Smoothness in Performance
A listener can judge smoothness in performance better than a performer, who is busy performing.
So, record your performance and become a listener, and judge your performance relative to a metronome.
You will undoubtably become uncomfortable with what you hear.
So now you have more things to work on.
What is Smoothness
Searching the internet with the entry "thesaurus smooth" produces the following informative page with a lot of words of what smoothness is and what it is not.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=thesaurus+smooth&FORM=EDGNCT
We see that "smooth" means even, silky, velvety, and not uneven, rough, and irregular.
What is Smoothness in Performance
A musical performance has many aspects that occur at the same time that each could be even or uneven.
What are some aspects of musical performance?
- tempo
- pitch
- rhythm
- tone
- dynamics
Mechanical Challenges of the Instrument
Each instrument presents its own challenges for smooth performance.
The chromatic button accordion (CBA) provides many advantages for smooth performance.
Compared with the piano accordion, the CBA has an even consistent keyboard versus the linear uneven keyboard of the piano keys.
When I play the following two selections, the mechanics of performance are a lot more consistent on the CBA versus on the linear piano keyboard.
Two Musical Selections for Working on Smooth Performance
Romanian tunes are often played by soloists and ensembles to highlight their technical abilities.
The two selections below have links to sheet music and performances.
Playing these pieces well will certainly be a recommendation for your abilities.
Hora Martisorlui
This wave of fast notes is also known as "The Clock," or "Romanian Spring Dances" or "March Hora" by George Dinicu.
The sheet music zip file of four BMP files is posted at:
http://primanota.ru/arch/scores/01789071_R_Diniku_-_Ruminskiiy_vesenniiy_horovod.zip
A CBA performance is located on the following page, which includes the above sheet music link.
http://primanota.ru/r-diniku/rumynskii-vesennii-xorovod-sheets.htm
A rousing performance by a combined band of four musical groups is posted at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeJyp123eYg
Sirba Atractiva
Peter Grigorov has posted an arrangement of the tune composed by Vlada Panovic at the link below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uzyizet03bklo2i/Sirba%20atractiva.pdf?dl=0
His performance on piano accordion is posted at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCsYW49ELg
His tutorial is posted at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFwM_V914wo
A Vlada Panovic orchestrated version is posted at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkxt6zEMgJQ
