Urgent Help needed for Uneven playing/Technique and Control issues

[derukun]

Alright, so this is my first post on this forum so just a little introduction; I'm 16 and play according to RCM standard (Royal Conservatory of Music as most know) and just recently completed my grade 9 practical exam and also received results recently... I'm starting grade 10 now and need to finish it in about 8 months in time for university auditions (In 11th grade currently).

Main issue: I only got a 74 on the practical exam, and in the examiner's notes a consistent gripe from him seems to be regarding 1. Technique 2. Control 3. Clarity.

Now I know for a fact that my technique is certainly not up to par with other pianists on my level (I actually was not ever told to play any technical exercises until I began grade 7 RCM, maybe that screwed me over.) but I also seem to have an issue with unevenness in my fingers.

It's rather hard to explain but I'll try my best...
When playing strings of 8th notes or 16th notes, more common with the 4th and 5th finger I notice that they seem to "spaz" or undergo some strange contraction and the finger will hit the key earlier than it is supposed to, destroying the continuity of the passage...  I am not sure what causes it but it is very damaging to my playing and it happens so often out of my control that it angers me.

So my cry out to the community is a potential solution for my issue above, and also the best way to improve my technique and control... that examiner totally destroyed my self esteem lol and I seriously need to up my game if I want to get 85+ on the 10 exam and get into university.

Thanks so much to whoever contributes,
Andrew.

[gyzzzmo]

eh, ask your teacher?

[derukun]

English isn't her native language so there's only so much she can tell me.... so far all she's said is "relax" but that really doesn't help at all.

[nyiregyhazi]

English isn't her native language so there's only so much she can tell me.... so far all she's said is "relax" but that really doesn't help at all.

You need a new teacher then. Clearly they have nothing to offer about the fundamentals of technique.

[derukun]

Not sure where to find a new teacher in such short amount of time.. isn't there anyone here who could provide insight? Or is this one of those things where you have to do, not read to understand

[nyiregyhazi]

Anyway, your thumbs are almost certainly the issue. Alan Fraser calls it inversion. When the thumbs try to lift up all the time and close the space with the palm (even if only slightly) the weaker fingers are put in a difficult situation where they have to strain to play their keys. You need to be able to point the thumb out and down, in order to operate these fingers with real freedom and control. It's the classic Russian arch, as seen in Rubinstein. See my last but one blog post on balance, for related exercises.

[derukun]

I'm not sure what you mean by your explanation... close the space with my palm?

[nyiregyhazi]

I'm not sure what you mean by your explanation... close the space with my palm?

give a thumbs down. The space between thumb and palm is now open. Let the thumb come up even a fraction and it is approaching your palm. Almost literally everything you do at the piano needs to involve some sense of the same action of giving a thumbs down, or your thumb will start lifting up and destroy the sense of stability. At this point various muscles will start tightening in a complex and unpredictable combination. Simply point the thumb down instead and you create something that is more predictable and less effort.

This problem is so common that I can virtually guarantee you have it, without looking (particularly given what you say about not being able to control your fifth and that you've been told to generically relax- which usually makes the missing thumb action even worse). You should really post a video though, if you want specific meaningful advice.

[derukun]

Let's see if I understand what you're saying... does this mean to always keep the thumb resting on the keys rather than having it lifted in the air?

[nyiregyhazi]

Let's see if I understand what you're saying... does this mean to always keep the thumb resting on the keys rather than having it lifted in the air?

yep, virtually all the time. There are some exceptions- where you can occasionally lift it and then throw it back down. However, I recently discovered that I was causing poor performance from my 5th finger in the opening of la campanella, by swinging my thumb too much. There's nothing more harmful to the performance of that finger than a thumb that keeps wanting to lift itself away from the keys. At virtually all times, the thumb should exert a downward pressure against a key surface that is very clear, yet obviously not enough to move it. Or you can sometimes bring the thumb back away from the keys and point it down off the edge.

PS - even if it's touching the keys, it can still be too lazy. Don't just rest it dead on a key surface. Actively use the contact to push your knuckles up into the air and open the arch. Before you can learn to make it work in a more passive way, you first need to be sure that you're actively pointing it out.

[derukun]

Interesting, it seems to already help keeping my thumb down for some of my old 9 pieces.

Now another question; especially for Baroque and Classical period pieces, I am instructed to play with a light touch... but I do not have any idea as to how I'm supposed to do that with control. If I try to play softer, I end up playing poorly, but I am also criticized for playing apparently "too loud" if I play normally. My piano teacher said that if I could play with a light touch but still have clarity, control and balance in my playing, I wouldn't need lessons and would be a professional already but I'm not sure of the validity of that.  I'd like to be able to play at that degree now, since clearly that is what the examiner is looking for. Any help on this?

[nyiregyhazi]

Interesting, it seems to already help keeping my thumb down for some of my old 9 pieces.

Now another question; especially for Baroque and Classical period pieces, I am instructed to play with a light touch... but I do not have any idea as to how I'm supposed to do that with control. If I try to play softer, I end up playing poorly, but I am also criticized for playing apparently "too loud" if I play normally. My piano teacher said that if I could play with a light touch but still have clarity, control and balance in my playing, I wouldn't need lessons and would be a professional already but I'm not sure of the validity of that.  I'd like to be able to play at that degree now, since clearly that is what the examiner is looking for. Any help on this?

practise on your arm. I usually demonstrate this to students by playing on their forearm, which is something Russian teachers often use. Build pressure slowly but surely (from the finger itself not the arm) and don't relax it. Allow it to press the knuckles back away. Don't move quickly and abruptly and then relax, but progress smoothly from starting movement to balancing- with no sudden changes of state. If you do it right, the pressure will be sustained right through but it will not be any burden or effort to maintain it.


Quiet playing is about increasing pressure gradually and deliberately. The keys move slower but with a sense of tremendous power. The classic mistake is to try to move abruptly and then have to pull back before even completing the movement- like a very bad golfer. Move with confidence and power and literally no repression. Aim right past the key, but just do it with a slower movement- like a good golfer taking a very short putt.

When dropping the whole arm, there's a way of slowing down the arm at the last moment to stop a crash landing. However, the fingers themselves must never pull back mid stroke- either in that type of drop or when playing from close contact. Control requires a massively deliberate but steady action.

[xdjuicebox]

Think the way the notes should sound before you play it, and really imagine the sensation in your hands, and that should be the way it comes out. This applies to evenness; I had the same problem and this fixed it

[sucom]

Hi
My advice for the uneven playing would be to slow semiquaver passages right down to a speed where you can play the notes 'really' smoothly while listening very carefully to ensure they really are smooth, and then gradually increase the speed by just a tiny amount, ensuring that as you speed up the notes remain totally smooth and even. 

It's really tempting to rush the speed too soon but if you have the patience to very gradually push the speed several times at each practice, the results are totally worthwhile.