legato technique

[monkeyyy]

Do you know how to make a really nice, smooth, singing legato sound?? Can I just learn this by trying and listening or are there some exercises or can you tell me how to move my hand/fingers/wrists..?? Because I believe my legato is crap. Quote from a friend/pianostudent: "don't worry about playing stacc.. you (we) always play staccato though we think we play legato.."

[thierry13]

Legato what? Legato scales? Legato chords? Legato octaves? It's different for everything! The secret of legato is overlapping. The two sounds are heard simultaneously for a very short time, that gives the illusion of legato. You can do this with your fingers, or with pedal. Trying and listening is definitely the key to everything.

[monkeyyy]

I didn't knew that! I've a problem playing my pieces legato.. for example
- nouvelle etude 1 , Chopin
- Prelude & Fugue in E , WTC 1
- The tempest, mvt 1, for example the first page: the parts with repeated notes in it
                     

[teresa_b]

Well... Legato playing is a challenge on the piano because of the dying away of the tone beginning the instant you strike the key.  The principle of "continuation" is what my old teacher used to emphasize.  You must listen closely to the volume of the sound of the note you just struck as it is dying away, then play the next note soft enough that it does not jar the ear.  This works in particular with a sustained note followed by another note.  It is very effective in Bach.

You can't exactly do that when you must make a crescendo, in which case you can use arm/shoulder weight, pedaling as mentioned above, etc. 

Important--the accompaniment! Composers knew the piano was a percussion instrument, so they wrote accompaniments to help carry the legato.  If you have a sustained note or chord in the RH melody, for example, and an arpeggio or moving notes in the LH, obviously you can "connect" the RH melody by phrasing the LH passage to give the illusion of legato. 

Teresa

[momopi]

Legato what? Legato scales? Legato chords? Legato octaves? It's different for everything! The secret of legato is overlapping. The two sounds are heard simultaneously for a very short time, that gives the illusion of legato. You can do this with your fingers, or with pedal. Trying and listening is definitely the key to everything.

I'm interested in legato chords... Could you please elaborate?
Thank you very much!


 
Momopi