Scarlatti Sonata K. 141

[akonow]

How do you prevent your fingers from hurting for all those repeating sixteenth notes in this piece? My teacher told me to use 3-1-3-1-3-1 on them and it hurts my middle finger pretty badly. Is that supposed to happen or can i prevent that somehow?

[thierry13]

Haha. You don't want to hurt yourself ? Change teacher  Seriously that fingering does NOT work for this piece, it's way too fast. You must use 3 2 1 for the repeated notes with few exceptions, or even no exception I don't remember well ...

[ramseytheii]

When you play fast repeated notes, do not allow the key to come all the way up.  Keep your fingers "in the key" so that you are playing it from lesser height than normal.

Also make sure you phrase repeated notes and don't smash them out all the same volume.

Walter Ramsey

[gerry]

This is really hard to describe with words. The technique used for the repeated figures in this sonata is quite different that that used for other types of technical passages. Try holding your wrist above a very smooth surface and, using only the weight of your hand for pressure while keeping your wrist at a steady height, repeat 3,2,1-3,2,1-3,2,1 using almost a slapping motion and pulling/sliding your fingers back  toward your wrist (if you were on a rough or tacky surface your hand would be running forward pulling your arm with it) - keep fingers 4 and 5 out of the way, even curling them under for practice. Be sure and keep your 3,2,1 finger action in a straight line as if on one key. You may have to cock your hand at just a slight angle to the right to achieve this when you transfer to the piano keys. You'll find that you can use 3rd finger to strike a slight downbeat or emphasis on at the first note of each 6-note grouping, thus allowing the other fingers to in effect echo this downbeat slightly lighter and giving your wrist much needed relief and avoid strain. i.e: dah-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit  dah-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit and so on. It sounds (and looks somewhat) awkward but it works. Try watching Argerich on youtube.
Good luck

[polar_pawz]

The way I played it was with 4-3-2-1-2-1, or sometimes even 5/4-3-2-1-2-1 (5/4 both fingers together). I found with the 3-2-1-3-2-1 you can risk getting too much of a 6/16 feel instead of the 3/8 feel. Also I found it more comfortable for me.

Keep your wrist relaxed and "bounce" a little in the key using the weight of your hand. Follow the natural action of the key to get the "bounce". Like dribbling a basket ball your hand follows the up and down of the ball. Your hand follows the natural rhythm of the ball to keep the ball bouncing. Your hand/fingers should follow the key action to keep it "bouncing' evenly and continuously, and with the least amount of tension in your hand.
I found also by maintaining a higher bridge and keeping your fingers a bit closer together, you can focus the energy of the movement into your fingertips and get more control and a more effective, even and focused tone.

You want to get a stronger feel (I don't want to say accent) on the down beat, but you also want to feel the beat 3 leading to beat 1 (1 (2) 3-1 (2) 3-1.....) which gives the piece that extra movement, phrasing and interest, instead of just a bunch of static 1, 1, 1, 1....

I hope this makes sense in any way... I tried to put down what I remember doing when I played this. And my way with words is not always the best...

Best of luck