Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement

[mlhf_michelle]

I would like to ask which grade is it to be able to play this beautiful piece actually? Because I just started playing it almost half way... and Have you suffer like wrist pain?

[scottmcc]

mvt 1 is about grade 5, but it has certain difficulties for beginners, including managing the polyrhythms, keeping a very smooth, flowing triplet line, and keeping each of the voices distinct and clear.  it also has a few spots where you have to reach a ninth.

wrist pains are bad.  it probably stems from this being the first "longer" work that you've played.  it should take between 5 and 7 minutes to play, which for a beginner is a lot of continuous effort, especially with the left hand playing essentially nothing but octaves.  you should get someone to check your technique to make sure you are not damaging things.

[quantum]

You need to tell your teacher about the wrist pain.  Hard to diagnose over a forum, one would have to watch your playing.  Pain is a message that you need to take seriously.  It most likely points to improper technique or posture. 

[term]

It's dead easy and you should go for it. You can't do much wrong, except maybe if you have small hands you will have to take some time to get used to it. It's easy to play it halfway decent since the piece naturally has a beautiful sound. I assume you're somewhat musical, so rhythm and triplets should not be problem at all. At least for me they weren't.

[richard black]

If your wrist hurts it's almost certainly because it's stiff when you play.

[anna_crusis]

Have you suffer like wrist pain?

Are you sitting right? Sit at a distance from the keyboard so that you can touch your elbows together, and at a height where your elbows are slightly lower than the top of the keys.

[csharp_minor]

I just started playing it almost half way... and Have you suffer like wrist pain?

Its a popular piece beginners tackle as one of their first 'proper' pieces, well it was for me, so go for it . When I started playing it I did get hand pain I think because I was not used to playing a longish piece. I really got quite a bit of pain in my little finger RH from needing to stretch a 9th in bar 16 ( Thats as far as I can stretch ), and I had the pain for about two weeks. It did however go away and I can play it with out any pain. So I think if you are new to the piano and you get a bit of pain in your hands / arms ect you will get used to it. But make sure you ask your teacher if you have one, if the pain doesn't get better with time it might be bad technique.   

[mad_max2024]

First rule of the piano:
If it hurts, stop playing. 

I think the most difficult thing in playing the moonlight mov1 is having the pacience and self control to play the thing slowly and regularly. Other difficulties were already addressed in previous posts.

[csharp_minor]

Come to think of it, I also got some pain in my LH from playing the octaves in Moonlight for the first time!

Yeah if the pain becomes too much stop for a few hours. I find warming my hands up in water after playing a 'demanding' piece helps.

[swim4ever_22]

When I first started taking piano again at the age of... 15... this was the first piece that I learned. It took me about two months to have it memorized and could play it perfectly. I will say that if someone who took piano for two years starting around 5 or 6 and not touching the instrument again until 15 (though still being exposed to music through other instruments) can pick this up and learn it, you should be able to as well.

I, however, never suffered from wrist pain while playing it. At the same time, I have a stretch of a 10th easily, 11th if I really try, so octaves are obviously not an obstacle for me. However, I do tend to have forearm pain on the underside of my arm when I play, typically the Bach Inventions that I'm currently learning. What I do in cases of such pain is I switch to a less demanding, slower piece to give myself a break. I also find that stretching your forearm muscles by holding out your arm, palm upward, and bending your hand downward to the floor, then stretching it toward your body with your other hand to be helpful. Doing the opposite stretch also has helped me.

Forearm Stretch I described
Opposite Stretch I described
Another stretch that may help.

Hope this helps.


Also, since this is kind of relevant to the topic and I don't see a need to create another thread simply for this purpose, what is the grade of the 2nd movement of Pathetique?

Thanks in advance.

[mlhf_michelle]

Wow, you guys are a great! Thanx for the tips and advices! I do appreciate it very much! Though actually i am just a beginner and i do self-study for piano. And I probably need more tips and advices next time.

[nhi1605]

Hi I am also learning this song and am also experiencing trouble with the 9th! Although it's not my first long piece (Fur Elise is) I still have trouble stretching my fingers. I can't seem to play the 9ths correctly (the farthes I can go with playing clean is an octave) any advice guys? Oh and regarding the una corda... do I use it at the start of every measure?

[scottmcc]

if you can't reach a 9th, you can cheat and use your left hand to play the lower half of it (in the specific instance of measure 8 for instance).  this won't work in other instances where you need to be doing something far away with your left hand, in which case you'll need to either leave out a note or roll the chord.  if you decide to leave out a note, drop the one which is inessential, ie not doubled with your other hand.  in measure 16, for instance, you have several possibilities depending on how you pedal, as you may be able to use your left hand to play the RH B, drop the RH B, or very quickly roll.  of the above, the easiest is to drop the note, but it significantly changes your sound.

some editions specify the use of the una corda (left) pedal, others do not.  if you are using it, you should keep it depressed until specifically told not to, which in this instance would mean keeping it depressed throughout.

[mlhf_michelle]

I am kinda finished already studying this piece and i think i got problem at the #60 above bars. I cant get it correctly with my left hand. Any tips?

[gerryjay]

I am kinda finished already studying this piece and i think i got problem at the #60 above bars. I cant get it correctly with my left hand. Any tips?

dear michelle:
welcome!
something that could help is to study HS until you have a fluent, flowing RH and a steady, accurate LH for the whole passage.

after that, if in the process of joining hands you find troubles yet, you can use the dropping notes technique.

best!

[lynno]

Go for it ,its the best piese ever , i played it...
its not that hard maybe if your hands are small I guess you'll have some difficulties
just try your best on it and you'll get through with it ..it will be just fine ,trust me
 you can do it now....

[mlhf_michelle]

dear michelle:
welcome!
something that could help is to study HS until you have a fluent, flowing RH and a steady, accurate LH for the whole passage.

after that, if in the process of joining hands you find troubles yet, you can use the dropping notes technique.

best!

Hmm..what is dropping notes technique? What does HS stands for? I am a self-study pianist, and i am just new in piano like few months ago.

[shortyshort]

Hmm..what is dropping notes technique? What does HS stands for? I am a self-study pianist, and i am just new in piano like few months ago.

HS = Hands seperate = Playing one hand at a time.

Dropping notes = Once you have both hands sorted on their own, you play one hand and add a few notes from the other hand. Once you can play that, you add, (or Drop), a few more notes in. After a while the passage will be complete.

[mlhf_michelle]

HS = Hands seperate = Playing one hand at a time.

Dropping notes = Once you have both hands sorted on their own, you play one hand and add a few notes from the other hand. Once you can play that, you add, (or Drop), a few more notes in. After a while the passage will be complete.

Ah.. Thanks for the help.

Anyway, around #60bar above, you have to press Gsharp once on LH and then twice with Gsharp and Csharp is it??

[go12_3]

   Ah, what a lovely and soothing piece!  A nice easy piece by Beethoven, one of the favorites.  go12_3

[redragon]

I suffered wrist pain at first. Endurance comes quickly. Eventually your wrist and/or fingers get used to it and there's no more pain.

[pianist7]

The most difficult thing is to voice the melody correctly--it needs to be separated (louder) from the triplets. It works out your 5th finger.

[kamryn]

do i need to pedal through out the piece?
i can't seem to play it smoothly without pedaling,but by pedaling it sounds quite noisy.

[destinysora]

yea u need pedal... change pedals when the harmony changes... or usually change at each left hand octave... keep right hand very delicate and let the melody sing xD

[gyzzzmo]

Like many pieces: Playing it beautiful is hard, playing the notes is easy. Grade it whatever you wish