Tension, tension, tension!

[corganek]

Hi.  I'm learning Beethoven's 6 Variations from the opera La Molinara.  Variations 1-5 are going swimmingly (though admittedly not up to speed yet).  But Variation 6 is a killer!  It involves continuous back and forth between thumb to big stretches with fingers 4 and 5, at alarmingly breakneck speed for two pages!  It makes my pinky really tired.

I practice just a measure or two at a time, focusing on staying super relaxed.  Play, shake out, relax, play, shake out, repeat, etc.  Also I purposely exaggerate (for now) wrist rotation with my fingers slightly curved, training myself to not stick my fingers out like daggers to do those reaches.  The LH is similar, but I find that comes easily.  The RH is causing the tension.

Even if I can play two measures in a relaxed way, when I try to string six or eight measures together, I tense up all over again.  I've been working on the first ten measures for over a week now.  Does this mean the piece is too advanced for me, or should I stick with it?  Any advice? 

[hardy_practice]

As fingers 1, 4 and 5 are more or less used in sequence there is a space for them to relax after each use.  i.e. they spend more time relaxed than tensed.  The heart beats for a lifetime.  It can do that because it rests between beats!