Chopin Black key etude

[sonata_5]

I am learning Chopin black keys etude. Anyone have any tips?

[frodo4]

Try to not hit any white keys with the right hand.

[jamienc]

Use your fingers!

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Hit the right notes; there's a different Etude for wrong notes.

[brogers70]

I am learning Chopin black keys etude. Anyone have any tips?

That's a pretty broad question. If you want general advice on the piece, there are free on-line tutorials that are easy enough to find. If you have a more specific question about some particular measures in the piece, then narrowing down your question might get you more useful answers here.

[lelle]

Develop at least 90% of the technique you need to play the Etude on other pieces, before you tackle the Etude.

[pianistavt]

You're probably young, so we should be kind ... but sharing some background - what other studies/etudes and how they went, would demonstrate some seriousness about the question and elicit some serious answers...

What has your teacher recommended for learning / mastering this?   Perhaps we can fill in some gaps ...

[sonata_5]

[quote author=pianistavt link=topic=71043.msg732932#msg732932  what other studies/etudes and how they went, would demonstrate some seriousness about the question and elicit some serious answers...

I have learned op 10 no 9 and op 25 no 2 and they both went smoothly. I have also played Debussy gradus ad parnassum,reverie, and the interrupted serenade,The last dance in bulgarian rhythm by Bartok,the first movement of Mozart piano concerto no 12, and his sonata no 2 first movement.

[lelle]

If those chopin etudes went well, I think you are ready to start this one. This one is a bit harder, but you should have a good starting point.

[jamienc]

Well, my comment above wasn’t exactly sarcastic as I do believe the fingers are really what makes this smooth as opposed to the ubiquitous (and problematic) advice often given that you have to rotate through the entire thing. First thing I would do if I started to learn this is to block all of the groups into chords based upon the chosen fingering and get the positions down first. Then slowly separate into individual notes and focus on maximum finger action and minimum rotation.

[lelle]

Well, my comment above wasn’t exactly sarcastic as I do believe the fingers are really what makes this smooth as opposed to the ubiquitous (and problematic) advice often given that you have to rotate through the entire thing. First thing I would do if I started to learn this is to block all of the groups into chords based upon the chosen fingering and get the positions down first. Then slowly separate into individual notes and focus on maximum finger action and minimum rotation.

I never really found actively rotating solved any problems for me in this Etude. You might see some small shaking of my arm but I don't think about it, it just naturally happens as a result of being relaxed enough. But other people might experience things differently.

[transitional]

Try to not hit any white keys with the right hand.

Use your fingers!

Hit the right notes; there's a different Etude for wrong notes.

This made me smile just now. I haven't seen this kind of wall on this forum in a while.

[jamienc]

I never really found actively rotating solved any problems for me in this Etude. You might see some small shaking of my arm but I don't think about it, it just naturally happens as a result of being relaxed enough. But other people might experience things differently.

Yes, and I would even go as far to claim that rotation with ANY piece that warrants its use never solved any problems for me either. To explain my rationale for this stance, I started to realize that any extra motion from the wrist made it much harder for me to control the action of the finger through its trajectory. It was just another thing to “coordinate” (for lack of a better term) in passages that were already difficult enough. It strongly made me ponder what it meant when pianists talked about how good players had such refined “control” when playing. It wasn’t control of the static instrument that just sits there until you do something. It was the control of the physical mechanism that activates it. Seems totally logical in words, but a much different story in real-life when trying to focus on the body vs. the keys.

[essence]

the left hand is more difficult, and more important, than the right. It has to dance, be very rythmic and precise. Pedalling also is important.