practising Fantaisie-impromptu by chopin

[piani0player]

hi,everyone
  im going to learn this piece for my recital .what is the best way to learn this piece ,espeically the cross rhythm, how do you play it together both hands?
which is the hardest part for this piece?

thank you

[pianobaron88]

I recommend drawing in lines to show how the right hand intersects the left hand, a mathematical approach.  Then I would put them together at a slow tempo and practice that for a few days.  After this point, I would move it up to moderate tempo and continue slow and moderate practice, mathematically of the piece.

[allchopin]

I have much experience playing this piece, as i have known if for about three yrs now... the math of this piece is mostly irrelevant really. the fact that it is an impromptu laxatizes the strictness of rhythm.  really, the piece should flow, not sound like 2 against 3.  The piece's overall realy isnt hard once you have played it MANY times. however, id say the hardest parts are at the increasing volume and speed (before the chormatic measures) going up, and the vigorous section at the end (i believe it is labeled like 'molto vivace' or something). and surprisingly, the easier part is the descending finales to the fast sections, where the left hand is simlpy playing descending octaves. sounds great and is easy!! (good combo)  good luck, as i had a rough start with it.

[ThEmUsIcMaNBJ]

Check out this thread
https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1052075876;start=24

It has some good advice  

[piani0player]

thanks to all
i will make a start on this piece as soon as possible.

i love this piece

[DrBob]

Here are a few tips on learning this piece:

First learn the notes by playing the right hand as written in combination with a simplified left hand played as blocked chords.... left hand plays the first note as the bass note then block the next 3 notes together and play as a chord.  This helps get the hand position just right and later helps with timing

Next :  learn the timing by letting the left hand "drive the rhythm" by playing 4 left hand notes ( unblocked) pausing on every 4th left hand note  ( the same 4 notes that had been played in block mode above) making sure that the the notes on the right hand match up with the first note ( if any) and on the 4th note where both hands pause. Proceed slowly to get the rhythm down.

As you progress the pause becomes shorter and velocity is increased until seamless.


There is not need to map out the rhythm but if you choose to do so find some graph paper ... the common demoninator is 12 prolations... if you do it that way take an aspirin and call me in the morning!

Bob S   Reno, NV

[kilpok]

The fantasie-impromptu seems to be a popular piece on this forum
Yeah i guess it sounds good and its fun to play.

anyways i suggest after reading though it a few times or more i suggest first practicing this slowly counting out loud 1,2,and 3.  This is for the rythm.  Of course this thing is 3 agaist 4 but  thinking it is 2 against  3 works.  Also making sure the thumbs come together on the 2nd and 4th beats of every measure helps also.  I think it is very important to master the rythm in this piece because it can sound very amateurish otherwise.  You want to master it to a point where you can do retardando and accelerando while maintaining correct rythm.

Also it is very good to practice both hands separately, and of course gradually increase tempo and not play this thing at correct tempo at first.

well anyways hopefully this helps

[cheeeekan]

I don't know if this is right or not, but forget about mathematical approach, or 3 against 4s... just learn the first part of the piece hands seperately, then after u have them up to speed seperately, just play the thing hands together, making sure the first note of each beat (for left hand and right hand) come down at the same time... hha maybe im just weird

[donjuan]

I don't know if this is right or not, but forget about mathematical approach, or 3 against 4s... just learn the first part of the piece hands seperately, then after u have them up to speed seperately, just play the thing hands together, making sure the first note of each beat (for left hand and right hand) come down at the same time... hha maybe im just weird

Sounds messy...It will be quite the challenge getting the separate hands to play evenly, having them go at their own rates and somehow end up in the same spot.

donjuan

ps..welcome to the forum!

[janice]

no what you do when you're practicing HS is make sure you put an emphasis on each beat of the bar, so when you put it HT then you'll know which notes are meant to be played together and then it works

great advice, tash!

[pianojems]

There is a wonderfull free ebook by C.C. Chang that teaches you how to play the Fantasie-Impromptu bar by bar. I think that you will find it very informative and easy to follow. That information is located in his section III of the Fundamentals of Piano Practice.
https://members.aol.com/chang8828/contents.htm

I hope this helps

[cheeeekan]

no what you do when you're practicing HS is make sure you put an emphasis on each beat of the bar, so when you put it HT then you'll know which notes are meant to be played together and then it works

haha... thanks for clarifying what i was trying to say... excuse my terrible wording...

[matt_black]

If you want to get the rhythm correct fo this one then a good tip is to write a couple of bars into a midi sequencer and play back at slow speed - you can then hear the rhythm as it should be. Practice initially at this speed with or without the sequencer at slowly speed up.

Play two bars about 1000 times -- take a couple of hours continous and then refresh each day for 10 15 minutes - after a few days you will be really fast.

Another tip is to think the following phrase in your head

LH Pass       gol         but
RHPass the        den         ter

Once you know the rhythm as it should sound remember this phrase and you can tap away the rhythm at work or on the train etc......

cheers