:-I am so frustrated trying to re-learn this.

[pianodeanne]

.I am re-learning a piece that I auditioned to the School of Music at Ohio University, back in 1984.  It is Fantasie Impromptu, by Chopin.  I know I can do it.  It has just been so long since I've played like that.  When I sit down to play it now, I just get frustrated with it and go to something else.  I really want to learn this again, as I know I did it before.  I need some good coaches with some good tips to motivate me, as well as some practice ideas.  The first couple of pages are the ones I'm talking about. -- Not the "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" part - that is fine.  The ending (last page) is also fine.  It's the rest of it.  I know the 2 against 3.  I remember what I was taught.  I just need some motivation.  

[martin_s]

Relax, practise hands separately in a slow tempo, remember arm movements and souple wrists, put it back hands together in a moderate tempo and practise without pedal, and soon it will be fine again!

Good luck!
-Martin

[stokes]

I don't know, but I think you might do really good when playing it now. My theory is like this; When you played it as a young guy you probably hadn't known the piece for a very long time, but you were really excited and proud of your way of playing it then. Now you are a grown up and you want to achieve the same feeling as when you were young, but you have much more experience now and want to give even more. To achieve the same feeling now you probably have to play it twice as good. Am I right?.......or not?..... Good luck anyway!

[pianodeanne]

No, not really.  It's just that I have kind of been "out of it", when it comes to playing piano.  I have been raising my two kids the past 11 years, and have recently started going back to my music and teaching beginners.  When the kids were a little smaller, I couldn't get through a song without having to stop, and that was so frustrating that I just gave up on playing.  17 years!  It's not just like getting right back on the bike.

[pianodeanne]

Here's what I really need to know....I have a touch of tendonitis in my left thumb/hand.  I am having trouble getting up to speed on the 2 against 3.  My hands (especially the sore one) get so stiff that I have to stop and shake them out!  Any ideas??

[nilsjohan]

If you are getting that stiff you are probably practicing too fast.  
Keep on with the slow practice and make sure you are always relaxed and balancing the arm weight on every finger. Sooner or later it will come out easily at a faster tempo.
Be very careful if you feel pain!

[dinosaurtales]

Boy!  I thought I was the only one!  I, too, used to play a lot through college, but when I moved out here, I lived in apartments (can't play), then a condo (still can;'t play) , then we built a house and had the piano in storage for a couple of years.  Next thing ya know, it's been 15 years and I haven't played much at all!  So now I am dragging out all this "old" stuff and trying to play it - how pathetic!  no coordination at all!  my hands get tired, too!  I finally realized that I can't even look at the stuff I used to play at all - seems like going back somehow, and it's too bad. It was all really neat stuff - Beethoven sonatas, Schubert impromptus, Rachmaninov, etc.  I finally dug up some "new" pieces, and am doing what nilsjohan said.  I think I was trying to play the old stuff too fast like I "used" to play, and the new stuff forced me to do one hand at a time and do them slowly.  It's been a couple of months at several times a week and now I am feeling more like my old self. I can practice for a couple of hours now without feeling any ill effects!  

[ted]

The others' advice is sound. I play that one quite often. I find I have best results when I use a light, clear touch, not a lot of pedal and rather flat fingers. I err on the side of too much finger stroke rather than too little. I just trip the keys and don't lean on them or push them into the bed. As for the 3 against 4 - if you can play it very accurately slowly you can play it fast quite easily.

Pain would worry me. Are you sure you're not trying too hard to "perform" and making yourself tense rather than relaxing and enjoying the music ?

[aerislanne]

?!

I'm 15, and I'm learning the Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu right now, 'tis lots of fun. But I'm learning it 6-8. I started out having a lot of trouble, but my teacher broke it down for me as playing 3-4,  each measure broken in half and played v-e-e-r-y slowly. Right now I have it pretty fast, but I still trip over notes. I need to accumulate speed, but so far it's taken about a month, and I've learned the entire thing, but not quite yet at the right speed. I guess it just takes a while to get back up to it, it's taken me almost 11 years before I was advanced enough to play this

[mojohk]

I learned the Fantasie about four years ago, but I've kept in touch with it now and then.  For the 3 against 4, it was pretty hard.  To help visualize the "against" numbers, you can just whip out a ruler and mathematically mark it out.  Then, you can tap it out, whenever, wherever (tapping looks natural, even if it is 3 against 4).  Going slow's a good idea, and by listening for the different voices (your r.h. and l.h.) it helps the 3 v. 4 too.

[ludwig]

I played it about 10 years ago now. I like it as a little performance piece. So I've just played around with it these couple of days. It actually came back to me sooner than I expected it to. All I could recommend is as nilsjohan said, practice slow, hands seperate, make sure you know where the 3 and 4 fits, if it helps, draw them in, listen to alot of the recording to get a feel at it, thats all. goodluck.

[Karin]

I've been coming against 16st and tripolets in different places so I just drew this out.

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12
x              x               x
o          o          o           o

The picture made me aware of interesting symmetry in the spaces.  I clap this with my hands, but playing, I mainly make a go of it, keep the tripolets going and concentrate on the 16ths.  Probably, it comes out pretty much wrong.

Karin

[SteveK]

Hi there!

I played Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu op. 66 in my 8th grade graduation about 2 years ago!!       I don't play it too often, but I haven't forgotten it.  I keep it in my memory & like to play it now & then.  It's a very nice piece!    

[janice]

You want advice, here it is (with a little bit of psychology mixed in!  These are principles that can carry over into daily life.)  Are you ready?  Ok.  You sound very, very frustrated with yourself.  You're expecting to play it like you used to, and for pete's sake, that was 11 years ago and you haven't been serious about piano.  You focused on raising your kids, and that is wonderful, because people come before "things".
     Playing 3 against 4 is kind of an automatic thing--don't you think?--once you've learned it (like riding a bike as you said) you'll never forget it.  It's the right hand by itself even, that's nasty, right?  My advice?  (This will be hard)  DON'T TOUCH IT for at least(I mean that!) a month.  Focus on re-developing your technique. Play scales, arpeggios, Hanon, etc. until you're blue in the face.  You now have the maturity to discipline yourself in a different way than you could when you were younger.  It might seem like you are taking a step or more BACKWARDS.  And the fact is, you ARE.  But it's necessary, and you're now an adult, and you can see that this idea "just might work".  It won't hurt to try, will it?  Well...
     Go for it!!!  And keep us posted!--Janice

[dinosaurtales]

What  Janice said.   I had the exact same problem, and I finally had to grit my teeth and make myself not look at any of my old music.  I MADE myself find 4 new pieces, completely unrelated, and that forced me to do all the "slow" stuff - sight read, work fingerings, work individual hands.  Now I am feeling more like my old self again, and it's way better!

Took a few months, though.

[westlypiano]

Oh man... You can try these techniques to help you out.

1) Relax
2) Take it slow and learn them correctly
3) try to remember arm movements
4) enjoy the sounds you make!

Westly