chopin etude Op10 no.12

[piani0player]

hi,
   Because my left hand is not very strong so i am planning to include this piece for my end of year exam.but i wonder how to practice the left hand to play up to speed because they are very fast.could you tell me exactly how to get start practicing this piece and how many hours should i spend on it everyday if i want to get up to concert stardard in less than 3 months,possible? i like this piece very much.
thank you

[BoliverAllmon]

Don't worry about the speed at first. LEARN ALL THE NOTES FIRST!!! This is very important. My friend is working on this piece and he is so obessessed and feels defeated if he doesn't play it fast and it is crippling his progress. Once you learn all the notes then start to work on speed. As for time per day I don't know. It really depends. If you are more advanced then 3 months will be plenty, but if you are more of an average pianist then you will have to spend many hours a day working on the piece to get it done in 3 months.

Boliver Allmon

[piani0player]

hello
 thanks for your advice.

[tph]

Quality is key.  Once you've learnt all notes, different drills to help develop individual finger control can help.  Try practising with accents on the weak fingers, non-legato/quasi-staccato touch for finger independence, finding points of tension & release for endurance, etc.  Once you feel that you can play the work slowly, with complete tonal control, bring up the speed gradually (metronome can help).  Don't forget to take advantage of the key rebound to play quickly and relaxed at higher speeds.

Always listen to yourself carefully.  And don't forget to use arm weight from the shoulder to bring out a full-sounding non-bangy melody.

tph

[eddie92099]

...but Horowitz doesn't play all the notes,
Ed

[BuyBuy]

Who cares ? If Horowitz doesn't play them, too bad for him, and that's no excuse for trying your best at what you know is right.

[eddie92099]

Communicating musically is more important than accuracy though...
Ed

[zoolander]

Cortot?

I havent heard his recording of the etudes for a long while, but i believe he missed with the left hand on op. 10 no. 1. But I can't remember for sure.

[xenon]

Hey hey, I am studying this piece too!  Though, I started it two days ago.  I found that if you drill certain passages over and over until it is fluent and you can play it without much thought about the fingering, than go on to the next difficult passage.  Nice piece, eh?

[eddie92099]

Xenon, do you mean that you should play with whatever fingers happen to be available at the time? I have the opposite philosophy and the first thing I do when reaching a new section is put the fingerings in! Surely this is common sense...
Ed

[xenon]

No, that's not what I meant.  The way I practice is first put in the fingering, play it slow, get used to it, play it more and more and more and until it becomes familiar do you move to the next passage.  Was there an error in my post, because no where did I give any room for someone to assume that fingering wasn't important...

Edit> what I meant was that after you practiced the passage properly and you have it fluently TO THE POINT WHERE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PUT MUCH THOUGHT INTO THE FINGERING.  That does not mean that you can forget about the fingering IN THE BEGINNING.  It means until it comes easily enough so you can concentrate on other aspects, so you can move on to learn other things, ex) musicality, the other hand, etc.

[la_carrenio2003]

In my opinion, this an etude about passing through the 4th finger in the l.h. When I started working on it I practiced making accents in  the 4th fingers in all those passages where it needs. If you're using the Paderewski's fingering, which I consider the most confortable, you understand what I mean-. I play this etude very well for almost 10 years, so you can trust me.

[Beethoven87]

I agree with what's been said...  MAke sure to get the fingering and then just drill.  I'm working on Op. Ten number four, which has it's fair share of left hand speed.  and since most people are significant;y better with the right hand, basically I just suggest running each one at a certain met. speed till it's perfect about twice and then moving on up.  perhaps try staccatos on each note.  That's worked pretty well for me.