L.H. 2nd finger issues with Chopin Op. 10 No. 8

[bachbrahmsschubert]

Fellow piano streeters and music nerds,

I've been wanting to get into this etude for quite awhile, and with summer here my repertoire workload has (somewhat) vanished.

The problem occurs just after he modulates the theme to d minor; the hands come together for some chromatic nonsense (sorry, don't have a copy with measure numbers). The left hand is forced to stretch a major 6th from the second finger to the thumb at a fairly high register. Normally, I would have no problems with this at all, but I'm noticing while practicing slowly, there's a strange "clicking" sensation on the top of my finger just below the middle joint. It does not hurt, but it makes playing slightly uncomfortable; something I'd wish to avoid.

When I drop down to a lower register and stretch a major 6th, I feel nothing as one should, the problem only occurs at the high register with the left hand. I tried leaning by body more towards my right hand, but the sensation still occurs. I tried playing with higher knuckles, but that didn't help either.

I might (most likely) be doing something wrong, but I can't figure it out. I emailed my teacher and he said to stop practicing the piece and we'll talk the next time we meet. Well, the next time we meet is in two weeks and I don't want to put down that section for two weeks.

Can anyone help me out with any ideas on what might be the issue?

Thank you

Best wishes,

[faulty_damper]

If you put in the effort to include the measure number(s), that would be very helpful for your readers.  It also lets us know that you invested the time to count it and it puts your readers in a better thought to help you.  Considering that there are over 90 measures, "modulates the theme to D minor" is not very helpful for most people nor do "chromatic nonsense".

Anyway, do you mean m37 and onward?

If you are depressing each key and leaving it there until the next one is depressed (attempting legato) then this may be the problem.  Release the 2 as your hand shifts to depress with the 1.  This should solve any joint issues due to the stretched tendon as your left wrist is bent when you reach to the middle register of the keyboard.

[bachbrahmsschubert]

If you put in the effort to include the measure number(s), that would be very helpful for your readers.  It also lets us know that you invested the time to count it and it puts your readers in a better thought to help you.  Considering that there are over 90 measures, "modulates the theme to D minor" is not very helpful for most people nor do "chromatic nonsense".

Anyway, do you mean m37 and onward?

If you are depressing each key and leaving it there until the next one is depressed (attempting legato) then this may be the problem.  Release the 2 as your hand shifts to depress with the 1.  This should solve any joint issues due to the stretched tendon as your left wrist is bent when you reach to the middle register of the keyboard.

The composition is straightforward. He phrase modulates to d minor only once, in which he plays the main theme. Just after that he's briefly in D major and flirts C# dim. My attempt at humor with "chromatic nonsense" failed. Sorry if I seemed lazy, I felt the explanation was ample enough.

And yes, you are correct, I was attempting a pure legato. Slightly detaching the note worked like a charm. I just couldn't figure out why it was hurting at the higher register and not the lower; of course I wasn't paying attention to my wrist at all. 

Thank you!

Best wishes,