Not that I am a teacher or that good, but I recognize what you describe ... Also, the fact that your thumb seems "noisy" is because you are not relaxing it enough. Play some slow exercises and concentrate on observing your thumb, checking out that it is totally relaxed every time you play with your other fingers.
it's impossible. I need help. Anything I try to play fast and soft comes uneven, and staccato. If. Try to hold it becomes loud.(when I try to play fast I end up bringing the keys down faster...). My thumb is also incredibly loud on these occasions.Also how do you bring out a single not on the pinky when playing a chord?
From a prior post of mine:1) These exercises were written for pure wooden sound board pianofortes which in no way have the same keyboard resistance of a modern grand, and 2) It has to do with the concept of direct keyboard tactile touch at an extremely slow tempo and then morphing this into a Rachmaninoff-like speed tempo. My major teacher, the late Robert Weaver, taught the first part of this to all of his students.3) You sit very quietly at the keyboard, and that includes your breathing and whole body relaxation. This is important because you are building positive muscle memory from the ground up.4) You play a five finger scale in each hand, with super soft staccato. This is done by striking the key from its surface (just the way Egon Petri taught Earl Wild!).5) You get it where you can do this with both hands, depending on your own individual level of dexterity. So, when you can do this with no forced effort, you can move on to the speed practice.6) From this point on, you view every technical section as a scale cluster, broken chord section, or an arpeggiated section. This is played up or down, hands separately or hands together.7) You then play a particular section of the piece in question as fast as you can, utilizing your pre-disposed soft, surface quick staccato tactile sense that you gained from the first section of this discourse. Accordingly, you alternate between full arm weight and no arm weight.I use the term Rachmaninoff-like technique because this is what he taught his students.
Hmm... I don't have a grand. I have a Yamaha WX-7(if anyone recognizes that)The keys, Imo, are super heavy. It helps a little to press the una corda pedal, but I don't think I can ever do a glissando on this piano. Or maybe I just suck. Not sure how you do it without effort at all.Just out of curiosity, how do you NOT get a stiff wrist?Gee swagmaster. Thanks for your helpful suggestions!
Regarding chords or octaves, with a slightly arched wrist, you strike with upper body weight (gravity), and then immediately release.
That's very important. You have an arch because the hand is hanging from the wrist i.e. relaxed. I learnt from a student of Matthay so nearly horse's mouth. Sound boards have always been wooden, I take it you mean frames which were all iron by the end of the 19th century. Actions also got heavier over the 19th century (due to better, harder steel requiring heavier hammers). Use of armweight developed to cope with this. Use of bodyweight!? only on massive chords! You should still use fingers where appropriate but I do believe the Golandsky people deny that. I use the technique the composer used - makes sense to me.
Also, if your wrist is completely loose when striking a chord, wouldn't it end up ON the keys as you pressed down with your arms?I tried making it so I wasn't swiveling my wrist but that ended up putting more tension in my wrists, and my thumb felt strained and could barely press the note cleanly. Can you explain a Little more about the swiveling and why it's a problem or is that already posted here?
To clarify what my coach Thomas Mark has taught me, I will try. For the best results, God forbid that Piano Street would arrange for a film crew to show the world exactly what this man's technique genius is.Absent that pipe dream, one needs to sit erect, not stiff, but relaxed, at the piano. Also, the level of the forearm should be equal/level to the top of the white key.Then, while in this position, gently raise both forearms articulating from the elbow (about six inches). This is done with a completely relaxed hand and wrist, utilizing the natural gravity associated with such an action.When you do this, the hand and wrist will fall into a natural arched position. That is the position you play with, and trust me, it will be a different from pianist to pianist, given their individual morphology.Then, lower the wrist/hand back to the five finger position on the keyboard. Next, begin your soft staccato exercise which effectuates this one note at a time, with the entire arm resting in your lap after each note (relaxed, including breathing).For the chords and the octaves, the methodology is the same, except one first allows the hand to open as it aligns itself with the particular chord or octave. Then, one maintains the structure of the arch (with natural arm weight/gravity) when it does so.That does not mean "stiff," and it does not mean "soft." It means maintaining the integrity of the arched hand.Also, as previously stated, it is not the same as playing an individual note with a collapsed hand, going from note to note.As Thomas Mark teaches in his Octave Seminar, the first step in doing this, is to take it one scale octave passage at a time, while resting the hand in the lap in between. The same holds true for any chord strike.
A variety of outside posts, including this one, ...Has made me very, VERY confused.
They are good absorbers, not worn out absorbers ...feel and HEAR the difference. Somewhere you will find the best tone and the best, most effortless feeling. Also explore the feeling when you work from your knuckles or with just your fingertips.
that is a brilliant analogy...
Not quite. These shock absorbers can adjust stiffness to exactly match what is required to overcome the inertia of the key - no more no less. Find that in the mechanical world!
(therefore a bit hard to teach).
The wrist should be completely loose. You should NOT press down with your arms. If you do that, then the wrist will end up ON the keys, like you say, or, you will have to tense the wrist in order to prevent that from happening.
You DO have to tense the wrist for the moment of key depression (only) that's how you transfer weight or force from the arms. If you don't, whatever you choose to put the key down with (even only fingers), the wrist goes up instead of the key going down - that's just simple mechanics.
So the goal is not to be relaxed... But to relax quickly after you play a note?
If you aren't already doing this, try staccato practice. No pedal, just staccato the entire piece, first hands separately, in small chunks. This is a necessary procedure for learning every new piece; without it, unevenness and especially legato will be major problems. It will take a lot of practice, because it is a test of your technique ability. You can tell if you make progress when you can play staccato very fast, practically any speed, evenly.
One assumes the OP read it the first time!
I've spent all day teaching. I can't see how anything could be achieved without a conscientious teacher by your side. Each lesson is minute by minute, second by second advice and diagnoses - enough to fill any of these threads!
Topic: Play light, quick, legato, and soft at the same time? 