The Mechanical Doll: Part 3

Hello and welcome back! I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we'll be learning the final section of "The Mechanical Doll" by Dimitri Shostakovich. Let's come to the piano to get started. Remember, the sheet music is available for purchase by clicking the link below if you haven't already done that. Today we're starting in measure 30 where we have a return to the main theme. I'd like you to pause the video and learn measures 30 through 33 on your own hands together, and watch out for this clef change here going into measure 30 notice the left hand goes to treble staff. Okay, so this first note is B, just a step below middle C, and now what's happening? The left hand gets the melody. Pause to work on measures 30 through 33 on your own then press play, and we'll go on. Now, I'd like you once again to try and figure out measures 34 through 37 on your own, and see what you notice about these measures. Try to analyze it and see what's happening. Tell me what you notice when you push play again. All right, what did you notice? Did you notice that? We've played this before. It's really important to notice when you're going back to something you've played earlier because that can save you a lot of time. It's also important to check every single note, but if you look carefully you'll see that this matches exactly measures five through eight. So next up I'd like you to tackle learning measures 38 through 41, and once again notice if anything is the same, if anything's different. Are we going to a new tonal center? Pause and try and figure that out, play through it and then press play and we'll check it out together. Here's why it's so important to check every note. In measure 38, it starts off the same as what we've seen before, but here we get an A in the left hand which we've never had before, and that's easy to miss if you're not watching. Every note it's important to check the first time you're learning a new piece, and then what happens in measure 40? What tonal center are we in here? Kind of feels like C minor to me. Once again Shostakovich is playing around with tonal centers. And now let's check out measures 42 to the end. We have a lot of ledger lines here on the right hand part, but don't get worried about that. If you look carefully, you'll see this first note is a step above this first ledger line above treble staff. and I'll share a little trick with you. The first three ledger lines of the treble staff spell A C E, ACE And so you can use those as a reference. I know that first ledger line is A, so this must be a B, and then I can see we're just stepping up, step up, step up, step up, and notice the C's and F's are natural, so we're canceling those sharps. Okay? And then notice here the last two notes are marked 8va. That little dotted line 8va means to play one octave higher than written. The note looks like an F-sharp here, to B here, but we'll really play it way up there. So these last four measures should sound like this: Now pause and work on those last four measures on your own. Try right hand alone then left hand alone. Then try putting it hands together and then press play to go on. All right, we've made it to the end now how do you practice this week? I suggest again: short sections. Do two measure chunks which follows the phrase structure of this piece. Make sure you've mastered it where you can play it five times in a row no missed notes each phrase, and then try the other hand five times no missed notes, then hands together five times no missed notes. Then you're really mastering each chunk. Watch the dynamics, watch the articulations. Articulations are like the staccatos and the slurs. Try to make it musical from the start. I know it's a lot to think about and that's why you practice slow so your brain has time to think about all those elements. Think about the fingerings, think about the rhythms. Choose a metronome speed that's really comfortable for you. Once you feel like you have it all mastered, and then work through the whole piece at a slow speed with the metronome. If you're finding there's a place you pause a lot, maybe just stop and work on that section by itself again five times in a row, and you'll find that you can smooth it out faster if you break it down into short sections for practicing, and then put it all together. Nice work today learning the final section of "The Mechanical Doll." Thanks for watching and learning with me and happy practicing! You know what I think? What? The shovel has got to be the best invention ever. Really? Yes, you could even say it's ground breaking [Laughter] I really digged that joke. [Laughter] But you know, wouldn't you say the pick-axe is more earth-shattering? [Laughter] Okay. One more. Mr. Hoffman said since this lesson features a Russian composer, it would be nice to have a joke that has something to do with Russia. Right, okay. Let's hear it! What sound do Russian kids make when they're brushing their teeth? I don't know, what? brusha brusha brusha [Laughter]