Series of chords (right hand only) containing the melody in the 5th finger

[carlos sauberlich]

Hi all,

I've been practising Chopin Prelude op. 45 and am finding difficult to play sections in which the right hand plays a series of chords, and the 5th finger has the melody. It should sound clear and 'sing', but I cannot manage to get such sound.  I end up playing the other notes of the chord too loudly (mainly the thumb and index finger).

Is there an arm, wrist or hand technique that will help?

Many many thanks

[perfect_pitch]

Actually what I would say is break the chord up....

Play the pinky note loud and immediately after - play the rest of the notes softly with the other fingers.

This way will help you to strengthen the pinky finger.

[carlos sauberlich]

Actually what I would say is break the chord up....

Play the pinky note loud and immediately after - play the rest of the notes softly with the other fingers.

This way will help you to strengthen the pinky finger.

Thanks a lot for your reply 

I've been practising that way, but then I cannot get the notes together afterwards 
And I feel that my wrist is tense and my hand hurts...
How can I relax my hand/wrist?

[rachfan]

Hi Carlos,

When you have a sequence of chords with melody in the 5th finger or thumb, an inner line within each chord, or octaves where fingers 3, 4 and 5 will emphasize the top notes, we call this technique "voicing" the chords or octaves.  Some call it "weighting".  This is a skill that does not come overnight, but needs to be developed over several weeks or even months.  

Here are some helpful tips: 1) Play the melodic line with the 5th finger alone (given the piece you are working on now) several times.  2) Sing that melody aloud and then silently in your mind only.  3) Forget about voicing with your wrist or hand.  You need to play the piano, including voicing technique, with the entire relaxed playing apparatus--torso, upper arm, forearm, wrist and hand, especially if it's a legato passage and requires voicing that needs to "sing" on the piano.  4) As you read the music in the passage (or if you have it memorized), form "musical intent" in your mind to voice those top notes.  5) As you execute the chords, think of applying more WEIGHT (as opposed to hitting or striking the keys) through the fifth finger to each top note in the melodic line.  

In the early stages of learning voicing, you can facilitate a little by using a bit of intentional forearm rotation which will automatically tilt the hand more toward the fifth finger which will apply more weight to the top note while the other fingers play the other notes more quietly.  

At first this technique will seem awkward and quite frustrating while trying to master it.  But master it you will.  (You should probably write the day on your calendar when you succeed with it!)  So stick with it, as it's a very important principle in artistry and the piano literature.  Once you learn it and become more proficient, you'll voice chords automatically as needed.

David

[iroveashe]

This Horowitz interview could be useful:
https://w1.854.telia.com/~u85420275/Articles/1928.htm

[gyzzzmo]

I myself 'stiffen up' the finger that has the melody and let the weight of the arm/shoulders (or musclepower in fast loud parts) do the rest.
Pieces of Rachmaninof for example sometimes have parts where other fingers than the 1st or 5th have melodies, there is were the fun starts

[carlos sauberlich]

Thanks so much guys!
Your ideas really helped

I'm kind of doing my best to get the melody to 'sing' but it's taking some time...

Cheers!

[landru]

I just "solved" this for a Schubert impromptu and the advice above is very good. I'll just add or reiterate that I solved it only when I approached it musically, not technically. By firmly hearing the top melody in my head and trying to achieve it on the piano while also being very relaxed in the hand, I got there. If I would have approached it mostly as a technical problem, I think I would have ended up with a choppy, chordy kinda sound.

[nanabush]

I've been having this issue with the last 2 pages of the Chopin Op 48 #1.  3 or 4 note chords, quiet dynamic marking, but the top note has to sing above.  Quite tough to get this to sound out, but I'm pretty much doing what people here are posting, so that's a bit reassuring

[slobone]

In my own practicing I've found that it's not so much a question of making that one finger louder as making the other ones softer. In pieces by Schumann for example where the accompaniment is more of a texture than an independent voice, I usually ending up playing the accompaniment louder than it should be.

Other than that I definitely agree with those who have emphasized the mental part. Listen to what you're playing, sing it out loud, then play it again, sing, play, etc. That's good advice for a lot of other problems too.

[stringoverstrung]

playing 1 and 2 staccato to practice might help too.

You can also get the feeling that your 3,4 and 5 work together and are kind of separated of 1 and 2.