Shifting octaves in left hand

[cloudycity]

Hi there, I'm self taught and wanted to ask a question re the above.

Over the past few months I've become aware of a technique where by you shift octaves in the left hand by switching 1&5 and move on up the board, so that you find yourself v quickly one octave higher. This allows you to switch octaves in songs or improvs very smoothly etc. This seems to be a prominent 'move' in certain piano players that I watch & am learning from. Obviously you can also move down the keyboard in similar fashion.

My question is, is this an accepted technique (is there a name for it?), and are there any disadvantages to doing this, as I feel this becoming more and more prominent in my playing, and I don't want to develop a bad habit?

The only example I can find on youtube is this terrible quality video... See around 3.02

Thanks!

[visitor]

 8)You mean finger substitution? Organists have been doing it for hundreds of years. Works all over for both hands and not just octaves but a tool to employ when you want to free up part of the hand to do somethjng else, or when pedaling may not give the sound you want
 It is effective when the situation allows it and you get the sound and or effect you are after, other times not so much.  Many times just letting go have pedal carch it ie either damper or sostenuto and quick get the hand where it needs to be
So yes can work, sometimes best option sometimes not.

[dogperson]

You mean finger substitution? Organists have been doing it fir hundreds of years. Works all over for both hands and not just octaves but a tool to employ when you want to free up part of the hand to do somethjng else, or when pedaling may not give the sound you want
 It is effective when the situation allows it and you get the sound and or effect you are after, other times not so much.  Many times just letting go have pedal caych it ie either damper or sostenuto and quick get the hand where it needs to be
So yes can work, sometimes best option sometimes not.

Maybe I am missing part of the question-  I read it as this:  If you have a C octave and the next octave is a D octave, one octave up, do you use finger substitution on the C in order to find the D in the higher octave?   

If that is the question, no I do not...  Visitor, do you in this scenerio?   I just train my fingers where to find the 'D'.  First, finger substitution on the C would need to be done quickly, and secondly, the end result doesn't get you to the next key, only the next higher octave but a note you are not planning on playing.. so then you would still need to take time to still find the correct note.  Seems to be adding a step?

[timothy42b]

Over the past few months I've become aware of a technique where by you shift octaves in the left hand by switching 1&5 and move on up the board, so that you find yourself v quickly one octave higher. This allows you to switch octaves in songs or improvs very smoothly etc. This seems to be a prominent 'move' in certain piano players that I watch & am learning from. Obviously you can also move down the keyboard in similar fashion.

If it's what I'm thinking about it's very common in gospel and contemporary church music.

An example would be to play two C's one octave apart, fingering it 1 and 5, then very quickly flip your 5 finger to the 1 finger position on the next beat and follow with the C E G arpeggio or even C major chord.  You sort of swap out fingers so there's no chance of missing the right note.

I was told a name for this but have long since forgotten. 

[lostinidlewonder]

I think he means If you play say a C octave

eg LH: (5)Middle C and (1)+C above

then shift down so:

(5)-C below and (1)Middle C


The thing is that many people might attempt to do this by expanding and contracting their hand where this would be almost always unnecessary.

This is a way in which one can start to explore arpeggio movements that extend across many octaves. I sometimes get my students to play this exercise to investigate the movement without changing hand shape:

eg: MidC +C  +C  +2C  +C +C MidC
RH 1 5 1 5 1 5 1
LH 5 1 5 1 5 1 5

Then you can add notes inbetween the C's or make chords etc.

[visitor]

Maybe I am missing part of the question-  I read it as this:  If you have a C octave and the next octave is a D octave, one octave up, do you use finger substitution on the C in order to find the D in the higher octave?   

If that is the question, no I do not...  Visitor, do you in this scenerio?   I just train my fingers where to find the 'D'.  First, finger substitution on the C would need to be done quickly, and secondly, the end result doesn't get you to the next key, only the next higher octave but a note you are not planning on playing.. so then you would still need to take time to still find the correct note.  Seems to be adding a step?

i saw it as ie lh c octave and quick shift to c octave 1 down where the low c of first octave becomes top c of the next c octive

[timothy42b]

Okay, I watched the video.  (I can't watch a video at work.) 

She plays the left hand octave, 1 and 5, then springs her little finger up to the key her thumb is on, displacing the octave she's playing in upwards.

This is a very common technique in church music.  I'll try to find an example. 

[cloudycity]

Okay, I watched the video.  (I can't watch a video at work.) 

She plays the left hand octave, 1 and 5, then springs her little finger up to the key her thumb is on, displacing the octave she's playing in upwards.

This is a very common technique in church music.  I'll try to find an example. 

This is what I'm referring to.

No coincidence then that the singer in the video is a ministers daughter.

In lots of contemporary songs it seems to let me move around the keyboard easier and makes things more interesting, but don't want to get into any bad habits is all.

Thanks.

[timothy42b]

Here's an example from a church page.

https://evangelisticpiano.com/the_hymn_players_secret

I've seen this done with broken chords and made to sound really fluent. 

[cloudycity]

Thanks for taking the time to post that. Interesting.

[beethovenfan01]

By what I saw and what you said ...

This kind of thing is all over more difficult music (especially Liszt's music, Hungarian Rhapsodies and the like).

Just my note. If I'm completely wrong and that's not what I think it is, then correct me.