Rebecca Penneys - Ask me anything!

Mathias Regenberg So,  I answered this already but here goes again. Voicing: One cannot make such rules because each situation is different --the piano, acoustics, style, goals, etc -- even if we are talking about just you and your piano the answer would vary from piece to piece and day to day....about smoothness: Its great you can play smooth without pedal. It may be that you might need to learn how to pedal better --pedaling is an art form for sure, and takes a lot of refinement to work well.

Gail Starr Excellent idea! You would feel much better and learn a lot about how to approach a normal keyboard. It is important for you, or anyone, to play with ease, and a smaller keyboard would help you for sure.

Rebecca Penneys Thank you so much, dear Rebecca!  I love your videos, BTW.  I have always felt like I "could" play more advanced rep (like Rachmaninoff, Balakirev, etc. and even more of the Chopin etudes) if only I didn't end up in pain from trying to stretch or roll large chords. 

Now, I just need to work on my budget to get a narrow keyboard...the one I am considering is about $5k, LOL!

Thank you again for your videos!

Gail Starr What you need to remember is that when you are playing a smaller keyboard and can reach big chord etc., this is the way these pieces felt to the composer, and it is a feeling for you to cultivate

Rebecca Penneys Great point!  Thank you!

Vidhya Bashyam Thanks for your kind remarks. For me, playing/performing with music is like driving with parking lights instead of regular head lights -- I don't have the same transporting experience. But that's me. I know many people for feel the opposite because memory is not so easy for them. Either way works. You need to do what feels right for you! The bottom line is to take a trip!

Rebecca Penneys Great analogy. Thank you so much!

Great questions! I'm in the kinda small hand crowd too: an octave is easy but compromises the utility of the remaining digits, and a 9th is reachable only at the tip of the key.

Sometimes in the left hand I need to reposition the entire hand or flip the index finger over the thumb to reach the highest note in a chord. That can result in a decision about whether I'm even going to play that last uppermost note in the normal time sequence. More generally damper pedal solutions present themselves, but risk a muddy sound or are made undesirable because of right hand events in the passage. I'd welcome any and all thoughts you might have on this topic. Your technique seems so effortless that the notes seem to play themselves perfectly while you sit back, supervise and conduct.

Gillian As you know, Rach is for BIG hands....you have stated all the answers above. Its a combination of all of the above --what sounds good, and what works for you, and what you think is stylistic and tasteful. You might consider these as transcriptions for slightly smaller hands. Good Luck

Rebecca Penneys Thanks, Rebecca. I like the idea of “transcriptions for small hands”!

Harriet Kaplan I cannot answer this because there is no formula. I would need to see you and find out why you can't play fast without tension. Obviously something makes speed unnatural for you. Think of it this way. Is it necessary to walk, skip, hop and run? It all depends on who you are and how old you are. Good Luck!

Anastasia Aurelia Happy you like my stuff! This is a really complex question, and for me, impossible to answer in a responsible manner without hearing/seeing you. Very often solutions are quite different than one describes. I am sorry I cannot answer in a theoretical way!