Chopin's Op. 40 N°1 "Military"

[schwartzer]

Any tips on playing this piece? I got all the notes right, but after the first trills, my hands start to get really tired, and I start missing notes all over.

So, are there any exercises to increase my stamina?

[faulty_damper]

It sounds like you are using your fingers to play the piano which leads to very fast fatigue.  What I do instead is to align my playing apparatus in such a way that limits the amount of muscles needed.  If it's burning, it's wrong.  If you have to use force, it's wrong.  If there's tension, it's wrong.  If that tension travels all the way to the shoulders or the rest of the body, it's wrong.  There are so many ways you can do it wrong and doing exercises to increase stamina will still be wrong.

[schwartzer]

Would you kindly give my any tips, then?

[faulty_damper]

Why do your hands get really tired?

[schwartzer]

Too much tension, I believe. But when I try to play it relaxed, I feel the sound is nowhere near as powerful as it should be.

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[faulty_damper]

I'm guessing the tension starts building in the A section of the Polonaise and it slowly builds from there into the other sections?  Is it just the trills that start the tension?

[schwartzer]

Nope. The part where I feel the tension starts building up is when you play that huge D# seventh in the B section. From there, I repeat the A section and everything goes mostly okay. When you get to the C part octave variation, right before the trills, all those jumps in the right hand make my hand very tired, and I end up not hitting them with enough power.

The trills are actually a section where I "kinda" rest my arms. But towards the end of the piece, when it repeats, my arms are so tired that I end up missing quite a bit of notes.

[faulty_damper]

You may be practicing loud and fast which means you are co-contracting a lot of muscles in order to gain accuracy.  The excess use of muscle is what's causing the fatigue.  Instead, you should practice this with limited dynamics (not loud) since this will help prevent using unnecessary muscles and force.  You're goal is not to make music at this point, but to make it as easy for yourself as possible.

When you say D#7, you're referring to m63?

[schwartzer]

Yep, I was trying to play a little softer, something around forte to fortissimoo. The D#7 I mean is at the b section. It's a G3, B#, C#, D#, G4 on the left hand and B#, C#, D#, B# on the right. I don't have my sheets right now, so I can't check it.

It's a pretty big chord, always screws me up.

Anyway, playing a bit softer helps a lot. Guess I'll have to build this stamina over time.

[faulty_damper]

It's best not to think of practice in terms of trying to build stamina or strength since these inevitably lead down the wrong path, technically.  It's far better to think in terms of the most economic way to achieve the desired sound.

[schwartzer]

Certainly helps me understand things in a different, better way. Thanks for all the tips, I appreciate it!

[faulty_damper]

You're welcome.  Let us know how the polonaise goes.