In this month’s Practice Clinic, Graham Fitch answers questions on learning pieces, building speed and practising trills in works by Chopin, Schubert, Mozart & Grieg.
Practice clinic questions
Mozart Sonata in G Major, K283 (1st mvt) – I have been working on this for quite a while and it seems I am constantly working on getting it to speed. The trills in this piece as well as others always seem to slow me down. I know you aren’t always a fan of the metronome, but it works well for me to help keep a steady tempo. Do you have any other suggestions?
Chopin Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Post – I am just now beginning to learn this piece and have spent much of my time on trills and am again finding speed/tempo a challenge. I have downloaded the practice sheets and used those ideas, but I am not sure how to manage the fiorituras and the metronome doesn’t work as well for me as it does with the Mozart (Click here for our study edition for this work featured in the video).
Learning New Pieces – I am playing the following pieces: Chopin’s Nocturne in B-Flat Minor (Op. 9 No. 1), Schubert’s Impromptu in G-Flat (Op 90) and Grieg’s Arietta (from Lyric Pieces, Op. 12). Do you have any tips for how to approach learning new pieces the right way from the start? I do pick apart the music to pieces and pretend I’ve never met them!
Next practice clinic
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Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.
Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).
Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.