Am I retarded ?? (Learning chords)

[outin]

I am blo... frustrated now. I have been working on the Chopin A minor (post.) waltz for over a week. It’s a simple piece and I can sight read through it slowly. But I just cannot learn the left hand chords so that I could play it up to tempo. It seems to be a general problem, it took me over a month to learn the few left hand chords of K32. If I wasn't so stubborn, I would have given up.

With this waltz I have tried different methods, just working on the first 4 measures, played the chords arpeggiated, played only the lower 2 notes first and so on. Every time I think I get them but when I try to play faster I get a black out on one of these chords, if not the second, then the third or the fourth measure. The only way I can play the sequence is if I have time to think “this was the one with e and d” and so on.

I don’t get this problem with chords when I can change between them without lifting my hand from the keyboard. But when there are leaps I need to do two things at once, find the place for the hand on the keyboard and find the correct hand shape for the chord and something happens, I lose my sense of the keyboard and get a kind of panic reaction in my brain, maybe my short term memory overflows…

Any ideas? Am I the only one with this problem? I don’t even like waltzes, but I do want to be able to play at least a few.

Chord theory would probably help in the long run, but I just find it so terribly boring I did some as a kid but all is forgotten and I don't think I want to start again.

[pianoman53]

I sort of had the same problem... What worked for me was to analyze the chords, and then, while I was playing, saying the chords in its inversion. It's often the same when we try to make some musical sense to something; sometimes it helps a lot to actually Say what we want, rather out loud. It becomes sort of more obvious, and suddenly we have to "argue" about it, and not just plying it over and over.

Hope it helps

[outin]

Thanks, at least it helps to know that I am not the only one.

So I guess I should learn about the chords and inversions...
It's not that the theory is hard to undertand, I just so much hate memorizing that kind of stuff 

[hfmadopter]

I ameblo... frustrated now. I have been working on the Chopin A minor (post.) waltz for over a week. It’s a simple piece and I can sight read through it slowly. But I just cannot learn the left hand chords so that I could play it up to tempo. It seems to be a general problem, it took me over a month to learn the few left hand chords of K32. If I wasn't so stubborn, I would have given up.

Any ideas? Am I the only one with this problem? I don’t even like waltzes, but I do want to be able to play at least a few.

Chord theory would probably help in the long run, but I just find it so terribly boring I did some as a kid but all is forgotten and I don't think I want to start again.

The answer is simple, you need more chord work. Really practice chords related to your piece, chords scales and arpeggiated cords with inversions. Then take the piece and work on the left hand with deliberation, not just so you think you have it down but so the movements become natural, really plant your fingers into the key bed initially and go slow, get the two hands together before worrying about the finesse of it all ( touch voicing musicality). I do this with all my stubborn pieces in terms of learning.

I rearrange some pop pieces, you have to know chords and where your fingers are going to land in order to assemble the major parts or overall piece. And that goes for anything you are learning, it only becomes a more obvious weakness if you don't firm it up before you start playing more advanced pieces. Years ago my teacher drove this into my head ! When I start a new piece it doesn't sound like much because the first thing I go for is a little melody pass to appease myself with it, then work on the chords, chord rhythm. It's why I really don't care to have people around listening till I feel I'm going to start really working on the piece as a whole.

Also it's not really memorizing so much as an instinctual response that you want to aquire with chords.

[outin]

Then take the piece and work on the left hand with deliberation, not just so you think you have it down but so the movements become natural, really plant your fingers into the key bed initially and go slow, get the two hands together before worrying about the finesse of it all ( touch voicing musicality). I do this with all my stubborn pieces in terms of learning.
...
When I start a new piece it doesn't sound like much because the first thing I go for is a little melody pass to appease myself with it, then work on the chords, chord rhythm.

I think this is the problem... When we start on a piece my teacher is focusing on the musical aspects from the beginning, so I am thinking about dynamics, balance and touch while still struggling with the notes. I'm not sure she realizes how long it takes me to get the notes into my head, because when I have a good day I somehow manage to play through the new pieces by pure luck/intuition. Of course if she asks me to do it again I usually cannot.

But today I made a lot of progress. Instead of being frustrated I got mad and really punished the piano with these leaps and chords until my fingers hurt a bit and it worked, after a while I was able to get through the first part of the piece at a reasonable tempo

I also tried the leaps with my eyes closed and could do them fine. Maybe I rely too much on the visual and that confuses me when playing faster. I have some eye-sight issues, which might affect my visual sense of distance. I cannot play at all with my normal glasses, so I use my old ones. Maybe I need to get special piano glasses 

[hfmadopter]

I think this is the problem... When we start on a piece my teacher is focusing on the musical aspects from the beginning, so I am thinking about dynamics, balance and touch while still struggling with the notes.
But today I made a lot of progress. Instead of being frustrated I got mad and really punished the piano
I also tried the leaps with my eyes closed and could do them fine. Maybe I rely too much on the visual and that confuses me when playing faster.
 

Vs anger, I like to think of my attack, if you will, as determined deliberate aggression !

It seems you have a few issues going on. Many of us at the forum have sight issues incidentally. I'm woking on that as well.

Maybe a discussion with the teacher is needed. However, they often know more about you and playing than you think they do. Mine had me playing out in public long before I ever thought I was ready but yet somehow I managed ! Been many moons ago now though since I've had a teacher.

I'm glad the deliberate attach of the chords is helping. Don't  be surprised if there is a set back tomorrow but  the gain will stick much easier after that ( there is another thread that introduced that process not long ago)..

[outin]

Vs anger, I like to think of my attack, if you will, as determined deliberate aggression !

Well, that sounds better, it's not like I would really be angry at the piano. More like controlled rage

I also made some changes to the fingering on the right hand, which made a big difference.

I will have my first lesson after summer in a week, so I'll see what my teacher thinks about this one.

[outin]

Now I really feel like an idiot 

It was once again a fingering issue. This morning I just realized that trying to make the awkward finger moves just wouldn't work in faster speeds. A new fingering made it all easy.

It seems that most of the fingerings in my books do not work for me, but it takes me too long to realize it

[kedix1414]

I used to have a really hard time with chords.  I solved the problem by forcing myself to play pieces of music with many chords.  It was painful, but now I am able to play them well   My only advice is to keep on trying.  It will come.