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Topic: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40#1  (Read 13047 times)

Offline hawa1

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Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40#1
on: December 14, 2003, 04:00:30 AM
Hi,
My handspan is just a barely-make-it octave. But some chords in the Military Polonaise span up to two notes above an octave (10th). Is there any way to work around this?

Thanks,
yen
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Offline eddie92099

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #1 on: December 14, 2003, 04:05:59 AM
Surely spreading is the only option,
Ed

Offline robert_henry

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #2 on: December 14, 2003, 04:22:17 AM
Yen,
How old are you?  Is your hand going to grow?  If so, just wait a few years and be patient.

Robert Henry

Offline dj

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #3 on: December 14, 2003, 05:50:44 AM
well you could always roll the chords that you can't reach; however, this particular piece would sound much better if u didn't have to so i suggest waiting until your hand grows a bit
rach on!

Offline hawa1

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #4 on: December 14, 2003, 02:19:52 PM
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Ed: Does that mean one/more notes for one hand are played with the other hand? That's a good idea, but bcoz the left hand has mostly octaves as well, it doesn't work for this piece.

Robert_Henry & dj: I wish they can still grow! But sadly I'm an ancient 24 year-old, so...

dj: I will try rolling the chords, but yeah, I agree with u it'll sound much better if I don't need to do so (and simpler to play, too).

Errr... don't kill me if I tell u I attempted to butcher this piece just a minute ago...   Well, I tried to ignore the lowest or highest note of an unreachable big chord, depending on which sounds better. What do u think?

thx again.
yen

Offline allchopin

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #5 on: December 14, 2003, 06:56:53 PM
You can always attach a short splint to your pinky to reach the high notes :)
A modern house without a flush toilet... uncanny.

Offline eddie92099

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #6 on: December 14, 2003, 11:28:26 PM
Quote

Ed: Does that mean one/more notes for one hand are played with the other hand?


No, it means rolling the chords.

Quote
Errr... don't kill me if I tell u I attempted to butcher this piece just a minute ago...   Well, I tried to ignore the lowest or highest note of an unreachable big chord, depending on which sounds better. What do u think?


Don't do it,
Ed

Offline shatteringpulse

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #7 on: December 15, 2003, 03:06:31 AM
The Military Polonaise a wonderful piece...and it is very ostentatious because of all the repetitions of chords!

However, it can also cause injury! I can reach a 10th, but I still had trouble with some of the chords Chopin throws at you...I even had to take two notes per finger in some passages  :o

If your hands are too small, I would suggest some of Chopin's other exuberant music, because the overall effect is ruined if you prune them or roll them--some pieces this is acceptable, but certainly not this one...

You should try one of the more virtuosic waltzes, or perhaps the C# minor Polonaise, which I recall has no large stretches (if you distribute the notes differently in some editions). Even the C minor, I believe, never necessitates more than an octave, but I could be wrong!
--Shattering Pulse

Offline hawa1

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #8 on: December 16, 2003, 05:03:48 AM
Quote
You can always attach a short splint to your pinky to reach the high notes  


I like this idea -- that means I don't need to butcher the piece, and still don't have to resign to my fate either! But I've never used a splint before... where can I get one?  I tried a search at google and out came all sorts of finger splints for medical purposes. Are they the ones? Sorry for my ignorance...  

Offline srdabney

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #9 on: December 16, 2003, 05:47:12 AM
Another more radical, but quite effective, solution ...
Play a Hofmann keyboard (6 inch octave instead of 6.5)... or a D/S keyboard which I think is a 5.5 octave.

This may be heresy in a piano performance forum ... but you mentioned your hands are not getting any bigger.

Who knows, there may be days in the future where certain competitions are held on non standard keboards. Not likely ... but at least you'll be able to stretch what the big boys can, so to speak.

Its even more interesting, because potentially someone with a span of a 12 on a standard will start composing on a smaller keyboard so they can play a 14th. That would be something scary ... harmonically speaking.

Cheers,
Scott  

Offline hawa1

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #10 on: December 16, 2003, 08:25:43 AM
Hmm... I wanted to ask why do they make the keys so wide, wouldn't it be easier for everyone if they're just a little bit wider than our finger? Then it struck me that some people might have big fingers as well.  Ah well... there's no such thing as a universal size, I guess.

Oh, that sort of reminds me of mobile phones nowadays. In the strive towards extra tiny handset, they actually make the keypad so small with all the buttons cramped together -- I wonder how many ppl can actually dial them? Or am I the only one with extra chubby fingers? Sorry to digress from piano to handphones...

Offline eddie92099

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Re: Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40
Reply #11 on: December 16, 2003, 08:38:56 AM
Quote

Oh, that sort of reminds me of mobile phones nowadays. In the strive towards extra tiny handset, they actually make the keypad so small with all the buttons cramped together -- I wonder how many ppl can actually dial them? Or am I the only one with extra chubby fingers? Sorry to digress from piano to handphones...


Quoting the writers of The Simpsons:

Quote
The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.

Ed
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