Seymour Bernstein teaches Chopin's Prelude in E minor

0:00 Seymour has a surprise for you
1:34 Performance of Chopin E minor Prelude
4:16 Finding your own interpretive ideas
5:24 Chopin knew he was dying
6:33 Preliminary swing stroke
8:40 How to play two-note slurs
10:21 “All piano playing is a series of illusions”
12:05 Controlling repeated chords
14:58 ‘Alla breve’ does not mean ‘faster’
16:25 How not to play the Moonlight Sonata
18:44 Romantic hairpins are not what you think
21:16 How to play hairpins in a Brahms Intermezzo
22:40 More proof from Fanny Mendelssohn
24:36 Irrefutable evidence from Chopin’s G minor Ballade
26:36 “Rob Peter, but don’t pay Paul.”
28:35 Crescendo means ‘get softer’!
31:47 What Chopin learned from Bach
33:44 How to voice chords on the piano
38:08 How does a piano produce dynamics?
39:34 How not to bang out a crescendo
41:58 The most profound chord in the E minor Prelude
43:32 How practicing music translates to life

Join Seymour Bernstein as he re-introduces you to one of Chopin's most popular and tragic works, the E Minor Prelude, Op. 28 No. 4.

In this in-depth lesson, Bernstein not only demonstrates the physical mechanics necessary to realize your expressive intentions in this work, he reveals how the Prelude contains information crucial to your general development as a pianist and a person.

Free PDF: Tips from Master Pianists — Scales & Arpeggios
Ever wished you could learn how to play scales from Chopin or Rachmaninoff? Now you can.
In this free PDF, we explore scales and arpeggios – the backbone of a pianist's technical training – from the perspectives of master pianists including Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Chopin, and Brahms.

Recorded February 2020
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[GregHarradineComposer]

"I'd like to think that I'm a student forever, even though I'm 92." A sentiment we should all aspire to!

[eottoe]

"Musicians are very fortunate people because in order to interpret music properly we have to know three major things: we have to know emotionally what the composer is trying to convey, we can't just play with our feelings so we have to understand intellectually everything on the printed page, and then the third thing is that's not sufficient we have to make a physical connection to everything that we feel and think. And what that means is that we're working on our person not just our talent. And that's what you take away from your practice sessions so that everything that you learn through the discipline of music you project into everything you do in life.” ~ Seymour Bernstein

[linkthai]

I'm half way through the video and just realize that this isn't just about teaching the Prelude. He's teaching how to play the piano well in GENERAL, almost all the advice can be applied to playing any other piece, bless this man.

[linkfiedproductions]

Never before have I been more happy to have the Internet

[pulykamell]

Just. Incredible. Youtube algorithm sent me here. I haven't played classical piano in 30 years. I didn't have time for a 45 minute video. Well -- here I am 45 minutes later. First few minutes and I was sucked in by this man's passion, reason, philosophy, intelligence. I'm literally misty eyed. I could watch days of him talking and teaching music. What a wonderful human being.

[SpitfireRoad]

Every music teacher should watch this. The last few points are the take away. Mr. Seymour puts what being a musician is all about in the clearest of terms. I'm eternally grateful. A very special lesson.

[xxxxxn]

I was a prof. pianist and pipe organist. Got rheumatics, auto immune disease etc.. What he says is exactly my interpretation.. I wish you all a good health and a live full of pleasure with making classical music.

[shannonwhite]

My piano instructor was a student of Bernstein’s in Manhattan for five years. She used to often talk about how kind a human being he is and how knowledgeable he is about his craft.

[Geffde]

If anyone could have a single piano lesson, this one should be it. The final analysis puts it perfectly: music is a language for human emotion, but the musician must rationalize that emotion intellectually and render it physically in order to speak. That’s the most important takeaway for me, and that’s considering I’ve finally found someone put into *words* everything I’ve tried to articulate playing this piece for over 20 years.

[joshannon]

I'm 80 and still teaching about 25 students...a couple of which are working on this prelude. My guess is that the book he briefly referred to is most likely Alan Walker's "A Life and Times of Fryderyk Chopin"....an Excellent read and a must if you want to truly understand Chopin and his dilemmas. This lesson was so full of wonderful detail I'm going to have to watch it again and take notes!

[rosiegul]

In this digital age where all analog information and musical wisdom of the past is bound to fade away into the depths of time, to be forgotten forever, we cannot thank Bernstein enough for his generosity to share his knowledge and wisdom with us, taking time to record these sessions. I am grateful…

[ericgordon]

Thanks to all concerned for lending Seymour Bernstein to us for these precious minutes. I had lost touch with him for many years and always wondered what had become of him. I am so happy he is still so vividly and lucidly with us! I knew him in the mid-1980s at the music publishing firm G. Schirmer, where I served as Publicity Manger. I met with Mr. Bernstein several times because Schirmer published many of his editions of the classic piano literature, and we discussed ways to promote them. Considering all that's come down in the last 40 years I am so happy to meet him again! I wish him many more long and healthy years, and hope I'm as cognitively together as he is at his age.

[lottieloowoo]

This is just solid gold. I feel like Berstein has reached a stage in life when he wants to pass on everything that he possibly can to benefit all future musicians - it’s a wonderful thing. I have watched this video so many times and I literally hang on every word, the way he takes the time to explain is perfect and precise, and it’s no wonder that he can project such emotion into his playing when he manages to project so much even into his teachings. Thank you Tonebase for this video. Dare I ask for more? ❤❤❤

[StephenRCar]

The depth and intensity of this "lesson" is something so rare in and on you tube. While I have hammered my way through this Prelude a number of times, Mr. Bernstein has gently shown me the damage that can be done when a musician ceases to be informed. His final words present what one needs always to do.
My life, I think, is changed.

[meemaurice]

Nowadays, those interesting historical "discoveries" of Seymour Bernstein are actually common knowledge among pianists who also play and study earlier instruments and culture, like Erard etc.
What I find astonishing is that he is 95 - he was taught, trained and raised in a very different approach, yet he still managed to doubt certain musical aspects and research them to learn more. I wish I am like that in over 60 years.

[leonajones]

Mind blown! I am teaching this right now to a 14-year-old with great capacity to interpret the Chopin prelude, but now I see how one can fall short in teaching meaningful and historically-inspired interpretation. The hairpins explanation was an epiphany! Thank you!

[meghaffer]

I just learned years' worth of music instruction in 45 minutes. This man is accomplished both in playing and teaching

[gbernardwandel]

I can listen to him all day
I’m not even a pianist
I am a “fallen” string player but that’s irrelevant
This is just soft, rich, and full
Just what my brain needs right now

[freeqwerqwer]

When I listened to his playing and explanation of the prelude in E minor, it felt like, finally, someone had the right instinct or intuition for understanding the piece. How perspicacious of him to note that the lack of dynamic notation until the very end is to allow a free interpretation, subject to the mood of the pianist at the time of play. His own rendering of the piece is so impressive such that I felt guilty not recognizing who this man is. If he were a chef I would say, finally, someone made this popular bowl of soup just right, using the right amount of ingredients and cooked to perfection.

[beautybearswitness]

That’s way beyond teaching, that’s poetry, philosophy, history and more. Thank you !