Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata 1st movt left hand tremolos, I NEED YOUR HELP!

[winningpianist]

Hi guys,

I have big trouble in the left hand tremolo part from bar 14 to 22 (especially bar 22) of the Waldstein Sonata 1st Movt, I just can't get my left hand up to speed, whenever I speed up, my left hand get tired and tense, I have already tried practicing the left hand part slowly with relax wrist with the right hand or just by left hand, but I get tense and tired whenever I play that bit in full speed, my right hand get tired,too, but not as strong as the left hand. What should I do? How should I practice them to get them up to speed? My recital is 1 month away. Please give
my some suggestions. Thanks a lot!!

Cheers
Winningpianist

[zheer]

  You have a recital in a month and you are stuck on bar 14  .
Ammmmm well if you find the tremlo a challenge, how you going to play the rest,sorry your not making sense.

[winningpianist]

Hey, I can play the rest of the movement ok, just the tremolo part (bar 14 to 22) is killing me. The tremolo part in bar 14 to 22 is much harder compare to other tremolo parts in that movement....tks.

[Kassaa]

Make sure you practice them slowing using FINGER movement only, and while praciticing them pull your wrist up with your other hand once in a while to see whether your wrist is untensioned.

[bluepuri]

adding what Kassaa said, you also should get used to the movement. It's like doing sport. The first time will be hurt, but along with time as your fingers, arm, and shoulder get used to it, the pain will go away. But it takes time. You can't build a muscle in just 2 or 3 days...

[lmpianist]

Hi guys,

I have big trouble in the left hand tremolo part from bar 14 to 22 (especially bar 22) of the Waldstein Sonata 1st Movt, I just can't get my left hand up to speed, whenever I speed up, my left hand get tired and tense, I have already tried practicing the left hand part slowly with relax wrist with the right hand or just by left hand, but I get tense and tired whenever I play that bit in full speed, my right hand get tired,too, but not as strong as the left hand. What should I do? How should I practice them to get them up to speed? My recital is 1 month away. Please give
my some suggestions. Thanks a lot!!

Cheers
Winningpianist

This does take a lot of hand strength.  Your wrist should be flexible and your fingers should *not* be doing all of the work (this goes for the whole movement, not just this passage).  This takes time to develop.  If you can play the rest up to speed, particularly around bars 55-60 and others like it, I would say you have it in you to do it, you just need to use slightly more wrist rotation (most likely the problem), make sure your hand is closed and relaxed, and just keep at it slowly to reduce tension.  Also, what fingering are you using?  I find that 4-1 and 42-1 works better than anything with 5, but this will depend on the size of your hand.

[kevink]

I agree with IMpianist.  More rotation, less finger.  For practice purposes, try isolating the rotation motion by holding your fingers still and using only the rotation of your wrist to strike the keys.  4-1 and 24-1 are best for this.  When the third is added in the LH that makes things more difficult, try practicing just the outer voices to get the motion right.  You may find that a tremolo is easier in your right hand than your left--if so, do some close scrutinizing of your right hand and left to find out why one works but the other doesn't.  I had exactly your problem in this piece, and it turned out that I was trying to play too much with my fingers.  As soon as I got the feel for the wrist rotation, it became much easier to play.

[winningpianist]

Hey guys!

Thanks for replying! I use 4-1 and 53-1 fingering, I will try using 42-1 instead of 53-1 to see if it can help me play better. After reading what you guys say, I think I probably didn't use enough rotation in my wrist or relax my wrist enough. I will practice what you suggested in my next sessions and post my results. Thanks!

Cheers
Winningpianist

[alpacinator1]

Play the song REALLY slowly (so that the left hand tremelos are as fast as quarter or eighth notes (not sure which would make more sense, as I'm not familiar with the song), and normal notes are much slower. Then keep speeding it up. Also, it would help to really get the feel of the right hand first, so it's easier to play them together evenly.

Also, make sure you do excersizes. I find that I get a "vibrating" feel between my fingers when I do left-hand tremolos, because that's how fast you need to play them.

Although, the song I played with them (Bach's prelude in c) in most likely a far easier song than what you're playing, so my advice may not have as much validity. Good luck

[winningpianist]

Hey Guys,

How exactly do you rotate your wrist? I have been practicing the tremelo parts with
more wrist movement and tried to relax the wrist as much as possible, it does help me to play the tremelos faster and easier, but still not quite full speed, I'm not sure if I'm rotating my wrist correctly, could someone tell me exactly how to rotate the wrist? Thanks a lot!

Cheers
WinningPianist