Tag: Chopin

judi

Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg & Debussy

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This week’s blog post features our most recent Practice Clinic in which Graham Fitch responds to questions submitted by Online academy subscribers. In this recording, Graham discusses topics such as legato playing, fingering, building speed and quarantining in works by Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg and Debussy.

Next practice clinics

Our next practice clinic takes place @ 12:00 BST on Wednesday 26th May. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates.

Watch previous clinics

Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our Facebook page and YouTube channel shortly after each event. You can also view our full archive of previous events via these links!

How they work?

Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

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judi

Chopin, Left Hand Evenness, Runs and Trills

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In this month’s practice clinic, Graham Fitch answered questions on works by Chopin, Mozart, Clementi and Grieg. Topics discussed included practising trills and runs, achieving evenness in the left hand, tone production and addressing problems with coordination and tension.

practice clinic with Graham Fitch

Practice clinic questions

  • WA Mozart – Sonata in F Major, K332 1st mvt – I’m having trouble with bars 86-89 as I’m finding the trills tricky to coordinate with the left hand. I would love some practice suggestions for bringing this section up to speed.
  • Chopin – Nocturne in B-flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1 – Please could you help me with the runs in bar 4 and the similar run near the end.
  • Clementi – Gradus Ad Parnassum, No. 1 – The tempo is marked Veloce or a half note = 80. What speed should it be played at?
  • Chopin – Waltz in B Minor, Op. 69 No. 2 – I’m having a little trouble with keeping the left hand even in terms of tone and was wondering if you had any tips on technique to produce the soft, even tone I’m looking for throughout the piece?
  • Grieg – Butterfly, Op. 43 No. 1 (Bars 7 – 9) – I’m struggling to coordinate my fingers in Grieg’s in bars 7 – 9. I end up feeling very tense, and dissatisfied that my playing is lumpy and out of control. I would appreciate any help you can give me here.

Next practice clinic

Our next practice clinic takes place on Wednesday 20th October on our Facebook page at 12:00 BST. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates.

Watch previous clinics

Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our Facebook page and YouTube channel shortly after each event. You can also view our full archive of previous events via these links!

How they work?

Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

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judi

Chopin, Liszt, Jumps and Chords

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In this month’s practice clinic, Graham Fitch answered questions on works by Chopin, Debussy, Mendelssohn and Liszt. Topics discussed included avoiding tension in repeated chords, developing speed, pedalling and jumps.

Chopin, Liszt, Jumps and Chords

Practice clinic questions

Chopin – Prelude (Op. 28 No. 4) – I am in the process of relearning this work. I am accumulating too much tension in my left hand while playing the repeated chords and haven’t been able to figure out how to play with a more relaxed hand. Two things are happening, as I progress the notes of the chords don’t sound together and voicing falls apart and by the end of the piece I am in pain.

10:00 Debussy – Clair de lune (from Suite bergamasque) – I have been playing this piece on and off for several years. There are 2 spots that I find uncontrollable:

  1. Bar 27 – The pedal is very messy here as I try to hold onto the melody notes, and it just feels awkward to play
  2. Bar 37 – The LH always feels uncoordinated and lumpy, so instead of moving the tempo forwards, I find myself needing to slow down to get all the notes

Mendelssohn – Scherzo in E Minor (Op. 16 No. 2) – I’m working on the Scherzo from the Op. 16 set, but can’t seem to find the necessary lightness and speed. My fingers feel like lead resulting in playing that’s too loud, plus there are too many wrong notes for my comfort.

Liszt’s – La Campanella, (No. 3 from Grand Paganini Études, S141) –  I need help with playing jumps to the high D sharp in multiple passages. The note is supposed to sound like a bell but it’s an embellishment, not part of the melody. I’m having problems playing the note evenly, especially with two-octave jumps. Sometimes the note is too loud, other times I miss it entirely, hitting the wrong note, and other times I play it too softly. See in particular, bars 4-6, 8-10, 41-48.

Next practice clinic

Our next practice clinic takes place on Wednesday 15th December on our Facebook page at 12:00 GMT. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates.

Watch previous clinics

Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our Facebook page and YouTube channel shortly after each event. You can also view our full archive of previous events via these links!

How they work?

Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

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judi

Chopin, Mozart & Tackling Trills

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In this month’s Practice Clinic, Graham Fitch answers questions on learning pieces, building speed and practising trills in works by Chopin, Schubert, Mozart & Grieg.

Chopin, Mozart
Excerpt from Chopin Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posth.

Practice clinic questions

Mozart Sonata in G Major, K283 (1st mvt) – I have been working on this for quite a while and it seems I am constantly working on getting it to speed. The trills in this piece as well as others always seem to slow me down. I know you aren’t always a fan of the metronome, but it works well for me to help keep a steady tempo. Do you have any other suggestions?

Chopin Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Post – I am just now beginning to learn this piece and have spent much of my time on trills and am again finding speed/tempo a challenge. I have downloaded the practice sheets and used those ideas, but I am not sure how to manage the fiorituras and the metronome doesn’t work as well for me as it does with the Mozart (Click here for our study edition for this work featured in the video).

Learning New Pieces – I am playing the following pieces: Chopin’s Nocturne in B-Flat Minor (Op. 9 No. 1), Schubert’s Impromptu in G-Flat (Op 90)  and Grieg’s Arietta (from Lyric Pieces, Op. 12). Do you have any tips for how to approach learning new pieces the right way from the start? I do pick apart the music to pieces and pretend I’ve never met them!

Next practice clinic

Our next Practice clinic takes place on 16th November @ 12:00 GMT. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates.

Watch previous clinics

Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our Facebook page and YouTube channel shortly after each event. You can also view our full archive of previous events via these links!

How they work?

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

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judi

Tchaikovsky’s June, Pilling, Chopin & Scarlatti

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We’ve published four new video lessons for works from the intemediate and advanced grades from the 2023 & 2024 ABRSM piano examination syllabus. The works featured include Tchaikovsky’s beautiful barcarolle, June, Dorothy Pilling’s plaintive Philomela, a haunting Mazurka by Chopin and a lyrical sonata by Scarlatti.

New Videos

Grade 5 B3: Pilling – Philomela

There is a plaintive, lamenting quality in Dorothy Pilling’s Philomela. The legendary character of Philomela was changed by magic into a nightingale, expressed by the singing line in the RH of this piece. In this excerpt, Graham Fitch explores the story behind the work and the opening theme:

Dorothy Pilling Philomela

Grade 6 A10: D. Scarlatti – Sonata in A, Kp. 208, L. 238

Born in 1685, the same year as J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel, Domenico Scarlatti wrote 555 single-movement, mostly binary form sonatas for the harpsichord (some possibly intended for the early piano). In this excerpt, Graham Fitch shows how pedalling can be used to add variations in tone colour and expression in this work:

Grade 7 B1: Chopin – Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 68 No. 2

The mazurka is a stylised Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with strong accents on the second or third beat. Chopin wrote over 50 mazurkas and this is an example of a slower one – there needs to be some leeway with the prescribed metronome speed of 116, given the lento marking.

The pedal markings in this work require some tweaking to make sense on our modern pianos – legato changes will give a smoother result than the direct pedals given in the score:

Chopin Mazurka in A Minor

Grade 8 B3: Tchaikovsky – Juin: Barcarolle (No. 6 from Les saisons, Op. 37b)

Les saisons (The Seasons) is a collection of 12 pieces each piece bearing the title of a month of the year inspired by an epigram from a Russian poet. The epigram for Juin: Barcarolle is worth keeping in mind as we study the piece:

“Let us go to the shore; there the waves will kiss our feet. With mysterious sadness the stars will shine down on us.”

It’s very easy to be overly pedantic about pedalling and rests, but in romantic music we don’t need to be as concerned about things like the exact length of rests if we understand what the composer’s might have been. In this video excerpt, Graham Fitch gives suggestions for approaching pedalling in this hauntingly beautiful, romantic piece:

Click here for links to view the full videos on the Online Academy!

Other Videos

Click here to view the full index of available videos, including links to several from previous and other syllabuses (further information on our project for the previous 2021 & 2022 syllabus is available here).

Videos for over 70 pieces have been recorded already and are currently in the various stages of the editing process. Several further shoots are planned and we will be releasing the videos in frequent installments over the coming months. Please click here to sign-up to our mailing list for updates and notifications on this project and our resources for piano examinations.

Practising the Piano Online Academy

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  • Monthly subscription – Subscribe for £13.99 a month to get full, unlimited access to all Online Academy articles and updates (click here to sign-up for this option)
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judi

Clair de Lune, MacDowell & a Chopin Etude –

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In this month’s practice clinic, Graham Fitch answers questions on pedalling, ornamentation, arpeggios, use of forearm rotation and more in Debussy’s Clair de Lune, MacDowell’s To a Wild Rose and works by Chopin and Handel.

Debussy's Clair de Lune No. 3 from Suite Bergamasque

Practice clinic questions

Handel Suite in D Minor, HWV 437 – Can I use the 3243 in the trills in the Allemande? Perhaps you could discuss what is appropriate.

Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 1 – I am hoping that you can assist me with getting the arpeggios in this work to sound light, effortless, and above all in the background while bringing the more pronounced melody typically played by finger 5 (and sometimes 4) to the forefront.

I’ve been working at this for about 6 months now, and feel that my performance sounds rather mechanical versus a beautiful melodic line with a sweeping background accompaniment. Any technical exercises for greater finger independence would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I’ve played around with circular wrist rotations and side to side rotations, and I just wondered if you had any thoughts on the differences between the two as they relate to voicing the melody and controlling the accompaniment.

Debussy Clair De Lune (No. 3 from Suite Bergamesque) – I’m having some difficulty a small section in between bars 36 and 39. Although I received a good mark for this in my Grade 8 exam, l still feel like I’m fumbling and even slightly dreading this section despite loving this moment in the piece.  

The fingering l’ve been using in bar 37 for RH is 5 1 3 2 (1st beat) and 5 1 4 2 on the 2nd and 3rd beats. Going from the 2nd finger to the 5th on each of the semiquavers is not a comfortable stretch for my hand so l have even been trying to replace my 2nd finger with my thumb really quickly. However, l’m not sure l can do this because this section is fast. Also a mention on pedalling here too would be great, thank you!

MacDowell To a Wild Rose (No. 1 from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51) – My first question on this piece is a request for practice tips leading from bar 25 into bars 26-28. The second question is whether you have any suggestions for pedalling in bars 39-44 if one does not have a middle pedal on the piano?

Next practice clinic & new format

Going forward, our practice clinics will no longer take place on Facebook live but will rather be pre-recorded and published alongside our regular blog posts. Therefore the video for the next clinic will be available on Thursday 15th June and questions can be submitted until 31st May. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates and to receive links to the recordings when they become available.

Watch previous clinics

Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our blog, Facebook page and YouTube channel once recorded and you can also view our full archive of previous events via these platforms.

How they work?

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).

Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.

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