I was interested to read your post about this piece.I've been 'living with' this Nocturne for a few years now - like you, it's something I always wanted to play, and gradually, as I've improved, so has my ability to play it. First of all, I wish I'd learnt it from this edition (the fingerings are faultless: I wasted many hours on dud fingerings that had to be painfully changed after I'd learnt the piece, always a nightmare.)https://imslp.nl/imglnks/usimg/f/fd/IMSLP61908-PMLP02305-Chopin-Op27n2rje.pdfOn the subject of editions, I would specifically NOT recommend Cortot's 'Study Edition' of this piece (Salabert). Setting aside the careless typos, the phrasing is overwrought, the practising suggestions are enough to drive one crazy and the fingerings are like crossword puzzles. There is only one exception: in bar 1, LH, he suggests 513124 (and so on). It feels very odd at first, and I haven't seen this fingering elsewhere, but once you've got the hand shape settled, it really helps the LH to flow and relax.Regarding the fiorature passage you mention (Bar 52 specifically) I find the main problem is that one's RH 'locks' as the repeated four-note motif descends. It feels uncomfortable turning the hand so the thumb can play the G flat (8th note in the sequence), then again to take that pesky E flat near the end. (Out of interest, the edition above suggests playing the G flat with 2 rather than thumb. I tried this a couple of years ago and it didn't make much difference.)The practising techniques that have helped me most have been1) Memorise it. (Obviously.)2) Play bar 51 with a bit of a flourish, if you wish, with the ascending scale played fast, but take a breath at the start of bar 52 and let the fiddly decorations start slowly, quietly and delicately, and gradually speed up as you descend. A student of Chopin (sorry, can't remember who but I read it in Graham Fitch's blog post on fiorature) said that he usually intended for these passages to start slowly and build up speed. (If you hear it played in time, it is horrible - clunky...)3) Don't try and play the LH in time, but keep it very light and 'shimmery'. Far from 'holding the things together', a firm accompaniment makes the passage sound wooden.4) Regarding the RH hand position problem, you haven't got time to turn the hand in for the thumb to reach the G flat and E flat, so you need to play the whole passage fairly high up on the white notes (i.e., hand nearer the piano lid than the edges of the keys, something one usually prefers to avoid). [I should add at this point, my fingers are reasonably slim, I don't know how you'd play this section if your fingers didn't fit.)5) Try practising the lower three notes of each four-note motif as triplet groups, leaving out the repeated C flat at the top, with a perfectly relaxed hand, fingertips super close to the keys. When those triplets can ripple down the keyboard sounding fluid and light, it's time to add back the C flat, lightly and (with any luck) effortlessly.6) Finally - it sounds like you have enjoyed working on the piece. Set it aside for a few weeks (or months or years...) and come back to it. By the way, there's a much worse 'little note' section waiting for you - Etude in C sharp, Op 25 No 7. The difference is, I don't even like it played by the Grand Masters, there's something coarse about the modulation. (Forgive me, Fryderyk.)Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (piano solo)Schubert Impromptu in B flat (D935)Faure Romance Sans Paroles, Op 17 No 3
Thank you so much, i am also having difficulties in playing those nasty double notes, sometimes i dont practise double notes my2/4 3/5 fingers will just "misbehave". any advices for practising them??? thx so much
Hello Everyone, I am studying op27 no.2 and I got stuck in measures 51-52, I have learnt all the notes and memorised them very well. But when I speed it up it sounds messy and overall horrible. Can anyone be so kind to gimme some advices on how should I deal with them or any recommendations? Your helps'd be much appreciated. thx
Do you not have a piano teacher? With the info we have, (I think you're relatively new to Pianostreet) I cannot properly gauge your piano competence, however here's some thoughts.I think many questions surrounding technical difficulties on pieces can stem from the fact we are not actually ready for the piece. Definitely, we learn new skills when tackling a piece, whether a rhythm, a technical skill, even down to a finger pattern we've never attempted. Personally, however, I think these are often built upon skills which are refined with more difficult pieces rather than completely new skills. If you really are struggling with the double notes, it may be worth visiting a couple of simpler pieces that have double notes and see how you get on with them and gauge where your level of skill is. The worst case scenario is you work on your double notes, by learning some new pieces, you learn the pieces, you can go back to the Chopin piece and you have a skill for life!One simple piece that comes to mind for me, is from the OP.100 Burgmuller etudes; 'La Petite Reunion'. I have attached a snippet. I too originally struggled with the double notes you're referring too, however, to start, I could play it, not completely at speed, maybe 75%. For me it was a case of refining my ability for a slightly faster speed, rather than really build up a core technical ability in double notes.Maybe post an audition of what you have so far, so people can make a better judgement. Often we find when somebody says "i've learnt something" - they really haven't. so when somebody says "i'm struggling with something" then, in my mind, it really hasn't been learnt at all and needs some real work, if not put aside for a reality check.
Topic: Chopin Nocturne op27 no.2 