LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

I really enjoyed working on Chopin’s Ballade No.1 not only because of the incredible melodic lines and harmonic complexities, but also because it was my first time working on a difficult Chopin piece and therefore it challenged me in a way that I’ve never experienced before – delicate touches for the main motif, lots of octave jumps, challenging phrasing, this idea of ‘weight’ rather than ‘strength’ etc. This is why I wanted to continue to explore this path and decided to work on Chopin’s Ballade No.2 and Chopin’s Scherzo in B flat minor. As I started working on the second ballade, my piano teacher mentioned that the opening, calm motif had to be played in a ‘sticky’ manner so that the lines of each voice would be connected and flow nicely. Furthermore, the same idea was applied for the left hand octave jumps during the B section of the piece where there had to be almost a sense of reluctance for the left hand to move in order to achieve a very dark, heavy, bold character. This still remains a challenge as I am not used to this technique, but I have been practicing without the pedal at times to make sure that I do not rely on the pedal to connect the notes. For the Scherzo, I found it difficult to ensure the chords in the A section do not sound piercing or harsh, especially because they are played at a high octave, and also the left hand accompaniment in the B section is an aspect I need to continue to work on as I need to eventually play the notes very quickly in an accurate manner. I have continued to practice both pieces and aim to work on new techniques that are required in these pieces.