Ohlsson on Chopin Op. 10, No. 1
This is a wonderful lesson, and I say that as one who is about as far from ever attempting that piece as I am from flying to Jupiter. (Maybe if I were about 50 years younger...) His discussion of the release of muscular tension, the involuntary action of the thumb when opening the hand, and related fundamentals will serve virtually any pianist who has developed beyond early children's pieces.
One of my own exercises uses some the same principal. Parallel octaves on C and E in the L and R hand, respectively, the right hand an octave above the left, starting on C 2 octaves below middle C, playing C (as designating the low note), C', C', C'', C',C', C. Thumb to pinky, thumb repeating the pinky's note, then the reverse on the way down. Pretty basic, but a simple open-close action to maintain relaxation along the lines Mr. O. discussed. Of course, he elaborates far more -- and so enjoyably.
Thank you, Tonebase and Mr. Ohlsson.
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You鈥檙e so right!
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Exciting to hear Mr. Ohlsson provide that insight. Thank you.
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Thank you for posting this comment. I was thinking I'd skip this lesson because, like you, I didn't think I'd ever come close to attempting this piece. But now you've convinced me it's a good idea to check it out.
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You're absolutely right! And his insights were so amazing. My first introduction to Chopin's 1st was actually by listening Mr. Ohlsson play it on a recording. I was a kid at the time.
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Absolutely!
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I was also inspired listening to this lesson. I started playing this piece when I was in graduate school, so I decided to go back to it.
I always seem to get tendinitis feeling from playing the right hand part, and I'm wondering if anybody has advice for how to avoid that. What happens is that the fifth finger action always bothers me.
I've been following Olhsson's advice to release the tension, So I don't think that's the issue. It feels like the problem occurs on the downward portion of the arpeggios from something I'm doing with the fifth finger in those motions. Any advice would be welcome! And thanks to tonebase Mr Olhsson for an inspiring lesson! It's so much fun getting back to playing Chopin!
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I listened to the tonebase lesson on op 10 # 2, and applied the grouping ideas there to #1. Playing the first three notes of the arpeggio pattern and skipping the 10th interval gives a helpful structure that alleviates the pain I was feeling. It also isolates out the accented notes as a melodic line. My plan is to memorize the etude and practice it in three ways, one with base plus first three arpeggio notes. This pattern emphasizes the harmony in the arpeggios and relaxes my hand while starting to stretch it. Second with base and melodic notes. This one emphasizes the melody and accents. Third, after a month or so, when my hands are feeling strong enough, I'll combinine them. Thoughts?
