Fast passages in Chopin Nocturne C# minor Op. Post.

[jpclem]

Hello

I am working hard on this piece and am troubled by the fast passages at the end, where the right hand plays  a fast E scale (from A to D#) over 2 octaves while the left hand does the C#-F#-D#-C# eighth notes.

I'd like advice about the best way to approach this.  I've been practicing a ton of hands separately and I'm starting to put the hands together.  My teacher is encouraging me to just "jump in" doing it together, and discouraging me from planning out in advance where all the notes will "line up."  I'm really struggling with this, and it seems like I should just "do the math" and figure out which notes go together.

So I wonder if anybody on here has any opinions or suggestions for other ways to approach this. In general this is a difficult piece for me, and though I'm quite pleased with the progress I've made so far, I'm not sure I'll get through this last part intact! 

Thanks so much.

[j_menz]

and figure out which notes go together.

None of them do. That's rather Chopin's point with these sort of things.

Your teacher's suggested approach, whilst seemingly counterintuitive, is correct. If this is your first time with a passage like this, it's something of a leap of faith, and is going to fail for a bit. It will click, though, and then you're set.

[quantum]

While doing the math may appease your brain's desire to sort things out, it does little to shape the end result.  The whole point of these runs is to be non-linear.  Don't try to straighten it out, but rather find the beauty in temporary divergence from metrical organization.  Your teachers approach is correct. 

[pytheamateur]

My teacher suggested playing the 1st 3 of 4 accompanying quavers on the left hand at the same tempo as before.  This means the 4th quaver will sound longer with more notes from the right hand passage falling under it. This sounds more natural than having the 4 quavers of equal length but significantly slower than the previous bars.

In terms of practising the passage, I like to do a fair bit of slow playing blind-folded.  This forces me to listen carefully to make sure the passage is smooth and has shape.  It also helps releasing tension.  Once I can play the passage comfortably this way, I gradually speed up.

Alternate this with fast practice of chunks.  Start with small chunks, 3 or 4 notes, when it sounds good, gradually add more notes, then practise each octave, only the part of the ascending passage, then descending passage, and so on.