Is Clair de Lune too hard for me?
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@shirokuro
I'd add that in bar 27 the second arpeggio in the right hand may be better played fast using 2/1/2 then 3with5 rather than slipping over 1/2/4 then 3with5. I'll choose what feels better when its up to speed. Such is the learning process. -
Bars 27 & 28
Bars 29 &30
I'm playing as the score as written, bars 27 and 28 both start with 4 notes left hand, then 3 and 3 in the LH.
@AndyD I worked on those bits a little bit yesterday, and my fingering is the same as yours. Of course I’m only just getting into this part, so it might change, or maybe my teacher will suggest a change. But this fingering is also in line with how the score is written, and I’d prefer to play it that way.
In his video, Hugh Sung says he tries to make fingering choices that avoid over-stretching the hand. This is a good idea as a general rule, and I usually do the same. But those LH notes are not held notes and you don’t need to keep your pinkie on that Db (for example) so I don’t think playing those first four notes with the LH will necessarily cause an over-stretch.
Actually, maybe it’s just as important to work on bringing the LH over (to the right) as you play those notes… I’m trying to remember which video it was, but I was watching someone play CdL with a nice overhead video shot and really noticing the horizontal movement of their hands.
Anyway, I’m not saying I’m in a position to question an accomplished pianist like Hugh Sung, but for now, I’m going with the standard fingering.
Also, as an aside, I seem to keep wanting to type this name as Huge Sung…. And the famous actor as Huge Grant…
(Sometimes you can’t blame it on autocorrect…)
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Ugh. Yesterday’s practice didn’t go so well. I’m back to wondering if this is just too hard.
OTOH, it seems clear that the degree of difficulty I feel from CdL is inversely proportional to how tired I am. I need to stick it out until my lesson (Monday) and see if my new teacher can get over a few specific challenges — currently the section starting in measure 27 and the one starting in m37…
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Ugh. Yesterday’s practice didn’t go so well. I’m back to wondering if this is just too hard.
OTOH, it seems clear that the degree of difficulty I feel from CdL is inversely proportional to how tired I am. I need to stick it out until my lesson (Monday) and see if my new teacher can get over a few specific challenges — currently the section starting in measure 27 and the one starting in m37…
ShiroKuro said:
the degree of difficulty I feel from CdL is inversely proportional to how tired I am.
Or just proportional, depending on how you read that…
The less tired I am, the easier it feels. The more tired I am, the harder it feels.
Whatever. That’s why I only do qualitative research.
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So thanks to @kluurs I had a very productive practice session last night, with much less frustration! I was working from a Henle edition score, which was fairly high quality. The nice thing about the Henle app is that you can adjust the size, but on the CdL score, the only thing you can change is the number of staves per page. This helps, but you can’t change the number of measures per staff line.
The score I had has five measures in the first line. The score Kluurs shared with me has three. All the notes are the same of course, but this score is just so much easier to read.
Then of course his score has tons of info, fingerings and more, so that is very much appreciated.
Yesterday I focused my practice on the first 26 measures, and it just felt like I made so much more progress.
Yay!
My next lesson is Monday and I’m hoping to have looked at some of the @kluurs !!
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Looking forward to hearing you learn & play it Shirokuro. I'll struggle along beside you.
Suddenly I miss my old (literally) piano teacher. She was in her 70's, and would occasionally demonstrate what she wanted by taking the seat and playing, always so beautifully. How, musically, would she have played it...
I realise there are very good players here and I'd really love to hear any of you (by my count at least 4) who know it, if you can spare 5 minutes for a quick recording please.
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Looking forward to hearing you learn & play it Shirokuro. I'll struggle along beside you.
Suddenly I miss my old (literally) piano teacher. She was in her 70's, and would occasionally demonstrate what she wanted by taking the seat and playing, always so beautifully. How, musically, would she have played it...
I realise there are very good players here and I'd really love to hear any of you (by my count at least 4) who know it, if you can spare 5 minutes for a quick recording please.
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@kluurs in measure 26, for the last rolled chord, are you moving that low C into the right hand, and then having the lowest note be the Gb?
@kluurs in measure 26, for the last rolled chord, are you moving that low C into the right hand, and then having the lowest note be the Gb?
If I understand you correctly, I play all 4 notes of the bass in the left hand - and the top 3 in the right.
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After answering I looked at what Bavouzet actually does - and he does it the same (4 bass notes in left hand) - see his video at around 16:34 - though he plays it a bit more straight forwardly than I do. Both Bavouzet and Debussy would probably hate that I introduce a ritard there - but then I'm not playing for a jury.
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After answering I looked at what Bavouzet actually does - and he does it the same (4 bass notes in left hand) - see his video at around 16:34 - though he plays it a bit more straight forwardly than I do. Both Bavouzet and Debussy would probably hate that I introduce a ritard there - but then I'm not playing for a jury.
After answering I looked at what Bavouzet actually does - and he does it the same (4 bass notes in left hand) - see his video at around 16:34
thanks!
Both Bavouzet and Debussy would probably hate that I introduce a ritard there - but then I'm not playing for a jury.
Me neither!Oh wait, conceivably, I could end up playing this for a jury...
(It would be my choice though)
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After playing with this a bit, I played it that way (bottom 4 notes in LH) because that's how I learned it. After looking at it a bit more and playing it this afternoon, if I were learning it now, I might do what they recommend (C to RH) as that allows one to hold the important A-flat.
EDIT - watched Hugh Sung's episode 34 where he discusses this. He notes that it is personal preference which way to go. He noted that Jorge Bolet used the "cheat" way (C to the RH) which allows one's rolled chord to retain the low A-flat.
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Last October, 2025 I started taking lessons again. Jon's NYC Piano Party was the catalyst that prompted my desire to learn new pieces and to find a qualified teacher. I found the teacher and after about 2 months of me going to his, after my knee replacement surgery, he started coming to my house for lessons. We haven't been back to his place since. I think he likes my piano.
I started out with The Valse Op 64, No 2. Then moved on to two Nocturnes, Op 9, No 2, and Op 72, No 1.
I have all three of them memorized now. I play through all three at least once daily and since the Op72 No1 is my latest, I concentrate on polishing it more. I am still working on at least 2 or more areas in each piece to attain better accuracy, dynamics, etc.
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Last October, 2025 I started taking lessons again. Jon's NYC Piano Party was the catalyst that prompted my desire to learn new pieces and to find a qualified teacher. I found the teacher and after about 2 months of me going to his, after my knee replacement surgery, he started coming to my house for lessons. We haven't been back to his place since. I think he likes my piano.
I started out with The Valse Op 64, No 2. Then moved on to two Nocturnes, Op 9, No 2, and Op 72, No 1.
I have all three of them memorized now. I play through all three at least once daily and since the Op72 No1 is my latest, I concentrate on polishing it more. I am still working on at least 2 or more areas in each piece to attain better accuracy, dynamics, etc.
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