Piano Forum

Piano Forum »
Piano Board »
Performance »
Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Piano Street Magazine:
Happy 150th Birthday, Maurice Ravel!

March 7 2025, marks the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel. Piano Street presents a collection of material and links to resources for you to enjoy in order to commemorate the great French composer. Read more

Pages: [1] Go Down

Topic: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee (Read 14210 times)

lewis_choo

PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 2

Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

on: June 07, 2011, 02:46:29 PM

As all know, Rimsky Korsakov's The Flight of The Bumble-Bee is an extremely fast piece. Its original speed is 200 beats/minute, but you can play 160 beats/minute as well. It's mainly played chromaticly.
My problem is, I can't play this piece quickly even 160 beats/minute. I've tried playing from slowly to fast, but I also can't play it clearly.
Anyone who can play this fast please give me some tips to play well.

Thanks a lot!!

Logged

nyiregyhazi

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 4267

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #1 on: June 07, 2011, 02:59:30 PM

I'm afraid your question basically amounts to "how do you play the piano?". There's no short answer to that. You just need a teacher who really understands how to teach technique. People may talk about things like increasing the metronome a couple of clicks at a time or practising in groups, but it's basically down to the underlying quality of movement. Without that, such things don't tend to lead anywhere much.

Logged

https://pianoscience.blogspot.com/

bkaldridge

PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 9

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #2 on: June 07, 2011, 05:56:31 PM

Practice, practice, practice.

Logged

noambenhamou

PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 137

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #3 on: June 18, 2011, 07:02:54 PM

First of all, play the rachmaninoff transcription version obviously.

Play with a metronome, and gradually increase the speed by increments of 5bpm. Within a couple of weeks, you'll be up by 20bpm from where you started and you won't even notice it

1) don't raise your fingers too high. Keep them low next to the keys.
2) Try not to press down on the keys ALL the way to the bottom. Press about 1/2 way. This one helped me ALOT.
3) make sure you're not stiff. Keep your hand very relaxed. If your hand is tired at the end, your technique is wrong. You should be able to play it back to back 20 times and not feel tired. I can't say the same of other pieces, but on this one, you should feel strain AT ALL EVER.
4) make sure your fingering is good. If it is not, then you will not have a chance.

As far as temp - I think this temp is ideal:

Logged

noambenhamou

PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 137

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #4 on: June 19, 2011, 02:52:45 AM

I guess disregard my last comment. I have no idea what i'm talking about. I've been practicing it also for the past 2 months and just tried it at 160 and fell flat on my face. Granted, I need to cut my nails which would help alot, But Kissin and Maksim are playing at around 195-200bpm.

So I think bkaldridge's dry comment of "practice, practice, practice" is the actual solutions.
I'll keep working on it and see what happens in 3 months. Lets check back in then and see if there is progress

Logged

anote1532

PS Silver Member
Newbie
Posts: 7

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #5 on: January 01, 2012, 01:34:50 AM

You must practice everyday each note you are having trouble with. Phrasing is very important in music.

Logged

pianoplayjl

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 2076

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #6 on: January 03, 2012, 06:52:00 AM

Just divide the piece into small sections and practice slowly 80 percent of the time and with the metronome. Go over and over the troubling spots.

Logged

Funny? How? How am I funny?

black_keys

PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 132

Re: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee

Reply #7 on: January 03, 2012, 12:40:32 PM

I practice on this piece too , having a speed above 160 bps is too hard ,try the fingering 4321-4321... not 2131313-21313-2.... it helps you a lot to speed up (in this piece only ,not generally in chromatism) and if nessesary use the normal chromatism fingering like mesures 59-99

I think the problem is in the fingering cz my friend has the same problem and when he fixed his fingering everything went alright

Logged

Sign-up to post reply

Pages: [1] Go Up

For more information about this topic, click search below!

Piano Street Magazine:
New Book: Women and the Piano by Susan Tomes

Susan Tomes' latest book is a captivating and thought-provoking exploration of women pianists’ history, praised for its engaging storytelling, thorough research, and insightful analysis. The book combines historical narrative with Tomes' personal insights as a performing female pianist. Read more

Piano Forum

Piano Street Magazine:Happy 150th Birthday, Maurice Ravel!

Topic: Rimsky Korsakov - The Flight of The Bumble-Bee (Read 14210 times)

Piano Street Magazine:New Book: Women and the Piano by Susan Tomes

Piano Street Magazine:
Happy 150th Birthday, Maurice Ravel!

Piano Street Magazine:
New Book: Women and the Piano by Susan Tomes