Chopin's 4th Ballade

[cauliflower1]

I have this piece memorized and for the most part it just needs a little polishing which can be done with some practice. I have some trouble with the coda, but I have even more trouble with the two measures with sixths in the right hand and trills in the left (the measures are identical, just an octave apart). Those sixths are already incredibly hard and those A flat trills in the left just kill me; it seems like no matter how much I practice those, they just don't improve. Even the double note passages in the coda are more manageable. Is there anyone who has played this ballade that can give me some advice on these measures? Your help is appreciated.

[andreslr6]

Ask your/a teacher, this is just a problem created from not having the resources to solve 6ths and not knowing how to practice them. I could try and explain it here with text on how to solve double notes, but it will be 10x more effective if you see this with a teacher in person.

But don't worry, once you know how to solve them, you'll know what to do with 6ths and 3rds whenever you encounter them on any other piece you learn. You can learn 6ths with that part of the ballade, but I also recommend you practice them first on the Hanon exercise (no.40 I think?) and also learn the Chopin op.25 no.8 etude.

[cauliflower1]

Will check out those pieces. My teacher seems to be rather set on working on other pieces, but I will ask her about this. Thank you for the advice!

[4greatkeyboards]

Yes I also play the 4th and for many years.

This may seem oversimplified but for me what helps most is recognizing that the 6ths and all other intervals involve playing notes that are the same exact physical distance apart. I feel it in my hands more so than looking at the music.

That's why Chopin's 6ths Etude helps so much.

[johnnybarkshop]

to cauliflower1.  Help is at hand for this horrible (but beautiful) passage.

Firstly, the sixths.  The big distances between the two notes of each sixth might cause too much stretching, which will make your wrist stiff. Practise these bars REALLY slowly, breaking the bars into bits.  Make little repetitions of the bits.  Make sure you are not 'bearing down' on the keys and that you are practising cautiously.  As you speed up the short bits, and then longer bits, play even more lightly.

Good luck.  I will return tomorrow with my ideas about trills.  (Don't attempt to practise the two horrors together.) 

When you can play this passage as Chopin intended you will sing with delight.