Mozart 545 fingering

[maartenm]

Hi,

I have been learning Mozart 545 all wrong, and I'm trying to correct that. I am only a beginner and fully realize this is a deceptful piece, but since I lack the score of Beethoven's Op.49 (and don't have a printer), and I am sick of sonatinas and menuets, this feels like the only sonata I can really learn at this point.  

I've been playing it for some months, but I used completely wrong fingering. For instance, I played the bass line 4-1-2, 5-1-2,.. and the treble part 1-2-4 which is to put it mildly not the way it should be played.

I now understand better why I should follow the fingering, since it allows you more freedom, relaxment and more space between notes. So I'm trying to adjust to the "official" fingering that I found in the book accompanying my Roland digital piano. This is really frustrating since I was pretty far in the piece, and I have a hard time making my fingers forget the way I played it before. I will try to persist though. I also have some questions. Let's stick with 1st mov. for now.

- The first bass trill part (C#-D). I used to play it 2-1-2-1-2-1, which wasn't so good.
Then I started playing it 3-1-2-1-3-1-2-1, which is a lot harder but felt better in the end (I still haven't mastered it completely.. it allowed me to play it a bit more silent but I still play it way too loudly).
But now i notice I misread that as well, and should play it 3-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 3-1-2-1-2-1-2-1?
So only 3rd finger on the first and third beat.
Which is the "right" way?

- I have real big problems with M11. It looks easy, but the 5-4-2-1 for the left hand is hard to pull off without muddying into a chord (even though I have normal adult hands). ANd I have a big problem trying to get the timing right. Does anyone have a tip for this piece? Apart from "keep practicing!", which is still good advice

- Similarily the 5-4-2-1's in M18-21 are also quite hard for me.. Is there some hand action I should use, rolling, or walking?

Damn you, Mozart. To be honest I think Alla turca is often easier than this one.

[jimbo320]

After reading your post I can relate.
It seems that we gain muscle memory faster than we realize. Knowing this we should really study a piece before actually attempting it.
I find that playing a piece very slowly a few times than gradually increasing the speed until up to par helps a lot. Even correcting some bad fingering...

[john90]

The 5-4-2-1 LH played slowly during practice sounds nice and let me focus on evenness. The trills I practiced separately at speed and play them slower in the piece. I found I needed skill in reserve for the trills otherwise the rest around them was in danger of drifting timing on the approach to the trill. As Jimbo said, once muscle memory kicked in and looked after the trills there was more time to focus on timing and enjoyment.