Ok. Do you believe in working/coordinaing with the muscles/movements as opposed to trying to build them up as in strength? I always find confusion in statements I see about muscles and playing. At some point the reality is we do get tired maybe because we are overdoing it muscularly. I find that when I have rested and then try again I feel much stronger but perhaps Im just more coordinated.
I know I tried 10.2 firstly by playing deep into the keys slowly and then hit a barrier where I couldn't go any faster. I read loads of stuff on here about fast practice in groups to get a feel of the muscles/coordination you need to play up to speed, and then all of a sudden I was able to get around it better. Ive seen people say to others who are learning chopin etudes that you have all the muscles you need but the learner still has a problem.
Why is it, that a mother whose child is trapped underneath an automobile, has the strength, suddenly and without any training, to lift the automobile, and free the child? She hasn't worked to strengthen the necessary muscles, after all. It is because in the time of need, the body suddenly became coordinated, naturally, and without impediment.
That is not to say that somewhere deep inside us Noble Savages is the automatic ability to play every Chopin Etude. It is to say that it is not a weight-lifting process.
Certain fundamentals have to be recognized, for instance the wrist in this etude cannot be allowed to move from side to side, it cannot get tense. The lower, naturally stronger fingers cannot allowed to be too heavy, because it will hold back the upper ones.
(The pinky, incidentally, is counted among the strongest fingers; only in day-to-day life we use it less than the thumb and index finger. The third and fourth are connected inside, and need more work to achieve independence from each other.)
Also the type of touch used. The touch is akin to stroking a cat, as a friend of mine said, for this light legato, a subtle pulling feeling. We can play full-bodied, even pesante sound with this touch and not get tired. In other words, the type of touch is fundamental, and we can make adjustments to it, like the amount of weight used, or the speed of it on the keys. If a heavy feeling prevails, it could indicate an undue level of tension.
The elbow has to be free in this etude, because the fingers cannot be made to do all the work. Some crossings are more awkward then others, and we simply have to accept that.
Getting tired physically is straining the body; well, the Chopin Etudes can be played without strain. We should always search for that.
The key is to play melodically. The lowest bass notes must be melodic in relation to each other; the middle chords in the left hand must also contain melodic strands; the top voice is the "main theme;" and I forgot to mention earlier: the lower parts in the Right Hand.
People have claimed that one can leave those out, and it will go largely unnoticed.
Yes, it will go unnoticed to someone who never saw the score or heard the piece before.
However the lower Right hand parts not only provide necessary notes to fill the chords - it will suffice to look only at the very first sixteenth note in the piece - but also they must be melodic. Yes, they must have a counter-melody of their own. if you don't believe this, I invite you to listen to the Cortot recording, and it will be revealed to you in glorious transparency. This is not an "Oberstimme," ie top voice, etude in the slightest.
I believe searching for the melodic connections, along with employing the fundamental touch, and molding the joints to fit the needs of the fingers, is the key to this etude, and so much else in music making.
Walter Ramsey
Topic: Stamina in chopin 10.2