How to Teach Debussy The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
Today we’re talking about how to teach Debussy’s Prelude subtitled Girl with the Flaxen Hair (La fille aux cheveux de lin in French). This beautiful piece can be deceptively tough, so be sure to watch the part of the video where I discuss the essentials for students working on Debussy.
If you ever struggle to accurately evaluate the difficulty of any given piece, look to improve your skill with my FREE Repertoire Difficulty Worksheet here:
Recommended Editions:
Schirmer Performance Editions - Debussy: Seven Favorite Pieces or Debussy: 16 Piano Favorites (Harding)
Anthology of Impressionistic Piano Music (Alfred Masterworks: Hinson) - only this one includes pedal markings
Syllabus listings for difficulty level:
RCM Level 9
Illinois AIM Level 10
Jane Magrath Level 9
Required knowledge/skills for the video below:
G-flat major (C-flats!); looking for basic triads and 7th chords
Breaking down parallel 4ths in m.14-15 and m.33-34
Rhythm and feeling self-conscious with long sustained notes
A reductionist approach to teaching Debussy - what are the absolute essentials for students?
It’s terribly important that our students listen to quality professional recordings of pieces like The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (as opposed to student recordings found on YouTube!) in the learning process.
I enjoy the following and hope you will too. Please note the last recording is the orchestrated version.
Krystian Zimmerman
Walter Gieseking
Orchestraed version - Andreas Ottensamer, clarinet
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