Studying Elements

This post can be listened to in exactly six minutes. I don't know for now how many minutes it will take to read it, for sure, significantly less. Also, it depends on how fast is someone in reading. Even more, it depends on how much I will write, but what is predetermined is the length of this video. As I mentioned, six minutes of music. A piece, Elements, whose composer is Einaudi, Ludovico Einaudi.

Cover photo source, unsplash

We all know, he is not a new composer to me, I already played much from his opus, and I still have many more that I could play. What is half-new is that I am playing again on a backing track. I tried it with his other composition, Night, from the same album, Elements. Now, I continued to practise with a same-named piece, Elements. This video is kind of a practice session, indeed.

I’m trying to learn to play with backing tracks. Although it seems like the most common thing and easy to play, I find some difficulties. What requires a lot of concentration (in my case) is not to fall out of rhythm. There is one thing that I notice in my playing, for now, is that I accelerate when my expression pulls me. When I want to play with more sound and passion, I speed up. This is maybe even not noticed, I still know where that moment is. (Should I challenge now those who listen to this music to find the exact minute and second where it happened? Anyone wants to play? )

Once I get used to playing this way, maybe I would like to take the next step. Making some own simple tracks, however, I'm a few light-years away from that step right now. First thing first, studying with persistence and providing tools for achieving the goal. At the moment, I have to learn to control, to have an absolute match with the playing track. As I am classically trained, expression and our own interpretation is the key, we are allowed required to bring the music in the way how we feel it. Play as you breathe. Play as your heart rate dictates. I assume, my heart rate accelerates when emotions are included. And music is exactly that - emotions coming out through sound. However, it does not justify the accelerating.

Hope the image quality will not be so annoying. I recorded this when I came home from work, it was already dark, so I could not count on daylight. Also, I lost at least one hour setting the things up, the laptop again didn't want to recognize the audio recording interface, it was a circle of unlucky happenings around recording this, but finally, it is here. Thanks to all who will listen to this piece, maybe even skipping through. One hint, the end is more interesting than the beginning, but then you can miss the opportunity to guess where is the moment I have been talking about. Enjoy the six (or less) minutes of Ludovico Einaudi's piece, Elements!