Playing Chopin's etude 10/1 without tension

[celticqt]

Think I had a bit of a breakthrough today......I was having trouble getting this etude anywhere near up to speed.  I knew it was a tension thing, and kept trying to relax my hand/wrist.  Well, this morning I slowed it down and actually paid attention to where the tension was building up.

It was in my upper arm!  The muscle behind, going up from my elbow to my shoulder.  I consciously tried to relax that, and my tempo went whooosh! way up!  So I got excited and played the 10/10 etude, focusing on relaxing that same muscle, and that got much easier also. 

Is this a normal place for tension to build?  I always thought it would be further down the arm.  Guess I should have started listening to my body sooner.

[stephanie-piano]

I would suggest playing it really slow. I haven't played that Etude before, but I have played other Chopin Etudes. Do you have a metronome? If you do then use it. Maybe 60 for two notes will be better. I know its torture, but the results are great!

[richy321]

Think I had a bit of a breakthrough today......I was having trouble getting this etude anywhere near up to speed.  I knew it was a tension thing, and kept trying to relax my hand/wrist.  Well, this morning I slowed it down and actually paid attention to where the tension was building up.

It was in my upper arm!  The muscle behind, going up from my elbow to my shoulder.  I consciously tried to relax that, and my tempo went whooosh! way up!  So I got excited and played the 10/10 etude, focusing on relaxing that same muscle, and that got much easier also. 

Is this a normal place for tension to build?  I always thought it would be further down the arm.  Guess I should have started listening to my body sooner.

It is normal (and dangerous) for tension to build at the shoulder because of the rapid, almost overlapping rotations that seem to be called for at the beginning of the descents.  You are to be commended for discovering the danger by yourself.  I was not so wise and tore my rotator cuff tendon because of excessive tension at that exact point.  I had to have surgery and am now in rehabilitation.  Believe me, it will be a long time before I dare to try the 10/1 again.

Rich Y

[kriskicksass]

The best way to deal with extremely large gaps is to keep your hand as small as possible. I know it sounds crazy, but if you only open the gap needed to cover the stretch (in this case 1-2) and keep the rest of the hand small, closing the gap as soon as you can, it'll be easier to play. By keeping the hand in a comfortable position, you are reducing tension, which is the point of this etude (more or less).

Also, Chopin was said to have told students that this etude was meant to teach them to play widely arpeggiated passages like bow strokes, so think of the bow when you play. (I don't know how much you know about string technique, but the gist of what you'd need to know for that is to keep the arm flexible and moving steadily, for any sudden, jerky motions will make ugly sounds.)

Hope this helps!

[celticqt]

Kris -- Yes, I know exactly what you mean about keeping the hand small.  My old teacher never talked about technique (which drove me crazy - a tip or two would have been nice), so a lot of this I've had to figure out by trial and error - but closing my hand as soon as I can also helps me stay relaxed. 
And the bow comparison helps too - I played viola in college.  I'll try that mental picture today. 

[robertp]

Good points all! I'm learning a not dissimilar Etude, 25.12.  So in addition to the bow-strokes and similar mentioned above, I ever so slightly raise my hand to get the accents at the bottom and top of each "run" in most of the piece. Breaks the tension. Tension is the enemy.

[franzliszt2]

The was to play this etude is not to feel the fingers at all. Keep them loose, but firm, and just make the shape. The use the wrist to rotate round and round bridging the gaps legato. Another point is to not hole the notes that don't need to be held. I see a lot of people who play the 1st 3 notes with the C still depressed! Just think of it as an easy little arpeggio.

I agree with keeping the hand small. Jut whenever you hit the next note start bringing in the thumb, so it is always going towards the note it will hit. For example bar 1...CGCE....Follow the thumb through aiming at the C it will hit after the E. That way it just flows, and sounds much more flowing.