Help with tough passage
Hi everyone, don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I would like to ask for some tips.
I'm currently studying the first movement of the Clementi Sonata Op 40 N 2, and I've come across a tough passage.
The passage in question is the one starting at the last line of page 48 and ends at second line of page 49, the one with octaves. I have attached the scan.
My hands are on the smaller size, and at the end of this passage my left hand feels okay, but the right one gets pretty tired. Considering this piece is quite fast and that I might play this for my next exam I thought I might ask for tips on how to ease off the tension in my hand while playing this. The rest of the movement doesn't cause me problems of this sort.
If you can help me, please comment! I thank you all in advance for your time!
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If you’re experiencing tension or fatigue, it is most likely because you’re leaving your 5th finger stretched out to hit the key. You might consider relying on what I term “alternating action” — as 1 and 2 go down, 5 comes up. More precisely, as you rotate toward 5, 1 and 2 are coming up. This means 1 and 2 are a drop, the hand rotates toward 5 as a free motion (almost no energy just to rotate), and in that rotation, 1 and 2 re-aim for another drop onto the next third. So 5 is just the reloading of 1 and 2.
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I am sorry but I am new to Tonebase and I really don’t know how to post in these Forums and then find my previous post or where there are any answers to my posts. Need help - who do I ask?
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Jim Gall Hi Jim, you could always click on your own name to find the posts where you've made comments, or started.
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i have small hands too, and passages like this used to caused endless fatigues until my teacher helped me retrain how to approach this. I'm not sure if we have the same issue, but this was how i unlocked myself.
1) Start taking a video of the hand while playing
2) See from the video if you're locking your wrist, and only using the fingers to execute these 1/5/1/5 motion, or if you're using your wrist (aka wrist rotation) to execute these notes. The latter helps create a less tense hand.
3) there are a good amount of videos on wrist rotation (eg Penelope Roskell). I think the general gist is that a wrist rotation comes with a relax wrist (and hand), and have the sensation of shaking it.
In a way, instead of trying to learn how to relax, my path to retraining starts from the opposite. Being relax, and gradually finding what is the minimal amount of tension needed to get the notes (while maintaining a flexible wrist). Eg, start by shaking the hand freely (aka rotating the wrist). Then gradually, put out a finger, and still shaking it. Then your thumb and pinky. Slow it down to get more control. You could should be able to feel relax and shake your wrist, while having the finger outs too.
It's hard to retrain the muscle. For the first week, i practice the motion first before playing the notes. Then with the notes, but one hand at a time, while watching my hand hawk or videorecord) to make sure that I don't revert back to old movement.
Hope that helps.
