"Aquarium" from "Carnival of the Animals" Saint-Saëns PIANO TUTORIAL

READ MORE BELOW ⬇ Piano Solo and Practice Tips: ⬇ Part 1: "Aquarium" piano solo in overhead keyboard view. Part 2: follow with the score (arranger: Garban) Part 3: Practice Tips. Part 4: "Aquarium" in overhead keyboard view - SLOW TEMPO _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Download featured sheet music FREE in public domain from IMSLP Music Library: http://imslp.org/wiki/Le_carnaval_des_animaux_%28Saint-Sa%C3%ABns,_Camille%29 got to "Arrangements and Transcriptions" tab scroll down to "For piano solo (Garban) Related video: Emilie at the Aquarium - Piano Music by Saint-Saëns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj5JCUIV1A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The compositions of Camille Saint-Saëns became public domain in 1991. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Video dialogue for online translators as requested. PRACTICE TIPS Here s few thoughts about playing "Aquarium" for those looking for practice tips. First of all, don t be put off by the sight of all those little demi-semi-quavers or thirty-second notes. They all fit nicely in a chord shape that fits comfortably under the average sized hand without any uncomfortable stretching. Some of you will wonder how to fit 8 notes in the right hand with 6 notes in the left. The secret is not to think about what your hands are doing for every note, rather be content to synchronise the hands on one note only, that is the first note of each beat in the bar. Notice also the first note of each beat needs to sing out, so a little more weight with a fast finger impulse pressing the note down usually does the trick. You need to hold this melody note down until it is played again, which keeps your hand nicely attached to the keyboard while you play the other notes. Try to cover the notes with your fingers before you play them. Don t lift your fingers off the top of the note when you are not playing, rather rest them on the key-tops in readiness to play. This helps make a smooth even sound. When you take you fingers hight off the key it makes a choppy sound. The sequential pattern in bars 9-12 and 21-24 are just chords that descend a note at a time. Again, don t move your hands and fingers too much or you ll find your fingers have gone a little too far. The glissandos can be played with you hand upside down, fingers together and play on the nails. If you use the skin around the tops of your nails it might get cut with repeated practice. The glissandos don t have to be played quickly, just practice quietly, smoothly and slowly which makes a magical sound. The tempo this piece gets played is the tempo you feel like playing it. The resonance on a piano is quite different from a full orchestra so you might find as a piano solo it makes a more watery sound when it is a touch quicker than you might hear it played by an orchestra. But this is entirely a matter of personal taste. Above all, aim to create a watery and mysterious texture on your piano, lightness of touch really depends on lightness of fingers and reducing the amount of movement in your fingers to the minimum necessary to play and not a bit more. I use a lot of pedal in the piece. As the piece is mainly in a high register where the strings are shorter and hammers smaller (on an acoustic piano) this helps create an aura of underwater magic. If you ve been to an Aquarium you will be able to think about that experience and the feelings it gave you when playing Aquarium. I ll now play only those sections from Aquarium you need to learn as there is quite a bit or repetition. And again, don t think too much about fitting 6 notes together with 8, rather feel the watery movement of the broken chord up and down and try to make it sound like sparkly blue water.