Major and Minor Tenths

[1piano4joe]

I. MAJOR TENTHS-Some are easier than others. I can only reach these four:

C       E   (Play Both Hands the Same with pinkie and thumb hanging off the edge of the white keys)
F       A                     "                                   "                                   "
G       B                     "                                   "                                   "  

F#      A#  (This is the easiest of the major tenths and may not require hanging (depending on your hand of course) as these keys are elevated above the white ones.

I can't reach any of the other 8. I can only play these 4 in both hands.


II. MINOR TENTHS-This is more complex to explain since the hands are mirror images of each other and sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn't but I will try my best. I apologize in advance if you find it poorly written or difficult to follow.

     A.  These 6 are the same for both hands.

          D  F  (The same as above with pinkie and thumb playing the back edge of the keys)
          E  G                                                "
          A  C                                                "
          B  D                                                "

          Eb  Gb (These are easier because of the elevation)
          Bb  Db                           "
      
      B. The Left Hand Three (The Left Thumb plays a black key and is therefore elevated)
          
          C    Eb   (Relatively Easy for the Left Hand)  (See D. below for the Right Hand)
          F    Ab      
          G    Bb

      C. The Right Hand Three (The Right thumb plays a black key and is therefore elevated)

          C#   E    (Relatively Easy for the Right Hand)  (See D. Below for the Left Hand)
          F#   A
          Ab   C

       D. A white to black (or vice versa) minor tenth with the thumb on the white key will not
           have an elevated thumb (the pinkie is playing the black key and is elevated). This is a
           little bit trickier situation and may take some practice. Play the edge of the white  key
           with the thumb.

I found I could play all 12 minor tenths with this information. Hopefully, some of you will benefit from these tips.


(Note to self I played my first 11th today. What an awful sound. I used my right hand to position the fingers of my left hand on C and F as the left hand couldn't quite make it on it's own and also required exact positioning of the fingers and with a slight downward pressure the one handed 11th interval sounded)

[1piano4joe]

I may be over emphasizing the importance of the elevations. When depressed the black key is only the thickness of the edge of a nickel higher than a white key and I'm sure it comes into play to some extent, anyway. The other factor I neglected to mention was that the black keys are not adjacent to one another like the white ones and it takes a deliberate action on your part to hit two of them simultaneously like in Chopin's Prelude in A or C minor where the thumb plays two black keys. So the reasoning might have been off why some are easier than others but whatever the reasons might be, some are more accessible than others.

[pianoplayjl]

Now this I understand a bit better. I also noticed that when I first started stretching 10ths when I could only touch the edge of the keys as is now though I can play much easier since my hands got more flexible. How did you stretch 11ths?

JL