Fantaisie Impromptu practice tips...help please!

[magic_sonata]

I am currently learning Fantaisie Impromptu by Chopin and I have had it for about a week now. Does anyone have any practice tips for this piece specifically or just in general?

Thanks!

magic_sonata

[maitea]

Hi,

Lots of hands separate and put them together little by little in small chunks. Sing the intervals when you play it. Practice without pedal, do the legato with your fingers and the singing in your mind. And don't try to play too fast to soon, as well as going back to slow tempo after you've practice it faster. Enjoy the practice!

[neuralfirings]

Practice the two hands separately until they are basically muscle memory, then put them two together and focus on synchronizing the downbeats (accenting the downbeats is helpful for this).

I actually have another question about this piece. In this section:


How legato sounding are the accented beats supposed to be? I've heard a lot of recordings where they don't sound legato at all--they sound more a tenuto-staccato mix. In my mind it makes sense that they should sound legato, I think it fits in more with the aesthetics of the piece. That said, these are accented 16th notes, not quarter notes, so maybe my interpretation is wrong?

[jollisg]

When practicing the right hand - play it with accents on differet places (on the first semiquaver, then the second, third, fourth, then practice it as tripplets). That helps a lot with smoothness in your playing.

Break the piece into small sections. Don't always start with the beginning and work your way theough.

I don't know a really good english word for this, but rythmizise. E.g. when you practice the right hand, play the first four semiquavers really fast (over tempo but still super clear) and stop on 1) the last semiquavers 2) om the first semiquavers. I'm not so good at explaining this, it's a bit hard when english isn't my native language.

Good luck with the piece!

[maitea]

What edition are you using? I just realised that I have had students coming with scores that had terrible suggested fingerings, which can hinder your practice quite a lot! (In general, but specially in a piece like this!)

M