. Plus this section makes up like a solid 80% of the piece. But, after some experimenting, I found that this fingering does allow me to hit performance tempo (granted I’ll need a lot of practice to get it nice and clean).

The RH doublestops at 0:10 are going to be TRICKY at tempo but it’s fine.. we’ll get there.. the biggest challenge for the RH is voicing; the top notes need to sing while the continuous sixteenth notes provide consistent and understated support. This is the first time I’m learning anything in this format so I don’t have any muscle memory yet, and it’s really challenging to keep the sixteenth notes quiet while the top note comes out WHILE also avoiding any accidental bottom note accents. Today I tried to imagine pushing the top note/key into the piano and it’s sort of helped? It’s hard to catch the nuance in the video but I made some improvement today so I’m satisfied. It’s not too bad for the most part but the octaves thrown in are toughest. I’m most susceptible to accidentally slamming my thumb as well while trying to emphasize the top note. Plus the F octave is harder than the Eb octave since black key octaves are naturally easier (due to the raised keys = easier to hit and harder to miss). I recently found that with just the right angle, I can hit an octave with my RH in the middle of the keys rather than at the very edges like I’m used to so I’m trying to utilize that here for the F octave. I simply don’t have time to jump to the edge at tempo..

Okay, now for LH breakdown- honestly, despite the horizontal motion and crossovers, it’s really not that bad. I was pleasantly surprised at how agile my LH is for some of these fingerings since my LH tends to need extra babysitting compared to my RH (I’m RH-dominant!!).

The first C minor arpeggio has a weird crossover + horizontal motion but the range isn’t too big so it’s okay. The concern with this one is having to use my thumb so much so it’s tough to get consistent tone quality (but that goes for the entire LH of this section, really). I was able to eke out the arpeggio at 0:31 with just one crossover since the black key is just within range of my LH index finger. And it’s a black key, so.. easier to hit :) The arpeggio at 0:45 is big but is quite comfortable since the bottom two and top two notes are clustered closely together. Then the next arpeggio at 0:49 has the biggest jumps but surprisingly is not too difficult (yet).

There’s a small break at 1:35 for the RH while the LH soldiers on with more continuous sixteenth notes; the RH goes into syncopated blocked chords that line up with the base notes in the LH. Those base notes also have tenutos on them so I’m careful to articulate those notes clearly. The LH at 1:39 is too big for my hand without a crossover but it becomes a little awkward at tempo.. I think it’s just a lack of muscle memory, though, so I’m not too concerned. I really love the chord progressions in this entire piece, but this section feels like a buildup and I love it.

From 2:08 until 3:21 is the same section from the start, sans the intro with the LH, so I won’t make any additional comments.

FROM 3:21 IS THE REASON I WANTED TO LEARN THIS PIECE!! (The video also gets shaky from here because the vibrations traveled up the stand WHOOPS.) There is ALWAYS a reason that I want to learn a specific piece, and this section is it for this one. I’m all about bombastic chords and syncopation and DRAMA and this section DELIVERS in every way. I haven’t taken the time to actually properly learn all the transitions yet so that’s why there are some awkward pauses as I’m reading and adjusting physically. I can’t fully hit some of the chords in the RH so I’m making do where possible by supporting with the LH like at 3:31, and for others I’m just hoping that the LH bass is doing an adequate job of filling in the missing notes in the RH.. The syncopation at 3:35 is very delicious but at tempo it’ll be a challenge to distinguish it from the similar but different syncopation at 4:12 (quarter note triplets which are extremely Hot). There’s a lot of jumping in the LH and so there are a handful of transitions that I anticipate needing to hone in on, but nothing impossible, I hope.

At 4:32 the RH has an optional ninth which I am able to hit by the skin of my teeth at this tempo but I don’t know if it’s realistic at tempo since I’ll have a fraction of a second to stretch my hand to its limit (not to mention the potential ergonomic issues that could entail). The ninth gives the chords some extra flavor, but it is also optional, so.. we’ll see.

The section from 4:38 is actually quite challenging for me; that first RH chord is not comfortable so it’s hard to control my articulation and dynamic (which is written at ppp…….). I do cheat most of the RH chords by using my LH because 1) I can’t reach most of these chords comfortably or at all with just my RH and 2) it’s free real estate!

I played the chord twice at 5:18 because I accidentally hit an F too and it didn’t sound clean, but it’s not that easy to hear on camera.. hm.. maybe should’ve just gone on without the retry. And then the piece ends on a ppp chord.

Overview

Overall, the biggest intimidation factor for this piece is stamina, which is something I lack as someone that typically plays pieces with phrasing that allows for breaks. After the first part, this piece hits the ground RUNNING and does NOT STOP RUNNING until the last phrase! The first real break for both hands comes at the dramatic chords which really aren’t a break since both hands will continue to require agility. This piece requires so much CONTROL, which is probably the second biggest challenge I anticipate. Whether it’s voicing for the chords, or letting the top notes sing during the main sixteenth note passages, or playing large chords really quietly with good tone, it’s all going to be challenging. Control is a huge factor in any piece, of course, but with the piece being played so fast and with such a dense structure, it’ll be more important than ever.

But, I’ve already made so much progress in a week or so and it’s gratifying to see. I already ran my reality check when I first started learning to make sure the performance tempo is physically feasible and it is! I’ll just need to put in the hours to clean up the technique and build that stamina and endurance. It’ll be really, really cool once I can play those sixteenth notes adequately at tempo and also nail that climax with all the chords.

From here, I’m going to work on first learning the feeling of the RH for voicing in the sixteenth note passage, and then chip away at slowly raising the tempo for putting both hands together. Looking forward to seeing how much I can improve in the coming days.