Ben Laude: Ask Me Anything about Piano Technique!

Matthew Clarke I'll reply ASAP this week! Thanks for your patience. Just so you know, I've never actually had a whole set of etudes in my fingers at the same time... but I have some ideas for you nonetheless. 

Matthew Clarke Thanks for waiting. So, when studying a long and difficult set of Etudes, how might one practice getting all of it together at once?

As I mentioned, I've never done this. Of course I have given recitals with plenty of demanding rep, but never one Etude after another. So, this might not be so helpful but I'll try:

• There should be "break" Etudes, like in Chopin Op. 10 there's 3, 6, and also 9 is on the easier side. Notice how nicely they're spaced. So, just in terms of stamina, you'll have pause points. Of course just getting through 1-2 is notoriously hard. But, you can start practicing performing the Etudes in group-chunks: treat 1-2, 4-5, 7-8, and 10-12 as four pieces, each separated by an easier Etude. You could sorta do this with Op. 25 (1 and 2 are not so demanding, 3-6 is a tough stretch, but 5 at least has a slower middle section where your muscles can be calmer, 7 is slow, 9 is "easy", 10 has a big slow section, and 11 - as hard as it is, has some break points internally). For the Transcendentals, 3, 6, and 9 allow for some rest, and 11 also has lots of calm passages. 
• If you're programming your own set, try to include "break" pieces every few!
• In terms of retaining the feeling of technical command in a single performance, one thing I thought of is if you created a kind of 2-minute drill that features a string of excerpts from all 12 Etudes (I'm still thinking of Op. 10). So, you'd basically make one 2-minute warm-up Etude that you can apply practice techniques to that will allow you to drill just about all the different techniques you'll need in the whole set. So, then the question is one of stamina, which I mentioned above, since technically speaking, you'll have most of the passagework generally fresh in your fingers. Maybe make a couple different "supercut" excerpt compilations like this, including one with the hardest passage in each piece.
• In terms of memory - Etudes tend to be on the easier side to memorize, so I'm assuming this isn't your main issue. The main problem is physical.
• In general, if this is all feeling impossible, then it's revealing that you have issues not necessary with playing a bunch in a row, but actually with how you play any given one. Maybe you can make it through unscathed when playing one in isolation, but nevertheless you're straining to a degree that, once put in a larger set, it exposes some underlying technical weakness.

I hope that gives you some ideas! Again, this is not something I do. But admire those who can!

Matthew Clarke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zREw0svI7OY&list=PLD4geVdcr-K9UN2LA7BiWNnIjvz-7mh2N

Aoife Fahey I'll post a video for you ASAP this week! Thanks for your patience.

Aoife Fahey Thanks again for your patience! Here's a video for you on practicing Hanon.

Vidhya Bashyam I'll post a video for you ASAP this week! Thanks for your patience.

Vidhya Bashyam Thanks again for your patience! Here's a video on trying to play magically like Horowitz!

Ben Laude Thanks so much for the video! Will definitely try out your great practice tips.

Gail Starr I will reply ASAP this week! Thanks again for your patience.

Gail Starr Thanks for your patience!

• If my repertoire = pieces I've either performed or worked on enough that I was basically within range of performing them, then I cannot recall the majority of the repertoire I've learned in the past 25 years.
• If repertoire = pieces that I've learned, and then brought back and have performed multiple times over the course of an extended period (I think of this more as what is meant by what's "in a pianist's repertoire") then I can recall it much better, simply for the reason that I have brought the piece back on one or more occasions.
• Pieces tend not to stick well for me unless one of two things has taken place: (1) I've brought the piece back, or (2) I learned the piece so methodically and carefully that at least part of it just stuck with me.
• But even with #2, what probably happened is that I kept playing that part of it from time to time, and never let it go. For example, the opening of the Tchaikovsky 1st concerto is like this for me. I learned the opening theme and cadenza so carefully, and enjoyed replaying it over the years, that it's just sort of there now. But only ~3 minutes out of 35 minutes.
• Also, there are pieces I learned at a critical age where substantial section stuck with me for a while after learning it. Some include the Pathetique 1st movement (learned badly at 13, but practiced it a lot and remembered basically the whole exposition), the Waldstein 1st movement (I basically never forgot the exposition, and much of the development, after first learning in college, and even before bringing it back a few years ago). I also find the Waldstein easier to memorize because it's in C major and it's so stark and memorable to me that he goes to E major for the second theme of the 1st mvt. Also, the harmonic rhythm in that piece is quite slow. He'll spend 2 whole pages on just V-I-V-I over and over again, but it's varied and sounds amazing, but easy to remember.
• Bach is harder to remember, and never sticks. I always I have to revisit the score closely to bring back especially fugues, but even the Goldberg Variations (which are the same bass line repeated again and again). The counterpoint is just too intricate for me to recall ever twist and turn of every voice.
• Okay, having said all that, when I'm teaching or demonstrating on a video, it can appear like I have an enormous amount in my fingers. That's mostly because I can play the beginning of lots and lots of pieces, because I always loved sight reading, and I've just put my hands on enough repertoire over the years, listened to and thought about it a lot, and also taught it, that I can give the impression that I've played something when actually I never seriously studied it past the first phrase. So, from memory right now, I could play the opening phrase of at least one movement from the following Beethoven Sonatas: Op 2 1-2-3, Op7, Op 10 1, Op13, Op 14 1-2, Op 27 1-2, Op28, Op31 2,-3, Op 49-2, Op 53, Op 57, Op 78, Op 81a, Op 90, Op 106, Op 109, Op 110, Op 111. That's 23 of the 32 sonatas. And yet I've only ever fully learned about 10 of them. Same with concertos. I was obsessed with so many concerts over the years that I just had to put my hands on their first pages over and over again, so that I can play the beginning of much of the standard concerto rep. But my actual concerto rep is quite small.
• I also have a full time job where all I think about is piano, all the time, from lots of different angles. So this has reinforced and introduced a variety of rep.
• But honestly, for lots of pieces I once played, I'm like you: I have to open up the score just to remember how to play the first measure accurately.

Ben Laude Ben, this was the most honest, comprehensive, caring, detailed and HUMAN answer ever!  I loved reading every word. 

And you made me feel like less of a loser for NOT being able to remember pieces! 

Seriously. 

I feel much better knowing that even an expert like yourself mostly just has the openings of the standard rep memorized.   I was under the impression that all the pros could just sit down and play ANYTHING once they learned it!

Thank you!

Tammy I'll have a video for you on this spot ASAP this week! Thanks for your patience.

Tim Caldwell I talked to Dominic about it and he showed me the livestream where he talks about it. I'll elaborate more soon - thanks again for your patience.

Tim Caldwell Thanks again for your patience. I made a little video about scale groupings here, but also see the longer video on softer playing I made for you elsewhere in this thread.

Daniel Just to clarify, which Etude are you talking about? I'm assuming Chopin's Etude Op. 25 No. 6, but I'm not sure about which Brahms you're talking about.

Ben Laude The Chopin-Brahms Etude Op. 25 No. 2; Here's a link to an interpretation... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4hZYmrFlp8

Daniel LOL okay that. So here's my advice:

• Step 1: Pick a different piece.

But seriously, assuming you're not trolling me, let's see:

• First, I'm imagine you already play op 25/2? If not, start there! That way you'll have the piece already internalized harmonically and phrasally.
• This is more an Etude in 6ths that 3rds. Have you worked on Chopin op 25/8? This is a step up from that, but it's not an enormous step – at least not at the tempo taken in the recording. And the 3rds in here look easier than op 25/6.
• I'll make you a short video by EOW showing how I would go about practicing it. It would be essentially the same techniques I'd bring to other double-note studies.

P.S. I would never willingly take the time to learn this piece, but it will be a fun to take a look at it.