Repeated notes and rhythm, help.

[nitros]

Hi, yesterday I finally decided to give Appassionata a chance, i was reading trough it with ease until the second page with those repeated notes on the left hand and found it very hard to play, I searched a bit and found thread's about repeated notes, even one talking specifically about Appassionata but my problem is not exactly the repeated notes, I can play them, the problem is the rhythm, I can count the notes and know when to play the left hand if I'm going slowly but as soon as I speed up I can't count, I just can't and it's not something new, I just have been ignoring it, I can play the 1st movement of pathétique with certain ease but I have problems with the part after the repeat when the right hand is doing tremolos with nothing in the left hand, again going slow is no problem but as soon as I speed it up I can't count the notes and I have no clue whether or not playing all the notes, I just go with "feeling", it's the same with almost any piece that requires long repetitions with nothing on the other hand to help with rhythm.

I am a mostly self taught student, I have had several teacher over the years but not for long, money and time eventually become an issue and I have to leave them, I have skipped a lot of basic stuff but I have some idea of what I need to do in order to improve in certain areas but with this I simply have no clue where to start but it is a old problem that I want to fix so any advice is greatly appreciated.

btw, English is not my first language, sorry for any mistake I may have committed.

[quantum]

Hi and welcome to Pianostreet,

Try counting in 4 not 12.  1 dotted quarter = 1 beat.  Think of the larger beats.  To emphasize this you can practice by reducing the left hand repeating pattern to one note per beat.  In other words practice without the repeated notes and only accenting the beat.  The right hand plays as written. 

When you return to practicing the left hand as written, think of 1 beat as having 3 subdivisions. 

Your left hand can keep track of the repeated note by itself if you use a consistent fingering.  Eg: 3-2-1 where finger 3 is always on the main beat.  Just think of making sure 3 is always playing on the main beat and the other two fingers will fall in place. 

[nitros]

Hey, that really helps, using 3 finger and only have to keep track of 1 really simplifies things, I haven't had the chance to test it properly but it does make a lot of sense.

Thanks a lot.