Playing Smoothly

[mrsmile10]

How do you play the piano without making it sound segmented?
or "jumping", if you know what I mean. I want to play it really smoothly.

I realized this flaw in my playing after I hear the recording I took from my piano/keyboard build-in program. I wonder if it's the piano.

[iansinclair]

Probably not the piano -- unless it is a really cheap digital.

The answer is: practice practice practice.  Getting a truly smooth legato, so that the notes seem connected one to the next, but don't smear into each other, sounds like the easiest thing in the world and is actually one of the most difficult bits of technique.  Once you have a really good legato, it's not all that hard to introduce some of the variation in it which leads to character and interest in a line -- from full legato, perhaps even a bit of portamento (carrying one note slightly into the next) to detache -- each note slightly but perceptibly detached from the next -- to a full crisp stacatto -- with lots of space between notes.  Each has its place.

But... just practice, that's all.

[hfmadopter]

I agree with Ian on this, probably not the piano and practice more legato. Recordings can be a pretty sure way of determining how well you really are playing vs thinking how well you are playing.

[mrsmile10]

Could it be because of my small hands I can reach a maximum of one octave only

[j_menz]

Could it be because of my small hands I can reach a maximum of one octave only

No.

Follow the advice above. Experiment with different touches. Learn to listen to yourself as you play. Have a clear image in you mind of what you want it to sound like. Practice achieving that sound.

[mrsmile10]

Okay. Thanks guys, I'll try it out and see how it goes.

[hfmadopter]

Could it be because of my small hands I can reach a maximum of one octave only

I've seen the small hand theory introduced by members many times here. Each time I have to think of my aging teacher years ago with small arthritic twisted hands and fingers running circles around my Bach playing and double octave runs of legato fast as lighting and smooth as silk. To me that blows the small hand theory completely out of the water. That lady could play baroque legato and ornamentation, it's just as simple as that. As a young man at the time, I just watched and listened in amazement each time she demonstrated it, which was not often. Usually it after she discovered me over relying on pedal I might add !!! Not like I haven't mentioned it before in here but she was a wonderful person and a great teacher, I'll never forget her and her influence on my music. Little lady with small hands that could make piano and organ just sing.

[iansinclair]

What was her name, hfm, if I may ask?  She sounds like the lady who taught me organ, half a century ago.  Probably the most influential person, other than my parents, in my entire life!

[hfmadopter]

What was her name, hfm, if I may ask?  She sounds like the lady who taught me organ, half a century ago.  Probably the most influential person, other than my parents, in my entire life!

Claire Allen, graduate of New England Conservatory. She was old enough to have played Gilbert and Sullivan Shows live, if that's any clue. That was her married name, I never knew her maiden name. I would say she was 70ish in the 1980's She played organ and directed choir for the church but I don't know if she taught organ.

 

[outin]

Could it be because of my small hands I can reach a maximum of one octave only

I cannot even play a good octave with my right but I don't think it has any effect on how my playing sounds in general 

Like the others say practice (with a teacher if you can). When I listen to recordings of myself 2 years ago, it sounds really bad... the difference to what I hear now is huge.

Then again if you are talking about a midi recording directly from the piano, the ones I get from my silent piano sound really different compared to what I get with a video camera/audio device. I think I posted couple of files to some thread earlier, but cannot remember where now. So you could try to record in some other way to compare.

[iansinclair]

Claire Allen, graduate of New England Conservatory. She was old enough to have played Gilbert and Sullivan Shows live, if that's any clue. That was her married name, I never knew her maiden name. I would say she was 70ish in the 1980's She played organ and directed choir for the church but I don't know if she taught organ.

 

Oh well... different lady, about the same age -- mine was a lady named Enid Woodward (and I do mean lady, in every respect).  Taught organ at the college I went to and conducted the choir.

[hfmadopter]

Oh well... different lady, about the same age -- mine was a lady named Enid Woodward (and I do mean lady, in every respect). 

Same here Ian, a real lady, small lady but real lady !

[rmbarbosa]

You wish to play legato. I`ll sugest this:
1 . Put your 5 fingers of the RH over your left arm and press them (1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1...) so that you can allways feel your fingers in contact with your arm (when you press 1, you feel the others in contact. When you press finger 2, you feel 1-3-4-5 in contact and so on). This will give to you the notion of legato.
2 . Now, put your five fingers over the keys and, when you play one finger, the others must be pressed down.
3. Finally, you "prepare" your fingers, i.e., when one finger plays, the next must be in contact with its key.
I must apologize my English (I`m portuguese...).
Best wishes
rui

[4greatkeyboards]

Use a metronome. Play with a ticking and or blinking device.

This is THE WAY to get smoothness. When you first try it it may seem that the metronome is not ticking regularly. That is an illusion and it shows how our brains warp time sense when we are concentrating.

Also, record your playing and listen to the result.

[lloyd_cdb]

When practicing scales or arpeggios, set the same scale/arpeggio up in different ways. Set them up in groups of 3, 4, and 5; practice each of them equally. Count with them and emphasize the strong beat of each group. You'll learn to emphasize different notes in the scale and will be less rigid in the typical emphasis on every 4th note. This will lead to smoother legatos. If it's a specific passage you are struggling with, you can apply the same theory and just break it up into different groupings.

EDIT: As 4greatkeyboards mentioned, using the metronome can be very helpful. Combine that with my suggestion and the metronome ticks will naturally force you to emphasize different notes.

[lloyd_cdb]

I've seen the small hand theory introduced by members many times here.

Digression:

As a small hander, I understand the criticism. My teacher was also 5'0", maybe 90 lbs with hands the size of mine. She absolutely ripped apart Ravel (in a positive way). In my personal viewpoint, my issues are not with the stretch of an octave, but with an octave combined with other notes. I can manage an octave with 1 and 3/4/5. My major issue is that I can't reach more than a fifth between 2 and 5 without pain. A triad with an octave is impossible for me to play in repetition, jump to, or play legato. I can usually play those notes by dropping the 3rd and playing the 1st and 5th with the octave, 1-2/3-5. I think it's a reasonable dropped note, but it can cause issues in smooth transitions (not specifically meaning legato). Beyond just the actual chord (as a not exactly talented player), arpeggios can be a bit difficult and pieces like Schubert impromptu 90/3 or Chopin 25/1 are drastically harder compared to a hand stretching a comfortable 10th or even a 9th (I have to jump throughout the piece instead of just pivoting.

This isn't meant as an excuse as if the world hates me, just some insight for people that have a distinct physical advantage. I equate it to Muggsy Bogues, the shortest player ever in the NBA (5'3"). Obviously these are the people that require much more dedication and effort to be able to contend with a guy that is 7'0" who stands there and rebounds without jumping. Still a decent player, but... "Bogues reportedly had a 44-inch measured vertical leap, but his hands were too small to hold onto a ball to dunk"

[a.feltkamp]

Being able to play an octave with other fingers in between is more a question of suppleness in the muscles and tendons - and it takes time for these to adapt. When I started to practice Albeniz's Granada 3 years ago, I could play the octave chords only slowly and with jumps and it sounded like I was ploughing a field with heavy clay. It was tiring and hurtful. Discouraged, I gave up and did not touch the piece again till a year after, my teacher encouraged me to pick it up again. And behold, suddenly the octave chords came out more smoothly - yet it still cost me another two years to get the chords to sound like sprinkling fountains.

I have known a girl with fingers twice as long as my short stumps, but her hand was so stiff, she could not grab more than an octave.

Which brings us back to the very first advice in this string: practice, practice, practice - with ever so much patience. There are many exercises that focus on stretching the hands.

Just watch Maria Joao-Pires - she has got small hands too!

Agnès

[mrsmile10]

I have been pulling my fingers gently from time to time. I wonder if that works. Also I notice my tempo is getting a little better. Maybe it's from the constant practice. Or maybe it's from learning those baby steps tempo exercise.